Mike Douglas Jr. Cruises To VMRS Victory

Posted by Wayne G. Barber   Photos by Simply the Best, Crystal Snape

Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H            Source; Jim Snape

   The Valenti Modified Racing Series made its second appearance of the season when they roared into the Lee USA speedway for the Hoosier Tire East / New England Race Fuels 50 lap feature on Sat. May 27th.

   The event was unique by running heat races of 25 laps in length and topping it off with a 50 lap feature.

   From the drop of Tim Bennetts green flag, Douglas Jr. of Auburn, N.H. took the lead from his pole position start and never gave it up, while back in the pack Richard Savary,  Anthony Nocella and Les Hinckley III started working their way to the front.

   Only two caution flags slowed the action briefly but still didn't stop Douglas from his first ever MRS victory.

   "I just wanted to take the lead and set my own pace. If five guys got around me thats fine. Eddie Flemke built me an absolutely fantastic car, the tire wear on it is minimal. I've never had a car that was that easy to drive for so long. Maybe 75 or 100 laps things might be different, but we're happy with the win here at Lee." Douglas Jr. said.

   Richard Savary of Canton, Ma. maneuvered his Alloy Wheels sponsored  #99 through heavy traffic to put himself on Douglas's rear bumper but never could pull off the pass for victory.

   "We realized we hurt our right rear tire in the 25 lap heat and we swapped right side tires for the feature and our straigity was to get to the front before some of our competitors so they had to go by us. Right from the start of the race I couldn't get to the throttle off the corners because it would slide the nose. He (Douglas) did the right thing covering the bottom, he gave me plenty of room on the outside but I had to drive defensively. When Anthony (Nocella)  had runs on me I moved down to give him room, If he was faster than go by but lapped cars got in the way and that held him up. Had Anthony not put pressure on me I think I could have gotten him (Douglas)  because the 23 was slowing down. I think the 50 lap feature was better especially for the fans, there was racing thru out the field" Savary said

   Fresh off his victory at the Stafford Motor Speedway Nocella started deep in the pack (18) and immediately went on the offence picking off a car per lap using the tough outside groove. With 10 laps to go Nocella nudged the Nocella Paving #92 past Dana Smith putting himself into third, then attacked Savary on the outside but Savary prevailed on each attempt and then lapped traffic held him back for a third place finish.

   "I know you gotta save tires but 50 laps goes by pretty quick here. I was just trying to get there before we ran totally out of tires. After winning the last one (Stafford Motor Speedway) we had to start 18th and that's what it was. Some of these guys are all over the place after they burn off  (tires) so we tried to keep it straight and get by them and stay out of wrecks. I tried to set a nice pace but still ran out of tires with 10 to go. Lapped traffic got in the way at the end and we had to drop back in line, we're okay with a third" Nocella said.​

  The 25 lap heats paid $500 to win and were won by Mike Douglas Jr., Donnie Lashua and Dennis Perry who nipped Todd Annarummo in a photo finish.

   The next Valenti Modified Racing Series event takes place at Speedway 51 in Groveton, N.H. on June 17th.

Finnish.

1---Mike Douglas Jr.

2---Richady Savary

3---Anthony Nocella

4---Les Hinckley III

5---Todd Annarummo

6---Dana Smith

7---Mike Willis

8---Jeff Rocco

9---Carl Medieros

10--Dennis Perry

11--Carl Pasteryak

12--Colbey Fournier

13--Donnie Lashua

14--Matt Mead

15--Jeff Gallup

16--Sammy Rameau

17--Rob Richardi

18--Dylan Rock

19--Jon Kay

20--Andy Shaw

21--Andrew Molleur

22--Josh Cantara

23--Jimmy Dolan      .            

Champions night again tonight .....

Posted by Wayne G. Barber and Photos by Wayne G. Barber

Free Racing Tickets, Bus Tours, News, Racing Reports, Inside Information and Driver Interviews, Taped and Live !   Inside Seekonk Speedway Report with the Wall of Fame inductions and Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH

 and our Woman in Racing Segment.

Tonight at 6:10pm tentatively scheduled will be Long Islands Roger Turbush of the Famous Turbush Racing Stable at Riverhead who just scored a impressive win at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park   Green to Checkers , lights out !

Seekonk Speedway Late/Model Results 5-27-17

Seekonk Speedway 5-27-17

. Posted by Wayne G.Barber and Photos by Wayne G. Barber

Beautiful Saturday night for short track racing in New England after all the rain this week.

