Gray Wins Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D Feature at Stafford; Preece, Talman, Burnham, & Lavoie Also Score Feature Wins
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Speedway was back on track under the lights for the first time in 2013 with the Xtra Mart Late Model Xtra D program on Friday night, May 10th. Adam Gray was the winner of the extra distance 35-lap Late Model feature, Ryan Preece scored his second consecutive victory in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Troy Talman was the second consecutive rookie winner in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, D.J. Burnham was the winner in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Jeremy Lavoie drove to victory in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Michael Gervais, Jr. took the lead at the green with Rowan Pennink moving alongside Sean Foster in a fight for second place. Woody Pitkat and Tom Bolles were side by side for fourth place behind Pennink and Foster, while Doug Coby and Keith Rocco were side-by-side fighting for sixth. Pennink took the lead from Gervais on lap-5, but the caution came out for a multicar spin in turn 2 involving Joe Williams, Raymond Grassetti, Ted Christopher, and Tommy Membrino, Jr., putting Gervais back in front for the restart.
The field didn’t complete a lap before the caution came back out for spins by Grassetti and Membrino. Pennink took the lead on the restart with Gervais and Pitkat side by side for second. Brian Sullivan pulled off the track and came to a stop on the frontstretch to bring the caution out with 6 laps complete.
Pennink took the lead on the restart after a side-by-side lap with Pitkat. Pitkat slotted into second with Doug Coby all over his back bumper in third. Gervais and Rocco were side-by-side for fourth place, with Ryan Preece right behind them and looking for a hole to make a pass. After several laps, Coby was finally able to make a good enough run to get by Pitkat to take over second. Gervais was fourth, just in front of Preece, Rocco, Foster, Dan Avery, and Todd Owen while Pennink continued to lead the race.
Pennink had built a nice lead up over Coby, but Coby was slowly reeling Pennink back in and at lap-25, Coby was on Pennink’s back bumper. Pitkat was third by himself, with Rocco, Foster, Avery, Owen, and Danny Cates lined up in a row behind him. The caution came out with 28 laps complete as Membrino spun in turn 4.
On the restart, Gervais spun in turn 3 and collected the cars of Frank Ruocco, Membrino, and Zach Aszklar. The next restart saw Coby power by Pennink in the outside groove to take over the race lead. Pennink settled into line behind Coby with Preece, Pitkat, and Foster making up the top-5. Rocco and Owen were side by side for sixth, but Coby’s car got turned into the backstretch wall after contact from Pennink and he came to a stop backwards in turn 3 to bring the caution out with 30 laps complete. Pennink was sent to the rear of the field for the contact with Coby.
Preece was now the race leader under green but the caution came back out for Coby, who had a flat right front tire. Preece took the lead with Pitkat right behind him on the restart. Foster was third, with Rocco to his outside, but the caution came back out with 31 laps complete for a spin by Joe Williams and several other cars in turn 1.
Preece took the lead back under green with Rocco and Pitkat side by side for second. Pitkat got a bit high one lap after the restart and fell back to sixth as Rocco, Joey Cipriano, Avery, and Foster all got by. Preece now had several car lengths between himself and Rocco with 5 laps to go.
Cipriano pulled even with Rocco and he made the pass for second on lap-36. The side by side duel between Cipriano and Rocco allowed Preece to pull away even further, but aht lead was erased with 37 laps complete for a spin by Eric Berndt in turn 4.
Berndt and Shawn Thibeault spun on the backstretch to bring the caution out before the field could compete a lap. Preece pulled out to the lead on the restart with Rocco slotting into second. Avery got by Cipriano to take over third, but the caution came back out with 38 laps complete for a spin by Membrino in turn 3.
Rocco was even with Preece on the restart and Avery was right behind Prece. Preece got a good run in turns 1+2 on the final lap and pulled away to the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive win of the 2013 season. Behind Preece, the scramble was on as Rocco edged out Foster, Owen, and Frank Ruocco.
In the 35-lap Xtra Mart Xtra D Late Model feature event, Adam Gray took the lead at the green and immediately began to open up a lead over Tom Fearn in second. Jay Stuart was third, with Kevin Gambacorta behind him. J.J. Hill and Ed Ricard were side by side for fourth with Hill taking the spot. Woody Pitkat and Jim Peterson were streaking their way through the field in the early laps and were up to sixth and seventh behind Hill at the lap-10 mark of the race.
Gray was still the race leader, but Fearn and Stuart had closed the gap and the fight for the lead was now a three-car duel with Gambacorta close behind in fourth. George Nocera, Jr. spun in the middle of turns 1+2 to bring the caution out with 12 laps complete.
On the restart, Fearn got a good run to the outside of Gray but couldn’t complete a pass as Gray remained in the lead. Fearn settled into line in second just in front of Stuart. Stuart and Fearn touched coming out of turn 2, which got Stuart out of shape directly into the path of Hill, who hit Stuart and then found the backstretch wall to bring the caution out with 14 laps complete.
Gray took the lead on the restart with Gambacorta slotting into second place. Fearn was third, with Pitkat fourth and Peterson in fifth. Andrew Durand got around Peterson to take over fifth place on lap-16 while Gray continued to lead Gambacorta, Fearn, and Pitkat. Peterson would lose another position to Cory Casagrande after several more laps had clicked off the scoreboard.
With 10 laps to go, Gray was still out front with Gambacorta, Fearn, Pitkat, Durand, Casagrande, and Peterson all giving chase. The order remained the same until lap-30 when Fearn made a move to get by Gambacorta for second place. Pitkat also got by Gambacorta, dropping him from second back to fourth place, just in front of Casagrande.
