Owen, Gray, Chapman, Surdell, & Trott Score Spear Bro’s Kids Night Wins at Stafford
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway hosted Spear Bro’s Kids Night on Friday, September 20th. Feature winners on the night included Todd Owen in the SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray in the Late Model feature, Tyler Chapman in the SK Light feature, RJ Surdell in the Limited Late Model feature, and Tyler Trott in the Street Stock feature. As part of Spear Bro’s Kids Night, there were two kids big wheel races and they were won by 7-year-old Jordan Dion of Canton and 5-year-old Jack Webber of Longmeadow, MA.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Austin Beers took the early lead from pole position with Anthony Flannery, Todd Owen, Jon Puleo, and Marcello Rufrano lined up behind him. Flannery took the lead from Beers on lap-3 with Owen looking to follow him by Beers for second. Beers held Owen off and then made a move back to the inside of Flannery on lap-9 to retake the lead. Rufrano was fourth behind Beers, Flannery, and Owen with Puleo fifth. Steven Chapman was sixth followed by Cory DiMatteo, Keith Rocco, Michael Gervais, Jr., and Mikey Flynn.
With 15 laps complete, Beers was still in command with Flannery, Rufrano, Owen, and Puleo behind him. DiMatteo made a move to take sixth place from Chapman on lap-17 while Michael Christopher, Jr. was now up to eighth, Gervais was ninth, and Mikey Flynn was tenth. David Arute spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution flag out with 27 laps complete.
Beers took the lead on the restart with Owen moving into second. Puleo was side by side with Flannery for third with Christopher fifth and Rufrano in sixth. Owen was starting to reel in Beers and with 9 laps to go, he was right on Beers’ back bumper. Puleo was now third with Christopher fourth and Flynn fifth as Flannery slid back to sixth.
Owen was still chasing after Beers and the lead with 5 laps to go while behind them things had stabilized with Puleo, Chrisotpher, and Flynn making up the top-5. Owen made his move to the inside of Beers on lap-36 to move into the lead. Beers came right back on lap-37 with a move to get to the inside of Owen and the two cars were wheel to wheel as they completed lap-38 with Owen in the lead by a nose. Owen cleared Beers on lap-39 with Puleo taking second and Christopher third as Beers fell back to fourth. Owen led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2024 season. Puleo finished second with Christopher, Beers, and Flynn rounding out the top-5.
In the first 30-lap Late Model feature, Wayne Coury, Jr. led the first lap of the race before Tom Butler took over the race lead on lap-2. Tom Fearn was third behind Butler and Coury in the early laps with Paul Varricchio, Jr. fourth and Andrew Durand fifth. Adam Gray was sixth with Kevin Gambacorta, Al Saunders, Darrell Keane, and Chris Meyer making up the top-10.
With 10 laps complete it was still Butler in command with Coury in second. Varricchio was now third with Durand fourth and Meyer fifth. Al Saunders was up to sixth with Gray, Keane Tom Fearn, and Josh Wood making up the top-10. Tom Fearn spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete with Alexandra Fearn also spinning at the end of the backstretch after she got collected by the car of Tom Fearn.
Coury took the lead on the restart with Butler now in second. Varricchio was third with Meyer fourth and Gray fifth. Gambacorta took sixth place from Wood on lap-15 while Gray got around Meyer to move into fourth place while Coury still held the lead with Butler and Varricchio right behind him. The caution came back out with 19 laps complete as Adon Burrell spun in turn 1.
Coury again took the lead on the restart with Varricchio, Gray, Butler, and the side-by-side duo of Meyer and Durand lined up behind him. Durand took fifth with Gambacorta right behind Meyer in seventh place. Meyer spun in the middle of turns 3+4 to bring the caution back out with 23 laps complete.
Coury took the lead on the restart with Varricchio holding second. Gray and Butler were side by side for a lap before Gray took third on lap-25. Gambacorta took fourth to drop Butler back to sixth in line. The caution flew with 28 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Al Saunders that set up a green-white-checkered finish.
The restart saw Gray go 3-wide with Coury and Varricchio and he emerged with the lead as the trio took the white flag. Gray took his fourth win of the 2024 season by a half car length over Varricchio in second and a car length over Coury in third. Butler finished fourth with Gambacorta rounding out the top-5.
