Preece, Posocco, Barrett, Nocera & Jolly Score Sept. 17th Final Friday Shoot-Out Feature Victories at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway took to the track with its Final Friday Night Shoot-Out program on September 17th. Ryan Preece outdueled last week’s winner Woody Pitkat to score his first career SK Modified® feature victory in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Ryan Posocco scored his fourth win of 2010 in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Tommy Barrett, Jr. scored his 10th win of 2010 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, George Nocera, Jr., won his second consecutive feature of 2010 in spectacular fashion by crossing the start/finish line sideways in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeff Jolly scored his third win of the 2010 season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Chris Jones took the early lead as Curt Brainard got loose in turns 3+4 and slid back from the lead to outside the top-10. Jeff Baral took a ride through the infield grass on lap-5 while battling for second place with Frank Ruocco but was able to keep going and the race stayed green. Jones got sideways on lap-6 in turn 4 which allowed Ruocco to move out front. Ted Christopher moved into second behind Ruocco with Ryan Preece moving into third. Jones fell back to fourth place and Zach Sylvester was fifth.
Christopher spun into the infield with 10 laps complete to bring the caution out. Back under green Ruocco and Preece were side by side for the lead and Preece was able to move by Ruocco in the outside groove on lap-12. Woody Pitkat was third behind Preece and Ruocco with Zach Sylvester and Jones dueling side by side for fourth place. Keith Rocco moved by Mark Bakaj for sixth on lap-14 and began to close in on Sylvester, taking fifth place on lap-15. Just ahead of Ruocco, Pitkat moved by Ruocco to take over second place.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Jones got out of shape on lap-18 in turn 4, which allowed Rocco and Sylvester to move by Jones. Bakaj was side by side with Jones and the two cars made contact, which sent Jones into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution out with 19 laps complete. Bakaj was brought to pit road for a penalty by NASCAR Officials.
Preece took the lead back under green while Ruocco was side by side with Pitakt for second. Pitkat was hanging tough in the outside groove and the cars continued to run side by side as Rocco was all over the back of Ruocco and Sylvester was right behind Rocco. Brian Sullivan spun in turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 22 laps complete.
Preece took the lead back under green while Pitkat and Ruocco resumed their side by side duel, but it only lasted one lap as Pitkat took second and Ruocco settled into line in third. Sylvester was fourth and Rocco was fifth. Pitkat made a move to take over the lead from Preece, but just as he was making the pass for the lead, the caution came out for a spin by Adam Skowyra, putting Preece back into the lead for the restart.
Preece took the lead back under green and Ruocco and Pitkat were back at side by side for the second position. Rocco moved into fourth and Jeff Malave was up to fifth as Pitkat again got the better of the side by side battle with Ruocco for second.
With 10 laps to go, Pitkat was hounding Preece for the lead. Rocco and Ruocco were closing in on the top-2 and Chris Matthews made a power move around Malave to take over the fifth position on lap-33. Pitkat was looking both high and low for a way around Preece, but Preece was able to hold Pitkat off. Pitkat appeared to be stronger coming off turn 2, but Preece was keeping Pitkat behind him. Pitkat made one last ditch effort on the last lap, but he came up just short as Preece recorded his first SK Modified® feature victory of the 2010 season. Pitkat finished second, with Ruocco, Rocco, and Matthews rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, the action at the front of the pack was wild and crazy as there was three and four wide action going on. Adam Gray took the lead and Ryan Posocco made a three-wide move to take over second. Dillon Moltz came up to third, with Jim Mavlouganes and Michael Bennett making up the top-5. Tom Butler spun in turn 2 with 4 laps complete to bring the caution out.
On the restart, Posocco was able to get around Gray for the lead in the high groove and take over the lead. The next lap saw Moltz dive to the inside of Gray to take over second. Bennett and Woody Pitkat also got by Gray before the caution came back out with 6 laps complete for Mark St. Hilaire, who spun in turn 3.
Posocco took the lead back under green with Pitkat moving into second. Bennett got by Moltz for third with Gray holding down the fifth position behind Moltz. Moltz was able to move back by Bennett for third on lap-15 while Posocco was the leader by a half straightaway over Pitkat, who had nearly a half straightaway lead over Moltz in third.
