Story By: SCOTT RUNNING / STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Stafford Speedway returned to racing action with a Weekly Series program on Friday, August 12th.
Keith Rocco took down his second win of the 2022 season in the SK Modified® feature, Tom Fearn scored his second consecutive and third overall win of the season in the Late Model feature, George Bessette, Jr. notched his third win of 2022 in the SK Light feature, Kevin Cormier became a first time Stafford winner in the Limited Late Model feature, and Bobby Stirk, III racked up his fourth win of 2022 in the Street Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Troy Talman took the lead at the green flag while Ronnie Williams had to be pushed to pit road before the race started and Bryan Narducci took one lap at slow speed before pulling behind the wall. Michael Gervais, Jr. was second behind Talman with Tyler Hines, Keith Rocco, and David Arute lined up behind him. Just behind Arute, Cory DiMatteo and Mikey Flynn were wheel to wheel for sixth place.
Hines took second on lap-5 and his move brought Rocco up to third and dropped Gervais from second back to fourth with Talman still out front. DiMatteo got around Arute to move into fifth on lap-7 and Flynn followed him by as did Todd Owen to drop Arute back to eighth place. Up front, Rocco took second from Hines and he took the lead with a pass coming out of turn 2 on lap-11.
Hines took second from Talman on lap-14 and that move brought DiMatteo into third as Talman slid back to fourth while Rocco was staring to very slowly stretch out his advantage in the lead. DiMatteo’s great run came to an end as he took his car to pit road with an overheating issue just as the field hit the halfway point of the race. This moved Talman back into third with Gervais fourth and Owen in fifth with Rocco and Hines still occupying the top two spots.
With 10 laps to go, Rocco was in the lead followed by Hines, Talman, Gervais, Owen, Flynn, Arute, Anthony Flannery, Noah Korner, and Jon Puleo. Rocco led Hines to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2022 season. Talman finished third with Owen and Gervais rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Paul Varricchio, Jr. took the lead at the green with Paul Arute and Andrew Durand going door to door for second. Arute cleared Durand and took second on lap-3 with Tom Fearn getting by Durand to move into third and drop Durand back to fifth as Michael Bennett took fourth.
Arute took the lead from Varricchio on lap-5 but he only lasted one lap out front as Fearn moved to the front of the field on lap-6. Bennett came up to second with Varricchio third, Darrell Keane fourth, Kevin Gambacorta fifth, and Andrew Molleur sixth as Arute slid back to seventh place in three laps.
At the halfway point of the race, Fearn and Bennett were starting to pull away from Varricchio in third. Keane was still fourth with Gambacorta fifth. Molleur was sixth with Adam Gray seventh, Arute eighth, Wayne Coury, Jr. ninth and Michael Wray tenth. Keane made a move the inside of Varricchio on lap-22 to move into third and that move opened the door for Gambacorta, Gray, and Molleur to all get by Varricchio and drop him from third back to seventh. Varricchio continued to slide backwards as Arute and Coury got around him on lap-24 to move into seventh and eighth and drop Varricchio back to ninth as Fearn was still leading Bennett out front.
Bennett couldn’t catch Fearn as Fearn took down his second consecutive win. Keane finished third with Gambacorta and Gray rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light feature event, Cassandra Cole and Nick Anglace ran the first lap side by side for the lead with Anglace taking the lead by a nose at the line. The caution came out with 1 lap on the board for Norm Sears, who got into the turn 3 wall.
Anglace took the lead on the restart with Cole and Meghan Fuller side by side for second place. Bob Charland was fourth with Chris Matthews in fifth. Cole cleared Fuller for second on lap-5 whiel Charland followed her around Fuller to take over third place. Lap-6 saw Matthews get around Fuller to move into fourth. The shuffling of positions continued as George Bessette, Jr. moved from fourth to second on lap-8 to drop Cole back to third, just in front of Charland, Fuller, and Matthews as Anglace continued to hold the lead.
Bessette got to the inside of Anglace in turn 1 on lap-13 and he took over the lead. Derek Debbis and Matthews touched with Matthews spinning through the frontstretch infield on lap-14 but everyone was able to continue and the race stayed green but the caution came out on e lap later as Tyler Chapman spun in turn 2 and Barry had a flat right front tire.
Bessette took the lead back under green with Anglace in hot pursuit from second. Charland was third with Amanda West coming up to fourth and Alexander Pearl taking fifth with Fuller in sixth. The caution came back out with 18 laps complete for Joey Ferrigno and Hailey Desaulniers, who came together and ended up in the turn 1 wall.
Anglace and Bessette went wheel to wheel for the lead on the restart with Anglace holding ht lead by a nose as they took the white flag. Anglace tried a bottom shot move going into turn 3 on the final lap but Bessette got a good run in the high groove and he took the checkered flag for his third victory of 2022. West finished third with Fuller and Charland rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Kevin Cormier came out of a 3-wide duel with Jay Clement and Devon Jencik to take the lead on the first lap of the race. Matt Scappini took second behind Cormier with Devon Jencik third, Gar Patnode fourth and Jay Clement fifth. Patnode was looking to the inside of Devon Jencik for third on lap-7 but Patnode was able to hold him off and maintain third place. Patnode again got to the inside of Jencik on lap-9 but he couldn’t make the pass and almost lost fourth to Jay Clement in the process.