The Late/ Model drew a decent amount of race teams (22) tonight so the track held three very good qualifying heat races. John Paiva #21 won his heat race from green to checkers by holding off every contender. The second heat had last weeks feature winner Vinnie Arrendegardo #17 maintaining his speed again this week for a on-challenged heat race also. Green to checkered flag also.
 The third race had two heavy weights in it and Dylan Estrella #46 and Austin Blais #16 had the crowd on the edge of their bleacher seat for 8 laps of side by side racing for a heat win. The last lap Blais got 3 inches on the grass for the win instead of taking the sure second place finish for a chance on a victory and lost it and the next six race cars passed him. Earnhardt would have done the same thing for a chance at a win at any level. Austin Blais is a pure racer !
  The race was very tight early and the race cars were leaning on each other in every corner till Gerry Degasparre #71 left the track on lap 20 and the young guns smelled a chance of a victory in the air. On lap 24 of the 30 lap feature Dylan Estrella #46 and Mike Mitchell #44 tangelled in turn two and Jeramie Lille sustained race ending damage and then stalked Estrella before the exit shoot to give him a real good smash mouth to his chariot to return a favor before leaving. Something will come down later for his action I am sure. Only six laps remain and the young guns are at the point on the restart. Jake Johnson #15 who may not have a Massachusetts driving license and Austin Blais and very young but already has 18 victories under his belt put on the show of the night for the die hard race fans. Blais told me on the Race Chatter two weeks ago that he is not afraid to use the outside lane at Seekonk and then he proved it with a very clean pass on a restart. Third place Mike Benevides said he had sweaters older than these two young pups and he did not mention young Branden Dion #04 who finished a hard fourth after a re-start when the car behind him lifted both his rear wheels off the track and spun him for a 360 spin.
 The future was on display again tonight in the competitive Late/ Model division and was alone worth the low price of admission Top five pending tech are Austin Blais, Jake Johnson, Mike Benevides, Branden Dion, Anthony Flannery.  More info on this and the other three races tomorrow on this site.Wayne

NASCAR Saturday Night & Wall of Fame Inductions May 27 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Seekonk Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber  Photos from Wayne G. Barber Collection

# 30 Fred Astle

#80 Mike Cavalarro

Nascar Saturday Night racing from Seekonk Speedway!!! Phil’s Propane Sport Trucks Triple Crown, Pro Stock, Late Models, Sportsman and also Wall of Fame Inductions!!!

See you there !

Champions Night on the Race Chatter

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Mike Mitchell 2009 Seekonk Speedway Street Stock Champion and ROTY 2016 and 1st Granite State Pro Stock Series Winner on Long Island

Thank You Champions !  John Zych Jr.  NEMA Champion 2013,2015,2016, 201?

Thank You, United States short track race fans for the 74 Quality E-Mails and for making this past Monday's broadcast the largest in the six year history of the Race Chatter. I promise to keep up what I am doing on bringing you the Real Racers in this Greatest Sport in our Great Free Country, Wayne

Thank You, also for the many E-Mails on Thanking me for getting young Hot Shoe, Max Zachem on the airways (First of many SK Mod Wins)and the young man was Magic on our guest hot-line!

Sorry Ladies, his taken !

Chase Dowling Spanks the SK Modified field at Stafford Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Dan Avery took the early lead with Todd Owen, D.J. Burnham, Glen Reen, and Rowan Pennink behind him.  The caution came out with 3 laps complete as Owen and Burnham spun into the turn 1 wall.

Reen took the lead on the outside of Avery and Cam McDermott was right with Reen and he was now side by side with Avery for second with Pennink in fourth and Tony Membrino, Jr. was up to fifth.  McDermott took second on lap-6but Avery came right back and retook the spot on lap-7 as Pennink was looking to get by both cars in fourth.  Avery settled into second with Pennink taking third from McDermott on lap-8 as Reen continued to lead the race. 

Avery made a move to the inside of Reen to move to the front on lap-9 and he brought Pennink with him to drop Reen back to third.  Chase Dowling moved to the outside of Reen on lap-10 and he took over third and then he moved side by side with Pennink for second with Avery still out front.  Keioth Rocco was making his way through traffic towards the front as he was up to fifth when the caution came out with 12 laps complete for a spin by Eric Berndt in turn 2.

Avery and Dowling were side by side for the lead back under green with Dowling getting clear on lap-14.  Avery now had Pennink to his outside in a fight for second with Rocco in fourth and Reen was fifth.  Dylan Izzo and Berndt spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution back out with 16 laps complete.

Dowling took the lead back under green with Pennink moving up to second.  Avery moved into third with Rocco in fourth and Reen in fifth.  Pennink made a move to the inside of Dowling in turn 4 on lap-19 to take over the lead but that move was negated by the caution flag for spins in turns 1+2 by Membrino and Berndt.

Pennink was able to keep pace with Dowling in the outside groove on the restart before slotting back into second just in front of Rocco.  Avery was fourth with Reen and McDermott side by side for fifth.  The caution came back out with 21 laps complete for a spin coming out of turn 4 by Berndt, Tyler Hines, and Robert Goulet.

The caution came right back out on the restart as there was a multicar incident at the entrance of turn 3 involving the cars of Jeff Baral, Tom Bolles, Izzo, Tom Abele, Jr., Hines, and Goulet.

Dowling took the lead on the restart with Rocco alongside Pennink for second with Reen and Avery side by side for fourth.  Rocco got clear to second on lap-23 with Pennink, Reen, and now Ted Christopher lined up single file behind Dowling, who was still out front.

Christopher got by Reen to move into third on lap-29 as Dowling, Rocco, and Pennink were starting to stretch their advantage over the field out.  That advantage was erased by a spin in turn 4 by Mike Christopher, Jr. that brought the caution out. 

Dowling took the lead back under green with Rocco slotting into second and Pennink into third.  Ted Christopher was fourth and Reen was fifth when the caution came back out for spins in turn 4 by Mike Christopher, Jr. and Goulet.

Dowling and Rocco were side by side for the lead again with Christopher moving into third.  As the field hit turn 3, Pennink and Christopher touched with Christopher’s car getting shot up the track into the path of Matt Galko, who hit the wall to bring the caution back out.

Dowling took the lead with Christopher getting by Rocco to move into second.  Pennink and Ronnie Williams were side by side for fourth with Reen right behind them in sixth.  With 5 laps to go, Dowling, Christopher, Rocco, Pennink and Williams were lined up single file.  Christopher was working over Dowling while Pennink was looking high and low for a way to get around Rocco. 

Dowling led Christopher to the checkered flag to pick up his second win in three races in 2017.  Rocco finished third with Pennink and Williams rounding out the top-5.

SK MODIFIED® (40)

1) Chase Dowling, Roxbury

2) Ted Christopher, Plainville

3) Keith Rocco, Berlin

4) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa

5) Ronnie Williams, Tolland

6) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma

7) Cam McDermott, Canterbury

8) Todd Owen, Somers

9) Dan Avery, Somers

10) Stephen Kopcik, Newtown

11) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury

12) Dylan Izzo, Monroe

13) Tony Membrino, Jr., Berlin

14) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma

15) Tom Abele, Norwich

16) Jeff Baral, Southington

17) Ed Spiers, Beacon Falls

18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell

19) Mike Christopher, Jr., Wolcott

20) Matt Galko, Meriden

21) Robert Goulet, Plainville

22) Tyler Hines, North Haven

23) Tom Bolles, Ellington

24) Carlos Gray, East Hartford

25) Tommy Membrino, Jr., Prospect

26) John Catania, Agawam, Ma

27) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford

GSPSS Heads to Long Island

Posted by Wayne G. Barber  

Photo by Simply the Best, Crystal Snape

    Race Two of 2017 Set For Riverhead Raceway

WALPOLE, N.H. – Coming off a rain-shortened season-opening event at Lee USA Speedway back on April 30, the Granite State Pro Stock Series is set to return to action this Saturday night, this time in New York. The quarter-mile Riverhead Raceway will play host to the series for a 100-lap feature event that will pay $2,000 to the driver that rolls into Victory Lane.

The event will showcase the top GSPSS talent up against some of the Riverhead Late Model weekly competitors.

Last season, GSPSS drivers headed south to Riverhead in July and completed the inspection process along with a few rounds of practice, but then Mother Nature took control of the night. The race was cancelled and was not rescheduled, meaning this season’s stop will be the inaugural 100-lap event for the series at the bullring.

In the 2017 season-opener at Lee, Jeremy Davis took his No. 09 into Victory Lane, defeating Bryan Kruczek and Joe Squeglia in the final laps of the rain-shortened event. Coming into Riverhead, Davis holds a scant points advantage in the series point standings.

PLACE: Riverhead Raceway

DATE: Saturday May 20

TIME: 6 p.m.

TRACK: ¼ mile slightly banked asphalt oval

TRACK TWITTER: @RiverheadRacewa

GSPSS Contact: Mike Parks, mparks@gspss.net

Defending series champion Barry Gray of Belchertown, Mass. struggled in the opening event at Lee and was involved in a crash that forced him to a finish outside the top 20. Gray has his work cut out for him in the points, but will be going forward with Riverhead just looking to get back on track.

Riverhead Late Model regulars that are expected to compete include Jarrod Hayes, Roger Oxee and Chris Turbush. The list includes Turbush, who scored five wins in the Riverhead Late Model class last season. With the weekly competitors running the track on a consistent basis, they may have an upper hand when it comes to the longer distance feature event because they already know the setup it will take to run up front.

Granite State Pro Stock Series regulars that are expected to be competing include championship hopefuls Nick Lascuola, Devin O’Connell, Cory Casagrande and Mike Mitchell, among others.

“We are heading from the largest track on our schedule with the test day at NHMS all the way to the quarter-mile bullring of Riverhead,” series president Mike Parks said. “Last year, before the rains came, the teams were just starting to get used to the confines of the speedway.”

This event will be a one-day race, with practice, qualifying and feature racing all happening on Saturday in the midst of the Riverhead weekly program. The NASCAR Tour-Type weekly Modifieds will be in competition on Saturday night and some of the stars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour are expected to join the racing.

Qualifying races will begin at 4:30 p.m., with the National Anthem and beginning of the program slated for 6 p.m.

For more information on the event, fans are encouraged to visit www.gspss.net and www.riverheadraceway.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow the Granite State Pro Stock Series on Facebook and Twitter. 

Strong Field for Stafford Speedway Valenti Modified Series Race

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

May 16, 2017

Strong Field Expected For 4th

Annual VMRS 80 At Stafford

Canaan, NH. - When the Valenti Modified Racing Series rolls into Connecticut’s

Stafford Motor Speedway Friday night, May 19, 30-race teams have indicated

they are preparing to compete in the 2017 season opener for New England’s

premier modified touring division at the famed half-mile speedway.

The fourth annual ‘VMRS 80’ is the first of two races scheduled at Stafford this

season.

Last year’s winner, Rowan Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, PA, will be shooting

for his second consecutive win in the spring race. He will wheel the Gary Casella

# 25 Roscoe Racing Chevrolet. The Pennink/Casella combo scored the 2013

VMRS championship. They have 10-series victories to their credit.

Today’s so-called youth movement in modified racing will include Rob Richardi

of Taunton, MA, Troy Talman, of Oxford, MA, Jeffrey Gallup, of Feeding Hills,

MA, Dave Schneider, of Northport, NY, \and Ronnie Williams, of Tolland, Ct. All

are expected entries.

2016 series winners Woody Pitkat, of Sturbridge, MA, Anthony Nocella, of

Woburn, MA, and Todd Szegedy, of Ridgefield, CT, are entered.

Veterans Donnie Lashua, of Canaan, NH, George Sherman of Framingham, MA,

Keith Rocco, of Berlin, CT, and Windsor Locks, CT’s, Les Hinckley have

indicated they will compete.

Hinckley does not have a lot of seat time at Stafford. He drove in three pro-stock

events in the 90’s and three VMRS races prior to 2013. He will wheel his familiar

#06 car. The second-generation driver is ranked third on the series all-time win

list, behind Kirk Alexander and Jon McKennedy.

Friday night’s race will be the VMRS 18

th

appearance at Stafford.

Qualifying heat races begin at 6:15 PM. An autograph session featuring VMRS

drivers is also planned.

### Source: John Spence Press Release

Solomito Muscles Way to Langley Victory

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Timmy Solomito celebrates in victory lane after winning the 2017 City of Hampton 150 at Langley Speedway. Adam Glanzman/NASCAR

HAMPTON, Va. – Timmy Solomito muscled his way past Doug Coby with seven laps to go to score the victory in Saturday night’s City of Hampton 150 at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway – his second victory of the season in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Coby had dominated much of the event, leading all but six laps, but Solomito closed in on him in the closing stages of the 150 lap race at the .396-mile oval in Hampton, Virginia. When Solomito finally got to Coby’s rear bumper, he began to press the issue, looking to the inside and the outside and repeatedly giving shots to Coby.  With seven laps to go, and the third and fourth place cars of Max Zachem and Eric Goodale joining the battle for the win, Solomito executed the bump-and-run, which resulted in Coby spinning.

