Early, But Came Prepared

Okay, I lied when saying that I would be back Wednesday with a schedule of events. It's actually Tuesday, and amidst the scorching temperatures that are plaguing the state of Connecticut, I have found the schedule for the postponed/cancelled (take your pick) program on Friday. Your feature order will be as follows:

• Last Chance Qualifiers (if any)
• Late Models
• SK Modifieds
• DARE Stocks
• Limited Late Models
• SK Lights

And like last week, there's supposed to be some fireworks above the sky as well as on the track. But I hope there's not going to be something that'll get in the way. You know -- that lovely stuff that caused those who were already at the track to mosey on out of there early? Yes, that stuff. I'll see you over the course of next week with highlights from this week's program and bonus coverage of the Whelen Modified Tour/NASCAR Busch Series races at Loudon. Until then, have a safe rest of the week.

Raindrops Keep Falling

...And for the time I was at the track, it was an on again, off again love affair with the wet stuff.

At about 6:15pm this evening, as the DARE Stocks were lined up in back for their qualfiying heats, the announcement was made for a cancellation. I never had a radar in front of me, but from what I've read, there was supposed to be more rain coming as the night progressed. So what happens now is that all tickets bought for the event tonight are good for next week's program. Those who did not come before the event was called will have to pay $14.00 and $5.00 for adults and kids respectively, but if the rain holds off next weekend, it'll be worth it. In regards to the schedule, I'll come back Wednesday with more.

Until next time, stay safe and dry.

Summer Blast-off Schedule

Hello, there! I told you in my previous entry that if I find out the tentative order of features for Friday's event, I would come here early and post it here in a separate entry. Well, that's what I'm doing at this very point in time. Today's business at the track included getting a more updated schedule up for the upcoming program. And the race order is as follows:

• SK Lights
• Late Models
• SK Modifieds
• DARE Stocks
• Limited Late Models

And of course, there are fireworks during the evening.

So because this was the only order of business I had to conduct after the posting of my original blog entry, I bid you a good rest of tonight and Thursday. And for those of you who are making your way to the Travelers Championship this weekend, have a fun time! It should be easier getting in and out with a new access road leading towards parking, and other than that, things look mildly okay.

Until Friday, take care.

Accidents Come in Mainly Twos (and Threes)

I admit, I've been slightly bored this past weekend. Sunday didn't do any justice (I had my mother in my bedroom, flipping back and forth between the NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Michigan and some Lifetime made for television movie or something like that). I think to make up for this emotion I'm having, maybe we should get this entry done and out of the way before I put it off until Thursday like I always do. That sounds like a good idea. I've got the highlights (and low points) of the June 15th "Allstate Night at the Races" program.

We started the night out with the DARE Stocks' 15-lap feature. This night looked to be shaky from the start, and on lap three, we get our first caution of the event when the cars of Duane Provost, Steve Berardi, and Dean Casagrande spin on the backstretch. They all drive away and it is a quick caution period. When the green flag comes out again, they're able to get in five more laps before the next incident occurs on lap-8: Melissa Blowers spins on the frontstretch. Again, a few laps are run under yellow. They try to restart the race, but it's a false start. Therefore, they must try again. The third time's a charm, and there's another three lap session before Albert Saunders spins while in turns one and two. A second false start later, and it's a four-lap race to the finish. Jeff Jolly and Norm Sears were engaged in a battle for the lead since the first restart of the race, and that lead went back and forth until around lap-12, when Jolly took the lead for good. The win was his second of the season. Sears, Casagrande, and Bill Dunn rounded out the top-4.

Then we brought out some of the open-wheel flavor with the SK Lights. All seemed nice and peachy until lap-10, when all chaos erupted. It took them four times to get the lap into the record books, with three accidents in the process. On the first time around, a six-car accident took place in the middle of turns one and two. Take two? Nope; didn't work out as well as most may have thought. As the green flag was still over the starter's stand, Mike Sweeney, Jr and Ray Griffen, Jr make contact and wind up in the grass over in turn one afterward. I honestly though that the third time would solidify this race, but the only thing it proved was that there was going to be another caution. This time, it was a multi-car incident in turn four. When the final caution of the race was cleaned up, driven off, and whatnot, Glenn Griswold obtained the lead and did not come across a challenge while picking up his first feature win of the season. Brit Andersen, Josh Sylvester, and Glen Reen finished out the board. (A side note here before I continue: The top five finishers in this race ended up in Tech for unknown reasons.)

The third race of the night had the warwagons and teams of the Late Models parade across the track for 30 laps of action. Six laps into the race, Doug Blowers, Jr spun in turn three, giving us the first caution of this feature. A half dozen laps later, on lap-12, there's caution number two: David St. Amant spins in turn four. And then four laps later, Tom Butler, JJ Hill, and possible other drivers are involved in a backstretch accident. The action on lap-16 would continue as Jonathan Smith's car meets the frontstretch wall and two wreckers afterward. Only three more laps were completed after the next restart, because on lap-21, Billy Snow, Jr spun in turn three, bringing out the sixth caution of the event. Again they went back to green, but on lap-24, the final caution of the event occured when Tony Lafo and Jim Mavlouganes wrecked on the backstretch. Meanwhile, Ryan Posocco took over the show and made it to the front with plenty of laps to spare. He would take down his first win of the season, followed by Jim Peterson, Woody Pitkat, and Corey Hutchings. Posocco's win in the feature tied him with Peterson for the all-time Late Model win record. (As a second side note: The top five cars were brought into Tech.)

After switching up warwagons and teams, the SK Modifieds were now the dominant division on the track. Luckily, they weren't trying to conduct a repeat of last week's one hour marathon session. I think because their first caution was a good 14-laps into the race, courtesy of John Cleary and Kerry Malone, who were involved in an incident in turns one and two, this race was going to be a pretty smooth one. Just try telling that to the drivers. Lap-24 was a pretty chaotic lap, starting when Malone seemed to stall in turn three. As the Mods attempted to try the lap again, Curt Brainard and Jeff Johnson wrecked in turn two. Thankfully, the third time was indeed successful. Yet it was only a lap before Ted Christopher spun in the first and second turns. It was a quick caution, and the green came back out. On lap-34, Eric Berndt spun in turn four, sending the cars under the yellow once again. After yet another quick caution, the green was released upon the field, three more laps were completed, and then... Bo Gunning wrecked in turn two, which set up another restart. Actually, there were two false starts in a row, bunching the field up for the final restart of the race. A battle between Woody Pitkat and Willie Hardie came down to the absolute final lap, where Pitkat bumping Hardie just enough to get by. This was Pitkat's second win of the season. Christopher, Hardie, and Jeff Malave finished in the top-four.

The final race of the night was focused on the Limited Late Models. The only major problems occured on lap-13. First off, Bill Davis spun on the original attempt of the lap. And on the restart, Lori-Jo Rzeszutek spun in turn one. At the front, it appeared as though it was Andrew Durand leading the parade. He crossed the line in first, but Tech had news for him: The left side of his car was too heavy, and he was disqualified from the finishing order. This gave Rick Lanagan his second win of the season. Rounding out the board were Joey Ferrigno, Kevin Gambacorta, and Corky Hinze.

