Column By: BRITTANY NUTILE / RPW – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Keith Rocco came away victorious Friday evening in the SK Modified feature at Stafford Speedway.
Rocco started the race 11th and ran up through the pack and got his way up to the top 5 by lap 8 and then made his way up to the top 3 and battled with Ronnie Williams for like the last 20 laps. It made the race so much interesting and you were on the edge of your seat to see who would get the lead. It also made it super intense and interesting between Rocco and Williams because of their rivalry they have at Stafford and Thompson, it makes it so exciting to see what’s going to happen. “Last week we had such a good car and ran on the op and he had the inside edge on us and there’s nothing we can do on the top but, try to fight for a win. But this week we reversed the roles.” Rocco talks about his run last week and his win this week.
Ronnie Williams finished 2nd and had a good race and awesome battle between him and Rocco. Williams started the race 12th and by lap 10 was in the top 5. He started leading laps on lap 20 and led 2 laps then got back to 2nd for 2 laps. On lap 24 led again and led 3 laps and went back to 2nd. This was the start of the battle of Keith Rocco on lap 20 till lap 40. From lap 20 to 40 Ronnie led a total of 8 laps. On lap 36 he was in 2nd place where he was till the finish. “Can’t really do much at the end there, he had a good car. We both had good cars, seem like whoever was in 2nd was going to have the run coming off of 2 and just didn’t play off right. We will take the 2nd and move on to next week.” Ronnie talks about trying to get around Rocco to see if he could get another win.
Glen Reen finished 3rd in the race, he started the race 9th and stayed in the 7th and 8th place for the first 11 laps. He didn’t get up to the top 5 till lap 19 and was just driving a clean race before that just buying his time to get up there. He was in 4th place for 9 laps moved up to 3rd for 3 laps and then back to 4th for 6 laps. Then finally stayed in 3rd for the last 4 laps and stayed in 3rd for the finish of the race. “It was a tough race out there; I saw those too battling and I knew that if I could get myself into 3rd we might have a shot at it. I needed like 2 more laps they would have gotten showed up enough to make a move that wouldn’t wreck all three of us. Come back and get them next week.” Reen talks about his night and his 3rd place finish.
Top 5 finishers in feature
1. Keith Rocco
2. Ronnie Williams
3. Glen Reen
4. Todd Owen
5. Michael Gervais Jr.
Top 5 in the point standings
1. Todd Owen 434 pts. +30
2. Michael Gervais Jr. 404 pts. -30
3. Keith Rocco 402 pts. -32
4. Ronnie Williams 378 pts. -56
5. Glen Reen 334 pts. -100
Late Models
Tom Fearn won the Late Model race at Stafford Speedway.
Fearn started the race 11th, in the first lap of the race there was a bunch up in the back of the pack. Cars got all mixed u because of the scuffle. Fearn got u in the top 5 in the beginning laps of the race. Tom took the lead on lap 19 and led 12 laps to win the race. Tom Fearn’s season has been amazing, for other people who have watched him throughout past season and last season where he had a dominate season thinks that Fearn has had a up and down season or have struggled, well the stats say something different. Tom Fearn this season in the last 10 races has had 4 wins, 2 2nd places, 3 3rd places, and a 5th place finish, that’s pretty impressive and that’s how you win championships. “Took us a couple of weeks to get it going and now its pretty decent and just keep doing what we are doing and happy with the wins. Keeping morale up with wins and making the team happy and we will be back next week looking for another win.” Tom talks about tonight’s win.
Paul Arute started 2nd and finished 2nd, he had a good race. He led 14 laps and battled with Tom Fearn for the lead. Arute stayed in the top 3 throughout the race. Arute has been progressing throughout the season, we are 10 laps into the season, and he has a had a good, consistent season. He has 3 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and one 15th place finish, where he had a problem. That’s a pretty consistent and good season. “It’s great to be able to race up front and battle with tom. Glad to be up front and battling with the fast cars like Tom Fearn and Michael Wray. Happy to be on the podium, that’s a win for our team. We’ve been kind of struggling and now we are back to a base line.” Arute says after the race about his 2nd place finish.
Ryan Fearn finished the race 3rd and started the race 7th place. Ryan had a really good race tonight, he stayed in the 2nd and 3rd position for the first 15 laps. Then got moved down to 4th, 5th,6th, and 7th place for 10 laps, then the last 5 laps stayed in 3rd to finish there. For a rookie in this division he’s doing pretty well in the first 10 races of the season he has 4 top 5s, 4 top 10s, 15th place, and a 16th place finish. He has been a consistent driver and learning about the division and car, that’s pretty impressive for a rookie. “I held off Gambacorta, that’s just short track racing. You have to do what you have to do. Next week we will come and do the same thing as this week.” Ryan Fearn talks about his 3rd place finish and how he battled with Kevin Gambacorta for 3rd.
Top 5 in the feature
1. Tom Fearn
2. Paul Arute
3. Ryan Fearn-R
4. Kevin Gambacorta
5. Michael Wray
Top 5 in the points
1. Tom Fearn 426 pts. +72
2. Michael Wray 354 pts. -72
3. Kevin Gambacorta 350 pts. -76
4. Cliff Saunders 342 pts. -84
5. Michael Bennett 342 pts. -84
SK Lights
Bryan Narducci won the SK Light race Friday at Stafford Speedway.
