Rocco, Hill, Cipriano, Provost & Wood Score Town Fair Tire 150 Feature Victories at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — After a week away, Stafford Speedway was back racing with the 21st Annual Town Fair Tire 150 program. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature racing, Keith Rocco outdueled Ted Christopher to take his third consecutive and sixth feature win of the 2011 season in the SK Modified® feature, J.J. Hill scored a dominating first win of 2011 by leading all 30 laps in the Late Model feature, Joey Cipriano nailed down his fourth win of 2011 in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Duane Provost picked up his first career win in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Josh Wood beat his father Don to the checkered flag to record his third win of the 2011 season in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Chris Matthews took the lead at the green with Michael Gervais, Jr. behind him. Sean Foster and Tom Bolles were side by side for third place while Nichole Morgillo and Dan Avery were side by side for fifth place. Bolles took the third spot and Avery took the fourth spot while Ryan Preece moved into fifth place.
Preece was the car on the charge as he moved from fifth to second in the outside groove. Keith Rocco was right behind Preece and he followed him towards the front and occupied the third position while Matthews continued to lead. Avery moved by Gervais for fourth place on lap-9 and Woody Pitkat followed him by Gervais.
The lead changed hands on lap-11 as Preece and Rocco got by Matthews, who dropped off the pace and came to pit road with a flat left front tire. Preece and Rocco were now the leading cars, with Avery and Pitakt in third and fourth, with Ted Christopher now in the fifth position. Pitkat moved by Avery for third on lap-14 and the order changed again on lap-17 as Christopher went by Avery in the outside groove and then moved to the low groove to get by Pitkat in turns 3+4 to move from fifth to third place. Heather DesRochers spun in turn 1 to bring the caution out with 18 laps complete.
Back under green, Preece and Rocco were side by side for the lead while Christopher and Pitkat were locked side by side for third. Avery and Frank Ruocco were side by side for fifth behind them. Christopher went from third to first on lap-21 with a power move in turn 4 to take the lead with Rocco behind him and Preece in third. Christopher’s time at the front was short as Rocco moved to the front on lap-24. Preece tried to follow Rocco by Christopher, but he made contact with Christopher and he nearly spun. Preece was able to gather the car back up and he settled into line back in sixth.
Christopher went back by Rocco for the lead on lap-28, but Rocco was not to be outdone as he moved back by Christopher one lap later. Adam Skowyra spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 29 laps complete. The order for the restart was Rocco and Christopher on the front row, with Eric Berndt and Pitkat in the second row.
Rocco led the field back under green with Christopher falling into line behind Rocco. Avery took a hard hit into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution back out with 31 laps complete.
Rocco again took the lead back under green with Christopher right on his bumper. Berndt was still third, with Preece in fourth and Pitkat and Ruocco were side by side for fourth place. Christopher got into the back of Rocco in turns 3+4 on the final lap and Rocco began to get out of shape, but he gathered the car back up and was able to beat Christopher back to the checkered flag to pick up his third consecutive and sixth overall win of the 2011 season. Eric Berndt finished third, with Preece and Ruocco rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, J.J. Hill went around Tom Butler and took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Butler settled into second, just ahead of Mark St. Hilaire, Patrick Townsend, and John Kasper. St. Hilaire got by Butler on lap-5 to take over second while Hill was the fastest car on track and was pulling away in the lead.
The top-5 ran in line until lap-11 when Dillon Moltz and Woody Pitkat moved past Kasper to drop him from fifth back to seventh. Hill was continuing to set a torrid pace at the front of the field, while St. Hilaire, Butler and Townsend ahead of Moltz and Pitkat. That order stayed the same until lap-15 when Moltz and Pitkat went by Townsend to drop him from fourth back to sixth place.
The order remained the same until lap-24 when Moltz and Pitkat again made a tandem pass, dropping Butler from third back to fifth place. Hill was still setting a blistering pace at the front of the field, and he had a lead of nearly a full straightaway over St. Hilaire in second with 5 laps to go. Hill was unstoppable as he took the checkered flag to record his first Late Model win of the 2011 season in dominating fashion, leading all 30 laps. Moltz made a move to the inside of St. Hilaire on the final corner and he took second by a nose with Pitkat in fourth. Butler rounded out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Steve Greer took the lead at the green with Jay Goff moving into second behind Greer. Tony Santangelo settled into third just ahead of Tommy Membrino, Jr. and Tony Membrino, Jr. With 5 laps on the board, Greer continued to hold the lead with Goff several car lengths behind him. Joey Cipriano had moved into fourth just ahead of Tommy Membrino, Jr. in fifth while Tony Membrino, Jr. had moved up one spot into third place. The caution came out with 6 laps complete for spins by Jesse Ruocco and Harry Wheeler.
Greer took the lead back under green while Cipriano made a power move to go from fourth to second as he dove under Goff and Tony Membrino. Cipriano continued his charge as he moved to the front on lap-8. On lap-9, there was contact between Kyle Spencer and Greer, which got both cars out of shape. Spencer was shown the black flag for the contact and the caution came out with 9 laps complete for a spin by Paul Tommasino in turn 1.
On the restart, Cipriano again took the lead while Tommy Barrett, Jr. was a rocket ship on the outside groove and he moved into second with Chris Kopec moving into third as Goff got out of shape and several cars had to slow down to avoid Goff. Dylan Liseo was now in fourth with Tony Membrino falling back to fifth. The caution came back out with 11 laps complete as Shayne Prucker spun and hit the turn 2 wall.
Cipriano again took the lead on the restart with Barrett settling into line behind him. Kopec took a look to the inside of Barrett, but couldn’t make a pass and fell into line in third place. The fight for fourth was a side by side duel between Tony Membrino and Santangelo, which Membrino got the better of. Matt Galko moved by Santangelo to take over fifth on lap-16 while Cipriano was pulling away from Barrett by several car lengths at the front of the field. Ruocco spun coming out of turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 17 laps complete.
Cipriano was the leader back under green with Barrett, Kopec, and Galko behind him, but the field only completed one lap before the caution came back out for Tyler Lee Jackson and Ruocco, who came to a stop at the exit of turn 2 and set up a green white checkered finish.
Cipriano took the lead on the restart with Barrett behind him. The last time the SK Lights ran a feature, Barrett got by Cipriano on the final lap for the win, but this time the roles were reversed as Cipriano was too strong to be overtaken and he took the checkered flag ahead of Barrett for his fourth win of the 2011 season. Galko finished third, with Kopec and Spencer rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Duane Provost took the lead at the green flag and he set the early pace ahead of Chris Cook, Dan Flannery, Carla Botticello, and D.J. Burnham. The top-5 cars ran in line until lap-8 when Cook got out of shape and slowed up, allowing Flannery, Botticello, and Burnham to all move by Cook as he fell from second back to fifth.
On lap-11 both Shawn Thibeault and Kevin Gambacorta moved past Cook while Provost continued to hold the race lead ahead of Flannery, Botticello, and Burnham. The running order remained the same until lap-18 when Thibeault and George Nocera, Jr. both moved past Burnham to take over the fourth and fifth positions. Gambacorta was now one spot behind Burnham in seventh place.
Provost led the field around to the checkered flag to record his first career Limited Late Model victory in dominating fashion, leading all 20 laps. Flannery finished second, with Botticello, Thibeault, and Nocera rounding out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Kris Fluckiger took the lead on the outside of Katie Brice to take the lead on the first lap, but Brice spun to bring the caution out with 1 lap complete. Fluckiger went back to the front on the restart with Albert Saunders behind him in second. Josh Wood was third, but he was able to get past Saunders for second on lap-4 and he moved by Fluckiger for the lead on lap-5.
Saunders and Andrew Hayes were having a great duel for second place behind Wood, while Don Wood was now up to fourth and Kyle Casagrande and David Arute were right behind Wood with 10 laps complete. Hayes was able to get by Saunders for second, but before the lap could be completed, David Macha spun in turn 3 to bring the caution out and Saunders was able to get his spot back for the restart.
The restart came on lap-13 with Josh Wood taking the lead ahead of Don Wood, Saunders, Hayes, Casagrande, and Arute. Casagrande made a move to the inside of Hayes, but Hayes was hanging tough in the outside groove and he was able to hold onto the third position.
Josh Wood led the field around to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2011 season. Don Wood came home second, with Saunders, Hayes, and Casagrande 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