Results of August 7

Another week, and another busy night at Stafford. After yet another rainout, the first Friday night in August brought us the Town Fair Tire 150 for the Whelen Modified Tour. The track's five weekly divisions were on hand per usual, and there were time trials for the Tour. So what happened? Here come the results of August 7.

The first thing on the to-do list was time trials for the Whelen Modified Tour. A grand total of 32 cars were on hand to take time for the 150-lap main event that took place later that night (all of that to be described in further detail later on). Fast time changed four different times throughout everyone's two laps, but the fastest time came with the 27th car that took to the track; that being the car of Eric Berndt. His fast time was 18.446 seconds, translated to 97.582 miles an hour, was enough to give him his first career Whelen Modified Tour pole. Later that night, the top-six fastest qualifiers redrew, putting Ted Christopher next to Rowan Pennink on the front row. (Again, more on that later on.)

After time trials, it was time to get the features going.

First feature to go off on the evening belonged to the DARE Stocks. They came into Friday with a two-race caution free streak going for them. Could they possibly make it three in a row? It started off with a nice little duel at the front of the field between Melissa Blowers and Kyle Nosal. Nosal pulled out in front and led the first lap, but Blowers came back strong and made a pass for the lead to take it on lap-2. Her lead was short lived as well, as a new leader in Victoria Bergenty emerged on lap-3. Nosal passed Blowers again and moved up to second, while Blowers started to fall backwards through the field down to outside of the top-5. As that was going on, Bergenty and Nosal had started to pull away from the field and it suddenly started to become a two-car race to the finish. A slight mishap occurred as they took the white flag, however. A lapped car stood inbetween the leaders, prompting the two drivers to make a decision. Nosal went down to the inside groove while Bergenty went up to the outside groove. Going into the first turn, Nosal moved up the track unexpectedly, giving both Todd LaPorta and Don Wood room to make a move around him for second and third respectively. The turn of events gave Bergenty more than enough of a gap between her and LaPorta in second to take down her first career win at Stafford. LaPorta finished second, with Wood in third and Nosal in fourth.

Action then moved to the Late Models, which meant that that pit crews were needed for this one. And they were definitely needed, because the race didn't start exactly the way anyone would have wanted it to start. On the opening lap, Alan Provost went around on the backstretch, either nearly tagging or tagging the backstretch wall and coming to a stop shortly after the spin -- CAUTION. His car had to get hooked and pulled off the track, meaning his night was over before the first lap was over. When the race resumed to green, it was Mark St. Hilaire pulling out in front in front of JJ Hill. It only took four laps before Hill passed Hilaire for the lead on lap-5. Joe Rzeszutek and St. Hilaire followed Hill in second and third until lap-8, when Mike Mordino spun on the backstretch to bring out the yellow -- CAUTION. The restart saw a change in leadership as Rzeszutek cleared Hill as the green came back out. Hill was locked in a battle with Brian Chapin for second, which Hill won. Chapin started to fall back through the field, as multiple cars including Michael Bennett easily passed him. This would be the order on lap-15, when Ed Gertsch, Jr spun on the backstretch -- CAUTION. This set up a restart that was worth something, as the guy who crossed the line in first the next time by won $100, courtesy of Town Fair Tire. Hill took advantage on the restart, passing Rzeszutek to retake the lead. Aside from making the move for the lead, Hill became the leader at the halfway point and picked up the bonus money. Two laps later, on lap-17, a part of Mordino's car ended up in turn two (from what I believe is a wreck) and clearly in the way of any incoming traffic -- CAUTION. The debris is picked up, and green is seen not too long afterward. Hill retook the lead, but he had a couple of challenges behind him in the forms of Tom Butler and Jim Peterson, who came through the field, picking off other cars one by one. All three ran close together up until lap-23, when Peterson made a move to send the top-3 three-wide, with the loser of the battle being Butler as he spun coming out of turn four -- CAUTION. That set up a restart between Peterson and Hill, which Peterson won as he pulled into the lead in front of Hill, who dropped back in line in second. Bennett ran in third, but all of this only lasted a lap as Doug Blowers, Jr spun in turns three and four on lap-25 -- CAUTION. Peterson took command on the restart, with Bennett now running in second. Dillon Moltz and Woody Pitkat found themselves running in the top-five, with Hill falling back a little and in fifth. Moltz was not done moving up through the field, and passed Bennett for second; Pitkat and Hill followed Bennett fell back to fifth. On lap-28, Walt Wosko, Jr spun in turn four and therefore brought out another -- CAUTION. It set up two laps to the checkered flag, and it also set up Peterson once again getting the jump on second place (still Moltz). But a sole lap ticked off the board before trouble deeper in the field happened. Also on the restart, a car got loose and went through the infield, only to save the car. But there was a problem... The car got together with Scott Cook, who eventually was taken out by the backstretch wall -- CAUTION. From two laps to the checkers to a green-white-checker finish. It had all the ingredients of a good time. And it sure did live up to people's expectations. Peterson still sat out front, with Pitkat and Hill finding a way around Moltz for second and third. And that was how they finished. Peterson picked up his second win of the season, with Pitkat in second, Hill in third, and Moltz in fourth.

