RGeeProductions
09-16-2016, 11:10 PM
Glen Reen Scores SK Modified®/Late Model Double Feature Wins; Rowan Pennink Clinches SK Modified® Championship at Stafford
Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with The Final Friday Night Shoot-Out, the final Friday night event before the season ending NAPA Fall Final next weekend on October 1-2. It was a banner night for Glen Reen as he scored his first career victories in both the SK Modified® and Late Model feature events. Rowan Pennink finished the SK Modified® feature in 8th place which was good enough to make him the SK Modified® champion for the second consecutive season. Other feature winners were Daniel Wesson in the SK Light feature, Justin Bren in the Limited Late Model feature, Brandon Michael in the DARE Stock feature, and Noah Korner in the Legend Cars feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ronnie Williams took the lead on lap-4 after a side by side duel with Tom Bolles. Tyler Hines was third with Jeff Baral fourth and Eric Berndt fifth. Berndt took fourth from Hines on lap-8 and he brought Woody Pitkat with him up to fifth as Hines fell back to sixth. The caution came out with 8 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Robert Goulet.
Williams took the lead back under green with Baral moving up to second. Pitkat and Bolles were side by side for third with Berndt fifth by himself and Todd Owen and Hines side by side for sixth. Baral had pulled alongside Williams for the lead on lap-11 and the leaders were now side by side 3 deep like a pace lap but that all came to an end as several cars got out of shape coming off turn 4 and the cars of Hines, Michael Gervais, Jr., Mike Christopher, Jr., D.J. Burnham, Stephen Kopcik, Nick Salva, and Matt Galko were all involved in a melee that brought the caution out with 12 laps complete.
Williams and Baral were side by side on the restart, but before they could complete a lap Tommy Membrino, Jr. spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution back out.
Baral had the lead by a nose at the line on the restart but Williams came back and took over the lead on the next lap. Pitkat and Bolles were side by side for third with Berndt in fifth. The two leaders were continuing to run side by side with Baral now back on the inside of Williams. Baral was maintaining the lead at the stripe by less than a car length while Pitkat was now third with Berndt fourth and Keith Rocco was up to fifth on lap-19.
Williams and Baral continued to swap the lead with Williams taking the lead by a nose on lap-20 while Pitkat and Berndt were now side by side for third with Rocco in fifth. The caution came out with 21 laps complete as Payton Henry got into the turn 3 wall and collected the car of Jeff Gallup.
The restart saw the caution come right back out as Burnham’s car came to a stop on the frontstretch. The next restart saw the inside line get bogged down with allowed Glen Reen to move into the lead with Baral in second and Pitkat in third. Williams fell back to fourth with Berndt in fifth behind him. Rocco and Rowan Pennink were side by side for sixth place.
With 10 laps to go, Reen was in command with Baral in second. Pitkat and Williams were side by side for third with Berndt, Rocco, Ted Christopher, and Pennink lined up behind them. Reen was staring to pull away from the train being led by Baral that consisted of Baral, Pitkat, Berndt, Rocco, Williams, Christopher, and Pennink with 5 laps to go.
Reen led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first SK Modified® win of the 2016 season and his second win of the night to go along with his Late Model feature win. Baral finished second with Pitkat, Berndt, and Rocco rounding out the top-5. Pennink finished the race in eighth place which was good enough to make him the 2016 SK Modified® track champion.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, things got started with a bang as some 3-wide action at the front saw Tom Butler and Joel Monahan spin with Wayne Coury, Jr. also involved to bring the caution out before a lap could be completed.
On the restart, turn 3 was the trouble spot once again as Josh Wood and Tyler Leary spun and collected the cars of Butler and Coury to bring the caution back out with 0 laps complete.
Glen Reen streaked into the lead on the restart with Tom Fearn taking second. Michael Wray was third behind Fearn but he took second on lap-3. Butler was fourth with Mike Mordino in fifth.
At the halfway point it was still Reen in command with a comfortable lead over Wray, Fearn, Butler, and Mordino.
Reen ran unchallenged to the checkered flag to record his first career Late Model feature win at Stafford. Wray finished second with Fearn, Butler, and Mordino rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Ryan Charland took the early lead and was setting the pace with Jay Goff, Vinny Anglace, Ted Cain, and Al Wisialko giving chase. Anglace got a good run to the inside of Goff to move into second on lap-6 with Wisialko going around Cain to move into fourth and David Arute followed suit in the outside groove and took over fifth with Wisialko in sixth as Cain backslid to seventh.
