Column By: BRITTANY NUTILE / RPW – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Todd Owen won the SK Mod race on fall final weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Owen started the race in 9th place, he got into the top 5 in the first few laps and had a very fast car and wasn’t making a statement that he wanted to win the race and maybe have a chance to win the championship. Todd led 30 laps from lap 12 to 40. He had some competition from Keith Rocco but, held him off and got the win in the final race of the 2019 season. He ended up 2nd in points after a very impressive season.
Stephen Kopcik finished the race in 2nd, he started the race 8th and was in the top 15 in the first 8 laps. He had gotten into the top 10 by lap 10 and seemed to get his car better by the 2nd half of the race. Kopcik had a pretty good year struggled in the beginning of the season but, then started to move to the front and got a couple of wins and being in the top 5 for the last half of the races. He finished 6th in the point standings with 2 wins, 6 top 5s, and 12 top 10s.
Keith Rocco finished 3rd in the race today. He started the race in 11th. He stayed in the top 10 for the rest of the race and then got into the top 5 by lap 9. Rocco had a chance to win the championship but, a lot of things had to go wrong for the other two drivers, Owen and Williams. Keith finished 3rd in the point standings with 5 wins, 14 top 5s, and 18 top 10s. He had a good season and had been in the top 5 for most of the season.
Ronnie finished 4th in the race. In order to win the championship, if Owen was in front of Williams, he had to be 4 positions behind Owen to win the championship. They are tied even if he is 4th but, Ronnie wins the tie breaker because he has 1 more win than Owen. Ronnie stared off in the bottom of the top 10 and struggled a little to get up to the top 5. That’s usually how Ronnie runs races, he’s more conservative in the beginning of the race but, then halfway through the race his car all of a sudden gets better and get around car by car until lap 30 where he got up to the top 5. He had a good battle with Michael Gervais Jr., and it looked like he wasn’t going to get around him for the 4th position and to get the championship but, on lap 37 had gotten to 4th and kept that position all the way till lap 40.
Ronnie is the 2019 SK mod champion at Stafford Speedway. Williams is now a back to back champion here at Stafford. There has been 6 back to back champions in the Sk mod division. Ronnie Williams is one of the 6 back to back champions. It’s an amazing accomplishment to be back to back champions, not many people have been able to accomplish that. Especially in the Sk mod division, there is a lot of competitors in this division like Todd Owen, Keith Rocco, and many more. Ronnie is on the list among top name drivers in the SK mod division, names like Mike Christopher, Ted Christopher, Bob Potter, Rowan Pennink and now Ronnie. That’s good company to be in, drivers who are a few of the best drivers to compete in the SK division.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Todd Owen
2. Stephen Kopcik
3. Keith Rocco
4. Ronnie Williams (Champion)
5. Michael Gervais Jr.
Top 5 in points:
1. Ronnie Williams
2. Todd Owen
3. Keith Rocco
4. Michael Gervais Jr.
5. Glen Reen
SK Lights
SK Light Race
Teddy Hodgdon won the race and is the 2019 Sk Light Championship.
Teddy had started the race in 14th. He had to work himself through traffic and at one point during the race had made contact with Bob Charland and almost lost it and almost wrecked but, saved it and continue to race. It seemed like he had damage on his car but, it almost looked like it helped his car because he started to make gain on the other cars. By lap 9 he was up to the 4th but, then in lap 10 he had the contact with Charland and then got back up to 3rd. He led 4 laps from laps 17 to 20 but, that all he needed to win the race and the championship.
Alexander Pearl finished 2nd in the race, he started the race 11th and for the first half of the race he was in the bottom half of the top 10. By lap 8 he was up to 4th and 5th place then, dropped back to 6th,7th,8th, and 9th. He didn’t get up to the top 5 until lap 19 and then on the last lap got into 2nd. It was a pretty intense race and all the drivers were very competitive and wanted each and every spot. Alexander finished the season 3rd in points.
Nick Anglace finished 3rd in the last race of the season. He started the race 17th and was in 16 and 17th position for the first 10 laps and then was fighting hard to get back up to the top 10. By lap 15 had gotten to 12th place and then had gotten into the top 10. Nick had a hard-fought race and finished 8th in the point standings. For this being Nick’s rookie season, he had a pretty consistent season and had 0 wins, 3 top 5s, and 14 top 10s.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Teddy Hodgdon (Champion)
2. Alexander Pearl
3. Nick Anglace-R
4. Brian Sullivan
5. Steven Chapman
Top 5 in points:
1. Teddy Hodgdon
2. Steven Chapman-R
3. Alexander Pearl
4. Wesley Prucker
5. Bryan Narducci
Late Models
Tom Fearn is the 2019 Late Model track Champion at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Tom is now a back to back champion at Stafford. Fearn has a total of 6 championships at Stafford, 3 in the pro stock division and 3 in the late model division. This is Fearn’s 1st back to back championship, it’s a very awarding accomplish especially for Fearn, who is one of the winningest drivers at Stafford Speedway.
