RGeeProductions
06-01-2012, 11:33 PM
PREECE, ROCCO, KOPEC, BURNHAM, & CASAGRANDE SCORE JUNE 1st USG EVENT NIGHT
FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY
Stafford Speedway returned to racing on Friday,
June 1st with USG Event Night. In feature action, Ryan Preece scored his
first SK Modified® feature victory of the season, Keith Rocco picked up his
second Late Model feature win, Dylan Kopec picked up his second consecutive
and fourth SK Light feature win, D.J. Burnham picked up his second
consecutive Limited Late Model feature victory, and Kyle Casagrande won his
second consecutive and third DARE Stock feature event of the 2012 season.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, the outside line didn’t come up to
speed on the start and Curt Brainard, John Jensen, Tommy Membrino, Jr., and
Joe Gada spun into the frontstretch wall to bring the caution out before a
lap could be completed.
Nichole Morgillo led the field to the green flag and she took the lead ahead
of Matt Gallo. Kurt Lenahan was third, but he quickly slid back outside the
top-10 as Glen Reen, Todd Owen, Woody Pitkat, Dan Avery, Michael Bennett,
Ted Christopher, Keith Rocco, Ryan Preece all moved by. Morgillo stayed out
front until lap-11 when Gallo made a pass in turns 3+4 to take over the race
lead.
Owen took to the outside groove to move past Reen and Pitakt was ready to
follow Owen by Reen, but the caution came out with 12 laps complete for a
spin by Matt Galko. Back under green, Gallo took the lead with Owen pulling
to the inside of Morgillo. Morgillo was able to keep Owen behind her as
Pitakt moved by Reen to take over fourth place.
Morgillo was hounding Gallo for the lead, but Gallo was able to keep
Morgillo behind him as Owen, Pitkat, and Reen closed in on the top-2 cars.
Owen pulled to the outside of Morgillo on lap-18 and he went around to move
into second place. The caution came out with 19 laps complete for a spin by
Bennett, Lenahan, and Tom Bolles in turn 4.
Back under green, Gallo took the lead while sparks flew from under Owen’s
car and he slowed with a flat tire. Morgillo was right behind Gallo, but
Pitkat took that position from Morgillo on lap-22. Preece and Reen went
three wide with Morgillo on lap-23 and they both got by as Preece went to
the high side and Reen went to the inside. The caution came back with 23
laps completed for Matt Galko, who spun in turn 2.
Pitkat got a good run to the outside of Gallo and he took the lead on the
restart. Gallo held second until lap-26 when Preece got a run coming out of
turn 2 and he made the pass. aS the field completed lap-26, Morgillo got
loose in turn 1 and set off a chain reaction that saw 9 cars involved,
including Joe Gada, Tommy Membrino, Jr., Nick Boivin, Todd Owen, Kurt
Lenahan, Michael Gervais, Jr., Danny Cates, Matt Galko, and Michael Bennett.
Back under green, Preece took the lead from Pitkat, but contact heading into
turn 3 saw Christopher, Rocco, Reen, and Eric Berndt spin in turn 3 wall to
bring the caution back out. The next restart saw Tom Bolles spin into the
turn 2 wall to bring the yellow back out.
Pitkat and Preece went side by side for the lead on the restart with Preece
pulling a crossover move coming out of turn 4 to move into the lead. Pitkat
settled into line in second, with Morgillo, Gallo, and Curt Brainard making
up the top-5. John Montesanto spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with
31 laps complete.
Preece took the lead ahead of Pitkat as the race went back to green.
Morgillo was third in line, just ahead of Gallo and the side by side duo of
Brainard and Sean Foster. Preece led Pitkat back to the checkered flag to
pick up his first SK Modified® feature victory of the 2012 season. Rounding
out the top-5 behind Preece and Pitkat was Morgillo, Gallo, and Foster.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Scott Cook led the field to the
green flag but a melee on the backstretch involving Cook, Mike Quintiliano,
Adam Norton, Corey Hutchings, Kevin Gambacorta, Mark St. Hilaire, Tom
Butler, and Jim Peterson brought the caution out before a lap could be
completed. This put Tony Lafo and Patrick Townsend on the front row for the
restart with Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat in the second row.
Lafo took the lead with Rocco, Adam Gray, and Townsend lined up behind him.
Jim Mavlouganes and Woody Pitakt were side by side for fifth, but
Mavlouganes was able to take the spot. Tom Fearn followed Malvouganes by
Pitkat to move into sixth place as Rocco took the lead from Lafo on lap-4.
Gray was also able to get around Lafo to take over second place.
