Christopher, Perterson, Andersen, Thibeault & Casagrande Score July 3rd NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Feature Victories at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Speedway provided fireworks on the track and in the air with a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race program that paid tribute to the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday. Ted Christopher drove to his second victory of the 2009 season and his third overall win in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Jim Peterson took down his first win of the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Brit Andersen scored his third win of the 2009 season in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Shawn Thibeault picked up his first career victory in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Kyle Casagrande picked up his first career victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature a week after his twin brother won his first career DARE Stock feature.
The 40-lap SK Modified® feature took the green with Woody Pitkat in command of the field. After an early caution, Pitkat began to set a blistering pace out front. Todd Owen was holding down second place while Ted Christopher, Tom Bolles, and Keith Rocco were busy working their way through traffic. By the half-way point of the race, Christopher had worked his way up to second, but he was a half-straightaway behind Pitkat. A caution with 22 laps complete for a spin by Sean Foster erased Pitkat’s lead.
Christopher settled into second behind Pitakt on the restart, but on lap-25 he made a move to the inside of Pitkat and took over the race lead. Owen was riding in third, with Rocco and Frank Ruocco behind him.
With 31 laps complete, the caution came out for a spin by Dave Salzarulo and Rocco also spun with a flat left rear tire, which brought him to pit road.
Christopher continued to hold the race lead back under green, with Pitkat giving chase. Ruocco moved by Owen for third place, with Bolles rouding out the top-5. Pitkat was unable to get close enough to Christopher over the final laps as Christopher nailed down his second feature victory of the 2009 season. Pitkat finished second, with Ruocco, Owen, and Bolles making up the top-5.
The 30-lap Late Model feature went green with Adam Gray taking the lead from the pole position. Gray led the first 8 laps before Jim Peterson moved to the front of the pack on lap-9. Gray settled into second place behind Peterson with Tom Butler, Ryan Posocco, and Dillon Moltz in tow.
Gray held second until the half-way point of the race as Butler, Moltz, Posocco, and Tom Fearn all moved by Gray to drop him back to sixth place in the running order. A late spin by Victor Pomerleau erased the nearly full straightaway lead that Peterson had built up and set up a three-lap dash to the finish.
Peterson charged into the lead on the restart with Posocco, Moltz, and Fearn all moving past Butler. Posocco could not run Peterson down over the final laps and Peterson took down his first checkered flag of the 2009 season. Moltz beat Fearn to the line by a nose for third place, with Butler rounding out the top-5.
The 20-lap SK Light Modified feature took the green flag with Jay Goff taking the early lead. Brit Andersen was mowing through the field like he was shot out of a cannon. Starting the race in the 16th position, he was into the 6th position on lap-2 and by lap-8, he was in second place behind Goff.
Goff was able to fend Andersen off for several laps, but on lap-12, Andersen made a move to the low side of Goff to take the race lead. A caution with 14 laps complete slowed the action and set up a restart situation. On the restart, Andersen didn’t get up to speed quite as fast as Ted Cain and Cain took over the race lead. Andersen reeled Cain back in and he retook the lead from Cain on lap-17. Once Andersen was back in front, he could not be caught as he took down his third SK Light Modified feature win of the 2009 season. Goff finished second, with David Webb, Shawn Brule, and Harry Wheeler rounding out the top-5.
The 20-lap Limited Late Model feature took the green with a multi-car incident on the backstretch that collected several cars, including Bill Davis and Jeff Hubbell, who were finished for the evening. Shawn Thibeault took the early lead on the restart, with Dan Flannery and Norm Sears behind him.
The caution came back out with 4 laps complete for a spin by John Morgillo, Jr. Thibeault continued to hold the lead on the restart, with Sears moving by Flannery for second. Andrew Durand was behind Flannery, and he quickly dispatched him for to take over third place.
Thibeault was continuing to hold down the lead, but Sears began to close in and challenge for the lead. By lap-16, Sears was on Thibeault’s bumper, but just as quickly as Sears moved in on Thibeault’s bumper, Thibeault stretched his lead back out to several car lengths. Thibeault would maintain that small advantage over the final 4 laps of the race as he scored his first career Limited Late Model victory. Sears came home second, with Durand, Flannery, and Carla Botticello rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature took the green flag with Victoria Bergenty setting the early pace from the pole position. Kyle Casagrande was on a tear from the drop of the green and he ran Bergenty down and took over the race lead on lap-3.
DARE Stock points leader Albert Saunders encountered a spin on lap-5 and then his night ended with hard contact into the frontstretch wall with 6 laps complete. Casagrande was up to the task on each restart situation as he clearly had the dominant car in the field and was able to pull away from the field. Barry Fluckiger made a power move to go from fifth place to second behind Casagrande.
A late caution set up a three lap sprint to the finish, but again Casagrande pulled away from the field to take down his first victory of the 2009 season. Fluckiger finished second, with Jeff Jolly, Cliff Saunders, and Don Wood 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