Wayne Coury Jr. wins the Late Model race on fall final weekend at Stafford Speedway. He started the race 11th and made his way through the pack. By lap 10 he was already up to the top 3 and was moving up to 2nd by lap 14. Coury led 6 laps, led a lap on 24 then led 5 more from lap 27-31, where he finished the race first.
Michael Bennett finished 2nd in the race, he started the race in 3rd place, he had a really good start and led the first 23 laps of the race and then had a very competitive battle with Wayne Coury Jr. They made contact with each other and almost wrecked each other but, it was a good battle to the end. Coury got by Bennett on lap 24 and they battle for the next 3 laps but, couldn’t get back to the lead. Michael finished 5th in the point standing this year after not competing last season. It was a good year for him in the late model, maybe not exactly like he wanted it, he was hoping for a few wins this season. He had a lot of 2nd place finishes just couldn’t get it done to win.
Kevin Gambacorta finished the race 3rd and had a good race for the final time this year. He started the race 4th and stayed in the top 10 for the whole race. Kevin got in to the top 5 in lap 22, and then got into the top 3 from lap 28-31. Gambacorta finished in the top 5 in points this season. He came back from a DQ in the first race and then looked even stronger after and had good race in the first few races and was very consistent through out the whole season.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Wayne Coury Jr.
2. Michael Bennett
3. Kevin Gambacorta
4. Al Saunders
5. Michael Wray
Top 5 in points:
1. Tom Fearn (Track Champion)
2. Michael Wray
3. Al Saunders
4. Kevin Gambacorta
5. Michael Bennett
Limited Late Models
Matt Clement won the limited late model race on fall final weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Matt started the race in the 2nd place, he was in 2nd for the first 11 laps. Then by lap 12 he was first and led 5 laps from lap 12 to 16 and then dropped back to 2nd from lap 18 to 20 where he finished the race in 2nd. He finishes his hard-fought season in 2nd in points only by 4 points.
Duane Provost finished the race in 2nd, he started the race in 5th place. He stayed int eh top 5 for the whole 20 laps of the race, he got into the top 3 by lap 3. He was very consistent during the whole race, stayed in 3rd from lap 3 to 11 and then by lap 12 was in 2nd. He led one lap on lap 12, and another lap on lap 17 then dropped back to 2nd where he finished the race. He finished the season 5th in points, which is not exactly what provost wanted but, it says a lot about how competitive the Limited late model division is even with not many competitors.
Jeremy Lavoie is the 2019 Limited Late Model track champion at Stafford. Lavoie is a back to back champion at Stafford. There has only been 2 back to back championships in the Limited Late Model division. Duane Provost and Jeremy Lavoie are the only two who have accomplished this amazing achievement. It just shows you how hard it is to win championships, never mind back to back championships in all divisions at Stafford Motor Speedway. He finished 3rd in the race today, he started the race 4th and had a very consistent race. Lavoie made sure he stayed out of trouble and stayed within 4 positions of Matt Clement. He was able to stay in 4th for the first 11 laps and then got into 3rd place until the ending of the race.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Matt Clement
2. Duane Provost
3. Jeremy Lavoie
4. Gary Patnode
5. Devon Jencik-R
Top 5 in points:
1. Jeremy Lavoie (Champion)
2. Matt Clement
3. Gary Patnode
4. Alexandra Fearn
5. Duane Provost
Street Stocks
Meghan Fuller wins the triple crown race on fall final weekend at Stafford Speedway. Meghan had a good race she started the race 7th, she had gotten the lead early and had a fast car. She pulled away a little from the rest of the field. With a few laps to go, Travis Hydar, who was in 2nd was closing in on Meghan for the lead but couldn’t quite get to her to pass her for the lead. She had a hard-fought battle for the points but, ended up 2nd in the point standings.
Travis Hydar the race in 2nd place today, he started the race 5th. He has been very consistent through the season, having multiple podium finishes. He’s had a couple of wins and multiple second place finished and some third places. He ended in the points standing in 4th place.
Zack Robinson finished 3rd in the race and is the 2019 Street Stock track champion at Stafford Motor Speedway. When asked if he was nervous about the race earlier today, he said he really didn’t have anything to be nervous about, just to make his marks and run his own race. He felt pretty good with the 30-point gap he had against Meghan Fuller.
Top 5 finishers:
1. Meghan Fuller
2. Travis Hydar
3. Zack Robinson
4. Johnny Walker
5. George Bessette Jr.
Top 5 in points:
1. Zack Robinson
2. Meghan Fuller
3. George Bessette Jr.
4. Travis Hydar
5. Adrien Paradis III-R
