Rufrano, Saunders, Walker, & Giordano Score Fall Final Saturday Feature Victories at Stafford Speedway; DiMatteo & Provost Clinch Track Championships
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway kicked off its final race event of the 2017 season with feature events for its SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions, as well as a feature event for the Mr. Rooter Truck Series as part of the Saturday NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend festivities. Taking feature wins were Marcello Rufrano in the SK Light feature, Cliff Saunders in the Limited Late Model feature, Johnny Walker in the DARE Stock feature, and Gerald Giordano, Jr. in the Mr. Rooter Truck Series feature. There were two track championships also decided with Cory DiMatteo becoming the SK Light champion and Duane Provost won his second consecutive Limited Late Model championship. Johnny Walker is the DARE Stock track champion for the second consecutive season after clinching the title last Friday night.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Todd Douillard took the lead the green with a flurry of 2 and 3 wide action behind him. Cory DiMatteo quickly took second with Brett Gonyaw third, Marcello Rufrano fourth, and Glenn Korner in fifth. Amanda West and Ed Chicoski spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 4 laps complete.
Back under green DiMatteo took the lead but he would lose the lead to Rufrano on lap-9. Gonyaw took second as DiMatteo fell back to third with Dan Wesson up to fourth and Korner was fifth. Wesson took fourth from DiMatteo on lap-12 as Gonyaw was homing in on the back bumper of Rufrano for the lead.
With 2 laps to go, Rufrano had pulled away slightly from Gonyaw, who now had Wesson all over his back bumper for third. Rufrano took the checkered flag to pick up his fourth win of the 2017 season with Gonyaw, Wesson, DiMatteo, and David Arute rounding out the top-5. DiMatteo’s fourth place finish was good enough to make him the 2017 SK Light champion.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Cliff Saunders took the lead on the outside of Matt Clement with Al Saunders and Clement side by side for second. Al Saunders took second on lap-3 with Jeremy Lavoie in fourth and Alexandra Fearn took fifth.
Narducci made a move to the inside of Fearn on lap-8 to take over fifth as the two Saunders twins continued to lead the race with Lavoie in third and Clement in fourth. Narducci continued his charge as he took fourth from Clement on lap-9. Gary Patnode backed his car into the turn 1 wall but was able to get moving before coming to a stop on the backstretch to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete.
Cliff Saunders took the lead on the restart with Narducci moving into second. Al Saunders slotted into third with Lavoie in fourth and a side by side duel between Fearn and Robert Bloxsom, III for fifth. Fearn took the spot on lap-14 and Duane Provost followed her past Bloxsom as Bloxsom fell back to seventh in line. Ryan Fearn spun in the middle of turns 1+2 with smoke pouring from his car to bring the caution out with 17 laps complete.
Cliff Saunders took the lead with Al Saunders and Narducci going side by side for second. Fearn was fourth with Provost in fifth. Narducci got loose on the final lap and fell back to fourth as Cliff Saunders took down his third win of the 2017 season. Al Saunders came home second with Fearn, Narducci, and Provost rounding out the top-5. Provost’s fifth place finish clinched the 2017 championship and made him a back to back track champion.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature, Richard Ciriello spun in turn 2 on the first lap of the feature, which saw George Bessette, Jr. get collected by the car of Nick Bendiak, who was taking evasive action and the caution flag was displayed.
Chuck Harrison took the lead on the restart with Brandon Michael quickly moving into second. Chris Bagnall was third with Travis Hydar and Dave Secore, Jr. in fifth. Michael took the lead on lap-2 while Hydar moved into third with Secore taking fourth and Bagnall slipping back through the field to ninth.
The spots continued to change as Johnny Walker was on the charge and he took third on lap-6 before the caution came back out for Bessette, who spun on the backstretch.
Michael took the lead back under green with Walker moving into second and Hydar in third. The caution came back out with 9 laps complete as Bessette spun again on the backstretch and Phil Jacques had a flat left front tire and was finished for the race.
Back under green, Michael and Walker dueled side by side for the lead with Hydar third, Secore fourth and Nicole Chambrello fifth. Michael and Walker were still side by side for the lead as they completed lap 12 with Hydar nearly making a 3-wide move for the lead. Walker got clear of Michael as they completed lap-13 while Hydar got loose and nearly spun but got back into line in fourth as Secore took third.
Walker led Michael to the checkered flag to pick up his eighth win of the 2017 season. Secore finished third with Hydar and Chambrello rounding out the top-5.
