Keith Rocco Wins 37th Annual Coors LIght SK Modified® 100 at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway returned to racing action with the 37th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 on Friday, June 11th. Keith Rocco defended his 100-lap victory from one year ago and scored his fourth win of the 2010 season, Ryan Posocco picked up his first win of the 2010 season and the 40th win of his Late Model career at Stafford in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Frank Cardile scored his second victory of 2010 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Dan Flannery scored his third win of 2010 in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Cory Casagrande picked up his second win of 2010 in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the 37th Annual Coors Light 100-lap SK Modified® feature event, Brit Andersen took the early race lead, but the caution came out with one lap complete for a multi-car incident in turn 3 involving Jeff Baral, Frank Ruocco, and Matt Gallo. Andersen led the race until lap-4 when Josh Sylvester went to the front. The caution came back out with 4 laps on the board as Todd Owen spun in turn 2 and collected several cars including Woody Pitkat, John Montesanto, and Brad Hietala. Pitkat was able to come to pit road and change a flat tire while Montesanto and Hietala were not so lucky.
Chris Jones took the lead from Sylvester back under green. Ted Christopher and Keith Rocco were fourth and fifth on the restart and they quickly moved into second and third. Jones held the lead until lap-16 when Christopher and Rocco both got by Jones.
Once Christopher and Rocco were out front, they began a duel for the lead like they staged in last year’s Coors Light SK Modified® 100. From lap-16 to lap-68, they swapped the lead a total of 15 times, with the lead changing hands on an almost seemingly lap-by-lap basis.
Once Rocco went out front on lap-68, he began to stretch out his advantage over Christopher and he appeared headed to certain victory until the yellow flag flew one final time with 97 laps complete as Raymond Grassetti made heavy contact with the turn 2 wall.
Rocco took the lead on the restart and Woody Pitkat moved to the inside of Christopher for second. The side by side action between Pitkat and Christopher gave Rocco an advantage that he would not relinquish over the final three laps as he won his second consecutive Coors Light SK Modified® 100 and his fourth win of the 2010 season. Pitkat finished second with Christopher, Eric Berndt, and Ryan Preece rounding out the top-5 behind him.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Keith Rocco took the lead from the pole and he quickly began to pull away from the field. Jim Mavlouganes was second with Scott Cook third, Tom Fearn fourth, and Joe Rzeszutek fifth.
Ryan Posocco and Jim Peterson were two cars on the move in the early going and both cars were in the top-5 within 5 laps. A caution for a stalled Rzeszutek came out with 6 laps complete. On the restart, Rocco kept the lead while Posocco moved from fourth to second. Fearn was third, with Peterson fourth and Cook fifth.
Michael Bennett was now the car on the move, going from ninth on the restart to fifth in several laps. At the halfway point, it was still Rocco out front, followed by Posocco, Peterson, Bennett, and Mavlouganes.
Posocco was trying to take the lead from Rocco lap after lap, and he was finally able to make a pass on lap-26. Once Posocco was in the lead, he pulled away from Rocco to take down his first victory of the 2010 season. Rocco finished second with Bennett, Peterson, and Dillon Moltz rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Earl Pelletier took the early lead ahead of Kyle Spencer, Frank Cardile, John Hanafin, and Joey Cipriano. The top-5 cars ran in line until the caution came out with 7 laps complete as Heather DesRochers hit the backstretch wall and came to a stop in turn 3 with a damaged right front tire.
Pelletier kept the lead on the restart, but Cardile was glued to his back bumper. Cardile rode behind Pelletier until lap-12 when he made a pass for the lead. One lap after Cardile took the lead, the caution flag came out for debris on the track after spins by Spencer, Victoria Bergenty, and Anthony Flannery.
Cardile took the lead back under green while Tommy Barrett, Jr. and Joey Cipriano were side by side for the second position. Barrett would take the spot while Pelletier was fourth and Jay Goff was fifth. This was the running order when the caution came out with 16 laps complete for a spin by Tommy Membrino, Jr. and Rick Williams.
On the restart, Barrett didn’t quite come up to speed and Pelletier retired to pit road. Cardile again took the lead with Cipriano hot on his heels. Cardile was strong and he led the final 4 laps for his second win of the 2010 season. Cipriano finished second, with Goff, Hanafin, and Erica Santos rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Jesse Hinze took the lead at the green flag going to the outside of Duane Provost. Rob Dow quickly moved into second, with Andrew Durand, Dave Yardley, and Dan Flannery all getting past Provost as he went backwards in the high groove.
The caution came out with 7 laps complete to slow the action. Hinze powered back to the lead on the restart, with Flannery moving into second place. Flannery made his move to the front of the pack on lap-10 and his pass opened the door for Durand, Yardley, and Kevin Gambacorta to all follow him past Hinze as Hinze dropped back to fifth place.
The caution came back out with 16 laps complete for a spin by Durand and Gambacorta. Flannery took the lead back under green and he pulled away from Yardley over the final four laps to take his third win of the 2010 season. Yardley finished second, with Michael Wray, Dow, and Gambacorta rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, James Carroll took the early race lead ahead of Nick Salva, Cliff Saunders, Stephanie Berardi, and Cory Casagrande. Berardi was hung in the outside groove and she lost a host of positions before she got back in line.
Carroll held the lead until lap-4 when Salva went to the front. Salva’s move brought Cliff Saunders by Carroll as well. On lap-5, Saunders and Salva got locked together and slid up the track in turns 3+4, which allowed Cory Casagrande to move to the front of the pack. Tony Membrino, Jr. was now in second behind Casagrande, with Albert Saunders, Don Wood, and Kyle Casagrande rounding out the top-5.
Kyle Casagrande moved up to third by lap-10 while Cory Casagrande and Membrino continued to hold down the top-2 spots. A three-car incident in turn 2 involving Berardi, Vince Gambacorta, and Carroll brought out the caution with 11 laps complete.
Cory Casagrande powered into the lead on the restart with his brother Kyle moving into second place. Don Wood was third, with Membrino falling back to fourth and Josh Wood was now up to fifth. Kyle couldn’t catch Cory over the final four laps as Corey scored his second win of the 2010 season. Rounding out the top-5 behind Cory and Kyle Casagrande was Don Wood, Tony Membrino, Jr., and Jeff Jolly.
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