Story By: SCOTT RUNNING / STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Stafford Speedway hosted the biggest and richest SK Modified® race of the 2024 season on Friday, August 4th with the 11th Annual NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k.
Keith Rocco was the big winner of the night as he notched his first career victory in the NAPA SK 5K after trying to win the race for 11 years and the $5,000 winner’s prize that goes along with it.
In victory lane Rocco spun the Gambler’s Challenge wheel and it landed on sixth through tenth, meaning Jon Puleo, Anthony Flannery, Andrew Molleur, Michael Christopher, Jr., and Teddy Hodgdon will split the Gambler’s Challenge prize of $6,200 between them, giving each driver a $1,240 bonus.
Other feature winners on the night were Gary Patnode in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature. Rain brought a premature end to the end of the night with 69 laps complete in the NAPA SK 5k and the Late Model and SK Light features that were scheduled to run tonight will be made up as double features at a future date to be determined.
In the 111-lap NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K feature event, RJ Marcotte took the early lead with Todd Owen and Michael Gervais, Jr. wheel to wheel for second. Keith Rocco and Steven Chapman were wheel to wheel for fourth behind Owen and Gervais. Owen took second on lap-3 with Rocco taking third. Troy Talman nearly took fourth from Gervais but settled into fifth behind him with Marcotte still leading the pack.
With 20 laps complete, the order was still Marcotte in the lead followed by Owen, Rocco, Gervais, and Talman. Andrew Molleur was sixth and he was followed in line by Mikey Flynn, Anthony Flannery, George Bessette, Jr., and Michael Christopher, Jr. The order was still the same on lap-30 with the only exception being Christopher was now ninth and Bessette tenth. Glen Reen spun coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution flag out with 45 laps complete.
Marcotte took the lead back under green with Rocco moving to the inside of Owen for second. Rocco took second on lap-47 while Dylan Kopec spun at the entrance of turn 3 and Wesley Prucker spun coming out of turn 4 to bring the caution flag back out with 47 laps complete.
Rocco and Marcotte went wheel to wheel on the restart with Rocco taking the lead by inches to complete lap-48. Rocco cleared Marcotte into the race lead on lap-49 with Gervais taking second from Marcotte on lap-50. Owen was fourth in line with Talman still holding down the fifth position. The caution came back out with 53 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Reen. Under the caution period, Marcotte was shown the black flag for not maintaining a lane on the track under green.
Rocco took the lead back under green with Gervais fending off a challenge from Owen for second. Flynn and Talman were racing wheel to wheel behind Owen for fourth place when the caution came back out with 55 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Prucker.
Gervais took the lead by a nose at the line on the lap-56 restart before Rocco went back to the front on lap-57. Flynn made a move to the inside of Owen on lap-58 for third and he took the spot on lap-59. Flannery was up to fifth behind Rocco, Gervais, Flynn, and Owen. With 65 laps complete it was Rocco in the lead with Gervais, Flynn, Owen, Talman, Flannery, Jon Puleo, Molleur, Marcello Rufrano, and Christopher making up the top-10. Reen spun in turn 2 to bring the caution back out with 69 laps complete. Under the caution period, rain began to fall and with the race past the halfway point of 56 laps the caution/checkered flag was displayed, making Rocco the winner of the NAPA SK 5k for the first time in his career and also his first win of the 2024 season. Gervais finished second with Flynn, Owen, and Talman rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Gary Patnode took the lead at the drop of the green flag with Jeremy Lavoie right behind him in second. Jay Clement spun in turn 2 but kept going and the race stayed green. Connor Jencik quickly came up to third behind Patnode and Lavoie with Matthew Winter, II in fourth and Kevin Cormier in fifth. Ari Jencik took fifth from Cormier on lap-4 while Winter took third from Connor Jencik on lap-6. Patnode and Lavoie were starting to pull away from Winter in third with Ari Jencik fourth and Cormier back up to fifth on lap-8.
With 14 laps complete it was still Patnode and Lavoie comfortably leading Winter, Cormier, and Adrien Paradis. Ari Jencik got into the turn 2 wall with 14 laps complete to bring the caution flag out and erase the lead built up by Patnode.
On the restart, Matt Clement spun in turn 1 and Ari Jencik was off the pace before rejoining the field after the caution flag was displayed. The next restart saw Winter spin into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution back out with 15 laps complete.
