This is Your Night; and Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Things had changed since the last feature ended last week at Stafford. Keith Rocco’s chances at winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship greatly improved the very next night at the Waterford Speedbowl. He happened to win the SK Modified race on August 14, and was officially called the 2010 national champion only days later. Six days later, it was more than just a celebration of Rocco’s achievement. It was also a busy night at the track.

Also on tap was the second of two Late Model 100s on the schedule. On top of that, there were two races for the Limited Late Models. It was the final week that make-up races were going to commence before a sense of normality sank in. What was deemed to be a long night was ahead. Might as well start this event in style.

First off, it was the make-up race for the Limited Late Models. They were making this one up from back on July 16th. It began with Carla Botticello getting the lead, followed by Andrew Durand moving into second. A pack of cars were behind them and were fighting for position. Duane Provost and Dave Yardley, III battled for third, but it was a brief battle for the spot and it was won by Yardley. Besides that, there wasn’t much action going on unless you were looking further through the field. A few battles were going on involving Dan Flannery and Rob Dow, among others; but those were for positions deeper in the top-10. As the laps ticked by, there was a challenge for the second through fourth spots. Yardley and Kevin Gambacorta were drawing closer towards Durand. The only question was, “would any spots change hands”? If there were going to be any, it wouldn’t deter anybody else… At least, it wouldn’t be them who were at fault for it. With only three laps to go, Jesse Hinze blew up in smoke coming down the backstretch and came to a stop in turn three. The caution was coming out and the field would be bunched up for a very important late race restart. On that restart, Durand took the lead with ease before they reached the line. Botticello fell in line into second. Third place didn’t change, with Yardley still in the spot. Meanwhile, Botticello attempted a few moves; none of which were stable enough to challenge, and it was Durand picking up the win. Botticello finished second. Yardley wound up in third, while Nocera finished fourth. They’d have their second race later in the night.

Up next, it was normality with the DARE Stock feature. Stephanie Berardi was the first leader of the event. She was followed by Vince Gambacorta, who was in second. Gambacorta wanted the last laugh, and with Cory Casagrande following him, he was able to take the lead after the first two laps. Eventually, C. Casagrande joined him in second. The rest of the top-four changed hands as well, with Albert Saunders in third and Kyle Casagrande in fourth. (As for Berardi? She fell to fifth.) Back up front, it only took four laps before C. Casagrande moved into the lead. Again, the field shook up as Gambacorta, who had a short stint up front, fell back into the deeper part of the field. But back up front, K. Casagrande moved past A. Saunders for second and was looking to catch up to his brother as they ran first and second with a gap separating them. Unfortunately, C. Casagrande had a bit of an issue as he came up to lapped traffic. Trevor Krzyzek and C. Casagrande both spun in turn two with five laps to go in the event, bringing out the caution and giving K. Casagrande the lead in the process. When the green came back out, it was a duel down the frontstretch. It lasted until they hit the turn, where K. Casagrande seemed to have the advantage. Berardi showed some life, fighting against A. Saunders for second. That life ended with 11 laps on the board, when she ended up spinning in turns three and four. Other cars further back in the field suffered damage when they were involved in the accident, and the yellow returned. Cleanup took a while, with a lot of speedy dry being used in the process. After the speedy dry was cleaned up, the race resumed. K. Casagrande reclaimed the lead, followed by a pack of three cars fighting for second. Josh Wood made a challenge for the lead, but spun in turns one and two with three laps to go. He was able to get going again and there was no caution. Jeff Jolly also had problems, but he managed to keep the car in third. The 100 pounds didn’t make a difference in K. Casagrande’s car, as he claimed his third win of the season. A. Saunders and Jolly would join him in victory lane, as they finished second and third respectively. Tony Membrino, Jr finished off the board in fourth.

(The DARE Stock pound rule was implemented in the middle of this season. The rule is that if you had won two races at any point in time in the season, you had to add 100 full pounds into the car… Then you could win a third race. After that, it’s an extra 50 pounds.)

Time for open wheels and SK Lights. Zachary Aszklar was the first leader of the race, but it wasn’t going to be an easy hold for him as Jay Goff was all over his side. It only took a full lap plus before Goff was able to make a pass for the lead. Also with one lap on the board? The first caution. Heather DesRochers spun in turn four, collecting both Victoria Bergenty and Earl Pelletier in the process. It was a quick caution as all three drivers pulled away. And the restart ensued… It was not a pretty sight. A multi-car accident happened on the frontstretch, with Dylan Liseo flipping on his roof at the stripe and sliding all the way down to turn one. The red flag came out immediately. Thankfully, Liseo was okay and after everything was tidied up, it was back to green. Aszklar took the lead back in turns one and two and was heavily followed by Goff in second. Also in the lead pack of cars was Thomas Barrett, Jr, who was challenging Goff for second. He made the move to second and then made the move to first in less than two turns. With six laps on the board, there was a new leader (Barrett) - and new second-place driver (David Webb). The two of them pulled away from the rest of the field and began their dominance over whoever was still racing. There was a half straightaway gap between first and second and another half straightaway lead between second and third. The true battle in the closing laps was the one for third, between Goff and Joseph Cipriano, III. It was clear that the winner was Barrett, getting his seventh win of the season. Webb would finish second. The battle for third ended with Cipriano over Goff, who would have to settle for fourth.