Okay, so now that we've gotten that squared away, I'd like to tell you what's coming up next on the docket. It's a regular week, with all five of Stafford's weekly divisions running normal-length features. Let me also say that it's the Summer Blast-Off/CARQuest Dealer night. All general admission and reserved seating prices are lowered for this event. Anyone under the age of 14 will get into the track for no charge at all with a parent or guardian alongside. This is a great night, as there are fireworks at some point after dark. At this point in time, the schedule for the event says that "feature events begin" around 7:30pm with "fireworks after dark". If this is not changed before Friday, I will mention what the order is in the next entry. So until then, I would like to remind all of you to stay safe throughout the week, and congratulations to the class of 2007. May you have a bright and healthy future.

A Night to (Semi)-Remember

Okay, so again I've put this off until the absolute last day. (Though this time, with the amount of material I'm covering, it could have been worse. I could be writing this before the time I usually seclude myself and get ready for our next event.) But breathe easy, readers, as I uncover the mysteries, secrets, and scandals that was the June 8 event at the Stafford Motor Speedway... Which in turn included the first and only appearance for the Busch East Series, and that in turn gave fans their only opportunity to see some of the top developmental drivers racing for the major NASCAR Nextel Cup teams. Stars and cars all around, and not a second's worth of time to waste. So let's get to the action!

We started the night with thirty cars taking two laps of time each. Because sitting in the stands and trying to listen to all of the times was going to be quite difficult, I gave myself ample time and grabbed some pavement over by the time trial board towards the end of their session. There, I got a good look on how they do things: More organized than any other touring series I've seen in my life. (And I haven't seen too many.) Due to this prim and proper style of getting things done, I found that finding the fast time was going to be easy. And it was... Your fast time was 19.573 seconds (translating to 91.963 miles an hour), and it belonged to Sean Caisse. Regardless of where anyone qualified, there was no redraw. So where they qualified was where they would start in the feature later on in the night.

And now, we jump to our local part of the program. Since all weekly drivers in the top-18 in points were qualified into their respective features, there happened to be no last chance qualifiers. At about 7:30, we went from awards and the opening ceremonies to the SK Lights and their 15-lap feature. Their race started slow as on the opening lap, Aaron Goff spins in turn one. When officials wanted to try again, the cars of Harry Wheeler, Rich Hammann, Scott Nordman, and Ray Griffen, Jr were all involved in an accident that happened at the end of the frontstretch and into turn one. The third time was a charm, and they went a whole five laps before the caution flew again. This time, the wreck took place in the middle of the first and second turns. Involved in this melee were Brit Andersen, Chris Matthews, and Josh Sylvester. After that, it was smooth sailing to the finish. Matt Gallo held off a charge from Raymond Grassetti to score his first victory of the season. Grassetti came in second, followed by Kyler Cafro, Glenn Griswold, and Mark Bakaj.

For the second feature, it was time to bring out the warwagons. We were going racing with fenders, because the Late Models took to the track. Everything was fine from the drop of the original green flag to around lap-13, when Doug Blowers spun on the backstretch. After he drove off, we were back to good, clean racing for the most part. But this all changed on lap-24 when it looked like someone's engine expired on them. The Super Clean Safety Team was on the case, applying speedy dry onto the track, starting in the vicinity of turn two. Of course, this race just wouldn't be complete without one more caution, and on the final lap, we got it. Blowers spun again -- this time, on the final lap -- in turn four, sending the boys into a mode of green-white-checkered. At the front of the pack, it was an intense two-lap battle, with Scott Foster, Jr and Jim Mavlouganes battling for the win. But Foster held Mavlouganes off and scored his second win of the season. Ryan Posocco and Jim Peterson rounded out the top-4.

Our third race of the night belonged to the Limited Late Models. They couldn't get one lap in before the first caution of the event flew. It was for Joey Ferrigno and David Capriati, who got into an accident over in turn four. When they were able to get the race "underway", they only got three laps in. On lap-4, Charlie Newman spun in turn four, which brought out yet another yellow. The second chance to get that lap into the record books didn't fare so well, as Peter Martin and Rick Lanagan were involved in an accident on the backstretch. Up front, however, it was all Andrew Durand. It was like a celebration lap as he claimed his third win of the '07 season. Darrin Havanec, Sean Foster, and Kevin Gambacorta finished off the board.

You've seen all of the good, clean races that occured so far, right? Who would have thought that the race of the night, however, belonged to the next set of cars to run: The SK Modifieds. From what I've read, nearly every car in the field of 27 either dropped out of the race early due to some problem, or was a part of one of the thirteen cautions that they brought out. The action got started on the second lap of the event, as Richie Pallai, Jr spun in the second turn. Six laps later, we had caution number two when Scott Bennett spun in turn four. Three laps later, a black car (I believed it to be Bennett) spun again; this time on the backstretch. After he drove his car off, we had our longest green flag session of the entire race: A whole 16 laps were run under the green before Curt Brainard spun in turn four on lap-27. A false start proved to be the case the second time around, and the third time was not a charm this time as there was a multi-car accident in turn three. The Mods could only get two laps in during the next green flag period, as Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher, Eric Berndt, John Cleary, Scott Bennett, Rowan Pennink, and Curt Brainard were involved in an accident in turn four. (Thankfully, Ben Dodge provided us with a list of who was involved in that accident. I wouldn't be so lucky again.) When they tried to do the lap again, there was controversy afoot. Coming out of two, Willie Hardie appeared to be knocked from both the side and the back and nailed the backstretch wall, collecting Lloyd Agor and Wade Mattesen in the process. Fingers were being pointed at the two possible suspects who might have ended Hardie's night: Zach Sylvester, who was the leader at the time of the caution, and Frank Ruocco, who was behind Hardie. For both of them, they ended up on the safe end of the deal. No black flags were given during the duration of that caution period. All might have been safe for now, but only one lap was turned under green as Cleary and Pennink were involved in an incident on the backstretch. On the possible restart, there was another multi-car accident on the backstretch. It could have been worse, as nearly everyone who wasn't a part of the accident tried to steer clear of a spinning Frank Ruocco. There appeared to be no contact. After the cleanup commenced, we got three laps into the record books before Keith Rocco brought out another caution. This time, it was a cingle-car accident in turn three. Two more laps would be run under green before Todd Ownn and Agor would bring out the twelfth caution... An incident on the backstretch. More fingers were pointed at people after this was said and done, but it turned out that Owen had a problem with the car. Therefore, nobody was to blame for knocking out another two cars. But the restart? Well, that didn't bode so well for both Sylvester and Christopher. The pace car wasn't even safely off the track yet, and there was a multi-car caution on the frontstretch. I couldn't tell who or what caused this to occur, but it knocked a few contenders out of this event. It set up a six-lap dash to the finish, however, for those who were still able to get their cars around the track at a safe speed. Only two cars had a shot of winning the feature, from what I could tell... Ruocco and Berndt. Berndt tried his best to make a move, but it wasn't enough. After about one hour, thirteen minutes of dramatics, we finally had a winner in this collected pile of chaos. It would be Ruocco's second win of the season. Berndt would finish second, followed by Bo Gunning and Brad Hietala.

And now we shift our attention from something that took nearly forever to complete to something that took about three minutes out of my time. The last weekly division to go was the DARE Stocks. And after what had happened in the previous features, they ran yet another caution free event. Norm Sears would be your winner, taking his second win of the season. (For some reason, the track's site says that this win was his first. Last time I checked, he was declared the winner of the May 4th event. I do not have the information about the reasoning at my fingertips at this point in time.) The rest of the board had Vince Gambacorta second, Duane Provost third, and Matt Chiarizio fourth.

Now it leads us to the main point of the evening (though I've already mentioned which race was the race of the night). It was finally time for the TSI Harley Davidson 150. Unfortunately, I would leave the track a bit early. I don't think this race was up my alley, and perhaps it was because I wasn't willing to sit down to watch this. Though I can tell you that the winner of the event was Eddie MacDonald, who isn't running every race on the schedule this year due to sponsorship issues. Following him to the line were Mike Olsen, Matt Kobyluck, Marc Davis, and Bryon Chew.

Now that I've spent the time going over what was a wild night, I would like to tell all of you that we are racing tomorrow evening. We are going back to having qualifiying heats for the Stafford divisions because we have no major touring series here until July 10, which by my page is a Tuesday night. Sit back, relax, and have a nice, safe, rest of the day. I'll see you tomorrow night. Until next time, the gas pedal's on the right...

Since I've Been Gone... [6/1 Winners]

This is going to be quick, as I have no notes. Remember, I couldn't make it due to commitments that my brother had made two weeks before June 1st.

Here are the winners from the June 1 program:

• SK Modifieds: Woody Pitkat
• Late Models: Scott Cook
• SK Lights: Brit Andersen
• Limited Late Models: Sean Foster
• DARE Stocks: Carla Botticello

And before I forget, we have some Busch East cars arriving tomorrow at around 8:30am EST (yes, that early) for the 17th annual TSI Harley Davidson 150. In case I didn't do this before, I would like to present to you an entry list for your perusing pleasure. Luckily for the track divisions, there will be no qualifing heats. Features are supposed to start around 6:15pm EST, beginning with any last chance qualifiers. If we don't need LCQ's, we'll begin with the SK Lights.

Stay safe, and I'll give you all of the information regarding what happens in the next entry. Until next time... See ya...

Tour Boys Back in Town

Oh, I'm so sorry this is done the day before our next event, but I've been busy preparing for a visit from my aunt and cousins who are coming up from Florida. My room has been a disaster zone for so long, and I had to get it cleaned up so my brother could camp in with me while our company sleeps in his. So with that said, let's get this entry started.

As you may already know, last Friday night saw the second of four appearances of the Whelen Modified Tour run rampant all over the half mile. And, as usual, we had our five weekly divisions in action as well. Because this was a Friday night event for the Tour Modifieds, our usual customers had no qualifying races to run. Everyone made it into the show. Speaking of the Tour, there were time trials to have. And your fast timer was Tony Hirschman, coming in with a time of 18.147 seconds.

With that order of business done and out of the way, we came to the portion of the evening where the first weekly feature would appear on the track. On this night, we started with the SK Lights. Now, they're known for running 20-lap features on a daily basis. But starting this week, and combined with all of the cautionfests they've had this year alone, track management decided to shorten their races by five laps. So with their first 15-lap race ahead of them, the Lights took the green flag to begin the evening. The first caution occured on lap 5 when David Webb spun on the frontstretch, while Ray Griffen, Jr and Kyle Spencer got together in turns one and two. There may have been others who were involved in this incident. Three laps later, there was a four car accident in turn two. Involved in this were Heather DesRochers, Joe Allegro, Jr, Josh Sylvester, and Kyler Cafro. I think they had a thing with threes, because after a three lap green flag period, we had a third caution. This time, the cars of Brit Andersen, George Nocera, Jr, Raymond Grassetti, and Scott Nordman provided us with a turn one accident. Now with the final yellow out of the way, the Lights could finish the final four laps without interruption. At the front of the field, however, it was a two car battle for the win. Glen Reen tried to get around Chris Matthews using just about all he could use, but it was no match. Matthews collected his third win of the season, followed by Reen, Matt Gallo, and Rich Hammann.

Next, we brought out the older siblings to the SK Lights... The SK Modifieds. They had a fairly clean race, with only two cautions throughout the entire session. Five laps in, Jim Larsen clipped the wall good enough to bring out the yellow, and we wouldn't see another caution until lap 38, when Jeff Johnson spun in turn two. Other than that, the fans saw a good battle for the lead and win. Bo Gunning and Curt Brainard fought for a good portion of the race until Ted Christopher overpowered Brainard and started to work on Gunning. But Gunning had too much for both contenders and claimed the victory. Christopher, Brainard, and Todd Owen rounded out the top-four.

In the Limited Late Models, tempers started to flare up a little. It was seven laps before they had their first caution, with David Capriati and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek spun in turn four. On the very next lap, Charlie Newman also spun, again in the turns three and four area. And two laps after that, there was a three car incident on the frontstrech, including Glenn Bartkowski, Michael Chaves, and Paul Conte. Things seemed to be fine here, but the caviar dreams seemed to disappear on lap 19. Andrew Durand had been leading at the time, and Rick Lanagan was trying to take the lead away from him. Unfortunately, he had made contact with Durand, sending Durand spinning in the middle of turns one and two. Lanagan was black flagged for overaggression on the race track, causing both first and second to move to the end of the pack. The new leader was Michael Nadeau, and he would lead the rest of the way to claim his first win of the season. The rest of the top-four were Sean Foster, Bill Davis, and Joey Ferrigno.

Then we came to the Late Models. Things didn't look too good and were bound to be like what had happened two weeks ago when an eight-car melee occured in turn one on the original drop of the green flag. Wiping the slate clean, we were destined to redo the start... Which, of course, didn't fare too well either as a false start bunched everyone up for a third try. And since that's usually a charm, we got the race underway. They were only green for nine laps as Tom Butler spun in turn one to bring out the yellow for the third time in the race. Luckily for the field (and perhaps the fans as well), every lap between laps 10 and 24 were green. On lap 25, there was a piece of debris on the backstretch -- right across from where I sit on a weekly basis. When the field was given the green flag on the restart, well... There was a second false start. So once again, the field was bunched back up. Luckily, this race had intentions of being a good one from the start, and it certainly proved so. On this night, we had a new Late Model all-time winner, and that would have been Jim Peterson. This was his 24th win of his career, and he was followed to the line by Mark Lewis, Woody Pitkat, and Jim Mavoulganes.

Now we came to the focal point of the evening: The Whelen Modified Tour's Connecticut Classic 150. Without going into too much detail (and like the last time the Tour was at Stafford, I didn't take notes because of possible confusion), I can tell you that the first half of the race was a fairly clean one. After that, it started to get a bit hectic. From what I can tell you, Donny Lia picked up his second win of the season and made it two in a row at the half-mile, with James Civali, Eddie Flemke, Jr, Zach Sylvester, and Todd Szegedy rounding out the top-five.

Finally, we come to the DARE Stocks. Now knock on wood, but for the past three events, they've raced caution free races. Could they add another 15 laps onto that streak? Not quite. They only managed five laps under green before the first incident occured. Jeff Jolly caused an accident in turns one and two, which brought the final caution-free lap total to fifty laps in four events. But the caution periods wouldn't end there, and they wouldn't be that easy to clean up, either. On lap 14, the car of Kyle Nosal spun on the frontstretch, bringing out another caution. But what he didn't know was that Barry Fluckiger was fast approaching. Without notice, Fluckiger nailed Nosal's car on the passenger's side, leaving both cars totaled. Officials at this point had no choice but to end the race under a red-checker combination. This meant that Steve Berardi would win the race, slowly followed by Dan Flannery, Carla Botticello, and Todd LaPorta.