Daniel Wesson was on the charge as the race approached the halfway point as he sliced his way by traffic to move into fourth behind Charland, Arute, and Anglace. The top-4 cars were two by two for several laps just like the pace lap before Arute took over the race lead on lap-13 with Wesson moving into second. Anglace was third with Charland fourth and Wisialko was holding off Joey Ferrigno for fifth place.
Wesson was now stalking Arute for the lead and after several close calls Wesson was able to get alongside Arute on lap-18 but just as he got alongside, the caution came out for Carlos Gray, who spun in turn 2. This set the lap count back to 17 and put Arute in the lead with Wesson in second for the 3-lap dash to the finish.
Arute and Wesson ran side by side for the lead with Arute the leader at the line by a nose. As the cars raced through turns 1+2, Wesson and Anglace touched and they lost several spots but the caution was out for a spin in turn 4 by Cain, putting Wesson back in second and Anglace back to third for a green-white-checkered finish.
Wesson streaked into the lead on the restart with Arute in second. Anglace was third with Ferrigno moving into fourth. Wesson led Arute to the checkered flag to pick up his fifth win and second consecutive of the 2016 season. Anglace finished third with Ferrigno and Keith Caruso rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Matt Clement took the early lead while Justin Bren and R.J. Surdell were locked in a door to door duel for second. Bren took second on lap-4 with Jeremy Lavoie now side by side with Surdell for third. Duane Provost was fourth with Al Saunders in fifth.
Provost moved into fourth on lap-6 with Saunders and Bryan Narducci following him through as Surdell began to backslide to 10th place on lap-9. Bren ran Clement down and he was right on his back bumper on lap-13. Bren made a move to the inside of Clement in turn 3 but Clement was still the race leader at the line by a nose. Bren got clear of Clement on lap-15 and now Provost and Narducci were right on Clement’s bumper in third and fourth.
Narducci took third from Clement on lap-17 and Saunders followed him through as Clement fell back to fifth with Bren still leading Provost. Bren led Provost to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2016 season. Narducci finished third with Al Saunders and Cliff Saunders rounding out the top-5.
(continued)
Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action with The Final Friday Night Shoot-Out, the final Friday night event before the season ending NAPA Fall Final next weekend on October 1-2. It was a banner night for Glen Reen as he scored his first career victories in both the SK Modified® and Late Model feature events. Rowan Pennink finished the SK Modified® feature in 8th place which was good enough to make him the SK Modified® champion for the second consecutive season. Other feature winners were Daniel Wesson in the SK Light feature, Justin Bren in the Limited Late Model feature, Brandon Michael in the DARE Stock feature, and Noah Korner in the Legend Cars feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Ronnie Williams took the lead on lap-4 after a side by side duel with Tom Bolles. Tyler Hines was third with Jeff Baral fourth and Eric Berndt fifth. Berndt took fourth from Hines on lap-8 and he brought Woody Pitkat with him up to fifth as Hines fell back to sixth. The caution came out with 8 laps complete for a spin in turn 4 by Robert Goulet.
Williams took the lead back under green with Baral moving up to second. Pitkat and Bolles were side by side for third with Berndt fifth by himself and Todd Owen and Hines side by side for sixth. Baral had pulled alongside Williams for the lead on lap-11 and the leaders were now side by side 3 deep like a pace lap but that all came to an end as several cars got out of shape coming off turn 4 and the cars of Hines, Michael Gervais, Jr., Mike Christopher, Jr., D.J. Burnham, Stephen Kopcik, Nick Salva, and Matt Galko were all involved in a melee that brought the caution out with 12 laps complete.
Williams and Baral were side by side on the restart, but before they could complete a lap Tommy Membrino, Jr. spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution back out.
Baral had the lead by a nose at the line on the restart but Williams came back and took over the lead on the next lap. Pitkat and Bolles were side by side for third with Berndt in fifth. The two leaders were continuing to run side by side with Baral now back on the inside of Williams. Baral was maintaining the lead at the stripe by less than a car length while Pitkat was now third with Berndt fourth and Keith Rocco was up to fifth on lap-19.
Williams and Baral continued to swap the lead with Williams taking the lead by a nose on lap-20 while Pitkat and Berndt were now side by side for third with Rocco in fifth. The caution came out with 21 laps complete as Payton Henry got into the turn 3 wall and collected the car of Jeff Gallup.
The restart saw the caution come right back out as Burnham’s car came to a stop on the frontstretch. The next restart saw the inside line get bogged down with allowed Glen Reen to move into the lead with Baral in second and Pitkat in third. Williams fell back to fourth with Berndt in fifth behind him. Rocco and Rowan Pennink were side by side for sixth place.
With 10 laps to go, Reen was in command with Baral in second. Pitkat and Williams were side by side for third with Berndt, Rocco, Ted Christopher, and Pennink lined up behind them. Reen was staring to pull away from the train being led by Baral that consisted of Baral, Pitkat, Berndt, Rocco, Williams, Christopher, and Pennink with 5 laps to go.
Reen led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first SK Modified® win of the 2016 season and his second win of the night to go along with his Late Model feature win. Baral finished second with Pitkat, Berndt, and Rocco rounding out the top-5. Pennink finished the race in eighth place which was good enough to make him the 2016 SK Modified® track champion.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, things got started with a bang as some 3-wide action at the front saw Tom Butler and Joel Monahan spin with Wayne Coury, Jr. also involved to bring the caution out before a lap could be completed.
On the restart, turn 3 was the trouble spot once again as Josh Wood and Tyler Leary spun and collected the cars of Butler and Coury to bring the caution back out with 0 laps complete.
Glen Reen streaked into the lead on the restart with Tom Fearn taking second. Michael Wray was third behind Fearn but he took second on lap-3. Butler was fourth with Mike Mordino in fifth.
At the halfway point it was still Reen in command with a comfortable lead over Wray, Fearn, Butler, and Mordino.
Reen ran unchallenged to the checkered flag to record his first career Late Model feature win at Stafford. Wray finished second with Fearn, Butler, and Mordino rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Ryan Charland took the early lead and was setting the pace with Jay Goff, Vinny Anglace, Ted Cain, and Al Wisialko giving chase. Anglace got a good run to the inside of Goff to move into second on lap-6 with Wisialko going around Cain to move into fourth and David Arute followed suit in the outside groove and took over fifth with Wisialko in sixth as Cain backslid to seventh.
Daniel Wesson was on the charge as the race approached the halfway point as he sliced his way by traffic to move into fourth behind Charland, Arute, and Anglace. The top-4 cars were two by two for several laps just like the pace lap before Arute took over the race lead on lap-13 with Wesson moving into second. Anglace was third with Charland fourth and Wisialko was holding off Joey Ferrigno for fifth place.
Wesson was now stalking Arute for the lead and after several close calls Wesson was able to get alongside Arute on lap-18 but just as he got alongside, the caution came out for Carlos Gray, who spun in turn 2. This set the lap count back to 17 and put Arute in the lead with Wesson in second for the 3-lap dash to the finish.
Arute and Wesson ran side by side for the lead with Arute the leader at the line by a nose. As the cars raced through turns 1+2, Wesson and Anglace touched and they lost several spots but the caution was out for a spin in turn 4 by Cain, putting Wesson back in second and Anglace back to third for a green-white-checkered finish.
Wesson streaked into the lead on the restart with Arute in second. Anglace was third with Ferrigno moving into fourth. Wesson led Arute to the checkered flag to pick up his fifth win and second consecutive of the 2016 season. Anglace finished third with Ferrigno and Keith Caruso rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Matt Clement took the early lead while Justin Bren and R.J. Surdell were locked in a door to door duel for second. Bren took second on lap-4 with Jeremy Lavoie now side by side with Surdell for third. Duane Provost was fourth with Al Saunders in fifth.
Provost moved into fourth on lap-6 with Saunders and Bryan Narducci following him through as Surdell began to backslide to 10th place on lap-9. Bren ran Clement down and he was right on his back bumper on lap-13. Bren made a move to the inside of Clement in turn 3 but Clement was still the race leader at the line by a nose. Bren got clear of Clement on lap-15 and now Provost and Narducci were right on Clement’s bumper in third and fourth.
Narducci took third from Clement on lap-17 and Saunders followed him through as Clement fell back to fifth with Bren still leading Provost. Bren led Provost to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2016 season. Narducci finished third with Al Saunders and Cliff Saunders rounding out the top-5.
(continued)