Preece and Hill Score Carquest Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Sunday Feature Victories at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway’s 42nd Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Weekend continued on Sunday with feature events for the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions. Ryan Preece scored a dominating win in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, and J.J. Hill scored a wire to wire victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature event.
In the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Woody Pitkat streaked into the lead from the pole at the drop of the green flag. Glen Reen moved into second, with Sean Foster, Ryan Preece, and Dan Avery lined up behind him. Reen made a move around Pitkat to take over the lead, but the caution came out with 3 laps complete for Eric Berndt, who came to a stop in turn 4. The caution put Pitkat back in front of Reen for the restart. Under the caution, Keith Rocco came to pit road for a driver swap and Mike Stefanik took over Rocco’s ride as Rocco is nursing a left wrist injury.
Back under green, Reen got a good run to the outside of Pitkat to streak into the lead. Preece was also able to get by Pitkat for second and he moved to the inside Reen for the lead, but the caution came back out with 4 laps complete for Tommy Membrino, Jr. and Matt Galko, who spun and came to a stop against the backstretch wall.
As the race resumed, Preece was able to stay even with Reen for a lap on the outside and he had the lead at the stripe. Preece cleared Reen going into turn 1 one lap after the restart and Reen settled into second. Pitkat was third, with Todd Owen in fourth and Foster was fifth when the caution came back out with 8 laps complete as Joey Cipriano spun and came to a stop on the backstretch.
Preece took the lead on the restart with Reen, Pitkat, Owen, and Avery lined up behind him. Foster was sixth, with Doug Coby, Danny Cates, Rowan Pennink, and Michael Bennett making up the top-10. Mike Stefanik was quickly working his way through traffic after restarting at the rear of the field as a result of the driver change with Keith Rocco, and he made a move by Bennett to take over 10th place on lap-13, just before the caution came out for Frank Ruocco, who spun in turn 3.
Preece again took the lead on the restart with Pitkat moving into second. Reen was third, with Avery and Owen behind him. Pennink was sixth, with Cates, Coby, Stefanik, and Shawn Thibeault making up the top-10 as the cars quickly settled into single file racing. The caution came back out with 17 laps complete for spins by Kurt Lenahan and Tom Bolles in turn 1.
Preece again was setting the pace in front of Pitkat back under green with Reen, Owen and Avery behind him. Michael Bennett spun on the backstretch to bring the caution back out with 18 laps complete.
Preece was the leader back under green with Reen taking over second. Pitkat continued to slide back several spots as Owen got by and Coby was in the process of putting a pass on Pitkat when Pitkat spun in turn 3 to bring the caution back out with 20 laps complete. The order for the restart at the halfway point of the race was Preece and Reen in the front row, Owen and Stefanik in the second row, Avery and Cipriano in the third row, Coby and Thibeault in the fourth row, and Christopher and Michael Gervais, Jr. in the fifth row.
Preece took the lead on the restart with Owen and Reen side by side for second, but there was a spin mid pack involving Joe Williams, Kurt Lenahan, and Zach Aszklar that brought the yellow right back out before a lap could be completed.
Preece powered into the lead on the restart with Owen getting by Reen for second after a lap of side by side racing. Stefanik settled into line in fourth and Avery and Cipriano were side by side for fifth place. Stefanik got out of shape a bit in turn 2 on lap-24 and he slipped back from fourth to seventh as Avery, Coby, and Christopher all got by with Cipriano falling into line just behind Stefanik in eighth place.
The order remained the same until lap-29 when Coby got around Avery to take over the fourth position. Preece had a large lead built up with 10 laps to go, holding a half straightaway advantage over Owen, Reen, Coby, and Avery. Coby was all over the back of Reen looking for a way to take over third, but Reen was able to hold off Coby’s challenges.
Preece led the rest of the way to score a dominating feature victory in the first race of the season. Owen came home in second, Coby got around Reen for third on the final lap, and Avery rounded out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, JJ Hill took the lead from the pole with Kevin Gambacorta moving up to second and Woody Pitkat moving up to third. Peter Portante, who started on the outside pole, was stuck in the outside groove and fell back to eighth place in the first two laps before settling into line. Dennis Botticello did a 360 spin in turn 2 on lap-3, but he was able to keep moving and the race stayed green. Jay Stuart was fourth, with Jim Mavlouganes, Adam Gray, and Todd Owen lined up in front of Portante and behind Hill, Gambacorta, and Pitkat with 5 laps complete in the race.
Hill and Gambacorta were beginning to pull away from Pitkat in third, whle Pitkat had Sgtuart, Mavlouganes, Gray, Owen, Portante, Tom Fearn, and Cory Casagrande lined up in single file right behind him with 9 laps complete.
The caution came out with 12 laps complete for a spin by Art Caruso, who spun in turn 1 and had damage to the rear end of his car. Back under green, hill took the lead with Pitkat moving into second. Mavlouganes was third, with Stuart, Fearn, and Owen behind him. Gambacorta fell from second back to seventh as he couldn’t get his car to the bottom groove.
Stuart got around Mavlouganes to move into third on lap-15 and Owen was all over the back of Fearn looking to take over fifth place as Hill continued to set the pace in front of Pitkat. The order remained the same until lap-19 when Owen drifted up the track a bit, allowing Gray to get by and move into the sixth position. With 10 laps to go, Hill was still the leader by several car lengths over Pitkat, Stuart, and Mavlouganes.
Gray got by Fearn to take over fifth place on lap-23, but he was almost a half straightaway behind the four lead cars of Hill, Pitkat, Stuart, and Mavlouganes. Since the restart on lap-13, Hill had a several car length lead over Pitkat and he was maintaining that gap as the laps clicked off the board. Gray’s good run came to an end as he had to come to pit road for a flat right rear tire with 2 laps to go.
Hill led the field to the checkered flag to take the first Late Model feature of the 2013 season. Pitkat finished second, with Stuart, Mavlouganes, and Fearn 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