In the first 20-lap SK Light feature, Nick Anglace took the lead at the start with Ron Midford, Jr. coming up to second in the outside lane. Following behind Midford was Casey Vogt and Amanda West with Vogt taking third and West fourth on lap-2. Bob Charland would take fifth from polesitter Frank L’Etoile, Jr. on lap-3. L’Etoile would lose one more spot to Robert Bloxsom, III before the caution flew with 5 laps complete for spins in the middle of turns 3+4 by Carsten Cole and Aiden D’Agata.
Anglace took the lead back under green with Amanda West moving into second. Bloxsom was third with Thyler Chapman fourth and Midford fifth. West pulled alongside Anglace while Chapman and Bloxsom were wheel to wheel behind them. Anglace got clear back into the lead on lap-9 with a push from Chapman but West came right back to his inside on lap-10 with Bloxsom giving her a push. It was a full-speed pace lap at the front with West and Anglace fighting wheel to wheel for the lead, Chapman and Bloxsom for third, and Vogt and Midford for fifth. West emerged in the lead on lap-14 with Chapman, Anglace, Bloxsom, and Midford behind her. Bob Charland spun in turn 4 to bring the caution flag out with 14 laps complete.
Chapman streaked into the lead on the restart with Bloxsom taking second as West fell back to third in line. Anglace was fourth with Midford fifth, Alexander Pearl sixth, Vogt seventh, Chris Viens eighth, Chris Matthews ninth, and Paul Arute tenth. West took second on the final lap but no one could catch Chapman as he nailed down his eighth win of the 2024 season. Anglace finished third with Bloxsom and Pearl rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, RJ Surdell took the lead at the green flag with Darryl Vertefeuille in second. The field completed one lap before the caution flew for Dana Wray, who spun coming out of turn 4.
Surdell took the lead on the restart with Gary Patnode taking second. Jeremy Lavoie took third with Kyle Theriault fourth and Rich Hammann fifth. Vertefeuille was sliding backwards when he spun coming down the frontstretch to complete lap 3, which brought the caution flag back out. Collected in the spin were the cars of Kevin Cormier and Connor Jencik, who both retired from the race.
Surdell took the lead back under green with Lavoie working his way up to second. Theriault worked his way into third with Devon Jencik fourth and Matt Clement took fifth on lap-8. Matthew Winter, II was up to sixth with Travis Hydar seventh, Adrien Paradis, III eighth, Gary Patnode ninth, and Jason Lafayette tenth.
Lavoie was applying heavy pressure to Surdell as the leaders hit the lap-15 mark, but Surdell was hanging strong in the lead and was able to hold Lavoie off. Theriault was now right behind Lavoie to make a 3-car train for the lead with Matt Clement closing in on the lead trio. Surdell nearly spun coming out of turn 4 as the field was completing lap-17 which saw Lavoie go around and the caution flag was back out. Surdell maintained the lead for the restart with Theriault now second, Matt Clement third, Winter fourth, Hydar fifth, and Paradis sixth.
Surdell took the lead on the restart with Theriault in second. As the field rumbled through turn 3, Matt Clement dropped off the pace and he turned down to pull off the track to get to pit road, and that move collected Cindy Stirk, who had nowhere to go and brought the caution flag back out.
Surdell again took the lead with Theriault taking second and Hydar third. Winter was fourth with Paradis fifth ad Hammann sixth. Surdell led Theriault to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2024 season. Hydar finished third with Winter and Paradis rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, Bill Cote took the lead on the start and he took the early race lead. Sean Petlock settled into second behind Cote with Tyler Trott third, Jason Raymond fourth, and Jeff Asselin fifth. Trott moved into second on lap-4 with Raymond taking third from Petlock on lap-5. Behind Raymond and Petlock, Travis Downey was up to fifth with Asselin back to sixth, just in front of Brandon Warren.
Trott erased the small gap that Cote had built up over the opening laps and by lap-7 he was right behind Cote. The caution came out with 8 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Robert Connor.
There was a pileup at the front of the pack on the restart as Downey made contact with Raymond, sending Raymond around and collecting the cars of Bert Ouellette, Raymond, Bert Ouellette, and David Macha, Sr. Downey was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Raymond.
