Lichty, Midford, Horn & Meservey Score CARQUEST Super Saturday Feature Wins at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Saturday night, June 30th, was the 9th annual CARQUEST Super Saturday program at Stafford Motor Speedway. Mike Lichtyp won the 50-lap ISMA Supermodified feature, Mike Horn won the 30-lap NEMA Midget feature event, and Dan Meservey, Jr. won the 25-lap Pro-4 Modified feature event. In the CARQUEST Champions For Charities event, Ron Midford, Jr. took the checkered flag but the real winner was charity as the 13 champion drivers raised over $51,000 for their selected charities.
In the 50-lap ISMA Supermodified feature event, Eddie Witkum, Jr. took the lead from the outside pole at the drop of the green and he began to set the pace ahead of Jeff Holbrook, Mike Lichty, Bobby Magner, and Ben Seitz. Lichty drove to the lead around Witkum on lap-6 and Seitz was up to fourth just ahead of Rob Summers. The caution came out with 7 laps complete as a tire got loose on the track.
Lichty got a good run on the restart and he pulled out to the lead with Witkum in second. Witkum came under pressure from Seitz, who was able to take the second spot from Witkum 3 laps after the restart. Rob Summers was now into fourth with Holbrook and Jon McKennedy in fifth and sixth place.
[Photo Gallery] by Crystal Snape
Seitz was closing the gap to Lichty very quickly, but once Seitz got to Lichty, Lichty seemed to find another gear and he was able to keep Seitz behind him. Johnny Benson dropped off the pace on lap-14 while Summers was able to get by Holbrook to move into third. Following Summers by Holbrook was Witkum and McKennedy as Holbrook fell from third back to sixth place.
AS the two leaders began to encounter lapped traffic, Seitz was able to close right in on the rear bumper of Lichty. Lichty and Seitz were carefully navigating the lapped traffic, with both drivers staying lined up behind one another. Lichty was able to get by the lapped cars a bit better than Seitz and he was able to open up a several car length lead while Summers was busy closing in on the lead duo.
The caution came out with 34 laps complete as Dan Bowes spun backwards down the frontstretch with the running order still Lichty followed by Seitz and Summers. Lichty took the lead back under green with Seitz, Summers, McKennedy, and Lou Cicconi making up the top-5.
Lichty led the field around to the checkered flag to take the victory. Seitz finished second, with Summers, McKennedy, and Cicconi rounding out the top-5.
The CARQUEST Champions For Charities 15-lap feature, Richie Pallai led the field to the green, but caution came out for Woody Pitkat, Lou Cicconi, and Stan Mertz, who all came to a stop in the turn 2 wall.
Pallai took the lead on the restart, but Ron Midford, Jr. took the lead from Pallai on the first lap. Eric Berndt got a run to the inside of Midford and he led the first lap of the race. Berndt gave way to David Arute, who started last, for the lead on lap-2. Arute lost the lead to Preece on lap-3, and the lead changed hands again on lap-4 when Midford went to the front. Arute went back to the front on lap-4 and he led lap-5 before Pitkat took the lead on lap-6.
Chris Pasteryak led the next lap before Pitkat regained the lead the next lap at the stripe. Lou Cicconi took a turn at the front of the field on lap-9 before the field went 3-wide into turn 3 and Cicconi held on to the lead. Preece came back to the inside of Cicconi to retake the lead. Midford moved into second behind Preece and he took the lead from Preece with a lap and a half to go. Preece couldn’t make a run on Midford as he led Preece to the checkered flag to take the victory. Arute finished third, with Cicconi, and Berndt rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap NEMA Midget feature event, Paul Scally led the field to the green but it was Anthony Marvuglio making a three-wide move to the outside to move into the lead on the first lap. Jim Miller moved into second and Mike Horn moved into third as Scally fell back to fourth place. The caution came out with 2 laps complete for a spin by Brian Cleveland.
Marvuglio powered to the lead on the restart, immediately pulling away from Miller in second. Horn continued to run third, while Erica Santos moved up to fourth and John Zych, Jr. moved up to fifth. Marvuglio was setting a blistering pace at the front of the pack and he was slowly pulling away from Miller in second.
Greg Stoehr got around Santos for fourth place and he was trying to run down Horn in third when he spun in turn 4 and brought the caution out with 19 laps complete. The order for the restart was Marvuglio, Miller, Horn, Randy Cabral, Santos, and Russ Stoehr.
Miller tried to make a move to the inside of Marvuglio on the restart, but he got out of shape and fell back several spots. Horn caught and went around Marvuglio to take over the lead on lap-21, but the two cars touched wheels and Marvuglio got loose and slid up the track directly into the path of Cabral and Russ Stoehr, which brought the caution and red flags out.
Horn took the lead on the restart with Santos moving into second. Miller was third, with Zych and Greg Stoehr in fifth place. Horn was pulling away from Santos in second, while Zych was hounding Miller for the third position. Horn led the field back to the checkered flag to take the victory. Santos finished second, with Mller, Zych, and Greg Stoehr rounding out the top-5.
In the 25-lap Pro-4 Modified feature, Randy Cabral led the field to the green and he took the lead with Phil Lausier behind him. Dan Meservery, Jr. wasted little time in getting around Lausier on lap-2 to move into second. Norm Wrenn started deep in the field and he quickly moved his way through traffic to move into fourth place in the first few laps behind Lausier.
Meservey took to the high groove to get around Cabral on lap-7 to take over the race lead. Wrenn moved by Lausier to move into third and Rob Richardi followed Wrenn by Lausier to drop Lausier from third back to fifth place. Cabral got trapped behind a lapped car on lap-11 which allowed Wrenn to take over the spot. Wrenn continued his charge as he closed the gap to Meservey in the lead and he was searching for a way to get by with 10 laps to go. The caution came out with 16 laps complete for Cabral, who lost an engine in turn 3.
On the restart, Meservey took the lead with Rob Richardi right on his bumper. Wrenn was third, with Dave Richardi and Robin Berghman making up the top-5. Wrenn got around Rob Richardi for second on lap-19 and he was able close the gap to Meservey when the caution came out for a spin by Lausier.
On the restart, Wrenn looked to have a good run on Meservey, but Meservey was able to hold Wrenn off and keep his car out front. Rob Richardi was leading Dave Richardi for third place, but the caution came back out with 21 laps complete for a spin by Mark Giordano in turn 1 and Dan Fresh came to a stop on the backstretch. Dick Dubois spun on the restart to bring the caution back out.
Meservey took the lead ahead of Wrenn on the restart with Rob Richardi, Dave Richardi, and Berghman making up the top-5. Meservey pulled out to a several car length lead, but Wrenn was all over Merservey’s back bumper at the white flag. Meservey was able to hold Wrenn off to the checkered flag to pick up the victory. Rob Richardi finishe third, with Dave Richardi and Berghman 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.
ISMA SUPERMODIFIED (50)
1) Mike Lichty
2) Ben Seitz
3) Rob Summers
4) Jon McKennedy
5) Lou Cicconi
6) Eddie Witkum, Jr.
7) Tim Ice
8) Timmy Jedrzejek
9) Jeff Locke
10) Jeff Holbrook
11) Bobby Bond
12) Dave Duggan
13) Craig Rayvals
14) Jon Gambuti
15) Danny Bowes
16) Jamie Timmons
17) Bobby Magner
18) Mark Sammut
19) Johnny Benson, Jr.
20) Mike Ordway, Sr.
21) Eric Lewis
CARQUEST CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES (15)
1) Ron Midford, Jr.
2) Ryan Preece
3) David Arute
4) Lou Cicconi
5) Eric Berndt
6) Woody Pitkat
7) Chris Pasteryak
8) Bob Potter
9) Richie Pallai, Jr.
10) Erica Santos
11) Randy Cabral
12) Stan Mertz
NEMA MIDGET (30)
1) Mike Horn
2) Erica Santos
3) Jim Miller
4) John Zych, Jr.
5) Greg Stoehr
6) Paul Scally
7) Lee Bundy
8) Andy Barrows
9) Bethany Stoehr
10) Anthony Marvuglio
11) Randy Cabral
12) Russ Stoehr
13) Anthony Nocella
14) Brandon Igo
15) Jim Santa Maria
16) Todd Bertrand
17) Ryan Preece
18) Seth Carlson
19) Brian Cleveland
20) Frank Swan
21) Todd Bertrand
22) Doug Cleveland
23) Lee Bundy
24) Glen Cabral
PRO-4 MODIFIED (25)
1) Dan Meservey, Jr.
2) Norm Wrenn
3) Rob Richardi, Jr.
4) Dave Richardi
5) Robin Berghman
6) Dan Meservey, Sr.
7) Pahl Lausier
8) Derek Robbie
9) Stan Mertz
10) Ray Sherrick
11) Mark Giordano
12) Dan Fresh
13) Dick DuBois
14) Randy Cabral
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR