Matt Galko scores his second victory in the highly competitive SK Mod division at Stafford Speedway on Friday Sept. 15, 2017. Galko duplicated his first win ever in the SK'S on June 2 again by out- racing Chase Dowling the current points leader. Dowling maintains his points lead 620 to Teddy Christopher's 594 with Keith Rocco holding third at 586 after 15 of 17 races.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Cam McDermott and Tyler Hines were side by side for the first lap dueling for the lead and on lap-2 Glen Reen nearly went 3-wide for the lead but backed out of the move. With 4 laps complete it was still Hines and McDermott side by side for the lead with Reen in third. Matt Galko and Keith Rocco were side by side for fourth behind them.
The order continued to shuffle as Hines got clear to the lead with Reen behind him in second. Galko was by himself in third with Chase Dowling and McDermott side by side for fourth with Tom Bolles in sixth. Reen moved to the front on lap-9 with a move in turns 1+2 and Galko came with him into second. Dowling also followed the two leaders by Hines as he moved into third with Hines slotting into line in fourth with Bolles fifth and Eric Berndt in sixth.
Dowling got by Galko on lap-12 to move into second and Ryan Preece moved into sixth after starting in the back of the pack. With 15 laps complete the order was Dowling out front with Reen, Galko, and Hines behind him. Preece got by Bolles for fifth just as the caution came out for a multi-car spin behind him that involved Joey Mucciacciaro, Jr., Payton Henry, Dan Avery, and D.J. Burnham.
Dowling took the lead back under green with Galko in second. The field stacked up a bit in turn 4 but everyone was able to gather their cars up and it was Preece emerging in third with Bolles in fourth and Berndt fifth before the caution came out with 17 laps complete for a spin on the backstretch involving Tony Membrino, Jr. and Rocco.
Stephen Kopcik got loose on the restart and came to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution right back out. Dowling took the lead on the restart but only one lap could be completed before a melee broke out coming out of turn 4 with Nick Salva, Josh Wood, Mike Christopher, Jr., Todd Owen, and Tommy Membrino, Jr., all involved to bring the caution back out.
Galko got a good run in the outside lane and took the lead from Dowling on the restart. Dowling and Reen were side by side for second with Preece and Berndt side by side for fourth. With 20 laps complete, Berndt’s car got turned into the front stretch wall to bring the caution out.
Galko and Dowling were side by side for the lead back under green with Reen and Preece side by side for third with Ted Christopher up to fifth. The two lead duos were still side by side until lap-25 when Preece got clear of Reen and took third. Christopher was now on the outside of Reen in a fight for fourth as Galko and Dowling were still side by side for the lead.
With 28 laps complete, Galko and Dowling were still side by side for the lead but it was now single file behind the two leaders with Preece, Christopher, and Reen making up the top-5 with Bolles still hanging strong in sixth.
With 5 laps to go, Galko and Dowling were still side by side for the race lead with Preece, Christopher, and Reen lined up behind them. As they completed lap-36 it was now two by two as Galko and Dowling were out front with Preece and Christopher and lined up behind them.
As they took the white flag, it was a 5-car train for the lead. Galko was able to get a good run coming out of turn 4 to beat Dowling and Preece to the line by a car length. Dowling took second by inches over Preece with Christopher beating Reen to the line by inches for fourth place.
SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Matt Galko, Meriden
2) Chase Dowling, Roxbury
3) Ryan Preece, Broad Book
4) Ted Christopher, Plainville
5) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma
6) Tom Bolles, Ellington
7) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa
8) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury
9) Keith Rocco, Berlin
10) Mike Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
11) Joey Cipriano, III, Waterbury
12) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
13) Ronnie Williams, Tolland
14) Cam McDermott, Canterbury
15) Dan Avery, Somers
16) Tyler Hines, North Haven
17) Tommy Membrino, Jr., Prospect
18) Stephen Kopcik, Newtown
19) Eric Berndt, Cromwell
20) Nick Salva, Cheshire
21) Todd Owen, Somers
22) Tony Membrino, Jr., Berlin
23) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford
24) Joey Mucciacciaro, Jr., Wolcott
25) Payton Henry, Willington
26) John Catania, Agawam, Ma
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