Patnode took the lead on the next restart with Paradis taking second. Devon Jencik took over second from Paradis one lap after the restart on lap-17 with Lavoie taking third and Rich Hammann fourth as Paradis slid back to fifth in line. Patnode led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2024 season. Devon Jencik finished second with Lavoie, Hammann, and Surdell rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, pole sitter Bill Cote spun in turn 2 in front of the field but luckily didn’t collect anyone else as the caution came out before a lap could be completed. Sean Petlock was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Cote. This put Marvin Minkler and Chris Danielczuk on the front row for the restart.
Minkler took the lead on the restart with Tyler Trott quickly moving into second. Bert Ouellette was third in line followed by Travis Hydar in fourth and Jason Lafayette in fifth as Danielczuk slid back to tenth place. Trott streaked past Minkler to take the race lead on lap-3 with Downey taking second on lap-4. Lafayette took third with Travis Hydar fourth and Ouellette fifth. Trott and Downey swapped the lead back and forth with Downey emerging in the lead on lap-7. Hydar took third from Lafayette on lap-8 and he continued his charge to the front by taking second from Trott on lap-9. Hydar immediately began to apply heavy pressure to Downey for the lead but Downey was able to hold him off. Hydar was finally able to make a move around Downey in the high groove on lap-14 to take the race lead. Lafayette was still third with Ouellette fourth and Trott fifth. Jason Raymond spun in turn 1 to bring the caution flag back out with 14 laps complete.
Hydar took the lead on the lap-15 restart with Downey settling in behind Hydar in second. Lafayette was third with Trott fourth and Jeff Asselin up to fifth with Ouellette sliding back to sixth place. Hydar led Downey to the checkered flag to pick up his eighth win of the season. Lafayette finished third with Trott and Asselin rounding out the top-5.
NAPA AUTO PARTS SK 5K (69) 1) Keith Rocco, Berlin 2) Michael Gervais, Jr., Wolcott 3) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA 4) Todd Owen, Somers 5) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA 6) Jon Puleo, Branford 7) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton 8) Andrew Molleur, Shelton 9) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott 10) Teddy Hodgdon, Danbury 11) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven 12) Alexander Pearl, Salem 13) Tyler Hines, North Haven 14) Cory DiMatteo, Farmington 15) Dylan Kopec, Meriden 16) Jack Baldwin, Mooresville, NC 17) David Arute, Tolland 18) RJ Marcotte, Millville, MA 19) George Bessette, Jr., Danbury 20) Steven Chapman, Ellington 21) Wesley Prucker, Stafford Springs 22) Curt Brainard, Canton 23) David Flammia, Jr., Waterbury 24) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, MA 25) John Sandberg, South Windsor 26) Austin Beers, Northampton, PA 27) Art Caruso, Windsor
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20) 1) Gary Patnode, Barkhamsted 2) Devon Jencik, Canton 3) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks 4) Rich Hammann, Tolland 5) RJ Surdell, Willington 6) Adrien Paradis, III, Plainville 7) Jay Clement, Charlotte, NC 8) Kyle Theriault, Three Rivers, MA 9) Matt Clement, Wethersfield 10) Ari Jencik, Canton 11) Matthew Winter, II, Springfield, VT 12) Christopher Phelps, New Salem, MA 13) Kevin Cormier, Agawam, MA 14) Connor Jencik, Canton 15) Darryl Vertefeuille, Willington 16) Scott Clement, Wethersfield 17) Samantha Dell, Pascoag, RI 18) Trinity Provost, Holland, MA 19) Shelby Swan, Durham
STREET STOCK (20) 1) Travis Hydar, Woodbury 2) Travis Downey, Barkhamsted 3) Jason Lafayette, Somers 4) Tyler Trott, East Hartford 5) Jeff Asselin, Granby, MA 6) Brandon Warren, Chicopee, MA 7) Bert Ouellette, Ellington 8) Bill Cote, Belchertown, MA 9) Marvin Minkler, Stamford 10) Sean Petlock, Ware, MA 11) Jason Raymond, Somers 12) Ashton Young, Griswold 13) Chris Danielczuk, Goshen 14) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs 15) Matt Martel, Stafford Springs 16) Garrett Pease, Enfield 17) Rick Terrill, Durham