Solomito then survived a restart with two laps to go and survived overtime to clinch the win.

“I hate to race that way,” Solomito said. “We had a really fast car tonight. I pressed him and tried to get him to slip up. He slipped up a few times. I showed my nose a couple times. I have a lot of respect for Doug but he’s trying to win a race and I’m trying to win a race. Unfortunately, tight quarters, you’re racing on a small track, I hate to win races that way but it happens, contact happens.

“Unfortunately, it’s racing. It is a contact sport here and there and sometimes things happen. We didn’t want that to happen but it’s hard racing. Two guys going for the same piece of real estate for the win. If I could go back, would I have done anything different? Probably not. Everybody’s here to win.”

The win at Langley marks Solomito’s second of the season. Earlier this year, he won the Whelen Modified season opener at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway and backed it up with a second-place finish at Connecticut's Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Despite an 11^th place finish at Stafford, the strong start to the season has Solomito thinking big picture.

“We just have to keep it rolling and keep running strong and having good finishes,” Solomito remarked. “At the end of the day, every position counts.  You have to play your cards right and be there at the end. You just have to finish every race.  It’s not always about winning as many races as you can, it’s about finishing up front and running well.”

Doug Coby, who led 134 laps, ended up being relegated to a 15^th place finish after the contact with Solomito.

“Timmy made his car faster, and we were just a tick tighter,” Coby said. “We still had a fast race car, a controllable race car. It was a good race, that’s what the fans deserve to see. They don’t want to see somebody walk away by a straightaway.”

As Solomito closed in, Coby said he expected the race to come down to paint trading.

“I was expecting the bumper shots, the crossovers and stuff,” Coby explained. “No matter what he was trying to do, if I don’t give up the bottom, he can’t get by me. That’s short track racing. You’ve got the outside to go around, you’ve got the way bottom to go around.  If I’ve got a fast car and I’m on the bottom, find another way around.”

Eric Goodale finished in second, his best result of the season. Kyle Bonsignore finished third while Max Zachem and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top-five.

Rob Summers, Rowan Pennink, Danny Bohn, Kyle Ebersole and Matt Swanson completed the top 10.

Solomito took over the points lead with his victory, leading by nine points over Rowan Pennink following the race at Langley Speedway.  Eric Goodale sits third in points while Justin Bonsignore and Max Zachem sit fourth and fifth.

The next race for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be held at Connecticut's Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on June 14^th.Source: Andy Marquis, NASCARHomeTracks.com Press Release

	1	3	16	Timmy Solomito	Starrett Tools Ford	156	47	4	Running
	2	2	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing Chevrolet	156	42		Running
	3	13	22	Kyle Bonsignore	Snap-On Tools Chevrolet	156	41		Running
	4	10	20	Max Zachem	MPZ Motorsports/Lu-Macs Chevrolet	156	40		Running
	5	9	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet	156	39		Running
	6	4	64	Rob Summers	Hoosier Tire East/Fast Track Elect/Hughes Motors	156	39	1	Running
	7	5	3	Rowan Pennink	Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet	156	37		Running
	8	6	40	Danny Bohn	Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair/Will I Am South	156	36		Running
	9	18	5	Kyle Ebersole	Ebersole Excavating Chevrolet	156	35		Running
	10	17	89	Matt Swanson	Starrett Tools Ford	156	34		Running
	11	15	29	Brendon Bock	Meadow Brook Collision Chevrolet	156	33		Running
	12	14	56	Craig Lutz	Lutz Motorsports Chevrolet	156	32		Running
	13	21	39	Calvin Carroll *	Power with Prestige/Cruising w/Betty Chevrolet	156	31		Running
	14	7	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprise Chevrolet	156	30		Running
	15	1	2	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools Chevrolet	156	31	2	Running
	16	12	46	Woody Pitkat	Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet	156	28		Running
	17	20	77	Gary Putnam	Curb Records Chevrolet	156	27		Running
	18	8	6	George Brunnhoelzl III	T.S. Haulers Chevrolet	156	26		Running
	19	23	33	Wade Cole	Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Ford	154	25		Running
	20	25	78	Walter Sutcliffe Jr. *	Last Minute Racing Chevrolet	123	24		Handling
	21	24	01	Melissa Fifield	Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet	119	23		Engine
	22	16	11	Andy Seuss	LFR Chassis Chevrolet	109	22		Accident
	23	19	82	Spencer Davis	Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet	88	21		Distributor
	24	11	85	Todd Szegedy	Montanari Fuel/Stuarts Auto/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet	51	20		Accident
	25	22	72	Lauren Edgerton *	Precision Powder Coating Chevrolet	43	19		Handling