With 5 laps to go, Cormier was still in command with Scappini in second. Devon Jencik was still third with Patnode fourth and Jay Clement fifth. Alexandra Fearn was sixth followed by Jeremy Lavoie in seventh, Matt Clement in eighth, Rich Hammann in ninth, and Damian Palardy in tenth. Cormier led Scappini to the checkered flag to pick up his first career win at Stafford Motor Speedway. Devon Jencik finished third with Patnode and Jay Clement rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature event, Chris Danielczuk and Bill Cote made contact coming to green flag and ended up in the wall just in front of the start/finish line to bring the caution out before a lap could be completed.
Marvin Minkler took the lead on the restart with Nickolas Hovey moving from fourth up to second behind Minkler. Jason Finkbein quickly moved into third with Tyler Trott fourth and Bobby Stirk, III fifth. Finkbein made a move to the inside of Hovey and took over second place on lap-4. Finkbein’s move opened the door for Trott to move into third, Stirk to take fourth and Adrien Paradis, III fifth to drop Hovey back to sixth in line. Hovey’s car then dropped off the pace on lap-7 and he crawled his way back to pit road, done for the evening. The caution flag came back out with 10 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Finkbein after contact from Trott. Trott was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for the contact with Finkbein.
Stirk took the lead from Minkler on the restart wit Paradis moving into third behind Minkler. Travis Hydar and Bert Ouellette were locked in a side by side duel for fourth place with Hydar taking fourth and then taking third from Ouellette on lap-12. The caution came back out with 12 laps complete Ouellette and Jason Lafayette made contact and spun on the backstretch.
Stirk took the lead back under green with Hydar taking second. Minkler was third in line followed by Paradis in fourth and Travis Downey in fifth. Downey made a move to the inside of Minkler on lap-16 to take over fourth place as Stirk was slowly pulling away from Hydar in the fight for the lead.
Stirk led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his fourth win of the 2022 season. Hydar finished second with Paradis, Downey, and Minkler rounding out the top-5.
SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Keith Rocco, Berlin
2) Tyler Hines, North Haven
3) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA
4) Todd Owen, Somers
5) Michael Gervais, Jr., Wolcott
6) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA
7) David Arute, Stafford Springs
8) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton
9) Noah Korner, Avon
10) Jon Puleo, Branford
11) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
12) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
13) Anthony Bello, Newtown
14) Andrew Molleur, Shelton
15) Tyler Leary, Hatfield, MA
16) Chris Jones, New Milford
17) Curt Brainard, Canton
18) John Sandberg, South Windsor
19) Ronnie Williams, Tolland
20) Cory DiMatteo, Farmington
21) Nick Halkowicz, Shelton
22) Bryan Narducci, Colchester
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, MA
2) Michael Bennett, Willington
3) Darrell Keane, Enfield
4) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
5) Adam Gray, Granby, MA
6) Andrew Molleur, Shelton
7) Wayne Coury, Jr., Fairfield
8) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
9) Paul Arute, Northbridge, MA
10) Michael Wray, Durham
11) John Blake, North Haven
12) Andrew Durand, Chicopee, MA
13) Duane Noll, Monroe
14) Adon Burrell, Barkhamsted
SK LIGHT MODIFIED (20)
1) George Bessette, Jr., Danbury
2) Nick Anglace, Seymour
3) Amanda West, Colchester
4) Meghan Fuller, Auburn, MA
5) Bob Charland, Stafford
6) Alexander Pearl, Salem
7) Jason Chapman, Ellington
8) Chris Matthews, Stafford
9) Casey Vogt, Windsor Locks
10) Tyler Alkas, Berlin
11) Frank L’Etoile, Jr., Wethersfield
12) Ron Midford, Jr., Ellington
13) Chris Bagnall, Norfolk
14) Evan Bourgeois, East Haddam
15) Andy Marchese, Tolland
16) Anthony Forino, Waterbury
17) Brett Casey, Meriden
18) Alina Bryden, West Springfield, MA
19) Cassandra Cole, Westbrook
20) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
21) Mike Parolo, West Springfield, MA
22) Todd Clark, Bristol
23) Hailey Desaulniers, Windham
24) Brandon Michael, Granville, MA
25) Brandon Hunt, Windsor
26) Tyler Barry, Griswold
27) Derek Debbis, Oakdale
28) Tyler Chapman, Ellington
29) Charles McDougall, Wallingford
30) Norm Sears, Coventry
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Kevin Cormier, Agawam, MA
2) Matt Scappini, Litchfield
3) Devon Jencik, Canton
4) Gary Patnode, New Hartford
5) Jay Clement, Wethersfield
6) Alexandra Fearn, East Longmeadow, MA
7) Rich Hammann, Tolland
8) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
9) Matt Clement, Wethersfield
10) Damian Palardy, Willington
11) Ari Jencik, Canton
12) Trinity Provost, Holland, MA
13) Dana Wray, Durham
STREET STOCK (20)
1) Bobby Stirk, III, Naugatuck
2) Travis Hydar, Woodbury
3) Adrien Paradis, III, Plainville
4) Travis Downey, Barkhamsted
5) Marvin Minkler, Stamford
6) Sam Calvo, East Berlin
7) Pat Grady, Berlin
8) Bert Ouellette, Ellington
9) Tyler Trott, East Hartford
10) Chris Danielczuk, Goshen
11) David Macha, Jr., Columbia
12) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs
13) Jason Finkbein, Manchester
14) Sean Riley, Wolcott
15) Chad Edward Harrison, Churchville, MD
16) Jason Lafayette, Somers
17) Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin
18) Bill Cote, Belchertown, MA