Now that it's taken me a whole three hours to finish this, and seeing that it will be Friday morning in about 36 minutes, let me tell you that I will not be at the track tomorrow as my brother has a banquet for school. In the event that rain does not interfere with the program, I will bring you a quick entry sometime Saturday -- if I am not disrupted by our company who is about 70 miles from Washington, DC. With that said, have a safe tomorrow, and I will hope to be with you in two weeks as the Busch East Series makes its one and only visit to Stafford. Remember, gas pedal's on the right...

Water, Water, Everywhere...

...And not a race to be run.

Yesterday, Stafford management decided to cancel the program orignally planned for tonight due to the showers that had poured into the state early this morning. That left me, not feeling all too good, waking up at around 3:30 this afternoon. I was greeted to the world by an e-mail from my mother indicating that the event had been cancelled. (Well, that gave me my first crack at ABC's National Bingo Night along with the other viewers who decided to tune in as well. Both Mom and I won nothing. Thank you for asking.)

Okay, that leaves us with the Tour approaching the track next week at full speed. This is their second trip to the half mile this season. So if you're looking for something to do (outdoors, I hope), this is a good plan within itself. Let's hope we can get the rain out of the forecast for that. Until then... Gas pedal's on the right.

Storms in Forecast -- Stormy Night at Track

Welcome to this edition of The View From Turn One. Instead of pushing this entry to the day before the event, we've got a nice line of storms (and possibly a tornado or two) heading our way. And that's the reason as to why I'm getting this done now instead of later. Okay, so where did we leave off since the last time we met? Ah, yes... The usual five divisions of racing. And unlike the previous two events, all drivers at the track were qualified for their respective features. So before this evil weather gets here, let's check up on the Stafford boys.

We started the feature portion of the evening with the Limited Late Models. Yet they didn't start out too proper themselves. After a false start on the opening lap, the second take proved successful. From where I had been sitting at that time (close to the start/finish line), I had a great view of a lap 10 crash that sent one of Pete Cayer's tires down the frontstretch and into the second turn. Needless to say, technical difficulties would end his night. (So sorry with the television reference here.) Immediately after I noted this accident, I headed down to my usual spot where I would witness the second and final caution of the event. On lap 19, Ed Charette, Jr spun in the turns one and two area, setting up a still dominating victory at the end of the race. Yes, we had our first repeat winner in any division when Andrew Durand crossed the line. Rick Lanagan, Sean Foster, and Paul Conte rounded out the top four cars.

Then we had the SK Modifieds take to the track. I think this race had a caution bug bite before the race began. (The bug was a tad bit smaller than the one that came around before the Late Model race. Stay tuned for that coverage as soon as I finish with this race.) We'll start with a lap 11 spin in the turn two area courtesy of Shelly Perry, who would spin later in the race but still managed to finish 17th. Six more laps would run under green before Scott Bennett brought out the first of his two cautions. The first caution would be for a spin on the frontstretch, but later on, he wouldn't be so lucky. Okay, so now we get one more fast lap before a seven car caution occurs on the backstretch. Announced in the caution were (and I take a deep breath here): Frank Ruocco, Jeff Baral, Bo Bunning, Zach Sylvester, Richie Pallai, Jr, Jeff Malave, and Ken Barry. And, exhale. That was quickly cleaned up because the majority of those involved were able to drive off under their own power. Finally, they were able to run a good distance under the green before a lap 31 incident including Bennett's #47 on the frontstretch not only brought out the caution, but the red flag as well. He had to leave the track via an ambulance, apparently because he was shaken up and possibly due to the fact that the hand impact might have injured him. Nothing has been reported further. But back to the action on hand. Our final caution with this group was on lap 37 when Shelly Perry spun on the frontstretch. Another green-white-checkered situation occured, with the winner emerging as Keith Rocco, followed by Willie Hardie, Woody Pitkat, and Kerry Malone.

The caution bug was back, but it had grown since the SK feature. It took five takes for the opening lap to run fully under green. The first time around, Doug Blowers spun in turn one. On the second attempt, something broke on Scott Cook's car, sending him nose first into the safer barrier. Take three showed us Wayne Coury, Jr spinning in turn one. Of course, the fourth time was not the charm when Ryan Posocco and Tom Butler got into a minor fender bender in -- you guessed it -- turn one. After the fifth time proved lucky, there were seven laps until John Warren was caught up in an accident in turns three and four. Eight laps later, Billy Snow, Jr is involved in a backstretch incident. Scott Foster, Jr would bring out the next caution on lap 20 when he spun in turn two. Snow would spin on the backstretch on lap 25 and a three car accident in turn four one lap later would prove to be the end of the elongated bug. Tom Fearn missed catching the bug and would finish first among all cars. Mike Quintiliano, Tom Butler, and Jim Mavloganes finished on the board as well.

Next were the SK Lights, who were the second division to provide the fans with a false start on the very first lap. Luckily for them, they were able to get all of their cautions out of the way early... More specifically, on lap 3. Two cautions would go hand-in-hand with each other. The first of them was for Kyler Cafro, who spun on the backstretch on the original lap. Then on the potential restart, a four car incident would bring out the caution again. Cars I could see in the accident were both Mark and Chris Bakaj and Matt Gallo. The other car was a white one (sorry, I couldn't catch the number of it). After this was cleared, the rest of the race ran under green. Chris Matthews would come through with the win, becoming the second driver in all divisions to repeat. He was followed to the line by Glen Reen, Glenn Griswold, and Brit Andersen.

Finally, we had the DARE Stocks. In the past two races, every lap was run under green. Could they come up with a trifecta of clean raced 15-lappers? The answer was yes. Bill Dunn fought hard with Tom Stirk until about midway though the race, when he had totally commanded the rest of the field. He would go on to win, followed by Jim Brice, Stirk, and Gil Main.

So now that I'm done with this entry, I need to get the heck off of the computer. Those storms I told you about earlier on? Coming quick. Oh, yeah. Those winds are picking up as I speak. Okay, next race is supposed to celebrate NASCAR Day. I think that'll have to be postponed as there's a 50 percent chance of rain in two days. I'm not sure what the track management'll do before then, but if we do end up meeting, stay safe. And I really mean stay safe today. Until next time...

Opening Night and End of Month Entry List

Again, pardon the lateness of this entry. I only have my forgetful habit and the fact that it's 82 degrees as I'm starting to write in the living room. So with that said, let's get to the action from the May 4th program. It was the first Friday night program of the 2007 Stafford Motor Speedway season, and our usual five track divisions were on hand. We started with the Late Model 16 last chance qualifier, and we also opened with a caution. On the opening lap of the event, Doug Blowers spun on the frontstretch. His night would just get worse after that. Lap 7 would provide us our second caution of the event when David St. Amant spun somewhere in the middle of the third and fourth turns. Blowers's cautionfest would continue on lap 9 when he spun once again, this time in turn two. Three laps later, Blowers brought out the yellow for the third time in the event after spinning in turn one. NASCAR officials had enough of this and decided to have him park the car after his three mishaps. The night would be over for the #2, but at the front of the field, Corey Hutchings's night would continue on when he picked up the win. Mike Quintiliano, Tom Fearn, and Don Acker, Jr rounded out the numbers on the board.

Then we went to the first of our regularly scheduled features of the evening, featuring the entry level DARE Stocks. This race would be caution free from start to finish, although there was a lot of action at the front of the field. Jesse Hinze and Robert Thompson fought lap after lap for the lead, and it eventually came down to a last-lap dash between the two of them and Norm Sears, especially when Sears went three wide to move around Hinze for second. Though in the end, Sears could not catch up to Thompson, and he took down the win. Sears, Hinze, and Barry Fluckiger were the rest of the top four. But our friends in technical inspection shook the top four even more when both Thompson (illegal rims) and Hinze (car too light) were disqualified. This gave Sears the win, with Fluckiger, Rob Lawrence, and Matt Chiarizio the new top four.

Crews would bring out the war wagons, tires, and other necessarities when the SK Modifieds took to the track for their feature. Boy, I thought half of the field would be left standing when the race actually ended. On lap 2, Richie Pallai, Jr apparently stalled in turns three and four, bringing out the first caution. Two laps later, Zach Sylvester and Bo Gunning would spin starting on the backstretch and around the start of the turn three area. The field would be caution free until lap 11 when Woody Pitkat, Eric Berndt, Jimmy Smith, and Jeff Johnson create an accident in turn one. Brad Hietala would spin in turn three on lap 18, bringing the caution out once again. Then we had a string of green flag laps... Until lap 27, when Jeff Malave, Pitkat, Sylvester, and Willie Hardie wrecked on the backstretch. This would nearly set up a three lap dash to the finish. Key word there is "nearly", because the restart on lap 27 was a false restart and they had to redo it. In the end, the last laps would go without problems. Frank Ruocco held off all challenges by Todd Owen in the first twenty laps and Kerry Malone to win his first feature of the season. Malone would finish second, followed by Owen and Keith Rocco.

Then we had the SK Lights, who put on the wreckfest of the night. Not even halfway through the opening lap of the race, there was an accident in turn two involving Brit Andersen, Kyle Spencer, Raymond Grassetti, and Wayne Robillard. They went three laps without wrecking each other until lap 4 when Michael Lane and Chris Bakaj were in an accident on the backstretch. The very next lap, a bunch of cars came together. Again, this was on the backstretch. Then they were fine, but only for the next eleven laps. That's when more cautions occured. On lap 16, Spencer spins in turn four. When the field attempted a restart, it didn't work out. At least five cars, including Grassetti, Matt Gallo, David Webb, Fred Nees, Jr, and Mark Bakaj were involved in a frontstretch incident. Before things were all said and done, the next lap proved costly for Lane, Gallo, Rich Hammann, and Scott Nordman piled up around the turn two area. NASCAR officials had enough of the wreckfest, so they threw a yellow-checkers on the field. At the front of the group was Glen Reen, and he was followed (slowly) to the line by Chris Matthews, Mike Sweeney, Jr, and Josh Sylvester.

After the crash session had come to a close, the rest of the program went fairly smoothly. When the Late Models ran their feature, there happened to be one and only one caution in the entire event. Woody Pitkat's night continued to fall down the drain after he spun in turn four on lap 5. In the front of the field, however, Scott Foster, Jr was able to get around Ed Ricard on about the seventh lap, and he fought off Jim Peterson and Ryan Posocco to claim the victory. Following Foster, Peterson, and Posocco at the line was Tom Butler.

The final feature of the evening happened to be the Limited Late Models. Just like the DARE Stocks, that race was complete green flag racing straight through. At the beginning, it appeared as though Sean Foster would make it a daily double in victory lane, but Andrew Durand had other plans. He moved past Foster around lap 13 and had a commanding lead when he scored the win. Foster followed in second, and rounding out the top four were Rick Lanagan and Joey Ferrigno.

Checking the report on the Weather Channel website, we are looking at scattered thunderstorms for tomorrow night. This is 30 and 40 percents, so nothing can be postponed as of yet. I will come back tomorrow with a better forecast for you all to see.

Oh, by the way... On the last weekend of May, the Whelen Modified Tour returns to Stafford for the Connecticut Classic 150. I am providing the entry list for you guys now so I don't forget later on. Until tomorrow when I come back with your updated forecast, stay safe.

Spring Sizzler: *Add Clever Title Here*

I am so sorry for not getting this done sooner, but on top of the Rangers still in the hunt for the Stanley Cup and the fact that I had been out of the house one day this week already with another day gone for the computer being a major jerk, I had no time on my hands. And I just plain forgot to write up an entry. So today, I'll take the time to cover both days of the Sizzler. From qualifying to the features to the never-boring Pit Party, whatever I have in my notes (and what I get from the track site) is what you'll get. Let's get this season started, shall we?

First up on the docket, we had Whelen Modified Tour qualifying. A grand total of fourty-two cars took time on the half mile in hopes of getting the Bud Pole Award and possibly some time in the record book as the holder of a new track record. Two cars just couldn't make it out for time (including Mike Stefanik's #16, as there was some sort of problem that I couldn't make over the PA system), but amongst the other fourty cars, there happened to be a shattered record from one of them... Matt Hirschman in the #59 with an 18.009, translating to 99.950 miles an hour. The top eight qualifiers redrew later that day, and it would lead to Tony Hirschman and Reggie Ruggiero sitting on the front row when the race would run the next day.

With the Tour out of the way, qualifying and features for the five Stafford divisions could begin. After all divisions finished with their five, eight, or ten lap races, the stage was set for the first last chance qualifier of the season: The 21 Means 21 feature for the SK Modifieds. Fourteen cars, eight spots up for grabs through the race. There would be some beating and banging going on for them. Not too long after the green flag flew, we had our first feature caution. Kirk Zervas happened to bring out the yellow after he was involved in a single-car incident on the frontstretch. After the delicate cleanup by the "Super Clean" Safety Team (or something to the tune that), we went back to green. At first, one would likely say that Todd Owen would easily get into the feature through the LCQ, even though you couldn't tell that towards the end of the race, he started to have some car issues. On what was originally considered to be the final lap, Owen's car brought out the second and final caution flag of the race, with his car ending up close to the exit of the turn two wall. (Yes, he would be a part of the next day's feature, don't worry.) Now with him out of contention, this opened the door to Zach Sylvester, as he picked up the win. Following him to the line was Lloyd Agor, Dave Salzarulo, and Kerry Malone in a return appearance to Stafford just a few years after winning his track championship.

Now we got to our first official feature of the evening, which just so happened to be the SK Lights. I personally thought that a bunch of these guys weren't going to finish the race based on the number of early race accidents that had occured. The first caution happened on just the second lap of the race when Joe Allegro in the #08 and Paul Colla in the #86 busted their cars up a bit in the turns three and four area of the track. Two laps later, Ray Griffen in the #71 spins in turn four. And on the very next lap, Keith Franklin in the #97 spins (and possibly leaked some fluid in the process) in the first and second turns. At the front of the field, however, Chris Matthews was showing the field that his couple of wins in the season previous were no fluke. He was trying to hold off Glen Reen for the win, but on lap-19, Franklin wrecks his car in turn two, near where I had been taking the notes for this race. This set up a green-white-checkered shootout to the finish, which proved successful for Matthews. He was originally declared the winner with Reen, Brit Andersen, and Glenn Griswold rounding out the top-four. But in post-race inspection, Reen's Modified had illegal brake calibers. This moved Andersen up to second, Griswold up to third, and gave fourth place to Mark Bakaj in the #52.

Then it was time for the Late Model 16 race. It was all green flag racing and it all belonged to Ryan Posocco. He took down the win with Tom Fearn, Mark Lewis, and Scott Cook finishing the board off. I would say more about this, but I had been in a rush due to the fact that Stafford High School was hosting a track and field meet on that day and my mother took a group of students from our town to the event. So I missed the entire Limited Late Model feature. From what the website says, Rick Lanagan was declared the winner with Bill Davis, Charlie Newman, and Andrew Durand completing the top-four. The DARE Stock feature was supposed to go after this, but the rains came and the race was pushed back to Sunday's program.

