The Night of the Extra Distances [Friday Recap]

(Editor's Note: This is the first of two articles for the week. Enjoy the bonus stuff, and take a look on the sidebar for the schedule for this week.)

Last time on the schedule of Stafford Motor Speedway, the Saturday portion of the Spring Sizzler had concluded, and rain had come into the area. In place for the first Friday night of the season? A special edition of Stafford’s weekly racing program. The three divisions that had run feature races seven days ago were to run extra-distance races. That translated to only three features, but even so, one was guaranteed that there was to be no shortage of action.

DARE Stocks
Regular Feature: 15 laps
Extra Distance Feature: 20 laps

Andrew Hayes powered into the lead early, getting the jump on the rest of the field before they crossed the start line. With a lap already on the board, Albert Saunders spun in turn two. He was able to get going as the field moved by, but Josh Wood and James Carroll spun in the process. They were also able to go before a caution came out. Kyle Casagrande moved into second as Jeff Jolly pulled onto pit road. During the next few laps, K. Casagrande pulled closer to Hayes. On lap 7, the first caution came out for Kelsey Rottino, who spun in turn four. On the restart, Hayes once again pulled ahead, with K. Casagrande right behind him. Behind the two drivers, Cory Casagrande - brother of Kyle - moved into third. The first battle for the lead was on lap 7, when K. Casagrande was about to take the lead. But on the next lap, there was another caution. This time, it was for Stephanie Berardi after spinning in turns three and four. The caution came out before a lead change was made, so it was Hayes back in the lead for the next restart. And that’s when the change for the lead finally happened. K. Casagrande took advantage of the green and became the new leader, with Hayes in a battle for second with both #04 and C. Casagrande. The luck for C. Casagrande ended on lap 15 when he spun in turn two. The caution did not come out for that, as he was able to pull away. Meanwhile, with the leaders, K. Casagrande was not contested by the drivers within close distance (the next closest car was about a half a straightaway), and he picked up his first win of the season. Hayes came in second, followed by A. Saunders and Stephen Daddio.

Limited Late Models
Regular Feature: 20 laps
Extra Distance Feature: 25 laps

It was Jesse Hinze out in the lead in the early stages, with Dan Flannery on his back bumper. Flannery moved into the lead about a lap into the race. Shawn Thibeault also challenged Flannery - now for second - and won the battle. Soon, the field stretched out to a point where they were running single file style. Five laps into the race, there was another battle for position. It was a fight for third, between Hinze and George Nocera, Jr. Nocera officially moved into third on lap 6. Meanwhile, a battle for the lead progressed between Flannery and Thibeault. At one point, Flannery scraped the wall. But by the lap 10 mark, Thibeault became the new leader. And just like that, it was now a three-car battle for the top three spots. At the lap 13 mark, Nocera battled Flannery for second and won. With ten laps to go, the first caution of the event came out for Pete Cayer after he spun in turn two. That set the stage for a restart, in which there was once again a battle for the lead. On that restart, Nocera became the new leader, putting Thibeault into second. Thibeault was not backing down without a fight, and inched closer to Nocera. Another battle for the lead occurred, and before they crossed the line for lap 18, Thibeault once again took the lead and slightly pulled away. With only five laps to go, a caution came out for a two car spin in turns three and four, with Paul Varricchio, Jr and Cayer. And that set the stage for chaos. Nocera and Thibeault fought for the lead over the first lap after the green came back out, but when Thibeault tried to make a move in the grass, Flannery became the new leader with fancy moves. Thibeault - once again - was not going to sit quietly and was going to make yet another move, but before that happened, there was another caution. Carla Botticello lost a tire and ended up along the wall coming out of turn two, with Joe Nogiec in the grass in the aforementioned corner. It all set up a green-white-checker fight to the finish, and given the previous goings on during the restarts in the race so far, business was almost certain to pick up. Flannery powered back to the lead, with Nocera moving into second. Robert Dow was now in a fight with Thibeault for third. Thibeault managed to get third in the closing turns, but meanwhile, it was no match as Flannery picked up the win. Nocera finished second. Thibeault was third, and Dow ended up fourth.

SK Lights
Regular Feature: 20 laps
Extra Distance Feature: 30 laps

Things didn’t start as smooth as most people would have liked it to start. Frank Cardile scraped the wall only seconds after the green came out, and there was a multiple car incident in turn one, resulting in Lauren Cooper pulling onto pit road and Rick Williams staying put on the racing surface to bring out the first caution of the event. The result? A complete redo of the start of the race. The second attempt at a restart was cleaner, with Harry Wheeler and Jay Goff fighting for first. Cardile put himself behind Goff on the outside groove, and both of them passed Wheeler for first and second. Wheeler ended spinning on the backstretch with two laps in the books, but he got going and the caution didn’t come up. Meanwhile, Cardile and Goff were in a catfight for the top spot. It was an interesting battle, but it was cut short as dirt in turn one brought out another caution. During the caution period, David Webb was black flagged for overagression for sending Wheeler through the backstretch grass. Goff took the lead on the restart, with John Hanafin getting second. Cardile was challenged by Kyle Spencer for third. Cardile won the battle (and subsequent ones). With nine laps gone in the race, Goff and Hanafin were side by side for the lead. Again, the battle was short lived, as there was a caution in turn four when Wheeler and Zach Aszklar spun. When the field went back to green, Goff and Hanafin were still fighting for first, and soon after, Hanafin became the new leader. In the mix for a spot within the top five was Joey Cipriano, Cardile, and Spencer. And it seemed like every time a fight for position was on their hands, a caution would come out. Lap 10 was no different - it was a three car accident this time around. As the race went back to green, Hanafin took the lead once again. Cardile moved into second and began to challenge him for the lead. Cipriano was also in the mix, As the field completed lap 13, at least two cars in the front half of the field ended up scraping the wall, which didn’t seem to faze anyone who did so. On lap-17, Hanafin drove through the frontstretch grass, giving up third in the process. About a lap later, there was yet another challenge for the lead - this time, between Cardile and Cipriano. A bit further back, Matt Galko took over third. But the battle was still on for first. When it seemed like Cipriano was about to make a move for the top spot, Cardile denied him of any chance. The fight was put on hold with six laps to go as Eric Bacon hit the turn four wall and Paul Colla, Jr spun in the same turn to bring out the caution. The restart was bound to be good. Just as Cardile took the lead, Spencer didn’t come up to speed, setting up a chain of events, finishing with Chad Trombley, Shayne Prucker, and Tommy Membrino, Jr in distress on the frontstretch and in turn one, sending the yellow back out. As the race went back to green, Cardile and Cipriano fought for the lead over the course of that lap, with Cardile getting the benefit of things by taking the lead. The loser during the short green flag run was Galko, who ended up high in turn two, with another caution over the field. One more lap ticked off the board (25 laps done), and yet another restart to run. A bit further back in the field, Heather DesRochers didn't get up to speed. Back towards the head of the pack, Cardile pulled out in front. But Cipriano was not ready to give up. Cipriano tried to get around Cardile a few times on the outside, including one final move on the final lap. On the frontstretch. It was a close finish, but Cardile managed to pull it out at the end for his first career SK Light win. Cipriano finished second. Goff ended third, with Spencer in fourth.

And that was how things ended up. The weekend at Stafford wasn’t over, as there was more racing taking place on Saturday. The conclusion of Spring Sizzler weekend had to happen. As they always say, that’s a different story.