Modified action continued with the SK Modifieds. Tom Bolles and Jeff Baral were side by side through most of the first lap, but in the end, there was no clear cut winner. Another lap would have to be completed before it was known that Bolles was going to be the first leader of the race. Jeff Malave was now challenging Baral for second, and managed to pick up the spot. Second was apparently not enough for Malave, and was looking for first from Bolles. Behind them, it was a… How do I put it nicely? It was a gaggle of drivers looking for spots within the top-10. Nobody was going to back down there and it looked as though business was going to pick up there within the next few laps. Well, it was going to happen in a little bit as Nichole Morgillo and Michael Gervais, Jr were sidelined in turn four. Nine laps into the race, there was already a caution. Both cars rolled away from the incident scene and not before long, there was a restart. Malave pulled out to the lead position and was followed by the rest of the field, who decided on running double file. Baral squeezed out of the battle for second, followed by Keith Rocco, who sat in third. Any plans of taking second were KOed for the moment when Keith Carzello went through the grass in turn four and kicked dirt up onto the track. Another caution in the books, and twelve laps on the board. The inside row went on the restart, as Malave once again took the lead. Rocco claimed second in about a lap and was ready to take first from Malave. Also ready to join the first was Frank Ruocco, who was in third. Rocco managed to take first from Malave with fifteen laps on the board. He took the lead just in time - the caution came out after the lead was made and after the lap was completed. Morgillo spun in turns one and two, and somehow, Mark Bakaj was involved as well with right front issues. Either way, it all set up another restart. Rocco retook the lead on the restart, with Malave still on his tail. Ruocco was about to challenge Malave for second and was barely able to take the spot when they crossed the line to complete the 17th lap. A lap later, Woody Pitkat spun in turn four, collecting Josh Sylvester in the process. 18 laps in, and there was yet another caution. On the restart, chalk up another win for the inside row. Rocco and Malave took control - Rocco pulled away and took the lead, while Malave once again saw himself in second. Ruocco was all over Malave, looking for a way to get around him for that second spot. So far, no moves were made. They were close, but not yet. Although the battle began with 24 laps on the board. It would promptly end when Carzello spun in turn four and brought out the next caution - with 24 laps gone. The restart saw Rocco once again take advantage and head right back for the lead. Ruocco was now the guy to join him and was now running second. The green flag run lasted all of a lap; the next caution came when Matt Gallo spun coming out of turn two and a whole chain reaction happened not too far behind it. It resulted in Curt Brainard sitting idly in front of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series billboard next to the video monitor. On the ensuing restart, it was the same old, same old. Rocco was once again in the lead, followed by Ruocco in second. This time, however, Ryan Preece had been running in third and wanted to stake his claim into second. As Preece was about to take the second spot, the caution came out with 29 laps on the board. Bolles was up high in turn two, setting up the yellow once again. It was a quick caution and they were about to go green again. There was no difference with the leader - that was Rocco. Preece managed to pass Ruocco for second and was ready to pass Rocco for the lead when he went a bit too low and got loose in turn four. The lap was barely completed by the time the caution came out, when there was a multi-car incident in turns three and four. The restart happened with ten laps to go. A fight for the lead occurred between Preece and Rocco through the entire duration of the lap until Preece spun and wound up in the grass on the backstretch and set up a caution with nine laps to go. Another restart, anyone? Rocco became the leader once again. Baral took advantage and battled with Ruocco for second and succeeded. It was another one-lap green flag run with a multi-car incident in turn one slowed the field down again as the yellow cam out. (By this time, the track officials realized that the lights around the track didn’t work - the lights to help drivers see when there’s a caution on the track. They would be fixed in a matter of laps.) When things went back to green, Rocco was once again the leader. Ruocco was sandwiched in second, with Malave now finding himself in third and a battle with Baral. Malave would get the spot and things were less crowded up front. With five laps left to go, Gallo was in an accident in turn one, setting up yet another caution and yet another restart. Things were delayed with Malave had to be pushed off the track with a problem. But on the restart, Rocco once again saw the lead. Ruocco and Baral fought for second, with Dan Avery in the mix as well. This was all put on hiatus when Pitkat spun in turn two, bringing out the caution once again. A restart with three laps to go was about to begin. Rocco was once again in the lead. Ruocco found himself in second and wanted the lead. On the last lap, Ruocco tapped Rocco and nearly sent him spinning. The spin didn't happen, and for the ninth time, Rocco picked up the win. Ruocco settled for second, with Baral in third and Avery in fourth.