...Which brings us to Sunday. After the hour that was declared the "CARQuest Belts and Hoses" Pit Party (why the name of that was made longer is anyone's guess) ended, the track was cleared for the first race of the afternoon. This happened to be the SK Modified feature. On the opening lap of the event, there was a three car incident on the backstretch, including Richie Pallai, Jr, Shelly Perry (both of whom graduated up from the SK Light division), and Fran Siana. Perry and Siana would continue the race, while Pallai's day would just go downhill from there, from the result of a caution later in the race. When the starter tried to start the race again, a false start occured, with the culprit being someone I totally don't remember off the top of my head. (Note to self: Write that down next time.) Back to the racing, the third start was a charm and they got four full laps done when the second caution of the race happened. This time, Keith Rocco, Ted Christopher (yes, in the familiar black, blue, and silver #13), and Scott Bennett caused an accident in turn one, sending a red #78 into the safer barrier. A nice cleanup session occured, and when the green flag dropped, a lap was completed before the starter put that away for the yellow. Jim Larsen, Willie Hardie, Wade Mattesen, and Shelly Perry were involved in an accident over in the vicinity of turn three. Everyone except for Larsen would finish the race. They would finally get a half-dozen laps in before the next caution period, which involved Richie Pallai, Jr and Todd Owen, whose weekend was just getting worse by the lap. They would get into an accident in turn one. Your final caution was on lap-25 when Brad Hietala spun in the backstretch grassy area and just didn't get the car started in time to keep the green flag out. Your original top-four at the checkered flag were Woody Pitkat, Lloyd Agor, Jeff Baral, and Jeff Malave. But during the magic that was post-race inspection, Pitkat's Modified was found to have an illegal rear spoiler. He was originally disqualified from the race, but upon further inspection, officials could not determine whether or not the modification could give the car an advantage. Thus he was dropped to the 20th finishing spot and will be handicapped outside of the top-18 for Friday's racing action.

And now, your feature presentation. It was finally time for the Whelen Modified Tour to perform in front of all the fans. I wasn't taking notes for this event, but I could tell you some of the highlights. They include Chuck Hossfeld's car looking like it was run over by an 18-wheeler about 25 laps into the race, courtesy of Frank Ruocco; a red flag to clean up an incident on the frontstretch a little more than halfway through; and Donny Lia holding off Todd Szegedy for the win. It was the first Spring Sizzler win for Mystic Missle car owner Bob Garbarino.

After the 200-lap showdown was over, the Late Models took to the track for their scheduled feature event. Wayne Coury, Jr led the first 14 laps of the race before he was challenged by former Waterford and Thompson driver Corey Hutchings for the lead. Coury relinquished the top spot halfway into the race, and Hutchings dominated the second half in style. He cruised to the win with Woody Pitkat, Mike Quintiliano, and Coury finishing out the board. The race was caution-free.

Finally, the DARE Stocks raced their feature that was supposed to be done the day before. This race, like the Late Models, also ran completely green flagged, but there was no lead change involved in the making of their 15-lap production. Jeff Jolly led every lap possible on his way to his first victory of the season. At the line behind him were Dean Casagrande, Vince Gambacorta, and Todd LaPorta.

With all of the racing action said and done, I officially declare opening weekend a success and over. This brings us to tomorrow night; the first Friday night of the season. All five Stafford divisions will be on hand. And I might bring a camera along with me to take pictures of the action and in the pits. So until we meet again, I bid you a safe rest of today and tomorrow.

Spring Sizzler Hype Up

Though this is only the start of April, the hype of the Spring Sizzler is officially upon us. You have the five Stafford divisions racing in their first races of the season, but then you have the Whelen Modified Tour coming off of a nice event at Thompson. After an event like that, you question who's going to make the trip up to the half mile and race for more points. Well, now you don't have to ask. This week, the first of what could be fifty entries have been filed for the 36th annual CARQuest Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.

I'm a little preoccupied at the moment, so you can check out the ever updated list of potential winners here. Enjoy.

Speedway Expo This Weekend

After an elongated absence from the blog, I would like to take this time to tell you that this weekend is the first annual Speedway Expo at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds (home of the Big E) tomorrow through Sunday. Stafford will be having a few cars at their booth this season, including Shelly Perry, Corey Hutchings (who'll be driving the #90 Late Model), Mike Sweeney, Kevin Gambacorta, and the Dave Secore-owned #8 machine.

A Kaleidoscope of Information

Here is your one and only entry for the month of December, as things have taken over my holiday rush. (And I just installed a new computer monitor as the previous one in my room had blacked out for the final time.)

We start with the rules meetings that took place over the course of last month. For the most part, there were no major changes, but minor ones were implimented. To begin with, the SKs now have a 56 percent weight distribution for the left side of the car, moved up a percent from last season. Also, teams are allowed to make changes to the dog-ring and slider (high gear) on Richmond transmissions only. For the SK Lights, they will be using the same tires the SKs are using. Limited Late Models have an option this season: They can use the crate motor that the SK Lights use, or they can use a traditional non-crate engine. No matter what, a rev limiter is required.

The DARE Stocks have the most rule changes out of any division this year. From the track site:

Stafford's DARE Stock competitors will be required to race with a fuel cell bladder that is in line with the track's other four weekly divisions. Other changes to the DARE Stock rules: tourque converters less than 11 inches are not permitted; OEM brakes can be changed across different year, make, and model with stock components; a single adjustable proportioning valve is permitted in a location that is inaccessible from the driver's compartment; stock steering pumps and boxes may be interchanged from different years, makes and models; aftermarket steering pumps are permitted, aluminum steering pumps are not permitted, remote reservoirs are permitted. Also, the DARE Stock firewall rule has been revised to come into line with Stafford's Late Model and Limited Late Model firewall rule.

And that was what went down in the rules meetings. Now then, onto some fun business. NASCAR: New England will continue to run on the New England Sports Network (NESN) next esason. Time slots have not been set by NESN as of yet. When they come up with a time, I will tell you all about it. No need to fear.

Finally, YouTube user MarcandBryon have posted some more videos for you. There's seven of them on their page: The five champions' videos, a cute little interview session with numerous drivers, and a short commercial for 2007 season ticket sales. These are the same videos that are on the track's site, so if you don't usually check out the site, I encourage you to check out the videos that they've uploaded onto YouTube.

Banquets and Schedules and Ticket Pricing... Oh, My!

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure by now the bird has been cooked and you're sitting down giving thanks for everything in life, but I've completed all of that and today I give you what might as well be the biggest entry this holiday season. Today we'll cover three things that have been brought up through the Stafford community: The awards banquet, the 2007 season schedule, and ticket pricing. Please keep the ticket pricing part somewhere safe, just in case you plan on buying some season passes this season. You will not be disappointed.

However, we begin with the 2006 Champions Banquet held on November 17th. Plenty of people were there to officially crown the five track champions in their respective divisions, and along with the kings and queen being crowned, we had some other hardware to give out. They were for Most Improved Driver, Most Popular Driver, and Rookies of the Year. In the Most Improved category, your winners were Kenny Horton in the SK Modifieds and Scott Cook in the Late Models. Most Popular Drivers this season were Todd Owen in the SK Modifieds, Woody Pitkat in the Late Models, Kevin Gambacorta in the Limited Late Models, Lori-Jo Rzeszutek in the DARE Stocks, and Shelly Perry in the SK Lights. And the Rookies of the Year were Rowan Pennink in the SK Modifieds, Wayne Coury, Jr in the Late Models, and George Nocera in the Limited Late Models.

