Rocco, Posocco, Allegro, Lanagan & Lawrence Score Fri. Night Shootout Wins at SMS

By admin September 23, 2007 Stafford

Stafford Springs, CT — -Stafford Motor Speedway was in action for the final time on a Friday night in 2007 with the Final Friday Night Shoot-Out program. Taking feature wins were Keith Rocco in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Ryan Posocco in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Joe Allegro, Jr. in the 20-lap SK Light feature, Rick Lanagan in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Rob Lawrence in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.The 40-lap SK Modified® feature took the green with Willie Hardie leading the first two laps of the race before Lloyd Agor moved out front. Agor held the lead until lap-6 when Jeff Malave moved out front. Malave’s pass allowed Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher to both move by Agor, dropping him from the lead to fourth place. Agor would continue to backslide as Woody Pitkat and Brad Hietala moved into the fourth and fifth positions. The race ran green to lap-32 before the first caution came out and erased a sizeable lead for Malave. Malave would hold the race lead until lap-38 when he drifted up the track just enough in turn 4 to allow Rocco to dive to the bottom and take the lead. The caution came back out and set up a green white checkered finish. Rocco took the lead on the restart with Ted Christopher and Malave locked in a side by side duel for second. That side by side action gave Rocco all the cushion he needed as he took his fourth feature win of the 2007 season. Christopher finished second, with Pitkat, Malave, and Doug Coby rounding out the top-5.

The 30-lap Late Model feature saw Ryan Posocco drive to his fifth feature win of the 2007 season with a dominating performance. Rick Charette took the early race lead and he held the lead of the race until the first caution flag came out with 14 laps complete, holding off a hard charging Ryan Posocco. Charette again took the lead on the restart, but Posocco moved to the inside of Charette with Corey Hutchings moving to the outside of Charette in a 3-wide move for the lead on lap-16. Hutchings drifted up the track and into the turn 1 wall, which ripped off half of his rear bumper and brought out the yellow. Charette was black flagged for rough riding, which put Posocco into the lead of the race. Back under green, Posocco built up a large lead over Jim Peterson in second place and handily scored his fifth feature win of the 2007 season. Hutchings recovered from his earlier mishap and avoided a plethora of mid-race wrecks and came back through the field to pass Peterson for second on lap-28. Peterson finished third, with Wayne Coury, Jr. and Woody Pitkat rounding out the top-5.

The 20-lap SK Light feature took the green with Heather DesRochers leading the first two laps. Joe Allegro, Jr. moved to the front on a lap-3 restart with Alan Provost and Brit Andersen behind him. The top-3 cars ran in line until the caution flew with 15 laps complete. Allegro pulled out to the lead back under green with Andersen moving past Provost for second. Andersen closed in on Allegro’s bumper and made several attempts to get by, but Allegro was strong enough to fend off Andersen’s charge and he scored his first career victory. Rounding out the top-5 behind Allegro and Andersen was Chris Matthews, Glen Reen, and Provost.

The 20-lap Limited Late Model feature saw Rick Lanagan drive to his seventh feature win of the 2007 season with a dominating drive. The first couple laps of the race were caution marred, with Lanagan inheriting the lead when leaders Charlie Newman and David Capriati both spun with 2 laps on the board. Lanagan took the lead on the lap-3 restart and he opened up a large lead over second place, but that advantage was erased by a caution with 16 laps complete. Lanagan once again pulled away from the field as the race went back to green and he took the checkered flag ahead of Kevin Gambacorta. Joey Ferrigno took third, with Newman and Darrin Havanec rounding out the top-5.

The 15-lap DARE Stock feature took the green flag with Rob Lawrence setting the early pace. Lawrence was running strong out front while Norm Sears was slicing his way through traffic to move into second place. Lawrence held the lead until a restart on lap-9 saw Sears power into the lead, but Lawrence fought back strong on the outside to retake the lead from Sears. Lawrence led the final five laps to take the checkered flag ahead of Sears to record his first feature win of the 2007 season. Sears finished second, with Don Wood, Dan Flannery, and Steve Berardi rounding out the top-5. Sears unofficially takes the points lead heading into next weekend’s season ending CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend as points leader Bill Dunn was involved in an early race crash.

For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR