Rocco & Pitkat Score CARQUEST Fall Final Sunday Feature Victories at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway brought the curtain down on its 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season with its final SK Modified® and Late Model feature events of the year as part of the 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. Keith Rocco capped his championship season with his 10th SK Modified® feature victory at Stafford, setting an SK Modified® record for wins in a season. Woody Pitkat scored his 8th win of the 2010 season in the 30-lap Late Model feature, but he lost the championship to Ryan Posocco by 2 points as Posocco clinched the 2010 Late Model track championship with a third place finish.
The 40-lap SK Modified® feature went green with Frank Ruocco and Tom Bolles spinning on the frontstretch to bring the caution out. Todd Owen and Sean Foster went side by side for the lead on the restart with Owen taking the spot. Jeff Baral was third behind Jones and Foster with Curt Brainard and Jeff Malave making up the early top-5.
Ruocco spun again on lap-4, but was able to get going and the race stayed under green. The next lap saw several cars, including Owen, Zach Sylvester, Dan Avery, Woody Pitkat, Jeff Malave, and Ryan Preece all get into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution out. Baral and Brainard were now on the front row for the restart, with Brian Sullivan and Joe Allegro, Jr. making up the second row.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
#88 – Keith Rocco
On the restart, Sullivan climbed up the back of Brainard’s car and they both spun to bring the caution back out. The next restart saw Mark Bakaj and Brad Hietala spin on the frontstretch to keep the field under yellow.
Baral took the lead back under green with Chris Matthews in second. Michael Gervais, Jr. was up to third, with Bo Gunning and Owen behind him. Brainard, Keith Rocco, Joe Allegro, Jr., Frank Ruocco, and Sean Foster made up the top-10.
Matthews was hounding Baral for the lead when the caution came out with 11 laps complete for Woody Pitkat, who spun on the backstretch.
Baral was back out front on the restart with Rocco moving into second place. Ruocco moved into third with Owen fourth as Matthews fell from second back to fifth place. Baral held the lead until lap-21 when Rocco made the move in turn 2 to take over the top spot. Ruocco nearly followed suit on the next lap, but Baral was able to hang onto the second position. Joe Allegro, Jr. spun to the infield in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 22 laps complete.
Rocco took the lead back under green with Ruocco moving by Baral for second. Matthews was also able to get by Baral to take third as Baral fell from second back to fourth. Sullivan was in fifth place with Zach Sylvester right on his bumper in sixth. Sylvester made the move around Sullivan for fifth place on lap-28 as Rocco was setting sail out front, opening up a half straightaway lead over Ruocco.
Rocco continued to pull away from the rest of the field and he scored a dominating victory to put an exclaimation point on his championship season. Ruocco finished second, with Matthews, Baral, and Zach Sylvester rounding out the top-5.
The 30-lap Late Model feature took the green flag with Patrick Townsend setting the pace ahead of Adam Gray, Tom Fearn, Mark St. Hilaire, and Dave Wray. With one lap complete, J.J. Hill, Ryan Preece, and Greg Butler, Jr. got together and slid into the turn 1 wall to bring the caution out.
Gray went around Townsend to take over the lead on the restart with Fearn, Corey Hutchings, and Dillon Moltz making up the top-5. Townsend would retake the lead from Gray on lap-5 as Gray got loose in turn 4. Moltz got loose in turn 1 on lap-6 and he slid back several spots to ninth place as Jim Peterson, Michael Bennett, Woody Pitkat, and Ryan Posocco all went by Moltz. Townsend was still the leader and he had opened up a lead of several car lengths over Gray at the lap-10 mark of the race.
With 10-laps complete, Bennett and Hutchings made contact with Hutchings spinning through the infield grass. Bennett was given a drive through penalty for over aggressive driving. Townsend was still out front with Gray behind him. Pitkat was now up to third place with Posocco and Moltz behind him. Keith Rocco, who started shotgun on the field, was now in sixth place behind Moltz at the halfway point of the race.
Pitkat and Posocco moved by Gray on lap-18 to move into second and third place behind Townsend, who was still in command of the race. Pitkat closed the distance to Townsend, but the caution came out with 19 laps complete for Adam Gray, who spun and hit the wall in turn 3.
On the restart, Townsend’s great run came to an end as his car appeared to have a flat right rear tire and he spun and hit the wall in turn 1. This brought the caution back out and put Pitkat and Posocco side by side on the front row for the restart.
Pitkat got the jump on the restart and powered into the lead with Rocco moving to the inside of Posocco to take over second. St. Hilaire and Bennett spun and hit the wall in turn 3 to bring the yellow back out with 21 laps complete.
#48 – Ryan Posocco
Pitkat again took the lead back under green with Rocco and Posocco settling into second and third. Peterson was fourth with Hill back up to fifth after his early spin. Tracy Brouillette made contact with the turn 4 wall and heavily damaged his right front to bring the caution back out with 23 laps complete.
The field completed one lap with Pitkat still out front before the caution came back out as Dillon Moltz got sideways in turn 1 and kicked dirt onto the track in the racing groove. The next restart saw Tony Lafo get loose in turns 1+2 and collect the car of Joe Rzeszutek, who spun into the wall to bring the caution back out.
Pitkat took the lead back under green with Rocco getting by Posocco for second. As Rocco was going by Posocco, Peterson nearly made a three wide move to the inside of both Rocco and Posocco, but he got loose in turn 4 and Posocco was able to keep the third position behind Pitkat and Rocco. Dillon Moltz went around in turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 26 laps complete.
Pitkat took the lead on the restart with Rocco able to hold onto the second position. Posocco was third with Hutchings getting around Fearn for fourth place. Fearn went back around Hutchings for fourth on the next lap, but the caution came out for Peterson, who spun at the entrance to pit road to set up a green white checkered finish.
Pitkat and Rocco stayed one-two on the restart with Posocco and Hutchings side by side for third. Posocco was able to take the spot while Hutchings fell back several spots. Pitkat led the field around for the final two circuits but came up just short in the chase for the championship as Posocco’s third place finish was enough to win the championship by just 2 points. Rocco finished second behind Pitkat, while Fearn and Hill rounded out the top-5 behind Posocco in third.
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