Pitkat, Posocco, Matthews, Davis & Kasper Score Wins at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Friday night, July 18th, was a Friday night Whelen All-American Series NASCAR race event at Stafford Motor Speedway. Woody Pitkat was victorious in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ryan Posocco drove to his third consecutive Late Model feature victory, Chris Matthews scored his sixth victory of the 2008 season in the SK Light Modified feature, Bill Davis scored his third victory of the 2008 season in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and John Kasper drove to his first career victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, it was Woody Pitkat taking down his second feature win of the 2008 season. Glenn Griswold took the early lead ahead of Jimmy Blewett and Chris Jones. Zach Sylvester and Woody Pitkat both moved past Jones as did Ted Christopher. Griswold was still the race leader when the caution came out with 13 laps complete. On the restart, there was a major pileup of cars in turn 1. Griswold and Blewett continued their duel for the lead on the restart, but on lap-14 Griswold got loose and spun in turn 4 to bring the caution out. Pitkat took the lead from Blewett on the restart and began to pull away from the field. Christopher moved into second with Keith Rocco behind him in third place. The race ran green to the checkered flag with Pitkat continuing to stretch his advantage over Christopher and Rocco. Pitkat took the checkered flag a full straightaway ahead of Christopher and Rocco in a dominating drive. Frank Ruocco came home fourth, with Doug Coby rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Ryan Posocco continued his hot streak by winning his third consecutive feature event. Rick Charette led the first several laps before being overtaken by Wayne Coury, Jr. Coury held the lead while Posocco was methodically working his way through the field and towards the front. A caution with 11 laps complete slowed the action. On the restart, Coury and Corey Hutchings made contact while racing for the lead, sending them both into the turn 4 wall. Posocco was the beneficiary, moving to the point for the restart. Posocco cruised from the restart to the end of the race as he took his third consecutive feature win. Woody Pitkat finished second, with Charette, Brian Chapin, and Dillon Moltz rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Chris Matthews drove to his sixth feature win of the 2008 season. Kyle Spencer took the early race lead and led the field until lap-10 when Heather DesRochers took over the lead on a restart. DesRochers got out of shape on lap-11 and slid up the track and collected the car of Chris Bakaj to bring the caution back out. Alan Provost moved to the lead and he held the lead until lap-16 when Matthews moved to the front of the pack. Mark Bakaj and Provost were locked in a battle for second, which allowed Matthews to be able to cruise to victory. Bakaj got by Provost for second on the final lap of the race, with Raymond Grassetti and Joe Allegro, Jr. rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, it was Bill Davis driving to his third feature victory of the 2008 season. Ed Charette, Jr. took the lead from the pole and set the early pace. Shawn Thibeault was glued to Charette’s bumper for the first five laps but Darin Havenec moved past Thibeault for second and began to apply pressure to Charette for the race lead. Charette held the lead until lap-14 when Havenec moved to the lead on the high side. Havanec was unable to keep his car under control in the high groove and he spun coming off turn 4 after getting loose, which handed the race lead back to Charette. Davis moved by Charette on the restart and Davis held off a hard charging Andrew Durand over the final 6 laps to take the win. Sean Foster finished third, with Kevin Gambacorta and David Capriati rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, John Kasper drove to his first career victory. Albert Saunders took the early lead but surrendered the lead to Jeff Jolly on lap-3. Following Jolly to the front of the pack was Norm Sears and Scott Roy. Roy would get by Sears for second and Kasper would also get by Sears to drop him to fourth in the running order. The top-4 remained the same until the caution came out with 13 laps complete. On the restart, Roy went around in front of the field and collected the cars of Sears and several others, which put Kasper and Tom Stirk up front for the sprint to the finish. Kasper took the lead on the restart and he was able to hold off Stirk to the checkered flag. Todd LaPorta finished third, with Duane Provost and Peter Bourque 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