(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway’s Limited Late Model division took center stage on Friday, June 9 with their lone extra distance feature event of the 2023 season, the Riley Generators 30. Jeremy Lavoie was the big winner of the night, taking his first win of the season in the extra distance event. Marcello Rufrano held off a determined Jimmy Blewett in a thrilling duel to win his first SK Modified® race of the 2023 season and Andrew Durand took home his first win of the 2023 season in the Late Model feature event. Both Brian Sullivan and Ryan Waterman scored their third wins of the 2023 season in only 4 races in the SK Light and Street Stock divisions respectively.
In the 30-lap Riley Generators Limited Late Model feature event, Devon Jencik led the field to the green and he took the lead but before a lap could be completed, the caution came out for Scott Clement, who backed into the turn 3 wall.
Jencik took the lead on the restart with Gary Patnode and Damian Palardy behind him. Rich Hammann took fourth on lap-3 and Adrien Paradis, III was fifth in line. Kevin Cormier was sixth with Matt Clement right on his back bumper in seventh with Jeremy Lavoie eighth. The caution came back out with 7 laps complete for Brian Norman, who came to a stop on the backstretch.
The field completed one lap back under green with Jencik leading Hammann before the caution came back out for Matt Clement, who spun coming out of turn 4.
Jencik and Cormier again led the field on the restart but only completed two more laps before the caution came back out for Kevin Crosby, who spun on the backstretch coming out of turn 2.
Cormier nearly took the lead from Jencik on the restart but he settled back into second place. Hammann was third with Damian Palardy fourth and Patnode fifth. Matt Clement was sixth with Paradis seventh, Lavoie eighth, Connor Jencik ninth and Matthew Winter, II tenth. Paradis and Matt Clement touched on lap-11 with Clement nearly spinning but he was able to save his car and fell back one position to seventh behind Paradis. Crosby spun in turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 16 laps complete.
Jencik took the lead ahead of Hammann, Cormier, Matt Clement, and Lavoie before the caution came back out with 18 laps complete for Patnode and Palardy, whose cars became stuck together going down the backstretch.
Matt Clement spun and hit the turn 2 wall on the restart to bring the caution right back out. Jencik took the lead on the next restart but the caution came back out for spins in turn 3 by Patnode, Scott Clement, and Samantha Dell.
Jencik again took the lead on the restart with Hammann in second. Lavoie came up to third with Paradis in fourth and Palardy holding off Matt Clement for fifth. Hammann was glued to the back bumper of Jencik and on lap-28 Jencik got loose in turn 2 and went into the turn 2 wall to bring the caution out with 27 laps complete. Under the caution, Hammann developed a flat right front tire and he came to pit road done for the evening. Hammann’s misfortune, combined with Jencik, put Lavoie into the lead with Paradis to his outside for a 3-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Lavoie took the lead on the restart with Matt Clement taking second from Paradis. Palardy was fourth in line with Cormier fifth. Connor Jencik spun in turn 4 to bring the caution back out with 28 laps complete and set up a green white checkered finish.
Lavoie took the lead with Paradis taking second back from Matt Clement. Cormier worked his way up to fourth with Palardy in fifth. Lavoie led Paradis and Matt Clement to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2023 season. Cormier finished fourth with Palardy rounding out the top-5.
Riley Generators 30 Limited Late Model Feature Finish
Limited Late Model Points Standings
In the 40-lap SK Modified® event, Steven Chapman led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead. Troy Talman was lined up behind him in second and the field only completed one lap before the caution flew for spins in turn by Wesley Prucker and Anthony Bello.
Talman powered his way into the lead on the restart with Marcello Rufrano coming up to second. Chapman was third with Michael Gervais, Jr. fourth and Michael Christopher, Jr. fifth. The caution came back out with 2 laps complete for Jon Puleo, who came to a stop at the exit of turn 2 up against the retaining wall.
Talman and Rufrano went wheel to wheel for the lead back under green with Rufrano taking the lead on lap-4. Talman settled into second with Christopher third, Jimmy Blewett fourth, and Keith Rocco fifth. Christopher made a move to the inside of Talman and he took over second place on lap-5. Blewett was now trying to take third from Talman on lap-6 and he made the pass on lap-7. Rocco followed Blewett by to move into fourth and drop Talman back to sixth as Cory DiMatteo took fifth.