Rocco and Gray were beginning to pull away from Townsend in third, while
Fearn was right on Townsend’s bumper with Pitkat now in fifth, just ahead of
Mavlouganes at the lap-10 mark of the race. Lafo spun in turn 3 to bring
the caution out with 11 laps complete.
On the restart, J.J. Hill and Peterson spun with Hill taking a hard hit into
the turn 1 wall to bring the caution back out.
Rocco took the lad back under green with Townsend in second. Pitkat moved
up to third with Mavlouganes and Fearn rounding out the top-5. Fearn got
around Mavlouganes for fourth place on lap-14 and Joe Rzeszutek and Mike
Quintiliano followed Fearn by Mavlouganes on the next lap.
Mavlouganes and Gray made contact on lap-17 and nearly spun, but both cars
were able to continue on. Gray was given a drive thru penalty under green
for making contact with Mavlouganes.
With 10 laps to go, Rocco had pulled out to a several car length lead over
Townsend, while Fearn, Pitkat, and Quintiliano were holding down the
remainder of the top-5 spots. The top-5 continued to run in line until
lap-25 when Fearn appeared to lose an engine as smoke poured from his car.
Fearn’s misfortune brought the caution flag out and set up a 5-lap sprint to
the finish.
On the restart, Kevin Gambacorta spun through the frontstretch grass, Joe
Rzeszutek got turned hard into the frontstretch wall, and Jim Peterson
sustained damage to the front end of his racecar which brought the caution
right back out.
The next restart saw Pitkat spin in turn 2 in front of the field to bring
the caution back out. Pitkat’s spin collected the cars of Hutchings and Ed
Ricard.
Rocco took the lead back under green with Quintiliano getting by Townsend to
move into second place. Hutchings was in fourth behind Townsend with Tony
Lafo in fifth place. Rocco led Quintiliano to the checkered flag to pick up
his second Late Model feature win of the 2012 season. Rounding out the
top-5 behind Rocco and Quintiliano was Townsend, Hutchings, and Lafo.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Joey Ferrigno took the lead
at the green and he immediately opened up a lead of several car lengths over
Harry Wheeler in second. Behind Wheeler was Ronnie Williams, Rick Williams,
and the side by side duo of Dylan Kopec and Jay Goff. Goff was able to keep
Kopec behind him until lap-7 when Kopec made a pass going into turn 1.
Ferrigno was still setting the pace out front with Wheeler and Ronnie
Williams behind him, but his lead was erased by the caution flag for a spin
by Dylan Campbell with 8 laps complete.
(continued)
FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY
Stafford Speedway returned to racing on Friday,
June 1st with USG Event Night. In feature action, Ryan Preece scored his
first SK Modified® feature victory of the season, Keith Rocco picked up his
second Late Model feature win, Dylan Kopec picked up his second consecutive
and fourth SK Light feature win, D.J. Burnham picked up his second
consecutive Limited Late Model feature victory, and Kyle Casagrande won his
second consecutive and third DARE Stock feature event of the 2012 season.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, the outside line didn’t come up to
speed on the start and Curt Brainard, John Jensen, Tommy Membrino, Jr., and
Joe Gada spun into the frontstretch wall to bring the caution out before a
lap could be completed.
Nichole Morgillo led the field to the green flag and she took the lead ahead
of Matt Gallo. Kurt Lenahan was third, but he quickly slid back outside the
top-10 as Glen Reen, Todd Owen, Woody Pitkat, Dan Avery, Michael Bennett,
Ted Christopher, Keith Rocco, Ryan Preece all moved by. Morgillo stayed out
front until lap-11 when Gallo made a pass in turns 3+4 to take over the race
lead.
Owen took to the outside groove to move past Reen and Pitakt was ready to
follow Owen by Reen, but the caution came out with 12 laps complete for a
spin by Matt Galko. Back under green, Gallo took the lead with Owen pulling
to the inside of Morgillo. Morgillo was able to keep Owen behind her as
Pitakt moved by Reen to take over fourth place.
Morgillo was hounding Gallo for the lead, but Gallo was able to keep
Morgillo behind him as Owen, Pitkat, and Reen closed in on the top-2 cars.
Owen pulled to the outside of Morgillo on lap-18 and he went around to move
into second place. The caution came out with 19 laps complete for a spin by
Bennett, Lenahan, and Tom Bolles in turn 4.
Back under green, Gallo took the lead while sparks flew from under Owen’s
car and he slowed with a flat tire. Morgillo was right behind Gallo, but
Pitkat took that position from Morgillo on lap-22. Preece and Reen went
three wide with Morgillo on lap-23 and they both got by as Preece went to
the high side and Reen went to the inside. The caution came back with 23
laps completed for Matt Galko, who spun in turn 2.
Pitkat got a good run to the outside of Gallo and he took the lead on the
restart. Gallo held second until lap-26 when Preece got a run coming out of
turn 2 and he made the pass. aS the field completed lap-26, Morgillo got
loose in turn 1 and set off a chain reaction that saw 9 cars involved,
including Joe Gada, Tommy Membrino, Jr., Nick Boivin, Todd Owen, Kurt
Lenahan, Michael Gervais, Jr., Danny Cates, Matt Galko, and Michael Bennett.
Back under green, Preece took the lead from Pitkat, but contact heading into
turn 3 saw Christopher, Rocco, Reen, and Eric Berndt spin in turn 3 wall to
bring the caution back out. The next restart saw Tom Bolles spin into the
turn 2 wall to bring the yellow back out.
Pitkat and Preece went side by side for the lead on the restart with Preece
pulling a crossover move coming out of turn 4 to move into the lead. Pitkat
settled into line in second, with Morgillo, Gallo, and Curt Brainard making
up the top-5. John Montesanto spun in turn 2 to bring the caution out with
31 laps complete.
Preece took the lead ahead of Pitkat as the race went back to green.
Morgillo was third in line, just ahead of Gallo and the side by side duo of
Brainard and Sean Foster. Preece led Pitkat back to the checkered flag to
pick up his first SK Modified® feature victory of the 2012 season. Rounding
out the top-5 behind Preece and Pitkat was Morgillo, Gallo, and Foster.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Scott Cook led the field to the
green flag but a melee on the backstretch involving Cook, Mike Quintiliano,
Adam Norton, Corey Hutchings, Kevin Gambacorta, Mark St. Hilaire, Tom
Butler, and Jim Peterson brought the caution out before a lap could be
completed. This put Tony Lafo and Patrick Townsend on the front row for the
restart with Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat in the second row.
Lafo took the lead with Rocco, Adam Gray, and Townsend lined up behind him.
Jim Mavlouganes and Woody Pitakt were side by side for fifth, but
Mavlouganes was able to take the spot. Tom Fearn followed Malvouganes by
Pitkat to move into sixth place as Rocco took the lead from Lafo on lap-4.
Gray was also able to get around Lafo to take over second place.
Rocco and Gray were beginning to pull away from Townsend in third, while
Fearn was right on Townsend’s bumper with Pitkat now in fifth, just ahead of
Mavlouganes at the lap-10 mark of the race. Lafo spun in turn 3 to bring
the caution out with 11 laps complete.
On the restart, J.J. Hill and Peterson spun with Hill taking a hard hit into
the turn 1 wall to bring the caution back out.
Rocco took the lad back under green with Townsend in second. Pitkat moved
up to third with Mavlouganes and Fearn rounding out the top-5. Fearn got
around Mavlouganes for fourth place on lap-14 and Joe Rzeszutek and Mike
Quintiliano followed Fearn by Mavlouganes on the next lap.
Mavlouganes and Gray made contact on lap-17 and nearly spun, but both cars
were able to continue on. Gray was given a drive thru penalty under green
for making contact with Mavlouganes.
With 10 laps to go, Rocco had pulled out to a several car length lead over
Townsend, while Fearn, Pitkat, and Quintiliano were holding down the
remainder of the top-5 spots. The top-5 continued to run in line until
lap-25 when Fearn appeared to lose an engine as smoke poured from his car.
Fearn’s misfortune brought the caution flag out and set up a 5-lap sprint to
the finish.
On the restart, Kevin Gambacorta spun through the frontstretch grass, Joe
Rzeszutek got turned hard into the frontstretch wall, and Jim Peterson
sustained damage to the front end of his racecar which brought the caution
right back out.
The next restart saw Pitkat spin in turn 2 in front of the field to bring
the caution back out. Pitkat’s spin collected the cars of Hutchings and Ed
Ricard.
Rocco took the lead back under green with Quintiliano getting by Townsend to
move into second place. Hutchings was in fourth behind Townsend with Tony
Lafo in fifth place. Rocco led Quintiliano to the checkered flag to pick up
his second Late Model feature win of the 2012 season. Rounding out the
top-5 behind Rocco and Quintiliano was Townsend, Hutchings, and Lafo.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Joey Ferrigno took the lead
at the green and he immediately opened up a lead of several car lengths over
Harry Wheeler in second. Behind Wheeler was Ronnie Williams, Rick Williams,
and the side by side duo of Dylan Kopec and Jay Goff. Goff was able to keep
Kopec behind him until lap-7 when Kopec made a pass going into turn 1.
Ferrigno was still setting the pace out front with Wheeler and Ronnie
Williams behind him, but his lead was erased by the caution flag for a spin
by Dylan Campbell with 8 laps complete.
(continued)