In the 25-lap Mr. Rooter Truck Series feature, Andy Lindeman quickly took the lead and he led the first 4 laps before his truck lost a wheel and he came to a stop in turn 2 to bring the caution out.
The restart saw Gerald Giordano in the lead with Dave Koenig, Frank Dumicich, and Jim Boyle lined up behind him. Frank Dumicich, Jr. and Alex Canestrari came together and spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution back out with 7 laps complete.
Giordano took the lead back under green with Koenig in second. Boyle was third with Dumicich, Sr. and Josh Stringer fighting for fourth. Stringer took the spot on lap-10 and began to pull away from Dumicich as Giordano was still in the lead with Koenig and Boyle lined up behind him. Canestrari spun in turn 3 to bring the caution back out with 16 laps complete.
Giordano again took the lead but the field could only complete one lap before the caution came back out as Koenig spun in turn 2 and Jim Thompson spun to avoid hitting Koenig.
Giordano and Stringer were dueling wheel to wheel on the restart for the lead with Dumicich, Jr. back up to third after his early race spin. Stringer and Giordano were swapping the lead by a nose at the line lap after lap with Dumicich, Jr. behind them in third. Dumicich, Jr. made a 3-wide move to take the lead on lap-21 and lap-22 saw Giordano and Dumicich, Jr. trade a little paint as Giordano went back to the front. Stringer took second with Dumicich, Jr. falling back to third.
Stringer gave Giordano a bump in turn 4 but Giordano was able to maintain the lead and he took the checkered flag with Stringer right behind him. Dumicich, Jr. finished third with Koenig and Dumicich, Sr. 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 Speedway PR
SK LIGHT MODIFIED (20)
1) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
2) Brett Gonyaw, Vernon
3) Dan Wesson, Monson, Ma
4) Cory DiMatteo, Farmington
5) David Arute, Tolland
6) Bryan Narducci, Colchester
7) Glenn Korner, Canton
8) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
9) Todd Douillard, Palmer, Ma
10) Geoff Nooney, Southwick, Ma
11) Vinny Anglace Jr, Ansonia
12) Chris Matthews, Stafford
13) Rick Williams, East Hampton
14) Tony Santangelo, Middlefield
15) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, Ma
16) Bob Charland, Stafford
17) Norm Sears, Andover
18) Cassandra Cole, Westbrook
19) Marc Burke, Enfield
20) Wesley Prucker, Stafford
21) Mark Alkas, Berlin
22) Todd Clark, Bristol
23) Aaron Goff, Stafford Springs
24) Andrew Les, Boston, Ma
25) Amanda West, Colchester
26) Ed Chicoski, New Hartford
27) Glenn Griswold, Vernon
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
2) Al Saunders, Stafford
3) Alexandra Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
4) Bryan Narducci, Colchester
5) Duane Provost, Palmer, Ma
6) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
7) MattClement, Wethersfield
8) Robert Bloxsom, III, Stratford
9) R.J. Surdell, Willington
10) Ryan Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
11) Gary Patnode, Barkhamsted
DARE STOCK (15)
1) Johnny Walker, Ludlow, Ma
2) Brandon Michael, Granville, Ma
3) Dave Secore, Jr., Union
4) Travis Hydar, Woodbury
5) Nicole Chambrello, Kensington
6) Meghan Fuller, Auburn, Ma
7) Chris Bagnall, Norfolk
8) Chuck Harrison, Woodstock Valley
9) Greg DeMone, Ludlow, Ma
10) Richard Ciriello, Reading, Ma
11) David Macha, Sr., Columbia
12) William Desjardins, Plainville
13) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs
14) Paul Bourdon, Jr., Jewett City
15) Dan Kennedy, Tewksbury, Nj
16) Maina Rufrano, North Haven
17) Phil Jacques, Dudley, Ma
18) Bob King, New Britain
19) George Bessette, Jr., Danbury
20) Michael Hopkins, Springfield, Ma
21) Cassie Rocco, Berlin
22) Nick Bendiak, Hopkinton, Ma
MR. ROOTER TRUCKS (25)
1) Gerald Giordino, Jr.
2) Josh Stringer
3) Frank Dumicich, Jr.
4) Dave Koenig
5) Frank Dumicich, Sr.
6) Rick Ashlaw
7) Alex Canestrari
8) Tony Naglieri
9) Jim Thompson
10) Scott Cashman
11) Jim Boyle
12) Andy Lindeman