(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in the house for the Call Before You Dig 811 150. Taking down NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly feature wins on the night were Ryan Preece, who won his fourth SK Modified® feature of the 2014 season, Michael Bennett scored his first feature win in almost 4 years to the exact date in the Late Model feature, Stephen Kopcik was a first time winner in the SK Light Modified feature, Andrew Hayes picked up his second victory of 2014 in the Limited Late Model feature, and David Comeau won his second DARE Stock feature of 2014.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Dan Avery dropped off the pace at the start and he limped his way back to pit road as Tom Bolles held the early lead. Todd Owen was second with Joey Cipriano in third. Behind Cipriano, the field was still stacked double file from the start with Woody Pitkat and Matt Galko side by side in front of Eric Berndt and Ryan Preece.
The lead changed hands on lap-5 as Owen moved to the front with Cipriano also getting by Bolles to move into second. Preece was on a hard charge and looking to take second as Cipriano and Owen touched in turn 4 which got Owen out of shape and Cipriano took over the lead. Bolles was now second as Preece fell back to fourth behind Woody Pitkat after Owen got out of shape. Berndt was fifth with Owen right behind him in sixth place with 10 laps complete.
The caution came out with 10 laps complete as Chris Jones, Curt Brainard, Tommy Membrino, Jr., and David Webb all came together at the exit of turn 4.
Cipriano took the lead on the restart with Bolles slotting into second. Preece was third but he quickly moved to the outside groove to get past Bolles and move into second on lap-12. Owen was now side by side with Pitakt for fourth behind Bolles as Preece moved by Cipriano to take over the race lead on lap-14.
As the race neared the halfway point, Preece and Cipriano were pulling away from Bolles, Owen, and Keith Rocco, but the caution came back out with 18 laps complete as Webb spun and came to a stop in the infield coming out fo turn 4.
Preece took the lead on the restart with Cipriano behind him in second. Owen moved into third, with Pitkat fourth and Ronnie Williams was up to fifth. Rocco was sixth, with Rowan Pennink moving into seventh, just in front of Berndt and Ted Christopher. Webb spun again coming out of turn 4 to bring the caution out with 21 laps complete.
Preece took the lead with Owen pulling alongside Cipriano for second. Williams and Pitkat were side by side for fourth behind Cipriano and Owen but the caution came back out with 23 laps complete for Nick Boivin, who spun in turn 3.
Preece again took the lead on the restart with Cipriano getting back by Owen to move into second. Pitkat and Williams were again side by side for fourth with Rocco, Christopher, Pennink, and Berndt lined up single file behind them. Pitkat won his duel with Williams for the fourth position but he would lose that spot to Rocco on lap-30 as Preece continued to lead Cipriano and Owen.
Rocco was applying heavy pressure to the back bumper of Owen for third and on lap-38 the two cars slowed enough in the corner to allow Pitkat to nearly get by Rocco for fourth. Preece led Cipriano to the checkered flag to pick up his fifth win of the 2014 season with Owen, Rocco, and Pitakt rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Michael Scorzelli took the early race lead with J.J. Hill in second, Michael Bennett third, Tom Fearn fourth, Adam Gray fifth, and Jay Stuart sixth. Scorzelli built up a lead of one second over Hill before Bennett got around Hill for second on lap-10. Stuart got out of shape and fell back a spot as Cory Casagrande got past for sixth.
Scorzelli continued to lead the race but Bennett had closed down the gap since he moved into second. The top-2 cars were now leaving Hill behind in third with Gray fourth and Fearn in fifth. Bennett caught and went around Scorzelli on lap-16 with a pass in turns 1+2.
With 10 laps to go, Bennett was still the race leader and he had opened up a gap of nearly one second over Scorzelli in second. Behind Scorzelli, Hill held third place until lap-23 when both Gray and Fearn got past to drop Hill back to fifth place.
Bennett led Scorzelli to the checkered flag with a dominating run to pick up his first feature victory of the 2014 season. Scorzelli finished second, with Gray, Fearn, and Hill rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Geoff Boisjolie took the early lead with Paul French taking second. D.J. Burnham slotted into third with Stephen Kopcik and Todd Douillard fifth. Burnham got around French for second on lap-2 but in turn 4 Douillard spun and collected the car of Nick Salva to bring the caution out.
Boisjolie took the lead on the restart but Paul French and Dylan Menditto both spun through the infield to bring the caution out with 4 laps complete. The next restart saw Burnham move into the lead with Boisjolie falling back a spot to second. Jeremy Sorel moved into third, with Kopcik and Jeff Smith was up to fifth. Kopcik was looking for a way around Sorel, but Sorel was able to keep Kopcik behind him.
Sorel then moved by Boisjolie to climb up to second on lap-11 and Kopcik followed suit by taking third and dropping Boisjolie back to fourth. Chris Gombos spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 13 laps complete.
Burnham took the lead back under green with Sorel, Kopcik, Boisjolie and Joey Ferrigno making up the top-5. Nick Salva spun coming out of turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 15 laps complete.
Burnahm and Sorel were locked in a side by side duel for the race lad on the restart. The action quickly escalated at the front and as the field took the wihte flag, the leaders were nearly 4-wide. Kopcik and Ferrigno were now the leaders and they ran the final lap side by side. As they came to the checkered flag, Kopcik beat Ferrigno to the line by less than a half car length. Sorel finished third, with Boisjolie and Tyler Hines rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Norm Sears quickly took the lead as polesitter R.J. Surdell faded back to fifth. David Arute’s car came to a stop in turn 4 to bring the caution out with 1 lap complete. Arute was able to get a push start and he restarted the race at the rear of the field.
Sears took the lead back under green with Andrew Hayes, Austin Bessette, Cliff Saunders, and Paul Arute making up the top-5 in single file fashion. The top-3 cars were beginning to pull away from Saunders and Arute and on lap-8, Albert Saunders and Duane Provost both got by Arute to move into fifth and sixth. Sears continued to lead the race over Hayes and Bessette although Hayes was applying heavy pressure to the back bumper of Sears as he was looking to take the lead.
The order shuffled again on lap-12 as Provost moved into fourth and Albert Saunders took fifth as Cliff Saunders slid up the track in turn 4 and fell back to sixth. Hayes was still looking for a way to get around Sears for the race lead. Hayes was able to make the pass on lap-15 and Hayes’ move opened the door for Bessette to move into second. Sears continued to slide backwards as Provost took third, and Albert Saunders took fourth with Sears fifth. Sears did a lazy spin in turn 2 on lap-16 to bring the caution out and set up a 4-lap dash to the finish.
Provost didn’t come up to speed on the restart and he fell back to the rear of the pack as Hayes took the lead ahead of Albert Saunders and Bessette. Paul Arute got by Bessette to move into third on lap-18 while his brother David was recovered from his early stoppage to move into fifth. Bessette got back by Paul Arute to take third but it was all Hayes at the front as he took down his second win of the 2014 season. Albert Saunders finished second, with Bessette, Paul Arute, and David Arute rounding out the top-5.
Ltd. Late Model Feature Results
Ltd. Late Model Points Standings
In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Doug Phelps led the field to the green but it was Gus Coelho, Jr. taking the lead at the end of the first lap. Coelho’s daughter Allison slotted into second place with Dave Comeau and Frank L’Etoile, Jr. taking third and fourth. Phelps slid back to fifth place as Dan Dembek did a quick spin in turn 1 on lap-4. Dembek was able to keep his car moving and the race stayed green.
Comeau worked his way around Allison Coelho for second and L’Etoile got by her on lap-5 to move up to third and drop Allison back to fourth. The lead changed hands on lap-7 as Comeau got around Gus Coelho and moved to the front.
L’Etoile took to the outside groove to get a good run and work his way around Gus Coelho to move into second on lap-9 while Jeff Jolly made a move to the inside of Allison Coelho on lap-10 to move into fourth. Jolly’s move allowed Alexandra Fearn to follow Jolly by Coelho to move into fifth and drop Coelho back to sixth place.
Comeau led L’Etoile back to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2014 season but mayhem was ensuing them as Fearn and Gus Coelho came together as they raced to the checkered flag with Coelho coming to a stop short of the start/finish line while Fearn crossed the line in the infield. Jolly took third, with Allison Coelho and Johnny Walker 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.
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