Column By: BRITTANY NUTILE / RPW – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Noah Korner won the Sk light race at Stafford Speedway on Dunleavy’s Modifiedz night.
Todd Douillard got the pole for the race. He fell to the back after a few laps and got into a wreck while having a tire go down. Korner had a fantastic race he started 9th and made his way to the front and was in the top 5. He was just buying his time and waiting to see if anything would happen at the end of the race and it sure did.
Teddy Hodgdon started 10th and had gotten to the lead, and on lap 37, Hodgdon had gotten to a lap car and had got tangled in the mess but, no damaged and still had the lead. At the end of the race going to the checkered flag Steven Chapman had spun and gotten into the inside grass taking Mark Bakaj along for the ride and also getting Hodgdon out of the groove allowing Korner to be in the right spot at the right time to get the win.
“It was a wild finish; I saw Teddy wash up into Bakaj and figured that was my shot and I took advantage of it. I guess it worked out because we are on top.” Korner said after his race win.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Noah Korner-R
2. Teddy Hodgdon
3. Jonathan Puleo-R
4. Wesley Prucker
5. Nick Anglace-R
Top 5 in the point standings:
1. Noah Korner-R 172 pts
2. Mark Bakaj 166 pts -6
3. Steven Chapman-R 162 pts -10
4. Teddy Hodgdon 148 pts -24
5. Jonathan Puleo-R 142 pts -30
Kevin Gambacorrta won the late model race tonight at Stafford speedway.
Kevin looked to have a fast car again this week, he started 13th but, he worked his way through the field rather quickly. Ryan Fearn dominated the first 16 laps but, couldn’t hold off Gambacorta.
“We had those two seconds and I said to myself we have to win a race. I just can’t believe how good we are, I work hard on the car. I learned a lot from Jay Stewart. He’s pretty smart, I guess I can’t really take the credit because I learned a lot from him and figuring out how these cars work.” Kevin talks about him winning the race.
Ryan finished second in the race; he’s having a good run in his rookie year in he late model division.
“If I was going to be passed by anyone, I’d rather have it be Kevin Gambacorta or Tom Fearn. In the beginning of the race, as soon as I felt the car out, I could tell it was going to be too much with the new tires, we have been trying to dial it in. But can’t complain about 2nd place.” Ryan talked about his second place finished after the race.
Paul Varricchio Jr. had a fantastic run tonight starting 3rd in the race and kept it in the top 5 the whole race, Paul ended up finishing in 3rd for the race. Chase Cook has been having a good start to the season so far has been in the top 5 to start the race and then has been maintaining that and finishing in the top 5. Cook finished the race tonight in 4th.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Kevin Gambacorta
2. Ryan Fearn-R
3. Paul Varricchio Jr.
4. Chase Cook
5. Tom Fearn
Top 5 in point standings:
1. Tom Fearn 180 pts
2. Michael Bennett 174 pts -6
3. Tyler Leary 160 pts -20
4. Michael Wray 158 pts -22
5. Al Saunders 150 pts -30
Matt Clement won the limited late model race at Stafford Speedway.
Alexandra Fearn won the pole for tonight’s race and had a good race, led the first few laps. Then by lap 7 Clement got the lead and had a fast car and once he got to the lead, he was just on cruise control all the way to the checkered flag. After the race Clement talked about his race and had a special shout out to his dad.
“Two wins in four weeks, I couldn’t even dream this day, this is just awesome. Big shout out to my dad, he’s run a car in this division for 12 years now, these wins are all for him.”
The 2018 limited late model champion, Jeremy Lavoie, is settling to the season and just figuring out the car and trying to get around the other cars. The whole field is very competitive and will have to compete every week because everyone is fighting for, he championship and there are very competitive drivers in this division.
Jeremy started the race 4th and finished 5th for the race.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Matt Clement
2. Alexandra Fearn
3. Duane Provost
4. Gary Patnode
5. Jeremy Lavoie
Point standings:
1. Duane Provost 188 pts
2. Matt Clement 184 pts -4
3. Jeremy Lavoie 184 pts -4
4. Gary Patnode 184 pts -4
5. Alexandra Fearn 174 pts -14
6. Kyle Casagrande 124 pts -64
7. Kevin Crosby-R 116 pts -72
8. Frank L’Etoile Jr. 40 pts -148
George Bessette Jr. won the street stock race tonight at Stafford Speedway.
Bessette Jr. started 6th in the race and looked to just take off and have a fast car and was trying to get “the monkey off his back” after the last couple of bad weeks. Once he got to the lead, it looked like no one could get to him to even try and pass him for the lead.
“Car was on rails all day, we put a new set of tires of the car and man was the car fast! Just glad to have the monkey off our back and get back to winning some races.”
Jason Lafayette had a good run today. He started 5th and looked to have another fast car, he has started the season on the right foot. Meghan Fuller has also been off to a good start this season, she started 10th for the race, and battled her way up through the field to finish 4th.
Top 5 finishers:
1. George Bessette Jr.
2. Jason Lafayette
3. Travis Hydar
4. Megan Fuller
5. Johnny Walker
Top 5 in point standings:
1. Travis Hydar 180 pts
2. Meghan Fuller 178 pts -2
3. George Bessette Jr. 156 pts -24
4. Nicole Chambrello 156 pts -24
5. Adrien Paradis III-R 154 pts -26