07/30/10 - Stafford Speedway

[RGeeProductions]

FRANK RUOCCO WINS 7TH ANNUAL CARQUEST SK 150 AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY

Stafford Speedway returned to racing action with the richest SK Modified®
race of the 2010 season, the 7th Annual CARQUEST SK 150. Frank Ruocco had
two early spins, but came storming back through the field to take his second
consecutive victory in the extra distance classic.

Woody Pitkat took his fifth victory of the 2010 season in the 30-lap Late
Model feature, Tommy Barrett, Jr. picked up his third consecutive and fifth
win of the 2010 season in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature, Rob Dow
scored his second consecutive victory in the 20-lap Limited Late Model
feature event, and Jeff Jolly and Josh Wood were the winners of the 15-lap
DARE Stock feature events.

In the 7th Annual CARQUEST SK 150 feature, Eric Berndt took the lead from
the pole and set the early pace ahead of Sean Foster, Chris Jones, Jeff
Malave, Woody Pitkat, and Dan Avery. Jones and Malave moved past Foster to
drop him from second back to fourth in the running order while Berndt
continued to lead. Ryan Preece spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow out on
lap-10.

The race went back to green on lap-13 with Berndt continuing to hold the
lead. Jones was second with Frank Ruocco, Malave, and Zach Sylvester making
up the top-5. Woody Pitkat, Keith Rocco, Sean Foster, Ted Christopher, and
Avery made up the back half of the top-10.

On lap-22, Ruocco made a move to the inside of Jones for second, but he got
loose and nearly spun, dropping him back to 20th place in the running order
and allowing Berndt to open up his lead over Jones, who continued to run
second.

The top-5 positions began to change hands on lap-32 as Rocco moved past
Sylvester for fourth place and Malave went by Jones for second on lap-35.
Berndt continued to hold the race lead with nearly a full straightaway lead
over Malave.

Frank Ruocco and Nichole Morgillo spun in turn 4 on lap-42 to bring the
caution out and erase Berndt’s lead over Malave and the rest of the field.
Under caution, Pitkat came to pit road and his crew went to work under the
hood of his racecar before sending him back out onto the track.

The race went back to green on lap-50 with Berndt in command of the race,
but Malave was all over Berndt’s back bumper. Malave made move to the
inside of Berndt on lap-53 to take over the race lead. Rocco followed suit,
getting to the inside of Berndt for second on lap-55. Ted Christopher then
moved himself by Berndt on lap-56 for the third position. Berndt settled
into line in fourth place with Jones behind him in fifth. Mark Bakaj spun
in turn 4 on lap-57 to bring the caution out. Ruocco, who had the earlier
spin with Morgillo, was the lucky dog and was able to get himself back on
the lead lap for the restart.

Malave and Rocco went side by side for the lead on the restart with
Christopher nearly making it three-wide. Christopher went by Malave for the
lead and as he made the move for the lead, Rocco went around in turn 4 and
the whole field scrambled behind him to avoid Rocco and the caution came
out, putting Malave back out front. Rocco made several stops under the
caution and restarted at the rear of the field.

Malave led the field back under green on the lap-67 restart with
Christopher, Berndt, Jeff Baral, and Donny Travaglin making up the top-5.
Running sixth through tenth was Ryan Preece, Curt Brainard, Kurt Lenahan,
Ruocco, and Pitkat.

Christopher was working Malave over and he was able to move to the front of
the field on lap-73, passing Malave in turns 1+2. Malave made contact with
Christopher on lap-74 in turn 2, which sent Christopher around and Malave
was sent to the rear of the field by officials for rough riding. This put
Berndt and Baral on the front row for the restart with Preece and Travaglin
lined up behind them.

Berndt took the lead on the lap-78 restart with Preece, Ruocco, Baral, and
Travaglin settling into line behind him. Pitkat, Curt Brainard, Todd Owen,
Zach Sylvester, and Tom Bolles made up the remainder of the top-10. Preece
moved by Berndt on lap-81 to take over the race lead. Ruocco ran behind
Berndt until lap-87 when he took over second. Ruocco’s move opened the door
for Baral to follow him past Berndt, dropping him back to fourth place.
At lap-90, Ted Christopher was back into tenth place and the caution came
out for Mark Bakaj, who brushed the wall coming out of turn 4 and spun to
the infield.

Preece streaked into the lead on the lap-95 restart with Ruocco settling
into line right behind him. Baral was third, with Berndt foruth and Pitakt
fifth. On lap-97, Ruocco completed his run back to the front of the field
after his earlier spin as he took the lead from Preece.

At the lap-100 mark the top-10 running order was Ruocco, Preece, Baral,
Pitakt, Travaglin, Brainard, Christopher, Malave, Berndt, and Sylvester. On
lap-102, Christopher and Brainard touched wheels coming out of turn 4 which
collected the cars of Rocco, Bolles, Sylvester, and Owen, which brought the
yellow back out.

The race went back to green on lap-110 with Preece powering to the outside
of Ruocco to move back to the head of the field. Baral was third, with
Pitakt, Travaglin and Rocco behind him. John Montesanto came to a stop in
turn 3 on lap-113 to bring the yellow out.

Preece kept the lead back under green with Baral getting by Ruocco for
second, but Sean Foster went around in turn 3 on lap-120 to bring the
caution back out. Preece got the jump on the restart, but Ruocco made a
move to the inside of Preece in turn 3 to move to the front with 25 laps to
go. Rocco was now back up to third place with Baral fourth and Pitakt
fifth.

With 10 laps to go it was still Ruocco out front with Preece giving Ruocco
all he could handle in a duel for the lead. Ruocco and Preece’s duel
allowed Rocco and Bararl to close in and make it a four-car fight to the
finish. Preece lined up one final charge to the outside of Ruocco on the
final lap, but he couldn’t muster enough momentum to get by and Ruocco
scored his second consecutive CARQUEST SK 150 feature victory. Rounding out
the top-5 behind Ruocco and Preece was Rocco, Baral, and Pitkat.

In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Tom Fearn took the early lead with
Woody Pitkat moving into second. Adam Gray fell back to third, with Mark
St. Hilaire and Scott Cook making up the top-5. Fearn held the lead until
lap-7 when Pitkat made a pass in turn 2. The cars of John Kasper and Tony
Lafo got hooked together and brought the caution out with 8 laps complete.

On the restart, Gray didn’t get up to speed right away and he shot through
the infield grass and rejoined at the rear of the field. Pitkat charged
into the lead and began to pull away from St. Hilaire, who moved around
Fearn to take second. Fearn fell back to fourth as Corey Hutchings was also
able to get by with Cook, and Keith Rocco rounding out the top-6 before the
caution came back out with 11 laps complete for a spin by Tracy Brouillette
in turn 2.

Don Acker, Jr. went around in turn 1 on the restart to bring the yellow back
out. The field completed one lap before the caution came back out for a
spin by Jim Peterson and Tom Butler in turn 2.

Pitkat bolted into the lead on the restart with Cook moving by Hutchings for
second. Michael Bennett and Ryan Posocco were also able to get around
Hutchings before the two cars touched with Bennett sliding backwards into
the turn 3 wall to bring the caution out. The field completed one lap
before the caution came back out for a spin by Walt Wosko, Jr. in turn 3.
Pitkat took the lead on the restart as Cook didn’t quite come up to speed
and he fell back with Posocco, J.J. Hill, Keith Rocco, and Fearn all moving
by Cook. Tom Butler spun in turn with 20 laps complete to bring the yellow
back out.

Pitkat again took the lead back under green with Hill getting by Posocco for
second. Hill’s pass on Posocco opened the door for Rocco to follow him past
Posocco, dropping Posocco from second back to fourth place. Rocco then
moved by Hill for second and brought Posocco with him, dropping Hill from
second back to fourth. Meanwhile, Pitkat was pulling away while the
position swapping was going on behind him and he cruised to his fifth
victory of the 2010 season. Rocco finished second with Posocco, Hill, and
Peterson rounding out the top-5.

In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Jay Goff took the early lead
with Kyle Spencer and Heather DesRcohers side by side behind him for second
place. DesRochers got clear of Spencer on lap-3 and took second. Goff spun
from the lead on lap-4 but was able to keep going and the race stayed green
with DesRochers taking over the lead. The car of Tommy Barrett, Jr. was on
the move, going from 14th at the start to third place behind DesRochers and
Spencer. The caution then came out as Earl Pelletier spun in turn 4 and
collected the car of Zach Aszklar. Under the caution, Joey Cipriano brought
his car to pit road with damage to his right side nerf bar and he was
finished for the evening.

