Cipriano, Nocera, & Casagrande Score First Whelen All-American Series Feature Events of 2011 at Stafford Motor Speedway’s Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Saturday
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway’s 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season kicked off with its first three feature events of the new year during Saturday’s CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Weekend. Joey Cipriano won the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, George Nocera, Jr. won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, and Kyle Casagrande took the checkered flag in the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Kyle Spencer jumped to the early lead from the pole position with Matt Galko moving by Ted Cain to take second. Cain settled into third with Frank Cardile and Zach Aszklar side by side behind him for the fourth position. Cardile went up the track and brushed the wall in turn 3 to bring the caution out with 2 laps complete.
Spencer again took the lead back under green with Joey Cipriano moving up to second. David Webb moved into third, but he was given the black flag for leaking, moving Cain into third, Galko to fourth, and Shayne Prucker held down the fifth position. Webb refused to answer the black flag and the caution was displayed with 7 laps complete to get the car off of the track.
[Stafford 04/30/11] by Nicholas Teto
[Stafford – 05/01/11] by Nicholas Teto
Back under green Spencer took the lead ahead of Cipriano, Cain, and Matt Galko. One lap after the restart, Prucker and Aszklar got together with Prucker driving up and over the left side tires of Aszklar and he came to a stop in turn 3 and brought the yellow out.
Spencer again took the lead on the restart, but Cipriano moved to the inside of Spencer in turns 3+4 and he took the lead on lap-9. Galko held down the third spot, with Earl Pelletier and Jay Goff making up the top-5. Steve Greer and Mike Parolo spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete.
On the restart, Dylan Kopec spun and collected the cars of Cody Gneiting and Parolo to bring the yellow back out.
With the race back under green, Cipriano held the lead with Spencer, Galko, Pelletier, and Goff running in line behind him. Spencer nearly was able to move to the lead on lap-15 but had to settle back into line behind Cipriano. The top-5 cars ran in line to the finish as Cipriano took down the first feature victory of the 2011 season.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Duane Provost took the lead at the green, but he would only lead the first lap as George Nocera, Jr. moved to the front on lap-2. Nocera’s pass opened the door for Norm Sears and Kevin Gambacorta to also move by Provost. Shawn Thibeault rounded out the top-5 behind Provost with 3 laps complete.
Gambacorta moved to the inside of Sears and took over the second position on lap-4 and Thibeault moved by Provost to take over fourth place. Jesse Hinze and Cory Casagrande followed Thibeault by Provost to drop Provost back to seventh. Gambacorta was slowly closing the distance to Nocera at the front, and at the halfway point, he was right behind Nocera. Sears was several car lengths back in third and Casagrande made a move by Thibeault for fourth place on lap-12.
Nocera got a bit sideways on lap-13, but he was able to maintain the lead over Gambacorta, who was still glued to the back bumper of Nocera. Gambacorta continued to hound Nocera for the lead, but he was unable to make a pass. Chris Cook went around in turn 4 to bring the caution out with 18 laps complete to set up a green white checkered finish.
Casagrande’s car didn’t come up to speed on the restart which bottled the field up behind him as Nocera took the lead and pulled away from the field. Sears got by Gambacorta for second and Thibeault beat Gambacorta to the finish line in a photo finish to take third. Bill Davis rounded out the top-5.
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Cliff Saunders took the early lead from the pole with David Arute, Vince Gambacorta, Don Wood, and Nick Salva in line behind him. Kaitlyn Brice spun on the backstretch to bring the caution flag out with 2 laps complete.
Saunders took the lead back under green with Gambacorta moving by Arute for second place. Austin Bessette and Joe McAllister spun in turn 1 with 3 laps complete to bring the yellow back out. Also collected in the spin were the cars of Kris Fluckiger and Seth Wallace. McAllister and Bessette were finished for the day, while Fluckiger and Wallace were able to continue.
Saunders again took the lead on the restart with Arute taking the second spot back from Gambacorta. Gambacorta slid back to fifth place as Wood moved up to third and Kyle Casagrande took fourth. Wallace went around in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 5 laps complete.
On the restart Arute stayed side by side with Saunders for the lead with Arute taking the lead. But his stay at the front was short lived as Casagrande moved past on lap-8. Wood tried to follow Casagrande by Arute to take over the second position, but couldn’t complete a pass. As Wood and Arute were side by side, Josh Wood made a three wide move down the backstretch to move by both cars and take over second behind Casagrande. Debris on the track brought the yellow flag out with 9 laps complete.
Casagrande powered into the lead under green with Josh Wood in second. Arute and Don Wood raced side by side for third for a lap before Saunders was able to get by Wood as Arute held on to the third position. Casagrande and Josh Wood were pulling away from Arute in third, but Wallace and David Macha spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 13 laps complete to set up a green white checkered finish.
Casagrande powered into the lead with Josh Wood right behind him. The lead duo again pulled away from Arute in third to settle the race between themselves. Wood made a run to the inside of Casagrande on the final lap, but Casagrande was too strong to be overtaken. Rounding out the top-5 behind Casagrande and Josh Wood was Arute, Don Wood, and Cliff Saunders.
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