RGeeProductions
05-12-2012, 12:43 AM
BERNDT, KOPEC, WOOD, & SAUNDERS ALSO SCORE FEATURE WINS
Stafford Speedway was back on track with the Xtra
Mart Late Model Xtra D program on Friday night, May 11th. J.J. Hill was the
winner of the extra distance 40-lap Late Model feature, Eric Berndt got
around Ted Christopher on a green white checkered restart to pick up his
first win of the 2012 in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Dylan Kopec was
the winner of the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature for the second
consecutive week, Josh Wood also won for the second consecutive week in the
20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Albert Saunders drove to victory in
the 15-lap DARE Stock feature with a late race pass on Austin Bessette.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Frank Ruocco took the lead at the
drop of the green to take the early race lead. Woody Pitkat was glued to
Ruocco’s back bumper while Eric Berndt was running a close third. Behind
Berndt was Ryan Preece, Keith Rocco, and Ted Christopher. The top-6 cars
were lined up nose to tail as they clicked off lap 15 on the scoreboard.
Rocco was able to work his way around Preece, but that was the only position
change in the top-5 as Ruocco continued to lead the race with Pitkat and
Berndt lined up right behind him. At lap-20, the top-6 cars were still
lined up in a nose to tail train, but that all changed on lap-21 as Pitkat
was able to make a pass for the lead in turns 3+4. Berndt got out of shape
and nearly spun, but he was able to recover and keep going, although he fell
back to seventh place.
With Pitkat now in the lead, Rocco was all over the back of Ruocco’s car
looking to make a pass for second. Rocco made the move for second in turns
3+4 on lap-25 and Preece followed Rocco by Ruocco. The complexion of the
race changed on lap-28 as Rocco and Pitkat got hooked together while
fighting for the race lead and they spun through the front stretch grass,
which brought the caution out and put Preece into the race lead with Ruocco
alongside, while Christopher and Todd Owen were in row 2 for the restart.
Preece took the back under green with Christopher moving into second. The
caution came back out with 30-laps complete for Joe Gada, who came to a stop
in turn 4 and Pitkat spun to the infield. On the restart, there was a
mjulticar pileup in turns 3+4 that involved Michael Bennett, Matt Galko, Tom
Bolles, Nick Boivin, Pitkat, John Montesanto, and Brian Sullivan that
brought the caution back out.
On the restart, Preece and Christopher were locked side by side in a duel
for the race lead with Ruocco all over Preece’s bumper in third place.
Preece got clear of Christopher on lap-32 and Ruocco pulled alongside
Christopher to fight for second. Right behind Christopher and Ruocco was
Michael Gervais, Jr. in fourth, and then several car lengths behind was Owen
and Berndt. The caution came back out with 35 laps complete as Curt
Brainard spun in turn 1 and Michael Bennett and Danny Cates spun in turn 2.
On the restart, Preece didn’t come up to speed and Christopher took the lead
with Gervais moving into second. Berndt was on the outside of Gervais and
he got by Gervais one lap after the restart to move into second with Preece
in fourth. Preece came back strong to the outside of Gervais to move back
into third on lap-38 and he pulled alongside Bendt on lap-39, but the
caution came out for a spin by Kyle Spencer in turns 3+4 to set up a green
white checkered finish. The restart order was Christopher and Berndt on the
front row, with Preece and Gervais making up the second row.
On the restart, Berndt got a monster run on the outside groove through turns
1+2 to pull ahead of Christohper and take the race lead. Christopher tried
to make a last ditch effort coming to the checkered flag, but he couldn’t
catch Berndt. Rounding out the top-5 behind Berndt and Christopher was
Gervais, Preece, and XXX.
In the 40-lap Xtra Mart Xtra D Late Model feature event, Jim Mavlouganes
took the lead at the drop of the green and began to pull away from J.J. Hill
in second. Mike Quintiliano quickly moved into third behind Quintiliano,
with Corey Hutchings and Tom Fearn making up the early top-5.
Mavlouganes continued to pull away from Hill, while Quintiliano, Hutchings,
and Fearn were in a four car train with Hill for second through fifth. The
cars ran in line until lap-26 when Hutchings and Fearn were both able to get
past Quintiliano in turn 1 to drop Quintiliano from third back to fifth
place. The action was slowed with 31 laps complete as Joe Rzeszutek spun in
turn 1 and backed his car into the wall.
