Your Late Awards Post

A little more than a week ago, Stafford held its annual champions banquet at LaRenaissance in East Windsor. About 500 people showed for the event.

The champions were formally crowned, and other awards were given out. I apologize for not going into full detail on this one, but the story on the awards will tell you who won what - as far as anything not previously announced goes.

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.

A Night of Bad Luck and Exciting Things

(Note: Sorry this is out on Wednesday. Yes, I had this sent out Sunday night/Monday morning. No, I had no idea I was getting this out now. Yes, I have something else to get out tonight as well. With that being said, let's get to the recap.)

Friday the 13th. A day that has always been unlucky. (Trust me, I know what happens on days like this. I’ve had a bunch of bad luck myself at one time or another.) On this day, however, there was racing to be held at Stafford. It was a five division, six-race night of action. The SK Modifieds were scheduled to race two races - one of them being a make-up race from way back on July 16. A few questions were also going to be answered. What happened? Let’s find out together.

In order to start everything for the night, the SK Modifieds were lined up on the mini mile. This was an interesting storyline. In this division, anyway. Keith Rocco started the day two wins away from winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship outright. To win it outright, a driver has to win 18 races with fields of at least 20 cars. And it has to be done in the top division. At the three Connecticut tracks, the top division is a Modified. Rocco started the weekend with 16 wins with the stipulation in place. The scenario is this: If Rocco won the first race (22 cars started) and won the second race with at least 20 cars in it, he would be the 2010 national champion in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

The make-up race from July was the first race of the night. Eric Berndt was the first leader without question, driving himself straight into the lead early. Mark Bakaj and Sean Foster began the fight for second. Bakaj took the spot on the second lap. Behind them, a fight for third ensued between Foster and Chris Jones. Foster owned that spot. Jones was forced to settle for a fight with Woody Pitkat. Ted Christopher joined them and it was a trifecta for the fourth through sixth spots. Meanwhile, second was now owned by Foster, after passing Bakaj for the spot by the lap-10 mark. Bakaj was sent backwards through the field, as many drivers passed him. But so far, nobody had an answer for Berndt, who was leading by a half straightaway. His nice lead would be erased with 16 laps on the board as the first caution came out. It was for Jones, who spun in turns one and two. During this yellow, a good portion of the field came in to pit, including Keith Rocco, who was getting some new tires. Most of the cars left before the restart occurred. On the restart, it originally looked as though Foster had some sort of advantage. It wasn’t meant to be, however, and the lead was given back to Berndt. Second now belonged to Pitkat, while the madness was going on behind them. The caution came out again for a multi-car spin in turns one and two with 17 laps on the board. Christopher was black flagged and sent to the back of the field for overagression, while there was another visit onto pit road by Rocco. (I don’t usually chime in here with my two personal cents, but this was getting very interesting now.) It didn’t take long after the restart for another accident to happen. Another multi-car incident on the backstretch with 17 laps still on the board brought out the third caution of the event. It was time for take two with another restart. The battle for the lead became a three-car fight between Berndt, Pitkat, and Frank Ruocco, who moved into third on the restart. Of course, this fight wasn’t going to end easily. Ruocco became the new leader at the halfway point, but Pitkat followed him closely. Pitkat attempted to take the lead many times (via way of the outside groove), and with 24 laps on the board, Pitkat took over. Things were not over yet, and Ruocco was going to fight tooth and nail for the lead. (Does this remind you of a certain battle for the lead earlier in the season?) Ruocco reclaimed the lead not even two laps later. It didn’t look like Pitkat was willing to back down and over the course of the next few laps, he tried to retake the lead. Behind them, another battle was brewing - this was for third. It was between Todd Owen and Ryan Preece. With seven laps left to go, the spot was given to Preece... And he was coming to join the battle for first. With five laps to go, Preece wasn’t settling for second and the fight began for first with three cars once again. It was anyone’s race. With only two laps to go, however, things began to boil. Ruocco was sent high in the middle of the third turn, but he saved the car and settled into third. Behind that, a multi-car incident in turn three brought out the caution. The scoreboard read… Nothing in all four spots. It was determined that the caution came out before the leaders came across the line to start the final lap, so everyone returned to their original spots and it was now a two-lap race for the win. The restart was going to tell the story. The battle returned on the restart. Ruocco reclaimed the lead in over the course of the lap. On the final lap, it was still a battle for the win. And in the end, it was Ruocco taking his fourth win of the season. Pitkat finished second, with Preece in third and Jones in fourth.

As for Keith Rocco and the national championship? He'd have to wait to start the celebration. In the first race for the SKs, he finished 7th.

After the impressive action of the first SK feature, the normality began with the originally scheduled action of the night. The Limited Late Models were next. Duane Provost pulled out into the lead, with Carla Botticello following him. Behind them, the field ran single file. Jesse Hinze, who sat in third, was all over Botticello’s bumper. And behind that battle, Andrew Durand and George Nocera, Jr were well underway in a fight for fourth. For the first half of the race, everything was fine and dandy. Unfortunately, trouble occurred with eight laps on the board. Provost blew up in smoke coming down the frontstretch, losing not only the lead also what looked to be his engine. He spun in turns one and two, collecting a few cars in the process. This brought the first caution of the race out. Speedy dry was dumped on the track, cleaned up, and the race was able to resume. The restart didn’t start well. Michael Wray hit the first turn wall at a ton (no, not where the safer barrier is). Other cars were collected as well, and the caution turned to a red flag situation. During this, there was a driver versus driver altercation which ended up with someone belonging to the Wray camp giving Joe Nogiec a piece of his mind. Officials had to restrain him. The yellow returned, followed by the green, and the restart occurred. With nine laps on the board, there was a lead change. Botticello had to surrender the lead to Durand, who became the third leader of the event. This green flag run lasted all of three laps as Michael Chaves spun on the frontstretch and came to a stop close to victory lane (not how he wanted to get there). It was a quick caution, and there was another restart. Durand returned to the lead with Shawn Thibeault close to his side. Thibeault attempted a move on the inside to take the lead, and it was mission accomplished with four laps to go. The lead that he had obtained had begun to expand. It was a yellow-checkered finish as Thibeault picked up his second win. Behind him was Durand finishing second. Kevin Gambacorta would finish third, while Dave Yardley, III ended up in fourth. (The yellow was for Chaves, who wrecked in turns three and four.)

Next up would be the Late Models. In the beginning, Adam Gray was the first leader. Mark St. Hilaire was all over his bumper; looking to make sure that third-place Scott Cook didn’t take the spot away from him in the process. Three laps into the race, second now belonged to Cook, while Tom Fearn took over third. St. Hilaire was trying to make sure he didn’t freefall back through the rest of the field as Corey Hutchings and Keith Rocco were trying to get around him. They’d get a second crack at it with four laps down when a multi-car incident occurred in turn three. All cars were able to clear the accident scene. St. Hilaire pulled onto pit road during the caution period, surrendering his fourth-place run in the process. On the restart, Gray maintained his lead. Behind him, things went haywire. Fearn spun in turn four and nearly collected half of the field. The caution came out immediately. Dirt was kicked up onto the track and the cleanup process took place. When things were cleared, the green came back out and action picked up again. Gray still had the lead, but Hutchings wanted it as well. He officially took over halfway through the sixth lap of the race. Ryan Posocco moved into second, punting Gray into third. As they came down the backstretch on the very next lap, Tracy Brouillette got out of shape. He collected Duane Noll, sending him for a ride down to the CARQuest sign in turn three. Noll hit the wall hard, putting the field under yet another caution; only six laps into the event. After cleanup commenced, things were back to green. A three-wide fight for the lead occurred, with Hutchings still holding onto things. Gray followed in second, with third now a fight between Cook and Posocco - and you could give third to Cook. It only took two laps before the caution came out again; this time, it was a multi-car accident in turns one and two putting the field under yellow with eight laps over. On the restart, it was the same old, same old. Hutchings powered his way back into the top spot. Cook now joined the party in second. Gray and JJ Hill fought for the third spot… With Posocco also involved. Posocco moved around Gray for fourth. Deeper in the field, Fearn found his way into the safer barrier in turn one (cause: a tire down?), giving the field yet another caution. It was only ten laps into the race. The restart occurred with Hutchings once again finding the lead. Other than Gray passing Posocco for fourth, barely anything was going on. Gray and Posocco passed Hill for position; Hill was sent backwards and out of the top-five. The field finally made it to the halfway point, and it was the first time in a while that more than two laps were run before a caution came out. And that’s when the next caution came out - this time, it was for Jim Peterson, whose car seemed to catch fire without a known cause or reason. He stopped in turns three and four with no fire in sight. After it was determined that everything was okay, it was back to green. Again, the leader was Hutchings. Again, second place belonged to Gray. Now in third, however, was St. Hilaire; Posocco was pressuring him for the spot. St. Hilaire’s good run was halted with 19 laps on the board when he was shuffled back behind Rocco and in sixth. Meanwhile, both Cook and Rocco managed to get around Posocco for fourth and fifth respectively. They had six laps to get anywhere near Hutchings and Gray, however. It wasn’t going to happen barring a late-race caution. Back up front; Hutchings was giving the rest of the field a run for their money. He had a nice-sized lead over Gray for the lead. It was more than enough, and it was his second win of the year. Gray finished his nice run in second. Third belonged to Cook, while Posocco managed to squeak by a last-lap incident on the backstretch to finish fourth.

