Horton, Posocco, Bakaj, Foster and Wood Score July 11th Wins at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Friday night, July 11th, was Whelen Event Night at Stafford Motor Speedway. Kenny Horton was victorious in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ryan Posocco drove to his second consecutive Late Model feature victory, Chris Bakaj scored his first career victory in the SK Light Modified feature, Sean Foster returned to victory lane in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Don Wood scored the victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, it was Kenny Horton outdueling Doug Coby, Keith Rocco, and Zach Sylvester in a fast and furious finish. Chris Jones led the first lap before Horton moved to the front on lap-2. Rocco and Coby got by Horton at the half-way point of the race, which set off a series of lead changes and jockeying for position at the front of the field. Coby and Rocco contested the lead with Horton getting by Rocco for second place on lap-26. Rocco would move back by Horton for second and he took the lead from Coby on lap-32. Rocco’s pass for the lead allowed Horton to follow Rocco past Coby for second place. Horton moved to the inside of Rocco in turn 2 and contact from Coby shot him into Rocco’s car with Rocco going around. The race stayed under green as Horton took the lead with Coby and Sylvester behind him. Horton was able to hold Coby off to the checkered flag to record his first win of the 2008 season. Coby finished second with Sylvester, Pitkat, and Bolles rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, it was Ryan Posocco driving to his second consecutive victory in a thrilling finish. Tom Fearn led the first 5 laps before giving way to Scott Cook on lap-6. Cook held the race lead until lap-27 when Joe Rzeszutek, who had been dogging Cook for the lead for much of the race, finally was able to move by Cook to take over the lead. On lap-28, a lapped car slowed Rzeszutek’s progress and allowed Posocco to move to the outside and take the race lead. Cook spun after contact with Dillon Moltz which brought the caution out. On the restart Jim Mavlouganes spun into the turn 1 wall to bring the caution back out. Rzeszutek was sent to the rear of the field for rough riding, which put Mike Quintiliano next to Posocco for the restart. Quintiliano hung tough in the outside groove with Posocco, but Posocco was able to carry enough momentum off of turn 4 on the final lap to beat Brian Chapin and Quintiliano back to the checkered flag. Michael Bennett finished fourth with Scott Foster, Jr. rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, it was Chris Bakaj scoring his first career victory. Mike Lane led the first lap before Chris Bakaj moved to the front of the pack. Bakaj led until lap-11 when Tony Santangelo went by Bakaj to take over the race lead. Santangelo held the race lead until lap-16 when Bakaj moved back to the front of the pack. Once Bakaj was back in front of the pack, he was too strong to be overtaken as he scored his first career victory at Stafford Motor Speedway. Santangelo finished second, with Joe Allegro, Jr., Chris Matthews, and Aaron Goff rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, it was Sean Foster driving to his second feature win of the 2008 season. Ed Charette, Jr. took the early race lead ahead of Foster and Kevin Gambacorta. Charette held the lead until lap-9 when Foster made his move for the race lead. Once Foster was in the race lead, he was never challenged as he went on to score his second feature victory of the 2008 season. Last week’s feature winner Charlie Newman finished second, with Michael Chaves third, Darin Havanec fourth, and David Capriati fifth.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Don Wood drove to his first feature win of the 2008 season. Albert Saunders took the early lead from the pole and he held the lead through the first 8 laps of the race. On lap-9, Wood moved to the front of the pack after stalking behind Saunders for several laps. Wood’s pass allowed Dan Flannery and Scott Roy to also get by Saunders. Wood drove away from Flannery on two restart situations in the final laps to take his first feature victory of the 2008 season. Flannery finished second with Scott Roy, Todd LaPorta, and Norm Sears 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