Trott took the lead back under green with Cote slotting into second. Warren was third in line with Downey back up to fourth and Asselin fifth with Mike Caprio right behind Asselin in sixth. Warren was starting to apply heavy pressure to Cote for second on lap-15 with Downey right behind Warren in a 3-car fight. Cote was able to fend off Warren’s challenges while Trott was slowly stretching out his lead lap by lap. Trott cruised to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2024 season. Cote finished second with Warren holding off Downey for third and Caprio rounded 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.
SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Todd Owen, Somers
2) Jon Puleo, Branford
3) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
4) Austin Beers, Northampton, PA
5) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA
6) Cory DiMatteo, Farmington
7) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA
8) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
9) Michael Gervais, Jr., Wolcott
10) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton
11) Andrew Molleur, Shelton
12) Wesley Prucker, Stafford Springs
13) Keith Rocco, Berlin
14) Steven Chapman, Ellington
15) Curt Brainard, Canton
16) Tyler Hines, North Haven
17) David Arute, Tolland
18) Art Caruso, Windsor
19) David Flammia, Jr., Waterbury
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Adam Gray, Granby, MA
2) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
3) Wayne Coury, Jr., Fairfield
4) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
5) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
6) Cliff Saunders, Stafford Springs
7) Darrell Keane, Enfield
8) Duane Noll, Monroe
9) Chris Buffone, Belchertown, MA
10) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, MA
11) Al Saunders, Stafford Springs
12) Andrew Durand, Chicopee, MA
13) Chris Meyer, Franklin
14) Josh Wood, Palmer, MA
15) Adon Burrell, Barkhamsted
16) Alexandra Fearn, Hampden, MA
17) Bobby Stirk, III, Naugatuck
18) Stu Fearn, Hampden, MA
SK LIGHT (20)
1) Tyler Chapman, Ellington
2) Amanda West, Colchester
3) Nick Anglace, Seymour
4) Robert Bloxsom, III, Milford
5) Alexander Pearl, Salem
6) Ron Midford, Jr., Ellington
7) Casey Vogt, Windsor Locks
8) Chris Viens, Putnam
9) Chris Matthews, Stafford
10) Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin
11) Meghan Fuller, Auburn, MA
12) Paul Arute, Tolland
13) Paul Arcari, Somers
14) Matt Brewer, Norwich
15) Frank L’Etoile, Jr., Wethersfield
16) Austin Goff, Stafford Springs
17) Sami Anderson, Wolcott
18) Bob Charland, Stafford Springs
19) Stephen Kalogiannis, New Hartford
20) Josh Morrison, Ashford
21) Cassandra Cole, Westbrook
22) Anthony Forino, Waterbury
23) Mike Parolo, West Springfield
24) Wade Gagner, East Longmeadow, MA
25) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
26) Carsten Cole, Westbrook
27) Aiden D’Agata, Willington
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) RJ Surdell, Willington
2) Kyle Theriault, Three Rivers, MA
3) Travis Hydar, Woodbury
4) Matthew Winter, II, Springfield, VT
5) Adrien Paradis, III, Plainville
6) Rich Hammann, Tolland
7) Jason Lafayette, Somers
8) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
9) Gary Patnode, Barkhamsted
10) Scott Clement, Wethersfield
11) Dana Wray, Northford
12) Samantha Dell, Pascoag, RI
13) Trinity Provost, Holland, MA
14) Shelby Swan, Durham
15) Devon Jencik, Canton
16) Matt Clement, Wethersfield
17) Cindy Stirk, Naugatuck
18) Darryl Vertefeuille, Willington
19) Connor Jencik, Canton
20) Kevin Cormier, Agawam, MA
STREET STOCK (20)
1) Tyler Trott, East Hartford
2) Bill Cote, Belchertown, MA
3) Brandon Warren, Chicopee, MA
4) Travis Downey, Barkhamsted
5) Mike Caprio, Clinton
6) Jeff Asselin, Granby, MA
7) Matt Martel, Stafford Springs
8) Jason Lafayette, Somers
9) Isabella Minchella, Somers
10) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs
11) Doug Riley, Wolcott
12) Chayton Young, Wynatskill, NY
13) Nick Ullrich, Cranston, RI
14) Garrett Pease, Enfield
15) Robert Connor, Jefferson, MA
16) Jason Raymond, Somers
17) Sean Petlock, Ware, MA
18) Bert Ouellette, Ellington
19) Ashton Young, Griswold
20) David Macha, Sr., Columbia
21) Chris Danielczuk, Goshen
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Speedway PR