Out came the SK Lights for their feature. Zachary Aszklar was the first leader of the race, but it was less than a lap before Earl Pelletier took it from him. Jay Goff was behind both of them and in third. Four laps in, however, the battle began for the lead. The lead pack was about ten cars big. With five laps on the board, Aszklar reclaimed the lead. Erica Santos found herself in a battle for second with Pelletier, but Pelletier kept the spot. His second-place run ended with eight laps on the board when he spun in turn two. Dylan Liseo also spun, but he stopped on the backstretch. Both cars were able to get going, but the caution came out. When the restart happened, it was Matt Galko pulling into the lead. Joey Cipriano moved into second, sending Aszklar into third. That third place run didn’t last long as Thomas Barrett, Jr moved into the spot. He was almost thankful that he passed Aszklar before crossing the stripe, because Ted Cain spun coming out of turn four. The caution came out with the race close to halfway done, if not halfway already. When things calmed down, it was back to green. This was a prime opportunity for Cipriano to take the lead. Galko was right next to him, however, and there was a challenge for the lead - a quick one, though, and Cipriano maintained it. Galko attempted yet another pass, but that too failed. As a third attempt for a pass was being made, Aszklar spun in turns one and two. For the third time in the race, the caution came out… Thirteen laps in. Cipriano pulled right back into the lead on the restart, followed by… Nobody, yet. Steve Greer spun in turn one and the caution came out before the lap was completed. It was close to the same story on the restart. Cipriano originally took the lead. But a new leader emerged before the lap ended - Barrett. His tour as the leader only lasted a lap as the caution came out with six laps to go. As Galko took the lead, Cipriano went up and over Barrett. Other cars (pretty much a majority of the field) were involved in the accident in one way or another - everyone drove away. Galko’s lead continued on the restart, driving away from Tony Santangelo, who was now in second. Coming up through the field was Pelletier, who earlier in the race was somewhere in turn two. He was battling Goff for the third spot, now, all while trying to catch up to Santangelo for the runner-up spot. Santangelo pulled away from Pelletier, however, but didn’t have enough for Galko. It was Galko’s second win of the season. Santangelo was second, followed by Pelletier in third. Goff finished off the board in fourth.

Coming up next, it was the DARE Stocks. Stephanie Berardi pulled out in front and became the first leader of the race. Donald Cook and Albert Saunders raced for the second spot. Within the second lap, A. Saunders won the battle. In the very next lap, he raced Berardi for the lead. A. Saunders won the battle again; this time, he became the new leader. On the next lap, the caution came out for dirt that kicked up onto the racing surface in turn four. It was a quick caution and the restart happened in a couple of laps. The leaders fought for about a lap before A. Saunders returned to the front. Andrew Hayes found a way around Berardi for second… And so did Tony Membrino, Jr; that pass was for third. The three drivers pulled away from the rest of the field by the halfway point. With five laps to go, Hayes applied a bit of pressure on A. Saunders for the lead, and was successfully able to make the pass when they came to the line for four laps to go. Membrino had a chance to pass A. Saunders for second. As they went into turn three, that pass was good as well. Unfortunately, the caution came out with two laps go. Cory Casagrande was a bit too high in turn four and that brought out the caution as he remained stranded. It appeared as though something had broke on the car, and that was the reason why he was up high in the turn. On what was deemed to be a critical restart, Hayes went right back to the front. A. Saunders looked to take second from Membrino, and that was what happened. Kyle Casagrande joined the party, but he was in third after getting around Membrino. Back in front, it was Hayes getting his second win of the season. A. Saunders finished second. The rest of the top-four were K. Casagrande in third and Jeff Jolly in fourth.

The last race of the night was the regularly scheduled SK Modified race. If the race at the top of the program was exciting, then the race at the end of the program should have been just as great. A chain reaction started things off at the beginning of the race. Tom Bolles didn’t get started (he started on the pole) and everyone on the inside tried to find a way to maneuver around him. It failed. A multi-car incident occurred and the first caution came out with no laps on the board. Let’s try that again, shall we? Okay! It was a much better restart. Bolles came up to speed this time and was officially the first leader. Mark Bakaj was coming behind him and nearly had a chance to pass him. However, that failed and he dropped back a bit behind. Ted Christopher was coming as well and passed Bakaj for second by the fifth lap. He had a ways to go to catch up to Bolles, however, as the lead was a half straightaway‘s distance. As the laps ticked by, Christopher was catching up to Bolles. The lead that Bolles had began to shrink. By lap 15, Christopher caught up to Bolles - and a new leader emerged. Meanwhile, Sean Foster and Frank Ruocco were stranded in the grass on the frontstretch, setting up the second caution with 15 laps down. Both cars were able to drive off, but they both ended up going on pit road to check on the extent on any damage that trip through the grass may have caused. The race went back to green with Christopher still in the lead. Bolles tried to glue himself onto Christopher’s bumper, but to no avail. This gave Todd Owen motive to get around Bolles for second. He’d have to try again. Once the pass was made, the caution came out for Donny Travaglin and Chris Jones, who spun in turn one. With 19 laps down, there was another caution. They drove off and before you knew it, there was another restart… And another caution. Bolles seemed to have slowed down, with Keith Rocco getting in behind him. The whole thing started a chain reaction with half of the field involved. The caution came right back out. Things got crazy when the restart happened. The battle for the lead contained Christopher, Rocco, and Owen. Rocco moved into second, leaving Owen to do battle with Ryan Preece for third. The winner of that battle was Preece. Things seemed to calm down after that, giving people some breathing room (albeit a little, if any). A challenge for the lead ensued with ten laps to go. Rocco tried the inside groove with no success. He still kept himself close to Christopher, however, just in case he wanted to try anything else in the closing laps. Was there going to be anything else? Yes. Somewhat. But not close enough. On the final lap, Rocco tried one last move. That move worked. It was enough to give Rocco his eighth win of the season. (It was also his 17th win with at least 20 cars, putting him one win away from perfection.) Christopher finished second, with Preece getting his second straight third-place finish of the night. Owen finished in fourth.

Next week is going to be another good program. You have the second of two Late Model 100s of the season. Add in two races for the Limited Late Models, and we’ve got enough racing to make you excited. It happens weather permitting.

An Early Friday Morning News Post

Hey there. It's Friday morning. Yes, I know it's a little after two in the morning. I'm eager for what's happening later in the day, however. It's twin SK Modified races. The SK makeup race from July 16 will be the first race of the night. Then there's a little bit of qualifying. And then the usual five races are to be run. It should be all fun and games.

There's also news to report.

+ Everyone in the SK field wants to win the two races that will be run tonight. Especially Jeff Baral. He loves double feature nights. Although it's a rare occasion when it's a day/night doubleheader.