After a chaotic Late Model feature, the SK Lights were next. And they didn't have that bad of a feature. David Webb started out with the lead early, and it was really a test to see if he would keep the lead. It was smooth sailing for the first four laps of the race, sure, but when the multi-car spin/accident on the frontstretch near turn one came out on lap-5 -- CAUTION. It set the field up for the first restart of the feature. Webb took command of the race again when the green came back out. Shawn Brule settled into second behind him, but the one who was coming through the field was Brit Andersen, restarting the race in tenth. He was up to fifth by lap-9, and by lap-14, Andersen was in fourth. On each lap, Andersen moved closer to the front by securing the spot ahead of him, which meant that on lap-15, Andersen moved into third, and on lap-16, he was in second. Andersen began to close the gap between he and Webb, who was holding a commanding lead until his lead started to shrink. But the gap between the two was too much for Andersen, and even though he had made it close, it was Webb to pick up his first career SK Light feature win. Andersen finished second, with Earl Pelletier and Brule rounding out the board.

The pit crews came back out to the track; this time, it was for the SK Modified feature. Could they top the SK 150 that ran only two weeks ago? It sure looked as exciting. Matt Gallo became the early leader of the event, with Tom Bolles in second and close behind him. How close? Stalker close. Bolles kept Gallo close through the first three laps, but the closeness had to be put aside for a moment as there was a multi-car incident took place in turns three and four on lap-4; a combination of spin and accident -- CAUTION. The restart was between Gallo and Bolles, and this time, Bolles found a way to get around Gallo for the lead. Lap-6 was the scene for yet more trouble, when Chris Matthews had problems and couldn't get off the track and into safer pastures. He tried to pull behind the wall in turn two and wasn't able to get the car safely behind the wall -- CAUTION. After Matthews was pushed to someplace safe behind the wall, the race went back to green. And it was still Bolles out front. Three laps after the green came back out, a new leader emerged in Zach Sylvester, as he passed Bolles for the lead on lap-9. All seemed peaceful, but there was lap-11, and it seemed as though no matter what happened, nothing could go right. The first incident on the lap was due in part to four cars in an accident in turn one, including Gallo and Sean Foster -- CAUTION. They got the racing surface cleaned up and went back to green, but not without something going on to slow the pace of the event down. This time, it was Kurt Lenahan and Joe Allegro, Jr in an accident in turn three -- CAUTION. Another restart ensued, again, with Sylvester getting out in front. His tenure out in front was over on lap-15, however, when Jeff Malave passed him for the lead. Malave wasn't alone to make a pass around Sylvester. Frank Ruocco moved into second. On lap-17, after a spin involving a car that had spun in turn two (car unidentified), dirt was kicked up onto the track, prompting the track to call it debris -- CAUTION. After this yellow, things picked up immensely. Although Malave gained control on the restart, life in the lead wasn't easy. Ruocco was all over him at times, trying to pass on the inside numerous times. A tremendous battle between the two lasted a good eleven laps until lap-28, when Ruocco finally found a way to get around Malave. But even so, nobody could count Malave out. He kept close to Ruocco, nearly taking the lead back himself, but he couldn't find a way to do so. Malave continued to keep close, but Ruocco managed to hold him off to pick up his second straight win of the season. Malave came in to finish second, followed by Sylvester in third and Richie Pallai, Jr in fourth.

The last of the weekly divisions to go out was the Limited Late Models. And this race started out with a problem. It was Norm Sears hitting the turn one wall hard, in a situation almost like, if not exactly like, what had happened during Spring Sizzler weekend -- CAUTION. After everything was cleaned up, it was back to green. And it was Bill Davis taking the lead once the green came out. Davis remained in the lead for the first four laps of the race until Kevin Gambacorta took over with a pass. Dan Flannery found his way into second, and Shawn Thibeault moved into third. Lap-9 provided a spin in turn one from Paul Varricchio, Jr -- CAUTION. It was not going to be the end of Varricchio's night. The restart had Gambacorta still out in front, now with Thibeault in second and Andrew Durand settling down in third. That was the order at the lap-14 mark, as Varricchio and George Nocera, Jr got into a little accident on the backstretch. Things got a little heated on pit road after the two of them nearly got into it after the accident, but they were separated before anything got out of hand and the race went back to green with Gambacorta and Thibeault on the front row. Thibeault was hungry to get the lead from Gambacorta, and was successful on lap-17, but the leaders touched and both went around in turn one -- CAUTION. Gambacorta received a rough riding penalty because of it (although he was already in the back for the restart). The caution put Flannery and Davis on the front row as the leaders. Flannery jumped out in front on the restart, and pulled away from Davis over the course of the last two laps of the race to pick up his first career Limited Late Model win. Davis finished second, with Jesse Hinze in third and Dave Yardley, III in fourth.

Finally, it was time for the Town Fair Tire 150 for the Whelen Modified Tour. As previously mentioned, the top-six drivers redrew for new positions, giving the front row to Ted Christopher and Rowan Pennink. And out of the two of them, it was Christopher who found his way in front of Pennink to take the early lead. But the race would be slowed down early (less than a lap into the event) when Bobby Grigas, III just came to a stop in the grass on the backstretch, near the scoreboard, after something went wrong -- CAUTION. Six laps ticked off the board before the green came back out, and when it did, Christopher went back out in front. Ryan Preece jumped into second, pushing Pennink back to third. During the green flag run, Preece made at least one attempt to pass Christopher for the lead with no success. The green flag run ended on lap-60 as Reggie Ruggiero spun on the backstretch -- CAUTION. Many cars decided to pit during this yellow, half of the field went down; Christopher was not one of the drivers who pitted. Alongside of Christopher for the restart was Todd Szegedy. Christopher pulled past Szegedy for the lead on said restart and proceeded to take charge of the field again. On lap-87, a four-car spin in turns three and four prompted the officials to bring out the yellow again -- CAUTION. Cars involved included Renee Dupris and Kevin Goodale. Again, a good number of cars made the trip down pit road, and when everything was settled, the front row was Christopher and Preece. The green flag came out on lap-93, but after a three-car accident in turn one occured on lap-94 -- CAUTION. Christopher was still the leader and Preece was still in second. Another restart occurred on lap-99, and as Preece was able to take the lead from Christopher on the restart, Doug Coby hit the wall hard on the backstretch -- CAUTION. They reverted back to the last completed lap, which meant the last completed lap was one under caution, giving Christopher the lead again. The race went to a red flag situation on lap-100 to clean up the Coby accident. When the race went back to green, it was on lap-104. Preece and Christopher fought for the lead, even going as far as exchanging the lead back and forth a few times before they got back to the starter's stand. Preece was declared the leader of the lap. Christopher didn't give up and attempted to regain the lead from Preece, but Preece slowly began to stretch out the lead. The rest of the race was run caution-free, and in the end, Preece claimed his second straight win of the season. Christopher finished in second, followed by Chris Pasteryak and Eric Beers.

And that was how the wild night of August 7 ended. Friday night, weather permitting, it will be back to five divisions and not as much chaos as Stafford runs a normal Friday night program.