RACE STATISTICS

Estimated Weekend Attendance:0

Fastest Qualifier:   Doug Coby, Time: 15.495 Seconds, Speed: 92.004 mph

Failed to Qualify:

Time of Race:    1 hrs., 16 mins, 30 secs                                Average Speed: 48.452 mph               Margin of Victory:  0.806 Seconds

Caution Flags:  Laps 15-20; 49-54; 57-59; 79-83; 96-102; 110-114; 122-125; 145-147; 149-153.  9 for 44 laps.

Lap Leaders:   Doug Coby 1-54, Timmy Solomito 55, Doug Coby 56-99, Rob Summers 100-107, Doug Coby 108-143, Timmy Solomito 144-156.

Total Laps Led:   Doug Coby 134, Timmy Solomito 14, Rob Summers 8.  5 changes involving 3 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

Top 10 Driver Points:   Timmy Solomito 170, Rowan Pennink 161, Eric Goodale 148, Justin Bonsignore 147, Max Zachem 143, Matt Swanson 134,

                                   Woody Pitkat 132, Rob Summers 131, Doug Coby 119, Dave Sapienza 117

Ted Christopher is still the # One at Stafford Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Tyler Hines led the field to the green but Glen Reen quickly took the lead on the first lap with Rowan Pennink slotting into second.  Mike Christopher, Jr. was third with Ted Christopher and Hines side by side for fourth.  Pennink made a move to the inside of Reen in turn 3 on lap-4 to take over the race lead. 

Ted Christopher worked his way past Reen to move into second on lap-9 and he took the lead from Pennink.  Reen tried to follow him by Pennink and they touched wheels with Pennink and Reen spinning in turn 4 to bring the caution out.  Christopher was now the race leader with Tom Abele, Jr. in second, Mike Christopher, Jr. third, Hines fourth, Keith Rocco fifth, and Ronnie Williams sixth for the restart.

Ted Christopher took the lead with Abele slotting into second.  Mike Christopher, Jr. was third with Rocco and Hines behind him.  Christopher, Jr. quickly worked his way to the inside of Abele to take over second on lap-11 and they ran side by side with Rocco right on their bumpers as they were all giving chase to Ted Christopher.  A multicar incident involving Stephen Kopcik, Tom Bolles, Tony Membrino, Jr., John Catania, and Bobby Grigas just coming out of turn 2 brought the caution out with 13 laps complete.

Hines brushed the wall on the restart and John Catania spun to bring the caution right back out.  The next restart saw Abele take to the outside groove to take over the lead.  Christopher and Rocco were side by side for second witih Christopher, Jr., in fourth, just in front of Williams.  Christopher went back to the lead on lap-16 and now Rocco was looking to get by Abele for second.  Rocco worked him over and he made the pass on lap-19 with Williams following him by on lap-20 to drop Abele back to fourth.  Cam McDermott was up to fifth with Christopher, Jr., Michael Gervais, Jr., Matt Galko, Todd Owen, and Dylan Izzo rounding out the top-10.

Rocco was starting to work Christopher over for the lead as he was looking high and low for a way to make a pass for the lead on lap-26.  Rocco nearly had a pass made on lap-30 but Christopher was able to shut the door on the move.  Williams was still in third with Abele and McDermott making up the top-5.  Rocco was still looking high and low for a way around Christopher but he was still behind with 5 laps to go. 

Rocco  was finally able to make a move and he took the lead with a move in turn 3 on lap-37.  Christopher wasn’t going away quietly as he was all over Rocco’s bumper.  The cars took the white flag locked together.  Rocco led down the backstretch and into turn 3.  Christopher made a power move in turn 3 to get alongside Rocco and he took the lead by a nose coming off turn 4 and he led Rocco to the line to take the win. 

