Beers Wins CARQUEST Bud Pole; Matthews, Lanagan & Stirk Score Wins
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway kicked of its 35th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend on Saturday, September 29th with qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour, qualifying for its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions, and feature events for the SK Lights, Limited Late Models, and DARE Stocks.
In Whelen Modified Tour Bud Pole qualifying, it was Eric Beers setting the fast time of 18.267 seconds. After the Bud Pole redraw, the two championship contenders, Donny Lia and Todd Szegedy, will occupy the front row for Sunday’s 150-lap event with Szegedy on the pole and Lia on the outside pole. Beers redrew the 7th starting position.
The 20-lap SK Light feature took the green with Mike Lane setting the early pace. Lane held the lead until lap-5 when George Nocera, Jr. took over the top spot. Josh Sylvester and Chris Matthews followed Nocera past Lane and turned the race lead into a three-car battle. Sylvester hounded Nocera for the lead, but it was Matthews who moved out front on lap-12. Sylvester moved back to the lead on lap-17 and held the lead unitl the final corner of the race when he drifted up the track just enough in turn 4 to allow Matthews to make a pass for the lead and the win. Sylvester finished second, with Kyler Cafro, Nocera, and Joe Allegro, Jr. rounding out the top-5.
The 20-lap Limited Late Model feature took the green with Ed Charette holding the lead. Charette led until lap-6 when Bill Davis moved out front. Davis would lose the lead to Sean Foster on a lap-9 restart. Davis hung tough with Foster and the duo raced side by side for the lead for several laps. A late race caution set up a green white checkered restart situation. Foster and Davis continued their side by side battle for the lead with Rick Lanagan looking to strike from third place. Foster drifted up the track in turns 1+2 on the final lap, which allowed Lanagan to move past both Foster and Davis and go on to record the victory. Foster finished second with Andrew Durand, Davis, and Michael Nadeau rounding out the top-5.
The 15-lap DARE Stock feature went green with Tom Stirk taking the lead. John Kasper stayed with Stirk over the first half of the race and Kasper moved out front on lap-8, but Stirk took the lead right back on lap-9. Kasper’s good run ended with a spin on lap-10. The restart saw Norm Sears move by Stirk for the lead, but Stirk took the lead back from Sears on the next lap. Sears had to contend with Dan Flannery for second over the final laps, which gave Stirk all the cushion he needed as he picked up his first victory of the season. Sears took second and clinched his second consecutive DARE Stock track championship. Flannery finished third, with Jeff Jolly and Steve Berardi rounding out the top-5.
The 10-lap Paradiso-Muska Shoot-Out saw Stirk double up by taking the checkered flag for his second win of the day. Matt Chiarizio and Stirk were swapping the lead back and forth over the first five laps with Stirk solidly taking the lead on lap-6. Dan Flannery gave a good charge, but was unable to get by Stirk for the win. Rounding out the top-5 behind Stirk and Flannery was Don Wood, Norm Sears, and Steve Berardi.
The SK Modified® 21 Means 21 feature saw Willie Hardie take the lead from Richie Pallai, Jr. on lap-7 and go to to a comfortable victory to earn a starting position in tomorrow’s 50-lap SK Modified® feature event. Pallai finished second, with Jeff Baral, Brad Hietala, and Scott Bouley rounding out the top-5.
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