+ In the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship, a perfect season is defined by 18 wins with fields of at least 20 cars. Keith Rocco has 16 races that fit that description this year between the three Connecticut tracks. He can be Mr. Perfect in the two SK races with wins - only if he can win the first race and enough cars are able to start the second.

+ In next week's schedule, it's the second of the two bi-yearly Late Model 100s. Dillon Moltz is good in these kinds of races, especially since he's seen victory lane after some of them. This season has been a great one for him, but after missing one of the races because of an ARCA commitment, he's looking to gain some of the loss back with a strong run.

These Guys are Cats, With Their Nine Lives and Such…

(Author's Note: Sorry this is up so late! Sent this out around midnight on Monday and just forgot to post. Be on the lookout for some Tour information tomorrow!)

Stafford Speedway was about to have themselves one long and one crazy weekend. On top of two DARE Stock races - one of which was a makeup race from two weekends ago when only two of the five features ran - there was the longest race of the season for the SK Modifieds. It was the 7th annual CARQuest SK Modified 150. On top of all of it? The scoreboard didn’t want to work for the first race of the night. As they say, let the madness begin.

The action kicked off with the makeup race for the DARE Stocks. It began with Stephanie Berardi picking up the lead. Vince Gambacorta followed her pace, settling in behind her in second. The action kicked in behind them with action two wide for a few rows back. Cliff Saunders gained the advantage and fell in third. Soon enough, Gambacorta lost his spot in second as C. Saunders, Jeff Jolly, and Andrew Hayes all passed him, sticking him in fifth. The three drivers who ended up passing him started to battle for the second spot. Second wasn’t enough for Jolly, and after a quick battle with Berardi, moved into the lead. Hayes followed him along and found his way into the runner-up spot. As the race continued on, the laps ticked off. Yet with only two laps left to go in the event, the first caution occurred for Kyle Casagrande, who spun in turns one and two. It set up a critical restart that Jolly won. The battle for second started up with C. Saunders and Hayes, along with Tony Membrino, Jr. Suddenly, C. Saunders spun in turn two, losing his second spot. He was able to get going, but by the time he did so, there was one lap to go. By that time, Jolly had enough of a lead to cruise to his first win of the season. Hayes came in second, followed by Membrino and Josh Wood in that order.

The night of features was put on hold as the other four divisions had to qualify. It included about four false starts and enough wild action to pack into a single feature alone. It was clear that these people couldn’t wait until the features began to get rowdy. Yet by the time the last heat settled, everyone was calm, cool, and collected. Unfortunately, this wasn’t going to be the case for long.

After the heats and pre-night festivities, it was time for more feature action. Starting with the Limited Late Model feature. It started with Brian Clement not getting up to speed, giving Duane Provost as much access as he needed to take the lead. Jesse Hinze was forced to battle with Clement for second - it only took a lap for Hinze to make a move around him for the position. Clement’s rough night continued with two laps down as he ended up high in turn three and in distress long enough to force the first caution of the event. Other cars ended up with damage as the dust settled. What transpired out of the accident was a restart. And what happened out of the restart was Provost pulling back out front. Kevin Gambacorta and Hinze joined him. As they went into turns one and two on the very next lap, Gambacorta pulled off a move to take over as leader. Rob Dow sat in second. As for who once was the leader, Provost? Six laps into the race, he found himself spinning in turns three and four, along with Carla Botticello. It turned into caution number two as neither car was able to drive off before the yellow started to fly. Botticello ended up getting towed off the track; her night was done via way of wrecker. When the incident was cleared, the green came out. And Gambacorta went right back out to the front… With Dow following him intently. It only took a lap for the battle for the lead to happen., and it took even shorter than that for the lead to change hands to Dow. By the halfway point of the race, things began to pick up in terms of action. Dan Flannery spun in turns one and two, driving away without a caution with smoke showing (there was no problem). On the very next lap, Hinze got loose after a short battle with Andrew Durand for fourth, also in turns one and two. Again, no caution. The end of the race was less dramatic, as it ran caution-free to the end. In the end, it was Dow who won his second race of the season. Gambacorta wound up in second. Dave Yardley, III and Durand finished off the board respectively.

Up next? The SK Lights. Jay Goff was the first leader when he took the lead on the backstretch on the opening lap. Behind him, there was Heather DesRochers and Kyle Spencer, who fought for second for a good portion of three laps… Until DesRochers became the new leader. What was the reason? Goff spun in front of the whole field but just managed to keep the spin to a single car. It only took another lap for the first caution to occur. Four laps into the race, Earl Pelletier ended up slightly sideways - just enough to give Zachary Aszklar trouble. Aszklar went up in the turn four wall. David Webb also spun. All but Aszklar ended up able to drive off. During the caution, there was nerf bar issues with Joey Cipriano, who was in fourth when the caution came out, pulled onto pit road. His night was over. On the restart, a new leader emerged in Spencer. He pulled out and put a little bit of distance on the rest of the field. The field managed to cross the line to end the fifth lap when Ted Cain spun coming out of turn four. Once he spun, Victoria Bergenty had a bit of an issue and spun on the frontstretch. While she drove off, Stephen Greer ended up having to be towed off the track after he came to a stop not too far from where Bergenty spun (after slightly running into Bergenty after she spun). All of that translated into yet another caution. When the green came back out, the battle for the lead was on. It was a three-way fight for the lead between Spencer, DesRochers, with a side of Thomas Barrett, Jr in the mix. It took a lap before DesRochers regained the lead, but Spencer was still there. Unfortunately for him, DesRochers had help from Barrett and she ended up safely back into first. Barrett wasn’t done, however, and soon made a move of his own to take over the lead himself. While he began to take off and put some distance on the field, the caution came out again. Harry Wheeler ended up spinning in turn four, which ended up being the third caution at the halfway point. The restart was a short but not so careful one. Shayne Prucker spun in turns one and two, bringing out yet another caution. Joining him was Todd Clark, who seemed to drive into him. Both cars were brought to the infield on wreckers. On the restart, the fight for the lead resumed… It didn’t last long, as Barrett once again claimed the lead. He began to drive off, leaving DesRochers to fend off Spencer for second. The rest of the race was a joyride, and Barrett scored his fifth win of the season. Second was still a challenge, however. Spencer spun in turn four, leaving him off the podium. The winner of the battle for the rest of the top three was DesRochers, who held off Matt Galko for second. Pelletier, who came back from an early-race spin, finished fourth.

It appeared as though nobody was wasting time. It was time to jump straight to the main event. It was the 7th annual CARQuest SK Modified 150. Where do we begin? The start. And Eric Berndt pulling out to the lead. Sean Foster found his way into second. And behind him, it was Chris Jones in third. That was how they ran - single file, of course. Nose to bumper throughout the course of the first eight laps. Second changed hands when Jones went around Foster for second. It was the first change for position through the first tenth of the race. The first caution came out with nine laps on the board when Ryan Preece spun in turn two. And not too long after the yellow came out, the field crossed the line to complete the tenth lap. (Yes. For this race only, yellow flag laps do in fact count.) There were 13 laps on the board when the green came back out. The man who was on the move during the early laps was Frank Ruocco, who found himself in fifth on the restart. He moved up to third in a matter of a few laps. Yet during a fight for second with Jones, Ruocco ended up getting out of shape and ended up through the grass (this being as the leaders were crossing the stripe to complete the 22nd lap). He lost quite a few spots in the process. This put Jeff Malave into the third spot. From the time he was officially scored as third, it took about thirteen laps to pass Jones for second. But there was still ground to make up as Berndt - who was still the leader - was building himself a lead. Unfortunately for him, the big lead he had built up was suddenly lost. With 42 laps on the board (if this was a regular-distance feature, it would have been over), Nichole Morgillo and Ruocco spun in turns three and four, bringing out what was only the second caution. During the extra-elongated yellow, Ruocco decided to remain close to the front of the field and restarted the event a lap down yet next to the leader, who was Berndt. The restart occurred on with 49 laps on the board. Berndt claimed his lead with the certain circumstances. Malave still sat in second and was willing to challenge Berndt for the spot. When Malave did make the move, he did. He crossed the line to complete the 53rd lap as the new leader of the race. Second and third also changed, however. Second belonged to Keith Rocco while third was now Ted Christopher. They would get a free shot at Malave after the caution came out with 57 laps on the board after Mark Bakaj spun in turn four. Three laps ticked off the board before the restart occurred with 60 laps on the board. And the challenge was on. Although Malave gained the lead once again, he was challenged by a duo of contestants. They were Christopher and Rocco. With the contestants, there was trouble. While Christopher gained the lead, Rocco ended up spinning behind him. Most of the field stopped dead in their tracks, while other drivers went through the grass in the corner to avoid the melee. Some drivers received damage to their cars. In any case, it was a caution with 62 laps on the board. It was deemed that the caution came out before Christopher took over the lead, and that was how it was written. Four laps after the initial caution, the race resumed with the green. Malave drove right back to the lead. Christopher was coming, however, and with 72 laps on the board, he moved into first. Malave was not backing down without a fight. A few laps later, he tried to pass Christopher for the lead. That didn’t end well. Christopher spun after contact. The field ducked and dodged all over the place, sending the race into caution mode. Under the caution, Malave ended up being black flagged, giving Berndt the lead back. With the lap-78 restart, Berndt repulled into the lead. Preece found his way into second. And back up into third was Ruocco (who was coming back through the field again after being involved in a few earlier incidents). Back up in front, Preece looked for the lead. He made the pass with 80 laps on the board, sending Berndt back into second. He lost that spot after Ruocco passed him for the position, and now it was Ruocco who was hunting Preece pulling ahead of Ruocco. There was a battle for third between Berndt and Jeff Baral... And Baral took over the spot. Meanwhile, Ruocco was ready to take the lead from Preece. He did, and became the new leader at the lap 98 point of the race. There was still a bit of worry whether he could keep the lead or not, because Preece and Baral were on his tail. They’d get a crack at him after a lap-102 caution cut the run short. Quite a few cars ended up in distress on the frontstretch, sending the race back under yellow. After the cleanup, the restart occurred with 109 laps down with a lead change - Preece passed Ruocco on the outside groove to take over the lead again. Only four laps passed until the next caution came out (113 laps down on the board). It was because John Montesanto was high in turn four after battling with Rocco for position. His car was taken off the track hammock style. 118 laps into the race, there was another restart. And again, Preece regained the lead. Second was now in possession of Baral, but the fight was still going. In fourth was Foster, who was about to join in on the battle for second… And he ended up spinning in turn four, bringing the caution out with 120 laps on the board. It was a quick caution, and the restart occurred with 124 laps on the board. Preece assumed the position once again, yet it was a short lead for him as Ruocco was coming. After taking over second on the restart, he passed Preece for the lead only a lap later. It seemed as though if Ruocco was going to keep the lead, but he was going to be pressured by Preece the whole time. Right behind them (in case anything happened between the top two cars) was Rocco, who had been involved in cautions earlier in the race himself. So far, there hadn’t been any cause for him to take over the lead. It was still a desperate battle between Ruocco and Preece. And the laps seemed as though they were slowly ticking down. Rocco joined in on the chaos, and with only eight laps to go, it was now a three-car fight for the lead (and win, if it went green the rest of the way). Behind all three of them, Baral was also coming. Still, it seemed as though it was going to be down to only three cars - Ruocco, Preece, and Rocco. On the last lap, Preece tried to make a daring move to pass Ruocco for what was going to be the win. But it was too little, too late and for the second time in the three years, it was Ruocco picking up the win. Preece finished second, followed by Rocco in third. In fourth was Baral.

Guess who was back after that? The DARE Stocks, who were now racing their regularly-scheduled feature. It was no repeat of the race they had earlier in the evening. It kicked off with Stephanie Berardi in the lead, followed by Cliff Saunders. Vince Gambacorta sat comfortably behind them. By the fourth lap, there was a change in the lead. Josh Wood ended up taking the lead, followed by Kyle Casagrande. The first caution came out with four laps as well when Kaitlyn Brice spun in turns one and two. On the restart, Wood put himself back out in front. K. Casagrande still sat in second. And the twins (C. Saunders and Albert Saunders) were also there as well. A quick battle for fourth, however saw Cory Casagrande pass A. Saunders for fourth. As the ninth lap was completed, the caution came out again. It was for Joseph McCallister, who was stranded in the grass in turn four after blowing up in smoke. The green came back out and again, it was Wood getting the lead. Brothers K. Casagrande and C. Casagrande were following behind him - but the problem was that both of them already had the maximum two wins apiece. That opened the door so that Wood could cross the line to pick up his second win of the season. K. Casagrande followed him to the line in second, with C. Casagrande in third and A. Saunders in fourth.

Finally, it was time for the sixth (and last) race of the year. It belonged to the Late Models. After a quick dragrace, it was Adam Gray getting the lead. Tom Fearn managed to put himself into second. Woody Pitkat was also in the mix, and after getting around Gray for second, he turned his attention to the second leader of the race - Fearn. He closed in and took advantage of Fearn after Fearn got loose coming out of turn four before crossing the line to close off the sixth lap of the race. The lead change was made, and the new leader became Pitkat. It wasn’t long after the lead change that the first caution came out (eight laps in). John Kasper and Tony Lafo seemed to be glued to each other (in all fairness, they were stuck together). Either way, Kasper practically towed Lafo to pit lane. In the process, the caution came out. When they separated themselves, the caution ended and the restart occurred. It wasn’t a pretty sight for Gray, because he ended up spinning as soon as the green flew. He lost a few positions in the process. Back out front, the second spot had a new occupant in Mark St. Hilaire. He had a ways to go before he could catch up to leader Pitkat, who had built himself a nice lead. Unfortunately, he lost it as the second caution came out with 11 laps on the board for Sylvia Crunden, who had spun. A series of events occurred on the restart - case in point, St. Hilaire attempted to take over the lead. He did, but the caution came right back out when Don Acker, Jr was high in turns one and two. They were going to do the restart all over again. Was it going to be better? The answer was yes. Pitkat regained the lead, with teammate Corey Hutchings taking over second from St. Hilaire. Thankfully the restart was better, because they only completed two laps until the caution came out again (12 laps on the board) - the reason for the caution was because Jim Peterson and Tom Butler spun in turns one and two. This put the teammates on the front row when the restart happened. Pitkat pulled right back out to the front, with Hutchings following him. As Pitkat started to build yet another lead, second was now up for grabs. Scott Cook had challenged Hutchings for second, and before long, it was Cook getting the spot. Everything then seemed fine and dandy… That was until there was 18 laps on the board. Michael Bennett just shot right up the racetrack in turn three, spun, and hit the barrier. The caution came out immediately. But because the barrier was beat up a bit more than it should have, the red flag came out. The wait was on, but after 23 minutes, the yellow flag returned. Two laps of yellow later, it was back to green. On the restart, Pitkat returned to the front. Cook was right behind, with Ryan Posocco pressuring him from behind. With 19 laps on the board, the next caution occurred when Walt Wosko, Jr spun in turns three and four. It was going to be a quick caution and the green came out not too long after. Cook had problems on the restart, giving Pitkat full advantage to regain the lead. Posocco moved into second, followed by JJ Hill. This lasted all of… A lap. Again, the caution was coming out. This time, it was with ten laps left. Butler was the one who spun, and this time, he spun in turns one and two. He got going again after the yellow came out, and it was once again a quick caution. Were these guys getting any more than one lap done with the next restart? They were going to try to. Pitkat reclaimed the lead, followed by a side by side battle between Posocco and Hill. Hill picked up the second spot, now with Keith Rocco on his bumper. Rocco was ready to challenge Hill for second, and he ultimately picked up the spot - but not with Hill behind him, but rather, Posocco. They had nothing for Pitkat, however, and his large distanced lead was enough to give him the win. Rocco finished ahead of Posocco for second. Hill finished off the board.