Now we turn our attention to something that'll put people on the edge of their seats: The 2007 Stafford Motor Speedway schedule. The entire schedule is on the track's website as we speak, but I've taken the time to take notes and give you the heads up on the special events. These are dated according to... Well, date. Pay attention and mark your calendars.

• Spring Sizzler: April 27-29
• Whelen Modified Tour: April 29 (FIRST appearance)
• Whelen Modified Tour: May 25 (SECOND appearance)
• Busch East Series: June 8 (ONLY appearance)
• Late Model 100: July 6
• CARQuest Extreme Tuesday: July 10
• SK Modified 100: July 20
• Whelen Modified Tour: August 10 (THIRD appearance)
• Fall Final: September 28-30
• Whelen Modified Tour: September 30 (FOURTH appearance)

There's an open date on the schedule. That date is June 24th, and that is a Friday. I don't know what's going on or what's the deal with the empty date, but I will give you details when I hear them.

Finally, today we are thankful for season ticket prices for the 2007 season. There are four different ticket packages to choose from starting now and up until May 11th. If you're looking for a Paddock Pass Package, it's $385 until December 15th. From December 16th to March 15th, it'll be $430, and then it gets raised to $485 from the 16th of March to May 11th. If you'd like to add a reserved seat to that package, be prepared to pay $50, $70, and $80 respectively. There are three other ticket packages to choose from, and the pricing was all listed in this friendly press release by the track.

Now that we've got everything covered, I'm thankful for sharing this information with you and I'm also thankful that we've had the best darn year ever. Stay dry and safe and don't go out tomorrow unless you absolutely need do. Happy Thanksgiving again. Take care.

Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Mini Report

Welcome to the first of what will be many installments of "Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Report". In these reports, you'll know who'll be changing divisions and where drivers will be heading to next season. I figure that if we'll get off on the right foot, we'd better start with something major concerning the SK Lights and SK Modfieds. We're talking "points champion moving from entry level to big time" major here. That's right. In a Making Laps message board post from yesterday afternoon, it has been said that Shelly Perry will be running in the SK Modified division in 2007. Of course, this is only a rumor and the Stafford Speedway site is the only ticket towards confirming this (and I'd be the messenger in the middle), but I'd like to personally express good luck wishes to Shelly and her team. May the road to the championship be a prosperous one.

The next installment of "Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Report" will be whenever more news hits the blog. Until then, I bid you good Sunday morning.

NASCAR: New England -- November Airings

Ladies and gentlemen, turn on your television sets and flip over to NESN next Friday night. While the awards banquet will be happening for the competitors, fans can still see the drivers through the magic of cable. NASCAR: New England will be airing twice (and by NESN's schedule, three more times) on November 17th... Which, of course, is the same day as the awards banquet. All of the episodes have (R) next to them, which is making me wonder if they'll be episodes I've seen before. R could stand for "repeat", as there are DB -- standing for "debut" and L -- possibly for "live".

There will be no other heads-up warning, so please schedule accordingly. (I think I might not get a chance to do that, considering that I might have plans on that night. I can't disclose them as of yet. They're still in the works.)

Competitor Meetings: Just a Head's Up

This month might be the first month without racing at Stafford, but it doesn't mean that there won't be anything going on there. The track has announced the five dates for their annual competitor meetings, which are to be held at the Fairground banquet facilities -- behind the turn four grandstands. Dinner will be served between 5:30 and 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time with the meeting to start around 6:30pm. As a note to all teams: Meeting attendance is limited to two team representatives. (I don't know what that means for multi-car teams, as I know there are a few who have raced there this season.)

Here is the schedule for this month:

• Limited Late Models: November 8th (Wednesday)
• DARE Stocks: November 13th (Tuesday)
• SK Modifieds: November 14th (Wednesday)
• Late Models: November 15th (Thursday)
• SK Lights: November 21st (Tuesday)

Rules and possible rule changes for the 2007 season will be discussed. If any rule changes do take effect, I will discuss them in a later entry.

We Are the Champions

Welcome to the final installment of The View From Turn One for the 2006 season. As some or all of you may know by now, yesterday was the final event of Stafford's schedule of on-track action... The CARQuest Fall Final/Pit Party. With lots of wind in the forecast and four divisions of cars battling for track championships, one can only wonder how long it was going to take until chaos ensued and cars were found damaged. Trust me on this one: It wasn't long.

The first actual incident came through the 50-lap SK Modified feature. Jeff Malave started the race on the outside of the first row, but that lead would pretty much be short lived. On the first lap of the race -- and in the first turn, to be more precise -- there was a nice multi-car accident that bent a few cars up. The second lap provided the first act in a show put on by Chris Jones as he spun in turn four. (There would be more antics of his later on.) Around lap-6, Woody Pitkat took the lead from Malave and held it for an extensive amount of time. Between the time he gained the lead to until the time he lost it, things pretty much spiraled out of control. Your next caution period would come on lap-12 when Vincent Anglace spun near where Jones spun in turn four. That turn was becoming quite a hot spot for cautions, and trust me... Things would just be worse. When lap-31 came around, things were looking south for Eric Berndt, who would be the third victim in the turn four area, spinning and bringing out the caution. On the next lap, Rowan Pennink spun and tagged the wall a bit in the frontstretch coming out of four. Finally things subsided, but not for long. When lap-41 rolled around, Bo Gunning and Wade Mattesen spun in turn four. Apparently people pointed fingers at Chris Jones for helping Gunning out, but nothing was done about him (Jones) until the next lap. That's when Jim Larsen, Dave Salzarulo, and (possibly, but couldn't confirm) Fran Siana came together in turns three and four. Again, Jones was blamed for helping one or more of these drivers out, so he was given the black flag. He pulled off the track and came to a stop in the infield. When he got out of his car, people flocked towards him in droves. I'm not sure if it was before or after the lap-43 incident in which Lloyd Agor took a ride in the backstretch grass, but Jones was led off the infield by a security officer and track personnel member. I'm pretty sure a few of the drivers were wondering why the caution period was extended, but I can't answer this for anyone. (More on Jones in a special entry tomorrow.) But anyway, we return back to the race. For the last seven laps, it was pretty much caution free, except for one minor incident regarding Pitkat. Even though he was in the lead since around lap-6 or so, he did have problems with his car. He dropped off the pace on lap-45, giving the lead to Willie Hardie. Hardie led the last few laps to take down another career win. Malave came in second, followed by Zach Sylvester and Brad Hietala. Although Hardie claimed the win, he had to finish nine spots ahead of Frank Ruocco in order to win the championship. With a seventh place finish, that didn't exactly happen. Ruocco finished close enough to win the 2006 SK Modified championship. The difference was only six points.

Next was the SK Lights and their final 20-lap feature of the season. At the top of the race, Tony Santangelo was the front runner. But on lap-4, Matt Gallo claimed the lead and just dominated the next 16 laps. The race ran caution free from the start, giving Gallo his second win of the season. At the time the checkered flag came out, Brit Andersen was second, Kyler Cafro came in third, and Duke Place was in fourth. This gave Andersen the SK Light championship... That was, however, until technical inspection took place. And that was when all heck broke loose. Upon inspection, both Andersen and Cafro's brakes were "non-compliant", disqualifying both from the original feature finish. This also eliminated Andersen from championship contention. The next person in line for the championship was Shelly Perry, and upon inspection, her brakes were indeed compliant, making her the 2006 SK Light champion. She is the first woman to win a track championship, regardless of division. She nudged out Richie Pallai, Jr. by only two points. (The top-5 after the disqualifications was Gallo, Place, Perry, Pallai, and Glenn Griswold.)

