Results of May 15

Another week, and another great night of racing. Stafford had the five weekly divisions in action per usual, with the DARE Stocks in two features. So what happened? Read on!

DARE Stocks (from 5/8): The first race of the night was the conclusion of the DARE Stock race from 5/8. It restarted with Robert Thompson taking the lead, but three cautions bunched the field back up. On each restart, it was Thompson right back out in front. He would pick up his first win of '09. The battle for second came down to Albert Saunders and Don Wood, with Saunders taking second over Wood, who finished third. Cliff Saunders came in to finish fourth.

SK Lights: Where to start with this one? There was the accident with one lap already completed involving four cars, including Brit Andersen, who had to be taken to the hospital (which red flagged the race). After the red flag period ended, the race resumed. Tony Santangelo had been making his way up towards the front of the pack, and by the halfway point, he was up to second. On lap-12, a caution came out and tightened the field back up. On the next lap, there was a multi-car accident, which would provide another restart. And that is when Santangelo took the lead. He brought Ted Cain along with him, and Cain attempted to make a move for the lead in the closing laps of the race. But Santangelo would be too much, and he would score his second win of the season. Cain would finish second, with John Montesanto in third and Michael Gervais, Jr in fourth.

Late Models: What really impressed me about this feature was the way the winner made the move for the lead. With five laps to go, a caution came out for a one-car spin. This set up a restart with Jim Peterson and Dillon Moltz. The two of them made contact, giving the momentum to third-place Ryan Posocco, who passed the two of them going into the first turn. It was the pass for not only the lead, taking down his first feature win of the season. Peterson and Moltz would finish second and third respectively, with Scott Cook finishing fourth.

Limited Late Models: The quickest feature of the night, but not with the ending some expect there to be. Only one caution and three leaders. Shawn Thibeault became the third leader of the event on the lap-9 restart, yet there was another driver charging up to the front. Dennis Botticello came through the field and made an attempt to challenge Thibeault for the win. But it would be Thibeault who would take down the win. Unfortunately, it came with a price. Upon further review in postrace technical inspection, Thibeault's car exceeded the torque limit for rear tires and he was dropped from first to fifth (which kind of doesn't make sense here). That gave Botticello the win, with Andrew Durand now in second, Carla Botticello in third, and Dave Yardley, III in fourth.

SK Modifieds: So much drama in this one, and I'm only talking about the stuff that takes place towards the end of the event. Makes enough sense that the last three laps would be more dramatic than the rest of the race combined. Inbetween all of the spins and accidents (and debris cautions), we cut to a restart -- the second of which -- with 37 laps on the board. And let the controversy begin. Ted Christopher, starting outside of race leader Keith Rocco, seemed to jump the restart. The caution comes right back out, and Christopher is penalized. Instead of going to the back of the field, he passes the pace car (one lap penalty). He parked the car for the rest of the race. All of that put Woody Pitkat on Rocco's outside. After two more cautions, Pitkat could not find a way around Rocco, and Rocco claimed his first win of the season. Pitkat would finish second, followed by Frank Ruocco and Jeff Malave.

DARE Stocks: The DARE Stocks were back out for their scheduled feature. And while the caution on the opening lap of the race was a quick one, the one with three laps to go brought the red flag out for the second time in the evening. The red flag was for Jim Brice, who hit the safer barrier in turn one at a ton. The roof was cut, and he was taken to the hospital. The last three laps were green flag, and all of the laps were led by Todd LaPorta, who picked up his first win. The rest of the top-four belonged to Jeff Jolly, Tom Stirk, and Robert Thompson.

The Whelen Modified Tour will be back in action Friday night as they make their second appearance of the season at Stafford. 100 laps of action is scheduled, along with features for the five SMS divisions. No qualifying except for time trials. Should be a good night for racing.