Next week? Even more interesting than this one. How? The Whelen Modified Tour is back. They’ll have a 150-lap main event on their hands. It should be nice. It’s going to happen… Weather permitting.

Action With a Chance of Rain

The number of weeks leading up to the July 23rd SK Modified 150 have diminished. It was officially a week away. Before that, Stafford had one last regular program on their hands, featuring the five weekly divisions. Besides action, there was a chance of something else in the air. Rain. By the end of the heats, it was coming. Was it going to hit before the features were up? The race was on… Literally and figuratively.

First up was the SK Lights. It began with Jay Goff powering his way into the lead. He wasn’t alone, as Heather DesRochers joined him and promptly passed him to take over on the same lap - the first. DesRochers began to pull away from the rest of the field. Behind her, Goff and Erica Santos started the battle for second. Santos picked up the spot. Further back in the field, Victoria Bergenty and John Hanafin slowed down a bit after contact down the backstretch. Hanafin seemed to find Frank Cardile, who ended up high in the turn three area of the track. And thus, the first caution came out with only three laps on the board. On the restart, DesRochers pulled back out to the top spot. Santos and Joey Cipriano were also in the mix. It was a three-way fight for the lead. It wasn’t going to last long. One lap after the restart, with four laps down, Tony Santangelo was in the grass in turn two (with a presumed flat tire). David Webb was stuck in turn three. Both cars were stranded and the caution came right back out. Matt Galko came down onto pit road with problems of his own, and he was forced out of the race as he was also involved (slightly) in the latest yellow. The action resumed on the restart, where DesRochers wasn’t done leading the event. Behind her, it was still a fight between Santos and Cipriano. Add Thomas Barrett, Jr, who was running in fourth, and it was officially anyone’s race. Cipriano dropped to the inside lane to challenge DesRochers for the lead. He got it with nine laps down. Barrett found his way into second, and Santos managed to get into third, sending DesRochers into fourth by the halfway point. With six laps left in the race, the two young drivers began to race for the lead. Cipriano chose the outside lane; Barrett chose the inside lane. The inside lane was the better of the two lanes, and with five laps to go, Barrett became the third leader of the race. The last five laps ran smoothly, and Barrett scored his fourth win of the season. Cipriano ended up second, with Santos in third and DesRochers in fourth.

Up next, it was the Late Models. A dragrace down the frontstretch occurred between JJ Hill and Adam Gray. Hill won the fight and became the leader. A mess ensued with most of the field over the course of the first two laps of the race. Michael Bennett pulled away from the bonsai moves and found himself in second. Behind them, the action brewed to a point where Keith Rocco and Corey Hutchings got together on the backstretch and ended up wrecked by turn three. There was no debate; yellow was the way to go. As the green came back out, Hill found his way back to the lead. Ryan Posocco joined him and got around him on the very next lap. Dillon Moltz managed to get into second, punting Hill back into third. As first (Posocco) and second (Moltz) were beginning to pull away from the rest of the field and the chaos, everyone had been fighting for position behind them. Third was highly contested, belonging to Gray at one point and Scott Cook not too long afterward. Things eventually settled down once Cook moved into third, and it was pretty much quiet for a while. The race slowed down with thirteen laps down when the caution came out. It was for debris which came from an incident on the backstretch involving Tom Butler and Woody Pitkat. Even though those involved in the aforementioned incident kept racing, the debris was posing a hazard and it was to be removed as soon as possible. It was removed, and the racing action resumed. Posocco claimed his spot once again. Moltz was again in second, with Cook still in third… For the time being. A change in position changed that, and Bennett now claimed that spot. A bit further back in the field, Gray went around in turns three and four. As he was about to get going again, track officials found his attempt to be too late and threw the caution with ten laps to go. On the restart, things picked up where they left off - Posocco was in the lead. Bennett now found himself in second and had begun to hunt down Posocco. On the last lap, Bennett made a last ditch effort to make a move… Two efforts, really. None of them worked, and Posocco picked up the win. Bennett had to settle for second. Moltz and Jim Peterson finished off the board.

Things became pretty chaotic after that. As the Late Model race progressed, the line of storms that was coming eventually did come. Cloud to ground lightning and strong winds postponed the action, and on and off rain made for long waits in an attempt to dry the track. The coup de grace happened when the power was knocked out. That cancelled any plans of getting the remainder of the program in. The three divisions that didn’t get a chance to run were rescheduled accordingly:

• The DARE Stock race was moved to this upcoming Friday - July 23.
• The Limited Late Model race was moved to next Friday - July 30.
• The SK Modified race was moved to August 13.
  

All races are tacked on to their respective new weeks for the price of the original night’s program. The extra DARE Stock race is a part of the 7th annual SK Modified 150. It’s the longest event for the SK Modifieds over the course of the 2010 season. And all six races happen weather permitting.

Extreme Tuesday Results

On a Wednesday. Yes, sorry, but this is what happens when it's a hot and busy week here in New England. When is that cooler weather coming, by the way?

Anyway, here are the results of the CARQuest Extreme Tuesday. I didn't go, so you're getting them in press release and YouTube form. Both link and video are courtesy of the track. Neither are mine.

The press release (includes full finish results)

The video


Stay tuned for tomorrow. I've got something special I want to show you.

Extreme Tuesday News

Hi. It's now Tuesday on the East Coast. Today, Stafford will have their Extreme Tuesday program. It's a special night at the track, and it deserves to have some special stories for you.

Both of these are from Thursday.

+ In the ISMA department, Rob Summers is partnering up with Holbrook Racing. He is also partnering with Russ Wood, another previous winner of the ISMA race at Stafford.

+ In the NEMA department, Erica Santos wants to return to victory lane, where she won the event back in 2007.

Late Stories

I've been slacking a little bit, and I'm sorry (I blame a few things right now that I'll regret to admit if I say them). I'll give you a few links from last week and then the weekly recap.

From the Stafford site - a story about Kyle Casagrande looking for the DARE Stock track championship and a story about the ISMAs coming for the July 6 special program.

SK 100 Pictorial

Nothing much to say here. I've got a couple of photos from the SK Modified 100 from Friday night.

“It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again…”

June 11 signaled yet another big night at Stafford. This week, however, it belonged to one of the five weekly divisions that grace the half-mile - the division was the SK Modifieds, and the event was the first of two extra-distance events for them on the season. The event in question? The 37th annual Coors Light SK Modified 100. Not only was it more than double the usual distance that the division usually runs (40 laps), but on this day, it was a milestone event as well. It was the 500th SK race in the history of the track.

But there were some features before the main event began.

First up, the DARE Stocks. It started with a dragrace down the frontstretch between James Carroll and Stephanie Berardi. Carroll gained the lead, with Berardi now involved in a three-wide fight for second along with Nicholas Salva and another car. Salva won the fight for second. Cliff Saunders found himself in third, while Cory Casagrande moved into fourth. Meanwhile, Carroll and Salva were fighting for the lead. It wasn’t until Salva managed to get around Carroll that the fun started. Both C. Saunders and C. Casagrande went around Carroll, but that wasn’t the end of it. C. Saunders passed C. Casagrande for second, and it was his turn to fight for the lead. Both C. Saunders and Salva almost were directly side-by-side until they made contact and ended up high into turn four. They both remained up to speed, but the lead was given to C. Casagrande in the process. The battle for position now involved three different drivers, including Tony Membrino, Jr, who was now in second, Kyle Casagrande, who ended up in third, and Albert Saunders; now in fourth. K. Casagrande was looking for second when the first caution came out for Carroll, who hit the wall in turn two with only four laps to go. On the restart, another fight was on between C. Casagrande and Membrino. C. Casagrande managed to pull out to retain the lead. K. Casagrande was also in the mix and was now in second. Don Wood moved into third. The top three began to pull away from the battling pack. But even with Josh Wood spinning in turn two on the last lap, nothing was going to slow C. Casagrande down. He’d take his second win of the season. K. Casagrande finished second, with D. Wood in third and Membrino in fourth.

