Pitkat Wins SK Mod Feature, Moltz Wins LM Feature; Christopher & Hutchings Claim Titles at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway closed out its 2007 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season with the Sunday half of its 35th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. Woody Pitkat capped a spectacular 2007 SK Modified® season by capturing his 8th feature victory of the year, but it was Ted Christopher who locked up the championship by 34 points over Pitkat with a second place finish. In the 40-lap Late Model feature, it was 16-year old Dillon Moltz driving to his second feature win of the season with Corey Hutchings taking the Late Model title in his rookie season at Stafford with a third place finish.
The 50-lap SK Modified® feature took the green flag with Wade Mattesen taking the lead from John Cleary on the opening lap of the race. Mattesen held the race lead until lap-3 when Woody Pitkat made a hard charge to move from third place to the lead. Once Pitkat was out front, he put on a dominating drive to score his eighth feature victory of the 2007 season. Pitkat had Ted Christopher chasing him for much of the race and several caution periods kept the two cars in close proximity. But the final 22 laps of the race ran green and Pitkat was never seriously challenged by Christopher as he slowly extended his lead lap by lap. Christopher finished second with Ken Barry, Brad Hietala, and Bo Gunning rounding out the top-5.
The 40-lap Late Model feature took the green flag with Tom Butler quickly working his way from third to the lead on the first lap. Butler lead until lap-11 when Woody Pitkat moved to the front of the pack. Pitkat held the lead until lap-16 when Michael Bennett moved to the front of the field. Bennett’s car was on a rail and he began to pull away from the field. But his large lead was erased by a caution on lap-24. Two laps later the caution came back out and under caution, Bennett pulled his car onto pit road and retired from the race due to engine troubles, which handed the lead to Tom Fearn. Dillon Moltz moved in behind Fearn and then pulled alongside Fearn in the outside groove, where they raced side by side for several laps. The final caution of the race flew with 34 laps complete and Moltz had edged Fearn out at the line for the lead, which put him on the pole for the restart. Moltz drove away from Fearn and the field over the final six laps to record his second feature win of the 2007 season. Fearn finished second with Corey Hutchings, Wayne Coury, Jr., and Woody Pitkat rounding out the top-5. Hutchings’ third place finish was enough to secure him the 2007 Late Model championship in his rookie season at Stafford.
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