SK MODIFIED® (40)

1) Ted Christopher, Plainville ,Track Record  104 SK career win

2) Keith Rocco, Berlin  43 SK career wins

3) Ronnie Williams, Tolland 7 SK career wins

4) Tom Abele, Jr., Norwich

5) Cam McDermott, Canterbury

6) Chase Dowling, Roxbury

7) Mike Christopher, Jr., Wolcott

8) Matt Galko, Meriden

9) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury

10) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa 18 SK career wins

11) Dylan Izzo, Monroe

12) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma

13) Dan Avery, Somers

14) Todd Owen, Somers

15) Joey Cipriano, III, Waterbury

16) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma

17) Tony Membrino, Jr., Berlin

18) John Catania, Agawam, Ma

19) Tyler Hines, North Haven

20) Jeff Baral, Southington

21) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford

22) Stephen Kopcik, Newtown

23) Tom Bolles, Ellington

24) Bo Gunning, Southbury  47 SK career wins

25) Eric Berndt, Cromwell 17 SK career wins

Michael Bennett Wins Call Before You Dig 811 Late Model 50 at Stafford

Posted by Wayne G.Barber

Stafford Springs, CT)---Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with the Late Models taking center stage with the Call Before You Dig 811 50-lap extra distance feature event.  Michael Bennett was the big winner, leading all 50 laps to take home the $1,811 winner’s check.  CBYD 811 Late Model 50 feature event took the green with Michael Bennett streaking into the led with Skip Breunig in second.  The field could only complete one lap before the caution came out as Rich Hammann spun through the frontstretch grass.

Bennett again took the lead back under green with Wayne Coury, Jr. getting around Breunig for second.  Tom Butler was in fourth behind Breunig with Tyler Leary rounding out the top-5.  With 10 laps complete, Bennett was all by himself out front with a several car length lead over Coury with Butler a similar distance behind in third.  Breunig and Leary were waging a hard battle for fourth place when the caution came out with 14 laps complete for Jim Mavlouganes, who came to a stop in the infield on the frontstretch.

Bennett resumed his place at the front of the field with Coury and Butler side by side for second before Butler took the spot.  Breunig was still in fourth with Leary right on his back bumper in fifth.  Breunig fell back several spots on lap-19 as Josh Wood and Kevin Gambacorta both got past to drop him from fifth back to seventh.  Breunig continued to fall back as Paul Arute, Mike Quintiliano, Tom Fearn, and Michael Wray all got by.  Bennett was still in command of the race with Butler now in second and Coury in third as they hit the halfway point of the race.

Butler and Coury were beginning to close down the gap to Bennett and as they completed lap 30 all three cars were lined up within a car length of each other.  Bennett then stretched his lead back out by several car lengths as Coury’s car looked like it was starting to get loose in the corners. 

By lap-37, Coury had closed back in on the bumper of Bennett with Butler right behind Coury.  Leary was still running in fourth with Gambacorta in fifth.  Leary’s good run came to an end as he spun with Quintiliano to bring the caution back out with 39 laps complete.  Under the caution, Butler came to pit road from his third position to check his car to see if it was leaking fluid on the track.

Bennett powered his way to the lead on the restart with Gambacorta moving into second.  Coury was third but he lost that spot to Wray on lap-41.  Fearn was fifth with Wood in sixth and Arute up to seventh.  With three laps to go, Gambacorta was hounding Bennett for the lead and he nearly made a pass for the lead in turn 4.  Bennett was able to fend off Gambacorta’s challenges to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the season.  Coury finished third with Wray and Wood rounding out the top-5.Source: Scott Running Press Release Stafford Speedway

LATE MODEL (50)

1) Michael Bennett, Willington  16  Career L/M Wins

2) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington 2 Career L/M Wins

3) Wayne Coury, Jr., Shelton

4) Michael Wray, Northford

5) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma  6 Career L/M Wins

6) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma  33 Career L/M Wins

7) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma

8) Paul Arute, Tolland

9) Mike Quintiliano, Shelton

10) Rich Hammann, Tolland

11) Joel Monahan, Whately, Ma

12) Mike Mordino, Southington

13) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin

14) Skip Breunig, Milford

15) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs

16) Tyler Leary, Hatfield, Ma

17) Jim Mavlouganes, Bethany