The Limited Late Models were the next division to go out. Duane Provost and Jesse Hinze were side-by-side for the first part of the first lap until Hinze pulled away as the leader. Rob Dow sat in second, with Andrew Durand moving into third. As for Provost? He was moving backwards through the field. The battle for third began and ended with six laps on the board when Dan Flannery passed Durand for the spot. Dave Yardley, III also passed Durand; but that was for fourth. The first came out with seven laps on the board, when Joe Nogiec spun in turn two. When the green came back out, it was Hinze moving out front once again. Flannery paraded into second (along with Durand in third), and for the first five cars, the field ran single file. Flannery made the move for the lead with nine laps down. Hinze started to fall backwards as Durand, Yardley, and others passed him for positions. Unfortunately, the field slowed down once again. Nogiec was involved in a second caution with twelve laps down, when he found himself against the wall in turns one and two. The race got back underway with Flannery and Durand fighting for the lead. Flannery managed to take it back. Second was now Yardley’s, followed by Carla Botticello, who was now shown in third, and Kevin Gambacorta. A battle for third with four laps to go sent Botticello, Durand, and Gambacorta around. Botticello was able to get going, but the other two drivers weren’t able to do the same and the caution came out once again. (They were able to drive away from the caution scene, however.) During the caution, Botticello needed to be towed off of the track. But back to green, and it was a fight for first between Flannery and Yardley. Flannery pulled out in front again, and he slightly pulled away from Yardley. The lead was enough, and he won his third race of the season. In second, it was Yardley. Michael Wray finished third, with Dow ending up in fourth.

The Late Models were next. Keith Rocco plowed his way into the lead, with John Kasper sitting cozy in second. Jim Mavlouganes found himself in third, and beyond that, save for a few spots midpack, the field was one straight line. Back to front, Rocco began to create a lead between himself and second place Mavlouganes and third place Scott Cook. The battle for fourth was hot with five laps on the board, between three different cars. Ryan Posocco moved into that spot. The yellow came out with six laps completed as Joe Rzeszutek was crawling at a snail’s pace coming out of turn four. He eventually ended up stranded on the frontstretch, and on top of that, he had left a trail of liquid starting in the turn three area. After extensive cleanup, the green was back out and Rocco was back out in front. Unfortunately for him, he had Posocco behind him in second after passing Mavlouganes for the spot. And instead of one car slightly pulling away, it was two cars slightly pulling away - the top two cars. Battles for positions were deeper into the field, starting around the fifth spot. By the time the field completed 10 laps, the field became silent. Noise erupted with 13 laps down when Jim Peterson moved into third, passing Mavlouganes, followed by Michael Bennett, who also passed Mavlouganes (though that was for fourth). Bennett was not done; with ten laps to go, he managed to pass Peterson for third. But back up to front, the fight for the lead was on. Posocco made the charge and passed Rocco with only five laps to go. Over the course of the last five laps, he pulled way from the rest of the field, and he would come to the line to take his first win of the season. Rocco finished second. Bennett finished third, while Peterson ended in fourth.

The SK Lights would be next. Although four cars ended up bunched with each other going into turn one, Earl Pelletier was the winner of the fight and managed to get the lead. Kyle Spencer was on his bumper. And coming up on Spencer’s bumper? Frank Cardile. Things appeared to be all quiet through the field, but suddenly, trouble ensued. Heather DesRochers's car broke and careened up into the wall in turn three, where it came to a stop meters from where it originally hit the wall. With only seven laps down, the caution came out. After the cleanup, it was back to racing. Pelletier and Spencer fought for the top spot. By the time they got to the line to complete the lap, the lead was Pelletier’s. In second was now Cardile. Third was contested between Spencer and Thomas Barrett, Jr - and Barrett picked up the spot. With 11 laps down, a new leader emerged after a lead change. Cardile. As he began to pull away, the caution came out once again. This time, it was for debris in turns one and two. Anthony Flannery was also in trouble on the backstretch, and he was towed off the track. As the green came back out, it looked like Barrett had the lead. But it was for naught and Cardile gained the lead back. Barrett had his hands full with Joey Cipriano, who made his way to third. But second still belonged to Barrett. The heat was on. Almost. Tommy Membrino, Jr had problems and ended up in the wall by turns three and four (along with another car), prompting another caution with only four laps to go. And as the green returned, Barrett didn’t get up to speed, giving Cardile a free pass back to the lead. Cipriano was now sitting in second. The lead, however, was a bit too much. Cardile picked up his second win of the season, followed by Cipriano, Jay Goff, and John Hanafin respectively.

Finally, it was time for the SK Modified 100. It started with Brit Andersen moving into the front spot from the outside row, with Josh Sylvester following right behind. Before J. Sylvester was able to make a bid for the lead, the action was halted with only a lap on the board. Three cars were piled up in the turn three area - Jeff Baral, Matt Gallo, and Frank Ruocco. Yellow changed to red because of excessive cleanup; a bit more than originally thought of. After everything was cleaned and the yellow returned, the green came out Andersen returned to the top spot. But it wasn’t an easy task. J. Sylvester was right next to him and Chris Jones was behind them. By the lap three mark, J. Sylvester picked up the lead. Only one lap later (four on the board), a multi-car spin occurred, including Woody Pitkat and many others. A very obvious caution came out for it. On the restart, J. Sylvester pulled back out to front. Jones joined him and passed him for the lead. With nine laps on the board, second changed hands from J. Sylvester to Dan Avery. Ted Christopher moved into third along the way, but wasn’t done yet as he took second from Avery. Keith Rocco joined the fray in fourth. The strong run of Christopher wasn’t over yet, and by the time 16 laps were completed, he found himself going around Jones and into the lead. But things were abruptly put to a halt when Raymond Grassetti was stranded at the top of turn two, setting up a caution with only 17 laps down. A dogfight ensued on the restart between the two leaders. Christopher regained the lead by turn three. Rocco found himself in second, but the caution came right back out with 18 laps out of the way for debris in the turn one area. The green ultimately came back and Christopher moved back out to front. Rocco was right on his bumper and was looking to take the lead from Christopher. At the lap 20 mark, Rocco powered back in front. Lead change two occurred with 22 laps down on the board, when Christopher took the lead right back from Rocco. Rocco was not done and reclaimed the lead with a quarter of the race out of the way. (The third lead change between the two drivers alone.) The fun was put on temporary hiatus when Adam Skowyra spun in turn four with 26 laps down. The restart was going to be interesting. The leaders battled for the lead until Rocco stuck it. Again, Christopher wasn’t going to back down, and the fourth change between the two happened with 27 laps down. Was there going to be more drama? Yes. Another caution with 29 laps on the board, when Vincent Anglace and Jones spun in turn four. Drama resumed on the restart, when Christopher powered back into the lead and people behind him checked up. Eric Berndt was joining the lead group party as he challenged Rocco for second. It wasn’t enough; Rocco claimed second. And with 31 laps on the board, lead change five occurred when Rocco took over the lead. The lead was short-lived. Another lap, and another lead change by Christopher (six between the drivers) - he was back out in front. 35 laps were completed when the seventh lead change between Christopher and Rocco occurred when Rocco retook the lead. Also on that lap? Another caution. It was for fluid on the track, starting in the turn one and two area and going all around the track. Once everything was cleaned up, it was the return of the green flag. It was lead change eight for a slight moment, but Rocco denied him to retake the lead. The eighth lead change eventually did happen - with 39 laps on the board, when Christopher took back over. The next caution to fly came out with an exact SK Modified feature in the record books, when Sean Foster spun in turn four. The green came back out and it was a three-car fight for first. Christopher claimed the lead, but guess who was right behind him? Rocco, who was looking to retake the lead again. Deeper into the field, Zach Sylvester was coming, battling Avery for fifth. He eventually got the position (45 laps on the board when the position change was official). Everything slowed one only one lap later, when Foster was seen in turn two backwards - the caution was coming out again. The green was also coming out again. It was another fight for first, and the ninth lead change occurred between the two frontrunners when Rocco went back out into front. Behind them, Pitkat found himself in third after passing Berndt for the spot. Meanwhile, Christopher wasn’t done chasing #88, and with 52 laps on the board, the tenth lead change happened. Eleven wasn’t too far behind, and that change happened on the very next lap when Rocco passed Christopher. And again, it was only a lap before the next change happened. It was a quick fight, but Christopher regained the lead almost that quickly. That was the track record (twelve). Could they take the record (thirteen)? Yes. Rocco regained the lead coming to the line to finish 57 laps. It officially became a track record, because the caution came out again (after the fact) for Jones and Andersen, who spun on the backstretch with the same amount of laps on the board. It was already a chaotic first half of the race - could it be even more chaotic? It appeared as though the answer was yes, but the answer was no when Rocco kept the lead tight. They weren’t alone in this fight, however, as Pitkat was also involved in the battle. But he wasn’t as close. Meanwhile, Christopher was looking to take the lead again. Was he going to do it? Yes. Lead change fourteen occurred as they crossed the line for lap 66. 68 laps clicked off the board when Rocco decided that fourteen lead changes between the leaders wasn’t enough, and he made it fifteen. It would be a while before the next caution (72 laps down) when Jones blew up in a puff of smoke. Also having problems was Jeff Malave, who ended up stalled in turn four after having something go wrong coming down the backstretch. The liquid was cleaned up and the green was back out. Rocco had the advantage, leaving Christopher to fend off both Pitkat and Berndt. Fortunately for Christopher, he was able to do just that, and he was drawing closer to Rocco, looking for the lead. The hoping was put on hold because of the next caution, with 77 laps on the board, as Z. Sylvester was stranded up at the top of turn four. On the restart, Rocco pulled back out into first. Christopher was still in second. Pitkat and Berndt were still fighting for third; Pitkat won the spot with 79 laps on the board. Once that was achieved, things quieted down once again. Barely a battle for position anywhere. As the laps ticked by, positions among the top ten changed hands (fifth and seventh). It seemed like the race was about over; Rocco was pulling away from Christopher, but it wasn’t over yet. The caution came out with three laps to go in the event when Grassetti ended up stranded in turn two after coming into contact with the wall in turn one. The upcoming restart was going to tell the story. Rocco regained the lead. Second was between Christopher and Pitkat... And the winner of second was Pitkat. But he wasn’t able to catch up to Rocco, who pulled away from the rest of the field to win his fourth race of the season (and back-to-back SK Modified 100s). Pitkat ended up in second, with Christopher in third and Berndt in fourth.