Finally we get to the Whelen Modified Tour's final race of their season. First off, there were quite a few cautions including a heavy shot in the turn two wall from Ted Christopher. (Even I felt the effect of that.) He would finish 50 laps of the event, 25th overall in the results, and 3rd in points. Second, let me tell you that Todd Szegedy led just about every lap of the race, giving him the win. But the biggest story took place on the opening green flag. By just starting the race, Mike Stefanik won his seventh Whelen Modified Tour championship and ninth championship overall. He is tied with Richie Evans for most championships by any NASCAR driver in any division.

Finally we come to the Late Model feature. It was a battle between Jim Peterson and Woody Pitkat, and whoever finished closest to the front would win the championship. But to become the champion, they'd have to overcome numerous obstacles in the form of cautions. Steve McQuillian was the leader for the first four laps until Wayne Coury, Jr. took over and began to drift away from the field. In the battle for the division crown, Pitkat's better starting position proved to be a plus as he maintained a safe distance from Peterson. Both moved up a ways from their original starting spots for the first 23 laps. And then we start a huge string of caution periods. This all started on lap-24 when John Warren spun in turn two and David Trudeau spun in nearly the same spot on the restart. Three laps without cautions proved to be fairly interesting. By this time, Pitkat was in second with Peterson almost nowhere in sight. Then on lap-27, a multi-car accident bunched the field back together. Pitkat's second place, outside restart spot didn't cost him dearly as he moved to the lead on lap-30. Peterson had reached sixth, although this was to be trouble when the field was bunched up yet again on lap-32 due to an accident featuring Trudeau, Jonathan Smith, and Rick Charette. Then on the restart, consider the field together again after a multi-car accident occured in turn one. On the next lap, Ryan Posocco took the lead from Pitkat, and with Peterson still moving up, the two could officially race each other for the championship. Well, they offically came bumper to bumper with each other around lap-34 when Tom Butler spun on the backstretch and a multi-car accident collected numerous drivers on the restart. Both contenders battled each other for a few laps until Smith spinning in an unknown location on lap-37 and Coury crashing in turns one and two on the next lap sealed the deal for Pitkat. He blew past Peterson on the final restart, putting only Tom Fearn inbetween the contenders. Peterson couldn't get past Fearn, however, and Pitkat finished ahead of Peterson for the championship. Meanwhile, Posocco took down the win, followed by Pitkat, Fearn, and of course, Peterson.

This was a great season, and I couldn't do the work without any of my trusted sources: Mod Series Scene and their administrators and members, Making Laps and their administrators and members, and the Stafford Speedway and their hard-working web techies for putting together a great website. I promise to do better over the offseason and next year, giving you more stories from the homefront and possibly some new features for the new season. If you have any suggestions for things that could make the second season of The View From Turn One a better experience, please drop me an email at ironchefmandy@sbcglobal.net or instant message me at the same address. Until the Spring Sizzler and the first features of the year, stay safe, warm, and have a happy 2006.

Fall Final News: Results and Video

Sorry for doing this entry almost a week after the original Fall Final events took place. Things were just hectic around the house and we've had problems last weekend. But after recovering from the mental craziness, I'm ready to dish the dirt. And of course, your dirt includes the Fall Final Saturday results. There will be more afterwards -- perhaps later today -- but let's get to the top story: The Whelen Modified Tour and their qualifying session. We started the day off strong as Todd Szegedy ran through every sort of obstacle provided and earned himself a pole position. His time was 18.091, breaking the previous track record set by Mike Ewanitsko during the 2001 Fall Final. (His time? 18.102.) When the top ten cars redrew, Szegedy still found himself starting first, although he will be taking the green flag alongside Tony Hirschman. The next four rows are as follows:

Row Two: Ed Flemke and Donny Lia
Row Three: Dick Houlihan and Ted Christopher
Row Four: Mike Stefanik and Reggie Ruggiero
Row Five: Chuck Hossfeld and Jimmy Blewett

Stupid thing won't let me put the rows in a list.)

Next came a barrage of qualifying events for the Stafford divisions. Five of the events ran caution free, including both from the DARE Stocks. The only event that dramatically produced the most carnage was the second Late Model heat. One minor accident (no caution kind of minor) sent Jim Peterson, championship contender, to the Late Model 16 feature. But we'll put the 16 aside for now, as the first actual feature of the afternoon was about to take the green flag. For the final time this season, we've got coverage of the DARE Stocks.

Before the green even flew, however, a few cars dropped off the track like flies. One possiblity (and probably the most logical) might have been the fact that it was colder than usual for a finale weekend, but nonetheless, you had a few people drop out of the race earlier than expected. With that taken care of, the green was finally brought out, signaling the start of the final 15-lap feature and the crowning of a new DARE Stock champion in Norm Sears. (With a full 50 point lead over second place, everyone was certain nothing was going to happen to Sears inbetween the 22nd and the 30th.) Now then, from the opening lap to lap-13, things were pretty smooth. But then, two cautions occured. The first one was on lap-14 when Melissa Blowers and Tim LeDuc spun in turn three. Then on the restart, there was a two car accident and spin in turn two and the beginning of the backstretch. (Those cars were not named, only due to the fact that they left the scene before I could catch numbers. With that all set, the final two laps were smooth sailing for Vince Gambacorta. He picked up the win with Sears in second, Rob Lawrence third, and Dan Flannery fourth. Like previously mentioned, Sears clinched the championship by just starting the feature.

After the SK Lights had an interesting qualifying heat and the two last chance qualifiers were run (Late Model 16 was won by Jay Stuart and the 21 Means 21 was won by Bo Gunning), we came down to the Limited Late Model feature. 20-laps of chaos. Oh, what fun this was! Big time fun started on lap-4 when George Nocera spun in turn two, bringing out the first of five yellow flags in the event. Now if you thought the dramatics from Nocera were done, then... Well, not really. He spun in the exact same spot in turn two on lap-7. Now we fast forward to three laps later, and we see Michael Chaves and Pete Cayer spinning in turn four, bringing out caution flag number three. The lap-10 action didn't end there, however, because there was a false start. The final yellow was on lap-14, when Cayer spun for the second time in the race -- this time, however, he spun in turn one. Now there was a six lap sprint to the finish with Kevin Gambacorta trying to take the championship over Nocera, who had spun twice in the same spot and had raced his way back up into the top-four cars when the checkered flag signaled the end of the race. Corky Hinze took his first win of the season, followed by Bill Davis, Nocera, and Charlie Newman. Two points separated Gambacorta from Nocera, but the two points were in favor of Gambacorta. For the second time that day, it was a celebration in Victory Lane for the family from Ellington. (Well, three. Vince won the Paradiso-Muska DARE Stock Shootout not too long after.)

Sunday's events were rained out, so now the remaining three divisions and Whelen Modified Tour will all crown champions on October 28th. (That's a Saturday. Mark your calendars like I did.) The Stafford website has a video from YouTube -- downloaded by MarcandBryon -- which can be found below.



Other than that, I think I'll see you on the 28th.