Woody Pitkat Wins 16th Annual Lincoln Technical institute Late Model 100 at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — -The Late Model division took center stage on Friday, May 7th at Stafford Motor Speedway with the 16th Annual Lincoln Technical Institute Late Model 100. Woody Pitkat scored a dominating win, leading the race from lap-17 all the way to lap-100 to pick up his first win of the 2010 season and the first win ever for his car owner Billy Snow, Sr. Frank Ruocco scored a dominating feature victory in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, David Webb won the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, George Nocera, Jr. won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeff Jolly wired the field in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the 16th Annual Lincoln Technical Institute Late Model 100-lap feature event, the race got off to a slow start with three yellow flags in the first three laps. Michael Bennett was the leader on the lap-4 restart with Tom Butler moving into second. Woody Pitkat moved into third, while Ryan Posocco fell back from second to fourth and Jim Peterson held down the final spot in the top-5.
Pitkat followed in the tire tracks of Bennett until lap-17 when he moved past Bennett to take the race lead. Peterson was now in third behind Pitkat and Bennett with Posocco fourth and a long gap back to Dillon Moltz in fifth place. The field was in the midst of a long green flag run, and Pitkat, Bennett, Peterson, and Posocco continued to run in line, but Moltz was slowly reeling in the top-4 cars.
By lap-45, Moltz had caught and gone past Posocco to sit in third place while Pitkat and Bennett continued to run in the front two positions. The green flag run came to an end one lap later as Duane Noll made contact with the turn 4 wall. Pitkat charged into the lead with Moltz moving into second. Posocco continued in third, with Bennett and Corey Hutchings behind him. The top-5 ran in line and clicked off laps until the caution came back out with 54 laps complete.
Pitkat was still the leader back under green, with Moltz behind him. Bennett’s good night came to an end on lap-59 as he dropped off the pace and brought the yellow out by coming to a stop in turn 2. Pitkat was still the race leader on the restart, but the running order behind him shifted with Posocco moving into second. Moltz was third, with Corey Hutchings and Keith Rocco now making up the remainder of the top-5.
The top-3 remained Pitkat, Posocco, and Moltz until lap-78 when Moltz made a pass on Posocco to take over second place. The top-3 cars then began to run in line again and pull away from Hutchings in fourth place. Pitkat was slowly building a small margin over Moltz and Posocco and he looked to be headed to a victory until the caution came out with 96 laps complete as Hutchings lost a right front tire, setting up a 4-lap dash to the finish.
Just as he had done all night long since taking the lead on lap-17, Pitkat charged into the lead and was never challenged over the final 4 laps as he took the first victory for his car owner, Billy Snow, Sr. in the 16th Annual Lincoln Technical Institute Late Model 100. Moltz finished second, with Posocco, Tom Fearn, and Scott Cook rounding out the top-5.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ted Christopher took the lead from Frank Ruocco in the outside groove to lead the field, but Ruocco was glued to Christopher’s back bumper. After several cautions slowed the action in the first several laps of the race, Christopher held the lead until lap-6 when Ruocco went to the front of the field. Keith Rocco was third behind Christopher with Mark Bakaj in fourth and Zach Sylvester in fifth.
Ruocco continued to hold the lead while Christopher and Rocco were having a great duel for second place. Rocco worked Christopher over and he finally was able to get by Christopher for second on lap-20. A spin by Brad Hietala brought the yellow out with 20 laps complete. Ruocco continued to lead on the restart, with Rocco and Christopher side by side for second. Christopher took the spot, but he spun on lap-23 after contact with Rocco, which brought the caution back out. Rocco was sent to the rear of the field for over aggressive driving, moving Sylvester into second, Jeff Malave into third, and Jeff Baral into fourth for the restart.
Ruocco again held the lead with Sylvester, Malave, Baral, and Dan Avery behind him in the top-5. The top-5 ran in line until the caution came back out with 29 laps complete for a spin by Brad Hietala. Ruocco again got a good restart and kept the lead with Malave moving into second and Baral into third. Keith Rocco was now back in the mix after his penalty and moved into fourth with Ryan Preece moving into fifth place. Rocco got by Baral on the last lap, but it was all Ruocco as he led the race from lap-6 to the checkered flag to take his first SK Modified® feature victory of the 2010 season. Malave finished second, with Rocco, Baral, and Preece rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, the field took the green flag with Harry Wheeler and Kyle Spencer swapping the lead with a series of chris-cross moves that saw Spencer emerge off turn 4 as the race leader. Jay Goff and David Webb would both also move by Wheeler to drop him back to fourth place.
The action was slowed with 4 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Zach Aszklar. Spencer took the lead on the restart with Webb taking second from Goff. Erica Santos worked her way into the mix and was able to move into third place, dropping Goff back to fourth. Goff would continue to slide back over the next several laps as Joey Cipriano and John Hanafin both moved by Goff. Webb was busy at the front of the field, looking for a way to get past Spencer and take over the lead.
On lap-10, Webb dove the inside of Spencer and moved to the front of the field. Santos followed Webb past Spencer, to drop him back to third place ahead of Cipriano and Hanafin. Spencer took a trip through the grass on the backstretch on lap-14, which dropped him well back in the field.
Webb was continuing to lead the race with Santos behind him. Cipriano took over third place with Spencer’s misfortune and Webb led Santos and Cipriano to the checkered flag as he scored his first feature victory of the 2010 season. Rounding out the top-5 behind Webb, Santos, and Cipriano was Goff and Earl Pelletier.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Jesse Hinze led the field to green and he took the lead on the opening lap. Carla Botticello moved by Michael Wray to take over second place and George Nocera, Jr. followed Botticello past Wray to drop him from second back to fourth with Dave Yardley, III rounding out the top-5. Nocera followed in Botticello’s tire tracks for several laps before making the pass to take over second place.
With Nocera in second behind Hinze, the top-2 cars began to pull away from the rest of the field. Dan Flannery was on the move at this stage of the race, moving from the back of the pack at the start to move into third place behind Hinze and Nocera.
The large lead was erased with 11 laps complete as the caution came out for a spin by Carla Botticello in turn 2 and the car of Michael Wray lost a tire. On the restart, Nocera powered by Hinze to move into the race lead. Flannery followed Nocera by Hinze to drop him back to third place with Kevin Gambacorta and Shawn Thibeault rounding out the top-5.
The top-5 ran in line until lap-15 when Thibeault made a two for one pass in turns 1+2, moving by both Gambacorta and Hinze to move from fifth to third. The caution came out as the lap was completed for a multicar spin involving Gambacorta, Paul Varricchio, Jr., and Brian Clement.
Nocera again took the lead on the restart with Flannery and Thibeault settling into line behind him. Flannery tried several moves to get by Nocera, but Nocera held him off and went on to take the checkered flag for his first victory of the 2010 season. Flannery finished second, with Thibeault, Hinze, and Yardley rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Jeff Jolly took the lead at the drop of the green flag and he led all 15 laps to pick up his first feature victory of the 2010 season. Jolly had to contend with a hard charging Don Wood over the final 5 laps and nearly lost the race on the final turn as he got loose, but Jolly beat Wood to the checkered flag for his first win of the 2010 season and his first win with the Matt Davis owned team. Rounding out the top-5 behind Jolly and Wood was Cliff Saunders, Stephen Daddio, and Albert Saunders.
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