June 18 is the out-of-school edition of the season, where there will be five Whelen All-American series divisional races on the track, and a fireworks display set to music above it. All of it goes down weather permitting.

SK 100 Purse

Kind of a light week right now, getting ready for the SK 100 taking place Friday night. There is something I want to show you, however, and that comes courtesy of the track's site. It's the purse for the event.

Click here to check out the money distribution (a picture will come up).

You’re Going to Need That Hood Trophy, There

For the first time in the early Stafford season, all five weekly divisions were racing on the same night. But unlike most weeks, this one was special. Another extra distance race was looming… This time, the special race belonged to the Late Models. On most nights, they race 30-laps. On the first Friday of May, they were to race 100 laps. With more than triple the number of laps they had to run, what kinds of strategies were going to be in play? And which drivers were going to take advantage of those strategies, use them to their advantage, and make a bid to win? Those questions would be answered later in the night.

Before the feature in question (and other regularly scheduled ones), there were two last chance qualifiers for the SK Modifieds. Once they were done, the feature races were underway.

First to get going on the night were the Limited Late Models. Jesse Hinze powered into the lead in the beginning, with Carla Botticello running in second. Michael Wray was right behind them in third. It took one lap for a battle for position to get started, with Botticello and Wray fighting for second; Botticello would keep it. Wray had his hands full with George Nocera, Jr for third, and with three laps on the board, third went to Nocera. Nocera was not done looking to move up, and decided to challenge Botticello for second - he’d ultimately win that battle. Botticello was now challenged by Wray for third. She ended up winning the battle and began to distance herself slightly from Wray. Meanwhile, Hinze was still leading the race, with Nocera right on his heels. There were about two car lengths between first and second. Back to third, Botticello was still getting pestered for position - this time, by Dan Flannery. Halfway through the race, the real battle for position was midpack. Botticello found herself in slight trouble and fell backward through the field. Her bad luck continued as 11 laps were completed when she brought out the first caution of the event as she spun in turn two. The race went back to green with Nocera squeaking out into the lead, now with Hinze and Flannery in battle for second. They were side by side coming to the line, with Flannery just barely in second as the two drivers crossed the start line to complete the lap. Kevin Gambacorta and Shawn Thibeault joined the party as well; both managing to get around Hinze for third and then fourth. Unfortunately, the caution came out again with five laps to go when Gambacorta and Brian Clement spun in turn four. Hinze was giving Flannery a bump when the green returned, but it was no use and Nocera was back out in front. Flannery fell back in second, with Thibeault still in third. The top three and Hinze - the fourth place car - raced single file for the remainder of the race. There were slight challenges by Flannery, but in the end, Nocera picked up his first win of the season. Flannery finished second, with Thibeault in third and Hinze finishing in fourth.

After the race, it was found that Nocera’s car was too light on the scales. He was disqualified because of that, and the new top four became Flannery, Thibeault, Hinze, and Dave Yardley, III.

Next up on the docket was the feature belonging to the SK Lights. It started with Harry Wheeler and Heather DesRochers fighting for the lead early. DesRochers was sent backwards through the field. Kyle Spencer was now challenging Wheeler for the lead, but Wheeler moved to the outside coming into turn three to try to pick the lead back up, which he did. But Spencer was persistent, and was able to claim the lead again - and this was all in the first lap of the race! The field settled down slightly in the next two laps, but three laps into the event, Wheeler found himself spinning down the backstretch, along with Ted Cain. The caution was coming out. After an interesting three laps to open the event, the green came back out, with Spencer still in front. David Webb moved into second, with a battle between Jay Goff and Erica Santos for third. Joey Cipriano was in the mix as well, finishing off the top five cars. Santos and Goff were still fighting for a podium spot, with neither driver letting off. Santos managed to get the spot. Goff was left to fight with Cipriano for fourth - the position was won by Cipriano. With about eight laps finished, Chad Trombley spun in turns one and two. He was able to fire the car up before a caution came out. Meanwhile, the top three cars were still fighting for position. Webb was able to get the lead at the halfway point, and the new second place car was Santos. Spencer’s night went from good to bad when he ended up on the road course portion of the backstretch, ending his chances for a good finish. No caution came out for it. During the final five laps in the race, lap traffic was going to be key. The top drivers managed to get around them, and while there was a fight for second between Santos and Cipriano, it was Webb picking up the win. Santos managed to beat Cipriano for second. Goff finished in fourth.