Main event time! It was the second of the bi-yearly Late Model 100s. It started with Mark St. Hilaire not getting up to speed. Tom Fearn was the leader after his misfortune, followed by Scott Cook and Jim Peterson, who were fighting for second. The caution came out only three laps into the race when Woody Pitkat went into turn one wall. It was found that St. Hilaire was at fault when it came to starting the spin, and was sent onto pit road for a penalty. Things were cleared out and the race went back to green. Fearn once again took the lead. Adam Gray found his way into second when he took second from Cook. The next guy to pass Cook was JJ Hill, followed by Peterson. But the news up front was Fearn, who had set up a nice half straightaway lead over the rest of the field. Peterson passed Gray and was now making a charge… But not quite - Peterson was found to be leaking something on the track and was black flagged in while running in second. The lead that Fearn had was now a full straightaway plus. The action was for second, where Michael Bennett picked up the spot. Ryan Posocco was now in third, with Dillon Moltz in fourth. Over the duration of the next 25 plus laps, Fearn’s lead began to shrink. Bennett was on his way. And with 33 laps down, Fearn’s lead abruptly ended with the second caution of the event. Moltz was stranded in turn two, in front of the website marking on the wall. It was due to a flat tire, but whatever the cause, it was a caution. He was towed off. On the restart, Fearn once again took the lead. Bennett nearly spun with help from Posocco; he regained control and managed to keep second. The bobble didn’t hurt - he remained close to Fearn for what seemed like a long time. That long happened to pause with 45 laps down, when the caution came out for Tom Butler, who spun in turn four, sent a cone halfway into the grass, and kicked some dirt up in the process. A new leader in Bennett emerged on the restart. Fearn retook the lead on the same lap - the lap that the restart occurred on hadn’t even ended yet. Keith Rocco and Jim Mavlouganes fought for the third spot; the winner of the battle was Mavlouganes. As for Rocco, well… He ended up getting shuffled through the field and ended up eighth. After that, it seemed as though there was nothing in terms of battles. By the lap-59 mark, Cook moved into third. Besides that, there was nothing. No other fights for position (unless you counted battles deeper in the field or the little tussle for first which only consisted in Bennett getting in close to Fearn but not getting anything out of it). Cook looked for second and managed to get it with 67 laps on the board. Hill passed Bennett as well; that pass was for third. It seemed as though Bennett was getting sent backwards. With 69 laps down, Cook tried to make the pass for the lead. He and Fearn got together, almost wrecking on the backstretch. The sparks didn’t faze anyone, and coming out of turn four, the new leader was now Cook. The loser was Fearn, who was now getting a turn at getting sent backwards through the field. Hill moved up to second after the chose. Corey Hutchings ran third, with Bennett now getting back onto the board after an earlier incident. The green flag run finally ended with 79 laps on the board when #87, who was running in third at the time, spun in turn two - the caution came out for only the fourth time. The restart was going to be interesting. Cook didn’t get up to speed on the restart, giving the lead to Hill. Second was long-time front runner in the race Fearn. And third was Rocco. Hill began to pull away from the rest of the field, having a lead just shy of a half straightaway. Fearn was being pressured by Rocco, who was being pressured by Bennett. The true battle for position was between those three drivers - plus Posocco, who was running fifth. Bennett passed Rocco for third; Posocco took note of that and passed Rocco for fourth. But unless there was a caution, they were still a ways away from catching Hill. The last lap was no contest, and Hill crossed the line, picking up his first career win. Fearn finished second (and had choice words with Bennett’s crew after the race was over), with Bennett finishing third. Rounding out the board was Posocco.

We were not done yet, as there was still a regularly-scheduled Limited Late Model feature to run. Rob Dow was the early leader, but it didn’t last a full lap as the caution came out for a three-car accident coming out of turn two. On the second attempt, it was Dow out in front again. Carla Botticello fought it out with Duane Provost for second and came out on top - at least, of that battle. George Nocera, Jr made his way into third… But with three laps down, he had a problem, dropped off the pace, and wound up on pit road. His chance of winning was all but over. This moved Andrew Durand into third. By the halfway point of the race, Dan Flannery found his way into fourth and was all over Durand’s bumper. Flannery took third from Durand. The rest of the race ran green, and it was Dow taking his third win of the season. Botticello finished second, with Flannery in third and Kevin Gambacorta in fourth.

Things get back to normal next Friday night. It’s a regular week. I promise. No added races. It happens weather permitting.