06/15/12 - Christopher, Pitkat, Goff, Wood & Bessette score at Stafford

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CHRISTOPHER, PITKAT, GOFF, WOOD, & BESSETTE SCORE JUNE 15TH TOWN FAIR TIRE
SUMMER BLAST-OFF FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY

Stafford Speedway welcomed the beginning of summer
with it’s 12th Annual Town Fair Tire Summer Blast-Off Fireworks program on
Friday night, June 15th. Providing the fireworks on the track were Ted
Christopher, who picked up his second win of the season in the 40-lap SK
Modified® feature, Woody Pitkat, who picked up his first win of the season
in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Jay Goff, who picked up his first career
victory in the 20-lap SK Light feature, Josh Wood, who took a thrilling
fourth win of the season with a last lap pass in the 20-lap Ltd. Late Model
feature, and Austin Bessette, who scored his first career victory in the
15-lap DARE Stock feature.

In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Keith Rocco took the lead ahead of
Glen Reen, Dan Avery, Ted Christopher, and Tom Bolles, but the field was
only able to get two laps complete before the caution came out for Curt
Brainard, who hit the frontstretch wall coming out of turn 4.

Back under green, Rocco was in command, with Reen behind him. Avery was
third, with Bolles and Christopher behind him. Christopher moved by Bolles
for third, he got around Avery on lap-9 for third, and the charge continued
with a pass on Reen for second on lap-11.

At lap-15, Rocco was still in the lead, several car lengths ahead of
Christopher. Avery ran in third, with rEen and Bolles behind him. The
caution came out with 16 laps for a spin by Kyle Spencer.

Back under green, Christopher stayed behind Rocco for a lap before making a
run to the inside of Rocco to take over the race lead at the stripe on
lap-18. Rocco was hanging tough on the outside, but the caution came out
fro a multicar accident in turn 3 involving the cars of Nick Boivin, Joe
Gada, Frank Ruocco, John Jensen, Todd Owen, Michael Bennett, and points
leader Michael Gervais, Jr. with 18 laps complete.

Christopher was able to get clear of Rocco on his outside in the fight for
the race lead, while Ryan Preece made a strong run to the outside of Avery
to move into third place. Sean Foster spun in turn 4 to bring the caution
back out with 22 laps complete.

The race for the lead was in full swing on the restart with Christopher
holding off Rocco on his outside and Preece on his bumper. The caution came
back out with 24 laps complete for a spin by Richie Pallai, Jr. in turn 2.

On the restart, there was another multicar crash on the backstretch that
involved Pallai, Woody Pitkat, Kyle Spencer, Reen, Brainard, Nichole
Morgillo, Tommy Membrino, Jr., Joe Gada, and Michael Bennett that brought
the caution back out.

Christopher and Rocco were again side by side for the lead, with neither
driver giving an inch as they raced side by side wheel to wheel. The field
was only able to complete two laps before the caution came back out for a
spin by Matt Galko on the backstretch with 26 laps complete.

Back under green, Christopher again took the lead with Preece and Rocco side
by side for second. Avery was fourth, just in front of Eric Berndt and
Pitkat. Christopher continued to lead while Preece and Rocco were putting
on a whale of a fight for second with Preece finally able to make a pass for
second place on lap-33. Once Preece got past Rocco, he immediately closed
in on Christopher’s bumper with 6 laps to go.

Preece took a look to the inside of Christopher on lap-35 in turn 3, but
fell back in line behind Christopher. Preece was searching for a groove
that would give him enough momentum to make a pass for the lead, but
Christopher was able to hold Preece off. The jockeying between Christopher
and Preece allowed Rocco to close in on Preece’s bumper to make it a
three-way fight for the race lead with 3 laps to go.

Christopher was able to hold off Preece and Rocco to the line to pick up his
second feature win of the 2012 season. Avery came home in fourth with
Pitkat rounding out the top-5 behind Christopher, Preece, and Rocco.

In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Tom Butler led the first lap of the
race, but Mike Quintiliano was on the charge and he took the lead from
Butler on lap-2. Quintiliano led the race until lap-6 when Woody Pitkat
moved to the front of the pack. Corey Hutchings spun in turn 2 with 9 laps
complete to bring the caution out with Pitkat still in front.

On the restart, going into turn 3, Tom Fearn’s car looked like it lost an
engine while running in third place and the majority of the field piled into
the turn 3 wall, which brought out a red flag. The order for the restart
was Pitkat and Kevin Gambacorta on the front row, Peter Portante and Paul
Varricchio, Jr. in the second row, and Quintiliano and Hutchings in the
third row.

Pitkat took the lead at the green with Gambacorta behind him. Quintiliano
streaked into third, with Keith Rocco moving up to fourth as Hutchings ran
in fifth. Quintiliano made a move by Gambacorta to move into second on
lap-12 and Rocco followed Quintiliano by. Rocco then put a pass on
Quintliano to move into second while Pitkat was pulling away in the race
lead. Jim Mavlouganes was able to get by Gambacorta on lap-17 as Gambacorta
was fading backwards since the restart.

The battle for second heated up on lap-21 as Quintiliano made a move to the
inside of Rocco to take over the spot. Quintiliano’s pass opened the door
for Mavlouganes to follow Quintiliano by Rocco to drop Rocco from second
back to fourth place. Pitakt was in cruise control in the lead, a full
straightaway ahead of Quintiliano and Mavlouganes.

Pitkat cruised to the checkered flag to pick up his first victory of the
2012 season. Quintiliano held Mavlouganes off at the line for second, with
Rocco and Gambacorta rounding out the top-5.

In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, two cars touched wheels going
down the backstretch and the chain reaction crash caught up the cars of
Scott Bouley, Dylan Kopec, Frank Cardile, Nick Salva, and Shawn Brule to
bring the caution out. The restart saw Joe Boivin spin on the frontstretch
to bring the yellow out again before a lap could be completed.

Bob Charland took the lead at the green with Jay Goff right behind him.

Joey Ferrigno was third, with Tony Membrino, Jr. in fourth and Zach Aszklar
in fifth. Tyler Hines made a move to the high side of Aszklar on lap-5 to
take over fifth place while Goff was hounding the back bumper of Charland
for the race lead.

Goff made a move to the inside of Charland to take over the lead on lap-8.

Ferrigno almost made it a three-wide bid, but he backed out and fell into
line behind Goff and Charland. Aszklar and Ferrigno made contact going into
turn 1 on lap-13 with both cars getting sideways and Ferrigno going into a
half spin and falling to the rear of the field.

Goff continued to lead the race with Charland in second. Membrino was now
up to third, with Hines and Ronnie Williams making up the top-5. Goff led
the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first career victory.

Charland came home in second, with Membrino, Hines, and Williams making up
the top-5.

(continued)

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In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, the field was able to
complete one lap with Carla Botticello in the lead ahead of Jesse Hinze.

The caution came out with one lap complete as Brian Clement, Justin Bren,
Joe Nogiec, and Cory Casagrande spun into the turn 1 wall.

Back under green, Hinze quickly moved by Botticello to move into the race
lead. At the halfway point of the race, Hinze had built himself a
comfortable lead over Wood in second, with Hayes behind him in third.

Casagrande was back up to fourth place after his early misfortune, and
Dennis Botticello was now in fifth place. Wood was beginning to close the
gap to Hinze in the lead, and Casagrande made a move to the inside of Hayes
on lap-17 to take over third place.

Wiith 2 laps to go, Wood had moved right in on Hinze’s bumper for the race
lead. Wood made a move to the inside of Hinze in turns one and two on the
final lap, but wasn’t able to complete the pass. Heading down the
backstretch, Wood pulled alongside Hinze and he was able to make the pass
heading into turn 3. Wood lead Hinze back to the checkered flag to pick up
his fourth feature victory of the 2012 season. Rounding out the top-5
behind Wood and Hinze was Casagrande, Hayes, and D.J. Burnham.

In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, James Carroll took the lead at the
green while Johnny Walker got loose trying to get by Vince Gambacorta for
second and he slipped back to eighth in line as Austin Bessette, Norm Sears,
Kyle Casagrande, Cliff Saunders, and Albert Saunders all moved by Walker.

Bessette quickly overtook Gambacorta to move into second on lap-2 and on
lap-3 Sears nearly made a move on Gambacorta, but he settled back into line.

Sears came back strong on lap-5 and this time he made the pass stick on
Gambacorta. Also on lap-5, Bessette went around Carroll and charged into
the lead. Casagrande then pulled to the inside of Sears for third as the
Saunders twins were also able to get by Gambacorta, who settled into line in
seventh place, just ahead of Walker. Sears’ met with misfortune as he spun
in turn 2 to bring the caution out with 7 laps complete.

Back under green, Bessette resumed control of the race in the lead while
Casagrande made a strong move into second. Albert Saunders was able to move
up to third, and the top-3 cars began to pull away from Monte Gibbs, Walker,
and Cliff Saunders, who made up the remainder of the top-6 cars.

With three laps to go, Casagrande was right on Bessette’s bumper, searching
high and low for a way to put his car into the lead. Bessette was able to
outrun Casagrande to the checkered flag to pick up his very first feature
victory. Ronding out the top-5 behind Bessette and Casagrande was Albert
Saunders, Gibbs, and Walker.

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) Ted Christopher, Plainville
2) Ryan Preece, Berlin
3) Keith Rocco, Meriden
4) Dan Avery, Somers
5) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
6) Eric Berndt, Cromwell
7) Brian Sullivan, South Windsor
8) Todd Owen, Somers
9) Sean Foster, Willington
10) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire
11) Tom Bolles, Ellington
12) Kyle Spencer, Montgomery, Ma
13) John Jensen, Wolcott
14) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, Ny
15) Nichole Morgillo, Wallingford
16) Matt Galko, Meriden
17) Curt Brainard, Canton
18) Joe Gada, Salem
19) Tommy Membrino, Jr., Prospect
20) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma
21) Michael Bennett, Stafford Springs
22) Danny Cates, Chaplin
23) Nick Boivin, Belchertown, Ma
24) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury
25) Kurt Lenahan, Roxbury
26) Chris Matthews, Stafford
27) Mike King, Agawam, Ma

LATE MODEL (30)
1) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
2) Mike Quintiliano, Shelton
3) Jim Mavlouganes, Bethany
4) Keith Rocco, Meriden
5) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
6) Patrick Townsend, Springifeld, Ma
7) Jim Peterson, Monson, Ma
8) Adam Gray, Belchertown, Ma
9) Peter Portante, Plainville
10) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
11) Corey Hutchings, Salem
12) Mark St. Hilaire, Berlin
13) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
14) Tony Lafo, Higganum
15) J.J. Hill, Stafford Springs
16) Andrew Durand, Chicopee, Ma
17) Ed Ricard, Stafford Springs
18) Scott Cook, Uncasville
19) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
20) Joe Rzeszutek, South Hadley, Ma

SK LIGHT MODIFIED (20)
1) Jay Goff, Stafford Springs
2) Bob Charland, Stafford
3) Tony Membrino, Jr., Plantsville
4) Tyler Hines, North Haven
5) Ronnie Williams, Tolland
6) Zach Aszklar, Wallingford
7) Tony Santangelo, Middlefield
8) Payton Henry, Willington
9) Harry Wheeler, Stafford Springs
10) Dylan Campbell, Southborough, Ma
11) Joe Boivin, Belchertown, Ma
12) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
13) Fred Nees, Jr., New Milford
14) Paul Tommasino, Meriden
15) Rick Williams, Haddam
16) Dylan Kopec, Palmer, Ma
17) Shawn Brule, West Thompson
18) Nick Salva, Prospect
19) Scott Bouley, Thomaston
20) Frank Cardile, Bolton

LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
2) Jesse Hinze, Farmington
3) Cory Casagrande, Stafford Springs
4) Andrew Hayes, Charlton, Ma
5) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford
6) Dennis Botticello, Suffield
7) Duane Provost, Indian Orchard, Ma
8) David Arute, Tolland
9) Carla Botticello, Manchester
10) Justin Bren, Monson, Ma
11) Joe Nogiec, Bristol
12) Brian Clement, Wethersfield

DARE STOCK (15)
1) Austin Bessette, Stafford Springs
2) Kyle Casagrande, Stafford Springs
3) Albert Saunders, Stafford
4) Monte Gibbs, Killingworth
5) Johnny Walker, Ludlow, Ma
6) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
7) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
8) Norm Sears, Andover
9) Vince Gambacorta, Ellington
10) James Carroll, West Hartford
11) Kelsey Rottino, Willimantic
12) Brandon Michael, Granville, Ma
13) Doug Phelps, New Salem, Ma
14) Gary Spinnato, Jr., Wallingford
15) David Macha, Sr., Columbia

Scott Running