Tom Fearn was running in fifth place when he lost a right front tire and brought the caution out with 26 laps complete, which erased Posocco’s lead and set up a sprint to the finish.
Posocco took the lead back under green with Moltz moving into second. Pitkat fell back a spot to third, with Jim Peterson moving into fourth and Tom Butler moved into fifth. Jim Mavlouganes spun to the infield grass with 28 laps complete to bring the caution out and set up a green white checkered finish.
On the restart, Butler shot through the infield grass to immediately bring the caution back out. Posocco led the field around for the final 2 laps back under green to take his fourth win of the 2010 season. Pitkat finished second, with Moltz, Peterson, and Bennett rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Victoria Bergenty powered into the lead at the green flag but her stay up front was short as Erica Santos moved to the front of the field on lap-2. SK Light Modified points leader Matt Galko spun and hit the backstretch wall to bring the caution out with 2 laps complete after contact with Ted Cain. Cain was black flagged and parked for the remainder of the feature for over aggressive driving.
Back under green, Santos took the lead with Heather DesRochers in second. Tommy Barrett, Jr. was side by side with Bergenty for third, but he quickly moved to the inside of DesRochers and took over second and then moved by Santos for the lead on lap-4. The caution came out with 5 laps complete as Jay Goff spun in turn 2, which collected the car of Santos, Joey Cipriano, and Tommy Membrino, Jr.
Barrett charged back into the lead on the restart with David Webb moving into second. DesRochers was third, Zach Aszklar was up to fourth, and Earl Pelletier was in fifth. Barrett was pulling away and he went unchallenged for his 10th win of the 2010 season, his fourth in a row, and his eighth win in the last 9 SK Light Modified events. David Webb finished second, with DesRochers, Pelletier, and Aszklar rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Jesse Hinze took the lead at the drop of the green and began to immediately pull away from the pack. Carla Botticello was second behind Hinze, with Shawn Thibeault, Kevin Gambacorta, and George Nocera, Jr. making up the top-5. Botticello spun in turn 2 on lap-7, but she was able to get her car going and the race stayed under green flag conditions. Thibeault was given a pit road drive through penalty for overaggressive driving, which put Gambacorta up to second place behind Hinze. Nocera was now third, with Andrew Durand fourth and Dave Yardley in fifth. Durand and Dan Flannery spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 13 laps complete.
Michael Wray spun on the restart to bring the yellow back out before the field could come back around to complete a lap. Gambacorta appeared to get the jump on Hinze as the race went back to green, but Hinze moved by Gambacorta in turn 2 and brought Nocera with him as Gambacorta fell back to third place. Nocera was all over the back of Hinze looking to make a pass for the lead. Hinze was able to keep Nocera behind him until the last lap when Nocera was able to make the pass. Hinze fought back coming to the checkered flag and the two cars made contact with Nocera taking the checkered flag for the victory sideways. Hinze finished second with Rob Dow, Yardley, and Gambacorta rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Stephanie Berardi and Albert Saunders were side by side for the lead for the first two laps and on the third lap, Vince Gambacorta made a three-wide move to the inside of Berardi and Saunders and made contact, which sent Berardi and Saunders into a half spin. The race stayed under green and Jeff Jolly was the beneficiary of the spin by Berardi and Saunders as he took over the race lead. Cory Casagrande was second with Cliff Saunders, Josh Sylvester, and Kyle Casagrande behind him.
At the lap-10 mark of the race, Cory Casagrande had run Jolly down and was looking to make a pass to take over the lead. Cliff Saunders was right behind Casagrande as it was a three-car train for the lead and Wood and Kyle Casagrande were also closing in. Kelsey Rottino spun on the backstretch to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete.
Jolly kept the lead back under green with Cliff Saunders and Kyle Casagrande behind him. Wood was fourth and Cory Casagrande was fifth. Kyle Casgrande made a move by Cliff Saunders for second on lap-14 and he brought Wood with him as Saunders dropped from second back to fourth. Jolly led the field around for the final lap to score his third win of the 2010 season. Kyle Casagrande came home in second with Cory Casagrande, Wood, and Andrew Hayes 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