Up next, it was pit crews. Which only meant one thing - it was time for the longer features to get underway. The SK Modifieds were next. The front row was Ted Christopher and Frank Ruocco, and it was a short battle for the lead that Christopher happened to win. Mark Bakaj fell third and Dan Avery moved into fourth after a quick little fight for the spot. A little further back, Woody Pitkat powered into fifth (earlier in the night, he had problems with the transmission). While all that was going on, the first caution occurred when six or seven cars got together in turns three and four, ending with Josh Sylvester flying over another car. All of that set up a definite yellow with only three laps in the race. When the green came back out, it was Christopher getting back out to front, with Ruocco settling into second. That happened to be the gist of things when the caution was flown again - again, with three laps on the board. Nichole Morgillo was stopped on the backstretch, coming out of turn two. There was no doubt that the yellow was being presented again. This set up another restart, where there was a battle for the lead. Christopher once again picked up the lead, and yet again, it was short lived. Caution three came out for Matt Gallo, after spinning in turn two and not getting the car fired up again to go. Speaking of getting “fired up”, the field was getting fired up for yet another restart. The result was the same as the last three. Christopher in first, Ruocco in second. Battle for position was between Avery and Keith Rocco for fourth, which Rocco won. But soon, there was another battle for position. It was for the lead, and it took a bit of time to get the job done, but with six laps on the board, Ruocco managed to get around Christopher for the lead. Christopher was not about to back down, and there was another challenger ready to jump into the fray. That driver was Rocco. They were bumper to nose until it looked like sparks came from Christopher, giving Ruocco some distance to work with. It wasn’t a lot, but for the moment, it had to do. Christopher tried to get the lead back from Ruocco, but again, he couldn’t pull it off. Rocco tried to contend for position, but he remained sitting close to the top two while racing in third. Rocco was ready to move into second, and he did so as they made it to halfway. And while Rocco was about to challenge Ruocco for first, the caution flew for another spin - this time, it was for Brad Hietala. It set up a really important midrace restart. Ruocco and Rocco were side by side for about half a lap before Ruocco pulled ahead. Rocco and Christopher now fought for second and third, with Zach Sylvester in that fight for position. Christopher moved into second, but the caution came out with 23 laps on the board when he ended up around in turn four. The other loser of that caution was Rocco, who was black flagged for sending him around in the first place. Benefiting from that was Z. Sylvester, who took over second. Jeff Malave moved into third, with Avery returning to the board in fourth. Z. Sylvester couldn’t do much in terms of challenging Ruocco when the restart occurred. But it didn’t look like he was willing to give up, although there was a little bit of distance between the two drivers. That minimal but subtle distance was erased with 29 laps down. Hietala ended up spinning again in turn two, bringing out another caution. On the restart, it was Ruocco back out in front, with Malave and Z. Sylvester battling for spots. Malave took over second over Z. Sylvester. Meanwhile, Rocco was coming again, passing anyone he could get around. By lap 33, he made it back into fourth when he passed Ryan Preece for position. On the last lap, Rocco went around Jeff Baral for third, but to take the win, it was Ruocco. Malave ended second, with Rocco in third and Baral in fourth.

The proverbial main event was next - the Lincoln Tech Late Model 100. The action got underway when Michael Bennett took the lead, while Tim Fogg hit the frontstretch wall, taking out John Morgillo, Jr in the process. A full lap didn’t finish before the caution came out for the first time, meaning Bennett was going to restart the race on the outside of the front row. The restart was cleaner, and he was back out in front. Tracy Brouillette was busy with Ryan Posocco in a fight for second - and it was a fight that Posocco happened to win. Brouillette now had Tom Butler on his back bumper. But everything was erased when Fernando Ilha spun in turns three and four, bringing out another caution. The front row on the restart was Bennett and Posocco, and things looked fine. But in all honesty, they weren’t. The hood of Keith Rocco flew right off of the car and got a bit of air before landing semi-safely (one car may have gotten a piece of it) on the frontstretch. Obvious debris brought out an obvious caution with the lap not completed yet. The next restart was safer than that, with Bennett and Posocco fighting for the lead, and it took a full lap to determine that Bennett was getting the lead. Posocco and Butler were challenging each other for position, but it was realized that they weren’t alone. Woody Pitkat moved into third, past Posocco after the five lap mark. It looked like both Pitkat and Posocco were gaining position with seven laps down, but the caution once again came out for Ilha, spinning in the same spot he spun in earlier - turns three and four. It set up another restart with four Stafford residents in the first two rows. Bennett powered back to the lead, with Pitkat now in second. Jim Peterson saw himself in third, with Corey Hutchings in fourth (Posocco was on his bumper). Ten laps passed before Posocco returned to fourth, getting around Hutchings. Back up front, Pitkat made the pass for the lead, and the second leader of the race emerged on lap 17. The leaders approached the beginning of the lapped traffic starting around lap 25, and they managed to get around them easily. Everything else remained pretty quiet after that, but on lap 31, a change for fourth occurred as Dillon Moltz got past Posocco for the spot. Over the course of that position change, Bennett reeled in Pitkat for the lead. Peterson was caught by both Moltz and Posocco. Positions were swapped once again, as both Moltz and Posocco did in fact get by Peterson for third and fourth respectively. Peterson was dropped to fifth. The leaders encountered more drivers on the tail end of the lead lap on lap 42. As they were weaving their way through the traffic, the caution came out for Duane Noll, who spun in turn four. After a long green flag run, the field was bunched up for the first time in about forty laps. And when the green was back out, Pitkat was back out in front. Moltz fought Bennett for second, and managed to take the position easily. Posocco slipped into third, and Hutchings moved into fourth; Bennett fell back into fifth. Moltz was ready to challenge Pitkat for the lead - and so was Posocco, though the third place Posocco fell back slightly. A little further back, Bennett retook fourth from Hutchings. That was the running order on lap 54, when the caution came out for a sixth time as Doug Blowers, Jr, who spun in turn four. This set up a restart where Pitkat retook the lead and things were going on behind him. The next two or three cars in line were fighting for position, but it was all for naught as another caution occurred. It was for Dave Wray, who spun coming out of turn four and ended up trying to collect a few cars in the process. The concept of taking other cars out was accidental. A lap was not completed before the caution came out. The field was going to try the restart again. They did. Pitkat moved into the first spot again, with Moltz on his heels. Bennett was once again in the thick of things, now in third place over Posocco and Hutchings. It was sixty laps into the race when Bennett’s night ended in a rough way - broken and sitting under the video screen coming out of turn two. It all led to caution eight on the night. Under the caution, Butler made another one of his many stops onto pit road in the process. It looked like his night wasn’t going to end well, either, but he drove away. Bennett wasn’t so lucky. He remained on pit road as the field took the restart. Pitkat and Moltz once again fought for position, with Posocco also in the mix. Pitkat once again moved to the lead, with Posocco now in second, Hutchings took over third from Moltz, who was now sitting in fourth. That didn’t last long, and Moltz retook the third spot from Hutchings. Coming up through the field to sit in fifth was Rocco; hood intact from an early yellow. The rough night of Butler continued as he got loose in turn four, creating a bit of chaos and sending a traffic cone out into the path of the traffic. The next caution came out on lap 72 for John Chapin, who ended up high in turns three and four. The ninth caution set up yet another restart, and there was now less than a regular 30-lap feature left. Pitkat and Posocco fought for position again, and Pitkat won the battle for the lead. Posocco fell into second, with Moltz again close behind them. In all fairness, the top five cars hadn’t changed positions until lap 81, when Tom Fearn moved around Rocco for fifth. Within the next nine laps, the leaders encountered more lapped traffic. Times getting around the track with the traffic involved favored Pitkat over Moltz (who found himself back to second). Everything changed with three laps to go, however, when another caution wiped out the lead that Pitkat had gained. Hutchings had come to a stop up on the top of turn four. A crucial restart was in order. But that was going to be after a red flag to check the track for any hidden debris and hot laps when the yellow came back out. Let the drama and the restart begin. Pitkat once again got out front, and Posocco now took over second. Moltz was dropped to fourth. He wasn't down for the count just yet, and he gained spots and made his way back up to second. As Rocco sat idly in turns one and two, Pitkat picked up the win. Moltz finished second, with Posocco in third and Fearn in fourth.

Concluding the night? The DARE Stocks. Vince Gambacorta picked up the lead early, but that lasted about two turns as Cliff Saunders and Jeff Jolly flew by him. Jolly became the new leader, and he soon had the twins behind him - C. Saunders and Albert Saunders. A. Saunders fell back a bit, leaving C. Saunders to challenge Jolly. A. Saunders kept dropping further into the field (not too far, however), as Don Wood and Stephen Daddio both went by him. Nine laps into the event, C. Saunders and Wood fought for second, with Wood becoming the new second place driver. Wood ultimately closed the gap on Jolly, and it almost seemed like Jolly was going to hit the wall as he took the win in a caution-free feature. Wood was second, with C. Saunders and Daddio finishing the board.

On the fourth week of Stafford action, it is the first regular week of action on the schedule. No extra-distance features, no special divisions added to the program. Only the five divisions at the track. All of the racing action will be on, weather permitting.