Back under green, Hill made a strong move in the outside groove to hang with
Mavlouganes for the race lead. Adam Gray made a three-wide move in turns
3+4 and came out of turn 4 with the race lead. Contact from Mavlouganes
sent Gray around and into the frontstretch wall to bring the caution back
out with 33 laps complete. Mavlouganes was black flagged and parked for the
remainder of the race for the contact with Gray. This put Hill and
Hutchings on the front row for the restart with Quintiliano and Woody Pitkat
lined up behind them in the second row.
Hill took the lead back under green with Pitkat moving from fourth to second
on the restart. Hutchings was third, with Fearn and Quintiliano side by
side for fourth place. Tom Butler spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back
out with 34 laps complete.
Hill took the lead with Pitkat getting by Hutchings for second. Hutchings
spun in the middle of turns 3+4, but he was able to get going again and the
race stayed under green flag conditions. Don Acker, Jr. spun in turn 1 to
bring the caution back out with 36 laps complete.
On the restart, Tom Fearn spun and collected the car of Tom Butler to bring
the caution back out. Hill again took the lead on the restart with
Quintiliano moving into second. Gray made a strong move to move into third
after spinning earlier in the race. Mark St. Hilaire spun into the turn 1
wall to bring the caution back out with 37 laps complete.
Hill again took the lead on the restart with Gray and Quintiliano side by
side for second. Quintiliano cleared Gray into second with Pitkat and Jim
Peterson behind Gray. Hill led the field to the checkered flag to pick up
his first win of the 2012 season. Quintiliano finished second, with Gray,
Pitkat, and Peterson rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Jay Goff and Harry Wheeler
dueled side by side for the lead on the opening lap before Wheeler got
clear. Bob Charland settled into third, with Dylan Liseo fourth and Rick
Williams in fifth. The caution came out with 2 laps complete for Tyler
Hines, who came to a stop in turn 4 after Tony Santangelo shot up the track
and into Hines in turn 3.
Back under green, Wheeler took the lead ahead of Goff, but the field only
completed one lap before the caution came back out for Joey Ferrigno and
Tony Membrino, Jr., who came together and got into the frontstretch wall
with a shower of sparks.
Wheeler and Goff were side by side for the lead with Charland and Liseo side
by side behind them. Goff got clear to the lead one lap after the restart
and Liseo was able to follow Goff by Wheeler in the outside groove. Dylan
Kopec also took to the high side to move by Wheeler and Charland followed in
Kopec’s tracks, dropping Wheeler from the lead back fifth in three laps.
Kopec continued his charge, moving by Liseo and then taking the lead from
Goff on lap-9 with a pass in turns 1+2.
Charland made a bid for third place on lap-10 and he was able to complete
the pass on Liseo. But just as Charland made his move, Zach Aszklar moved
by Charland to move into third behind Kopec and Goff.
The order remained the same until lap-17 when Aszklar made a move by Goff to
move into second place. Kopec had a lead of about 2 seconds over Aszklar
and Aszklar couldn’t close the distance to Kopec in the final three laps as
Kopec scored his second consecutive feature victory this season. Aszklar
finished second, with Goff, Charland, and Liseo rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Dennis Botticello took the
lead at the drop of the green flag. Josh Wood was second, with Duane
Provost, Cory Casagrande, and Jesse Hinze rounding out the top-5.
Botticello was pulling away from the field when he was black flagged on
lap-6 for leaking fluid on the track, which handed the race lead over to
Wood.
As the cars took the cross flags at halfway, Wood had a several car length
lead over Provost, with Casagrande several car lengths behind Provost.
Hinze was slowly falling further and further behind Casagrande in fourth,
and he lost the fourth place to D.J. Burnham on lap-14.
The caution came out with 16 laps complete as Andrew Hayes spun on the
backstretch. Wood took the lead back under green with Provost and
Casagrande settling into line behind him. David Arute moved into fifth
coming to the white flag, but it was Wood in control as he took down his
second consecutive feature victory of the 2012 season. Provost finished
second, with Casagrande, Burnham, and Arute rounding out the top-5.