After the last two wins were taken away from him, Narducci was happy he could grab another win and actually keep it tonight. Bryan started the race in 10th place and got to the front very easily. By lap 3 he was in the top 3 and in the next 2 laps was leading. Narducci led from lap 7 to lap 20, leading 14 laps of the race. “It was a good race got to the front early, there was a lot of yellows and a lot of restarts, but we got through them. Yeah hopefully we can get that bad spell behind us. Realistically we’ve won 5 out of 10 races so far but only got credit for 3 and having a great year over at Thompson 4 for 4 there. So, 7 wins and we are only halfway through the season, its pretty good considering last year we had 8 wins. Hopefully we can keep it up and see what we can do.” Narducci talks about his win and hoping his bad spell is behind him after getting disqualified 2 weeks in a row.
Teddy Hodgdon finished in 2nd place tonight, Teddy having a pretty good season and still the current points leader of the SK light division. Teddy started the race 14th and stayed around 12th and 13th positions for the first 8 laps. Hodgdon got into the top 10 by lap 9 and moved through the field fairly easily. By lap 13, he was up to the top 5 then in the last 3 laps he was up to the 2nd position where he finished.
Mikey Flynn finished in 3rd tonight and has been having a good season so far, he has been consistent and working hard to try and get a win this year. Flynn started the race 4th and he stayed up in the top 5 for the whole race. He led 4 laps in the beginning from lap 3 to lap 6, he then dropped back to 2nd on lap 7 and stayed in 2nd for 12 laps. Then Hodgdon passed Flynn for 2nd on lap 19. Mikey was pushed by to 3rd for lap 19 and 20 where he finished the race.
Top 5 in the feature
1. Bryan Narducci
2. Teddy Hodgdon
3. Mikey Flynn
4. Mark Bakaj
5. Alexander Pearl
Top 5 in the point standings
1. Teddy Hodgdon 428 pts. +28
2. Steven Chapman 400 pts. -28
3. Alexander Pearl 382 pts. -46
4. Noah Korner-R 374 pts. -54
5. Mikey Flynn 364 pts. -64
Limited Late Model
Matt Clement won the Limited Late Model feature.
Clement started the race 4th. With the limited late models only having 15 laps, you have to be up front in the top 5 cars and being able to get to the lead quickly because there’s only 15 laps. He started in the top 5 and stayed there he got to the 2nd position on lap 13 and only led lap 15 but, it was the most important lap because he won it in that lap. “Man, that was a blast, I got up to Alexandra’s door, I knew when I got to her door, we were destined for victory lane. We are 10 laps in and have 5 wins, I would never dream that this would happen to anyone in the limited late model division never mind happening to me.” Matt talks about his win and how this is becoming a dream season for him and his team.
Alexandra Fearn had a good race; she had started on the pole tonight. She led 14 laps and was running hard to stay in the lead and not letting Matt grab the lead but couldn’t hold Clement off on the final lap and finished 2nd. Alexandra had consistent races where she had 8 top 5s and 2 top 10s. That’s a good stat when you are just being consistent and running clean and getting the points for the championship.
Duane Provost had a good race only being back for a couple weeks after being on vacation. He started 6th in the race ad had a good, consistent run tonight. He stayed in the top 6 all night ran in the 6th position for 6 laps and then made his way up to 5th and race there for a few laps and got to the top 3 by lap 14 and finally finished the race in 3rd.
Top 5 in feature
1. Matt Clement
2. Alexandra Fearn
3. Duane Provost
4. Jeremy Lavoie
5. Gary Patnode
Top 5 in point standings
1. Matt Clement 472 pts. +6
2. Jeremy Lavoie 472 pts. -6
3. Gary Patnode 452 pts. -20
4. Alexandra Fearn 434 pts. -38
5. Kevin Crosby -R 348 pts. -124
Street Stocks
Meghan Fuller won the Street Stock race at Stafford Friday.
Fuller started the race 3rd. Meghan has had a good week this week, NASCAR announcing this week their NWAAS championship points update. She has been a big mover this week in points for multiple divisions she is in. She’s the points leader in the street stock division at Stafford, 2nd in points in the limited sportsman series at Thompson, 3rd in NWAAS division V national standings and she’s 1st in UNOH youth achievement award national standings. She talked after the race today. “Tonight, we had a bit of trouble trying to get the car together and had new people helping us tonight. Car was decent, could have been a little bit better. Overall, was a good car and great win tonight”.
Zack Robinson started the race in 5th and had a consistent race and drove his race trying to get up to the top 3 drivers. He made his way up to the top 3 and was keeping it clean just getting a good position and hoping for a win. But Fuller had a better car and Robinson couldn’t get to her. Zack finishes 2nd tonight. “It was pretty good tonight, happy to be back on the podium. Took us a little bit to get the car right after the couple 4th place finishes. Been lacking drive in the car the last couple of weeks. Changed a little bit for this week to get more drive. We have a change a couple of things to see if we can catch Meghan.” Robison talks about his 2nd place finish tonight.
Jason Lafayette had a good race tonight talk been consistent in the past couple of races just racing clean and keeping his car in contention to be able to get the win. Jason talked during practice and said that his car was really good and felt the same way when he won the race 2 weeks ago. “First night we put tired on it so, we were kind of adjusting that. Pretty happy with 3rd, taking it home in one piece and not much to do during the week.” Jason talking about how his car felt and how he felt about coming in 3rd tonight.
Top 5 in feature
1. Meghan Fuller
2. Zack Robinson
3. Jason Lafayette
4. George Bessette Jr.
5. Johnny Walker
Top 5 in the point standings
1. Meghan Fuller 456 pts. +20
2. George Bessette Jr. 436 pts. -20
3. Zack Robinson 430 pts. -26
4. Travis Hydar 388 pts. -68
5. Adrien Paradis III-R 374 pts. -82