On the restart, Spencer went around DesRochers in the high groove to take
over the lead. Coming off turn 4, Ted Cain and Victoria Bergenty spun to
the infield grass and as Bergenty was going around, Steve Greer was
collected and had damage to his right front tire to bring the caution out.
The outside groove prevailed again on the restart as DesRochers went by
Spencer to retake the lead. Barrett was glued to the back bumper of
DesRochers and he made the move to the inside of DesRochers on lap-7 to move
to the front of the pack. Spencer was third, with Matt Galko and Dylan
Liseo making up the top-5. Harry Wheeler went around in turn 4 to bring the
yellow out with 10 laps complete.

(continued)

[RGeeProductions]

On the restart, there was a multicar spin involving Todd Clark, Shayne
Prucker, and John Hanafin to bring the yellow flag back out. Barrett took
the lead back under green and began to pull away from the field. DesRochers
was second with Spencer glued to her back bumper in third. Galko and
Pelletier were side by side for the fourth position.

Galko would bet the better of Pelletier for foruth and he quickly moved by
Spencer for third and was applying pressure to DesRochers for second.
Barrett was in a league of his own and he streaked to his fifth win of the
season with DesRochers holding off Galko for second. Spencer spun on the
final corner of the race, which allowed Pelletier to come home in fourth and
David Webb was fifth.

In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Duane Provost took the early
lead and led the first two laps of the race before the caution came out.
Back under green Kevin Gambacorta made a move to take over the lead. Rob
Dow followed him into second with Jesse Hinze, Dave Yardley, and Provost
behind him. The caution came out with 6 laps complete for Provost and Carla
Botticello, who spun in turn 4.

Gambacorta took the lead again on the restart, but one lap later saw Dow
move by Gambacota to take over the race lead. Yardley was still third, with
Hinze and Dan Flannery making up the top-5. At the halfway point of the
race, Flannery did a 360 in turn 1 but was able to keep moving and the race
stayed green.

Dow was still the race leader, with Gambacorta, Yardley, Durand, and Shawn
Thibeault giving chase. Dow led the rest of the way as the top-5 remained
in line over the final 10 laps of the race with Dow taking down his second
consecutive feature win of the 2010 season.

In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event that was made up from July 16th,
Stephanie Berardi took the early lead and set the pace ahead of Vince
Gambacorta, Cliff Saunders, Donald Cook, and Jeff Jolly. Jolly quickly
worked his way through traffic and was into the race lead by the halfway
point of the race.

With Jolly in the lead, Andrew Hayes moved his way to second, with Tony
Membrino, Jr., Josh Wood, and Albert Saunders behind him. Jolly went
unchallenged to the checkered flag to record his second feature victory of
the 2010 season.

In the regularly scheduled 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Stephanie
Berardi led the field to the green and took the early lead with Cliff
Saunders, Josh Wood, Vince Gambacorta, and Kyle Casagrande behind her.
Berardi led the first 3 laps before Josh Wood moved to the front on lap-4.
Kaitlyn Brice brought the caution out with 4 laps complete with a spin in
turn 2.

Back under green Wood took the lead with Kyle Casagrande moving into second.
Kyle’s brother Cory Casagrande worked his way into third place behind his
brother with Albert Saunders fourth and Gambacorta fifth. This was the
running order when Don Cook lost an engine with 9 laps complete to bring the
caution out.

Wood maintained the race lead back under green with Kyle and Cory
Casagrande, Albert Saunders, and Jeff Jolly making up the top-5 behind him.
Wood held Casagrande off over the final 6 laps to take his second win of the
2010 season. Kyle Casagrande, Cory Casagrande, Albert Saunders, and Jolly
rounded out the top-5 at the checkered flag.

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® (150)
1) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire
2) Ryan Preece, Berlin
3) Keith Rocco, Meriden
4) Jeff Baral, Enfield
5) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
6) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon
7) Donny Travaglin, Winsted
8) Dan Avery, Somers
9) Todd Owen, Somers
10) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury
11) Kurt Lenahan, Roxbury
12) Adam Skowyra, Brimfield, Ma
13) Sean Foster, Ellington
14) Joe Allegro, Jr., Vernon
15) Eric Berndt, Cromwell
16) Ted Christopher, Plainville
17) Curt Brainard, Canton
18) Chris Jensen, Wolcott
19) John Montesanto, North Branford
20) Chris Jones, New Milford
21) Tom Bolles, Ellington
22) Jeff Malave, Manchester
23) Mark Bakaj, Lebanon
24) Nichole Morgillo, Wallingford
25) Bo Gunning, Bethlehem
26) Raymond Grassetti, Monson, Ma
27) Josh Sylvester, Lebanon