(continued)
Stafford Speedway was back on track with the Xtra
Mart Late Model Xtra D program on Friday night, May 11th. J.J. Hill was the
winner of the extra distance 40-lap Late Model feature, Eric Berndt got
around Ted Christopher on a green white checkered restart to pick up his
first win of the 2012 in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Dylan Kopec was
the winner of the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature for the second
consecutive week, Josh Wood also won for the second consecutive week in the
20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Albert Saunders drove to victory in
the 15-lap DARE Stock feature with a late race pass on Austin Bessette.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Frank Ruocco took the lead at the
drop of the green to take the early race lead. Woody Pitkat was glued to
Ruocco’s back bumper while Eric Berndt was running a close third. Behind
Berndt was Ryan Preece, Keith Rocco, and Ted Christopher. The top-6 cars
were lined up nose to tail as they clicked off lap 15 on the scoreboard.
Rocco was able to work his way around Preece, but that was the only position
change in the top-5 as Ruocco continued to lead the race with Pitkat and
Berndt lined up right behind him. At lap-20, the top-6 cars were still
lined up in a nose to tail train, but that all changed on lap-21 as Pitkat
was able to make a pass for the lead in turns 3+4. Berndt got out of shape
and nearly spun, but he was able to recover and keep going, although he fell
back to seventh place.
With Pitkat now in the lead, Rocco was all over the back of Ruocco’s car
looking to make a pass for second. Rocco made the move for second in turns
3+4 on lap-25 and Preece followed Rocco by Ruocco. The complexion of the
race changed on lap-28 as Rocco and Pitkat got hooked together while
fighting for the race lead and they spun through the front stretch grass,
which brought the caution out and put Preece into the race lead with Ruocco
alongside, while Christopher and Todd Owen were in row 2 for the restart.
Preece took the back under green with Christopher moving into second. The
caution came back out with 30-laps complete for Joe Gada, who came to a stop
in turn 4 and Pitkat spun to the infield. On the restart, there was a
mjulticar pileup in turns 3+4 that involved Michael Bennett, Matt Galko, Tom
Bolles, Nick Boivin, Pitkat, John Montesanto, and Brian Sullivan that
brought the caution back out.
On the restart, Preece and Christopher were locked side by side in a duel
for the race lead with Ruocco all over Preece’s bumper in third place.
Preece got clear of Christopher on lap-32 and Ruocco pulled alongside
Christopher to fight for second. Right behind Christopher and Ruocco was
Michael Gervais, Jr. in fourth, and then several car lengths behind was Owen
and Berndt. The caution came back out with 35 laps complete as Curt
Brainard spun in turn 1 and Michael Bennett and Danny Cates spun in turn 2.
On the restart, Preece didn’t come up to speed and Christopher took the lead
with Gervais moving into second. Berndt was on the outside of Gervais and
he got by Gervais one lap after the restart to move into second with Preece
in fourth. Preece came back strong to the outside of Gervais to move back
into third on lap-38 and he pulled alongside Bendt on lap-39, but the
caution came out for a spin by Kyle Spencer in turns 3+4 to set up a green
white checkered finish. The restart order was Christopher and Berndt on the
front row, with Preece and Gervais making up the second row.
On the restart, Berndt got a monster run on the outside groove through turns
1+2 to pull ahead of Christohper and take the race lead. Christopher tried
to make a last ditch effort coming to the checkered flag, but he couldn’t
catch Berndt. Rounding out the top-5 behind Berndt and Christopher was
Gervais, Preece, and XXX.
In the 40-lap Xtra Mart Xtra D Late Model feature event, Jim Mavlouganes
took the lead at the drop of the green and began to pull away from J.J. Hill
in second. Mike Quintiliano quickly moved into third behind Quintiliano,
with Corey Hutchings and Tom Fearn making up the early top-5.
Mavlouganes continued to pull away from Hill, while Quintiliano, Hutchings,
and Fearn were in a four car train with Hill for second through fifth. The
cars ran in line until lap-26 when Hutchings and Fearn were both able to get
past Quintiliano in turn 1 to drop Quintiliano from third back to fifth
place. The action was slowed with 31 laps complete as Joe Rzeszutek spun in
turn 1 and backed his car into the wall.