Gambacorta lost two more spots on lap-33 as Casagrande and Peterson moved by to drop him out of the top-5. Back up front, Fearn and Gray were all over one another and making contact for the race lead with 2 laps to go. This allowed Pitkat to make it a three-car fight for the lead on the final lap, but Fearn lost ground heading into turn 3, which allowed Gray to take the checkered flag. Fearn held Pitkat off for third place, with Casagrande, and Peterson rounding out th top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Joey Ferrigno took the lead at the green with Shayne Prucker, Glenn Griswold, Rich Hammann, Jay Goff, and Tony Membrino, Jr. behind him. Todd Douillard got into the turn 3 wall to bring the caution out with 2 laps complete.
Ferrigno and Prucker were side by side for the lead on the restart, with Griswold, Goff, and Hammann lined up behind them. Prucker got clear of Ferrigno two laps after the restart and took command of the race. Ferrigno came back strong on lap-5 and pulled back even with Prucker, but he couldn’t make a pass and settled into line behind Prucker on lap-6. Ferrigno and Prucker were again side-by-side and fighting for the lead when the caution came out with 7 laps complete for a spin by Dylan Campbell.
Ferrigno took the lead on the restart, with Membrino moving into second. Ferrigno held the lead until lap-10 when Membrino moved to the front of the field. Troy Talman was now up to third behind Ferrigno and Membrino, with Goff and Chase Dowling making up the top-5. Ferrigno ran a bit wide coming off turn 4 on lap-1 and got into the wall and then came to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 12 laps complete.
Membrino and Talman were side by side for the lead on the restart, with Talman getting a good run to the high side one lap after the restart to move by Membrino and take over the lead. Dowling was third behind the lead duo and Ronnie Williams was also now in the lead mix.
With 5 laps to go, Talman was the leader with Membrino taking over second after several laps of side-by-side action with Dowling. Membrino charged to the inside of Talman and he edged out front on lap-18, but Talman was hanging strong with Membrino. Dowling and Williams were staging a side by side war for third behind Talman and Membrino and the four cars were two by two coming to the white flag, but Wesley Prucker came to a stop in turn 1 with his nose in the wall to bring the caution out and set up a green white checkered finish.
Back under green, Membrino got a good run and powered into the lead down the backstretch but Talman made a move to the insdie of Membrino in turns 3+4 to retakt the lead heading to the white. Membrino came back with one final effort to the high side of Talman, but he came up just short at the start/finish line as Talman picked up his first career victory in thrilling fashion. Membrino finished second, with Williams, Dowling, and Goff rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Justin Bren took the lead at the green, but Andrew Hayes got some good momentum built up down the backstretch and pulled even on the outside of Bren. Bren cleared Hayes in turns 3+4 and led the first lap. D.J. Burnham got under Hayes to move into second on the second lap with Hayes settling into line in third, just ahead of Jesse Hinze, Josh Wood, and Don Wood.
Josh Wood made a move to take over third place on lap-6 and Don Wood followed him by Hinze, who fell from third back to fifth. David Arute was now up to sixth behind Hinze. Bren spun coming off turn 4 on lap-8, but he was able to get moving and the race stayed green. Joe Nogiec and Glenn Bartkowski got together in turns 1+2 with Nogiec spinning to bring the caution out with 8 laps complete.
On the restart, Don Wood spun in turn 1 to bring the caution right back out. The nest restart saw Burnham take the lead while Josh Wood didn’t come up to speed, which slowed the outside line. Hayes moved into second with Arute on the charge and taking third. Austin Bessette was up to fouth behind Arute, with Wood recovering quickly and moving back into the top-5. Bessette’s great run came to an end with 16 laps complete as he spun on the backstretch.
Burnham took the lead on the restart, with Hayes in second. Arute was third, with Wood, and Hinze behind them. Arute got by Hayes to take over second, and Josh Wood followed him by Hayes as Hayes fell from second back to fourth place. Arute and Wood put on a spirited battle for second place, but it was all Burnham at the front as he took the checkered flag for his first win of the 2013 season. Arute finished second, with Josh Wood, Hinze, and Duane Provost making up the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Jeremy Lavoie took the lead at the green while Doug Phelps and Fran Siana came together in turn 2 with Phelps driving over Siana’s left front. The race stayed green as both cars kept going, but in turn 3, Phelps and Brandon Michael got together with Michael spinning to bring the caution out before the first lap could be completed.
On the restart, Lavoie was side by side with Dave Secore for the lead for three-quarters of a lap before Lavoie got clear into the lead. Secore settled into second, with Johnny Walker, James Carroll, and Kris Fluckiger making up the top-5. Fluckiger was on the charge, moving into the top-5 in only 2 laps after starting in the 10th position.
Ryan Fearn, who started 13th, was following right behind Fluckiger and working his way towards the front, but his good run came to an end as he got into the turn 2 wall with 6 laps to bring the caution back out. The race restarted with Lavoie powering into the lead ahead of Secore, but Fluckiger quickly moved into second. Walker followed Fluckiger by Secore, dropping him back to fourth place just in front of Carroll and that was the running order when the caution came back out with 8 laps complete.
Lavoie again took the lead on the restart with Walker and Fluckiger racing side by side for second. Secore was fourth, just in front of Kelsey Rottino, Carroll, and Trevor Berry. Lavoie was starting to stretch out his lead over Walker, who got clear of Fluckiger for second place. Secore and Rottino were nose to tail for fourth place, with Carroll, Dave Comeau, and Michael right behind them.
Lavoie cruised to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2013 season. Walker came home in second, with Fluckiger, Secore, and Rottino 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