LATE MODEL (30)
1) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
2) Keith Rocco, Meriden
3) Ryan Posocco, Stafford Springs
4) J.J. Hill, Stafford Springs
5) Jim Peterson, Monson, Ma
6) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
7) Corey Hutchings, Salem
8) Wayne Coury, Jr., Milford
9) Jim Mavlouganes, Bethany
10) Ed Ricard, Stafford Springs
11) Adam Gray, Belchertown, Ma
12) Tony Lafo, Higganum
13) Patrick Townsend, Springifeld, Ma
14) Mark St. Hilaire, Berlin
15) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
16) Dave Wray, Meriden
17) Don Acker, Jr., Orange
18) Tim Fogg, Stafford Springs
19) Sylvia Crunden, West Hartford
20) Walt Wosko, Jr., West Suffield
21) Scott Cook, Uncasville
22) Michael Bennett, Stafford Springs
23) John Kasper, Wilbraham, Ma

SK LIGHT MODIFIED (20)
1) Tommy Barrett, Jr., Millis, Ma
2) Heather DesRochers, Granby, Ma
3) Matt Galko, Meriden
4) Earl Pelletier, Wolcott
5) David Webb, New Milford
6) Frank Cardile, Bolton
7) Jay Goff, Stafford Springs
8) Victoria Bergenty, Plainville
9) Erica Santos, Franklin, Ma
10) Ted Cain, Plymouth
11) Mark Trombetta, Naugatuck
12) Kyle Spencer, Montgomery, Ma
13) Neil Maxted, Bethel
14) John Hanafin, Quincy, Ma
15) Dylan Liseo, East Hartford
16) Shayne Prucker, Stafford Springs
17) Todd Clark, Bristol
18) Harry Wheeler, Stafford Springs
19) Stephen Greer, Harwinton
20) Joey Cipriano, III, Waterbury
21) Zach Aszklar, Wallingford
22) Mike Parolo, Feeding Hills, Ma

LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Rob Dow, Stafford Springs
2) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
3) Dave Yardley, III, Meriden
4) Andrew Durand, Chicopee, Ma
5) Shawn Thibeault, Plainville
6) Michael Wray, Northford
7) Jesse Hinze, Farmington
8) Joe Nogiec, Bristol
9) Norm Sears, Andover
10) Dan Flannery, Ellington
11) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
12) Chris Cook, Pepperell, Ma
13) Duane Provost, Indian Orchard, Ma
14) Jeff Hubbell, Naugatuck
15) Pete Cayer, Bristol
16) Carla Botticello, Manchester
17) Brian Clement, Wethersfield
18) George Nocera, Jr., Plainville
19) Greg Butler, Jr., East Hampton

DARE STOCK FROM 7/16 (15)
1) Jeff Jolly, Wallingford
2) Andrew Hayes, Charlton, Ma
3) Tony Membrino, Jr., Plantsville
4) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
5) Albert Saunders, Stafford
6) James Carroll, West Hartford
7) Paul Arute, Tolland
8) Donald Cook, Agawam, Ma
9) Kelsey Rottino, Willimantic
10) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
11) Kaitlyn Brice, Manchester
12) Joe Mcallister, New Britian
13) Vince Gambacorta, Ellington
14) Stephanie Berardi, Broad Brook
15) Cory Casagrande, Stafford Springs
16) Nick Salva, Prospect
17) Kyle Casagrande, Stafford Springs
18) Stephen Daddio, Seymour

DARE STOCK (15)
1) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
2) Kyle Casagrande, Stafford Springs
3) Cory Casagrande, Stafford Springs
4) Albert Saunders, Stafford
5) Jeff Jolly, Wallingford
6) Tony Membrino, Jr., Plantsville
7) Stephen Daddio, Seymour
8) Vince Gambacorta, Ellington
9) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
10) Donald Cook, Agawam, Ma
11) James Carroll, West Hartford
12) Kelsey Rottino, Willimantic
13) Kaitlyn Brice, Manchester
14) Paul Jensen, East Hampton
15) Stephanie Berardi, Broad Brook
16) Andrew Hayes, Charlton, Ma
17) Nick Salva, Prospect
18) Joe Mcallister, New Britian
19) Paul Arute, Tolland
20) David Macha, Columbia

Scott Running