Back under green, Hill made a strong move in the outside groove to hang with
Mavlouganes for the race lead. Adam Gray made a three-wide move in turns
3+4 and came out of turn 4 with the race lead. Contact from Mavlouganes
sent Gray around and into the frontstretch wall to bring the caution back
out with 33 laps complete. Mavlouganes was black flagged and parked for the
remainder of the race for the contact with Gray. This put Hill and
Hutchings on the front row for the restart with Quintiliano and Woody Pitkat
lined up behind them in the second row.
Hill took the lead back under green with Pitkat moving from fourth to second
on the restart. Hutchings was third, with Fearn and Quintiliano side by
side for fourth place. Tom Butler spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back
out with 34 laps complete.
Hill took the lead with Pitkat getting by Hutchings for second. Hutchings
spun in the middle of turns 3+4, but he was able to get going again and the
race stayed under green flag conditions. Don Acker, Jr. spun in turn 1 to
bring the caution back out with 36 laps complete.
On the restart, Tom Fearn spun and collected the car of Tom Butler to bring
the caution back out. Hill again took the lead on the restart with
Quintiliano moving into second. Gray made a strong move to move into third
after spinning earlier in the race. Mark St. Hilaire spun into the turn 1
wall to bring the caution back out with 37 laps complete.
Hill again took the lead on the restart with Gray and Quintiliano side by
side for second. Quintiliano cleared Gray into second with Pitkat and Jim
Peterson behind Gray. Hill led the field to the checkered flag to pick up
his first win of the 2012 season. Quintiliano finished second, with Gray,
Pitkat, and Peterson rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Jay Goff and Harry Wheeler
dueled side by side for the lead on the opening lap before Wheeler got
clear. Bob Charland settled into third, with Dylan Liseo fourth and Rick
Williams in fifth. The caution came out with 2 laps complete for Tyler
Hines, who came to a stop in turn 4 after Tony Santangelo shot up the track
and into Hines in turn 3.
Back under green, Wheeler took the lead ahead of Goff, but the field only
completed one lap before the caution came back out for Joey Ferrigno and
Tony Membrino, Jr., who came together and got into the frontstretch wall
with a shower of sparks.
Wheeler and Goff were side by side for the lead with Charland and Liseo side
by side behind them. Goff got clear to the lead one lap after the restart
and Liseo was able to follow Goff by Wheeler in the outside groove. Dylan
Kopec also took to the high side to move by Wheeler and Charland followed in
Kopec’s tracks, dropping Wheeler from the lead back fifth in three laps.
Kopec continued his charge, moving by Liseo and then taking the lead from
Goff on lap-9 with a pass in turns 1+2.
Charland made a bid for third place on lap-10 and he was able to complete
the pass on Liseo. But just as Charland made his move, Zach Aszklar moved
by Charland to move into third behind Kopec and Goff.
The order remained the same until lap-17 when Aszklar made a move by Goff to
move into second place. Kopec had a lead of about 2 seconds over Aszklar
and Aszklar couldn’t close the distance to Kopec in the final three laps as
Kopec scored his second consecutive feature victory this season. Aszklar
finished second, with Goff, Charland, and Liseo rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Dennis Botticello took the
lead at the drop of the green flag. Josh Wood was second, with Duane
Provost, Cory Casagrande, and Jesse Hinze rounding out the top-5.
Botticello was pulling away from the field when he was black flagged on
lap-6 for leaking fluid on the track, which handed the race lead over to
Wood.
As the cars took the cross flags at halfway, Wood had a several car length
lead over Provost, with Casagrande several car lengths behind Provost.
Hinze was slowly falling further and further behind Casagrande in fourth,
and he lost the fourth place to D.J. Burnham on lap-14.
The caution came out with 16 laps complete as Andrew Hayes spun on the
backstretch. Wood took the lead back under green with Provost and
Casagrande settling into line behind him. David Arute moved into fifth
coming to the white flag, but it was Wood in control as he took down his
second consecutive feature victory of the 2012 season. Provost finished
second, with Casagrande, Burnham, and Arute rounding out the top-5.
(continued)