With 15 laps complete it was still Rufrano in the lead followed by Blewett, Rocco, DiMatteo, Christopher, Gervais, Noah Korner, Mikey Flynn, David Arute, and Tyler Hines. The caution came back out with 21 laps complete for Prucker, who spun coming out of turn 4.
Talman spun on the restart in turn 2 to bring the caution right back out. The caution came right back out on the restart as Prucker, Talman, John Sandberg, and Tyler Leary all spun in turn 3.
Rufrano took the lead back under green with Rocco and Blewett going wheel to wheel for second. DiMatteo was fourth in line with Christopher and Gervais wheel to wheel for fifth Rocco cleared Blewett on lap-24 as Blewett got very sideways in turn 4 but managed to only fall back to third behind Rufrano and Rocco. DiMatteo was fourth behind Blewett and Mikey Flynn got around Christopher for fifth. The caution came back out with 26 laps complete as Christopher took a hard hit into the turn 4 wall.
Rufrano took the lead on the restart with Blewett almost taking the lead back from Rufrano in turn 3 before settling back into second. Rocco was third in line with DiMatteo and Hines behind him. Flynn was sixth with Stephen Kopcik and Korner wheel to wheel for seventh, Todd Owen ninth, and Gervais tenth. Blewett took the lead from Rufrano on lap-31 but Rufrano came back strong on lap-35 to take the lead by a nose at the line. Rufrano cleared Blewett on lap-36 but Blewett worked his way back to the inside of Rufrano on lap-38 and he moved back to the front of the field. The caution flew with 37 laps complete for spins in turn 4 by Talman and Teddy Hodgdon, which collected the car of Arute.
DiMatteo got a great run on the restart to work his way alongside Rufrano but he settled back into second place behind Rufrano with Blewett in third. Blewett quickly retook second and he gave Rufrano a shot to the back bumper going into turn 3 on the final lap but Rufrano was able to hold on and fend off Blewett to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2023 season. DiMatteo finished third with Hines and Kopcik rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Alexandra Fearn took the lead at the green and she set the early pace. Tom Butler worked his way around Duane Noll on lap-2 to move into second with Noll slotting into third. John Blake took fourth on lap-3 and Zack Robinson took fifth as Darrell Keane slid from fourth back to sixth.
Blake made a move to the inside of Noll on lap-7 to move into third and his pass opened the door for Robinson to take fourth, Andrew Durand fifth, Keane sixth, Michael Wray seventh, Tom Fearn eighth, Adam Gray ninth and Wayne Coury, Jr. tenth as Noll was sliding backwards in the outside lane while Alexandra Fearn continued to lead the race with Tom Butler right behind her in second. The caution came out with 9 laps complete for Tom Fearn, who spun coming out of turn 4.
Butler powered his way into the lead on the restart but the caution flew for a spin in turn 3 by John Blake, which collected the car of Paul Varricchio.
Alexandra Fearn took the lead back under green with Durand taking second behind her. Coury and Robinson were dueling door to door for third with Kevin Gambacorta in fifth. Coury took third on lap-14 and that allowed Gambacorta to follow him by Robinson and take fourth while dropping Robinson back to fifth. Tom Fearn pulled off the track on lap-16 with smoke pouring from underneath his car. Noll came to a stop on the backstretch after a spin coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution back out with 17 laps complete.
On the restart Durand powered his way into the lead with Alexandra Fearn slotting into second. Coury was still third in the order with Gambacorta fourth and Robinson fifth. Just behind Robinson in sixth was Ryan Fearn who had Keane, Chris Meyer, Adam Gray, and Jacob Perry lined up behind him. With 5 laps to go, Durand was still in command with Alexandra Fearn lined up right behind him. Coury and Gambacorta were right behind Alexandra Fearn to make a four car train for the lead with Robinson and Ryan Fearn in fifth and sixth. Durand led Alexandra Fearn to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2023 season. Coury finished third with Gambacorta and Robinson rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light feature event, the caution came out right away as Hailey Desaulniers, Paul Arcari, and Anthony Forino all got into the wall on the backstretch.
Tyler Alkas took the early lead with Bob Charland behind him in second. Zack Aszklar and Tyler Chapman were dueling wheel to wheel for third when the caution came back out with 2 laps complete for Sami Anderson, who slowly came to a stop on the frontstretch.
Charland powered his way into the lead on the restart with Tyler Chapman following in his tire tracks in the outside lane to move up to second. Chris Matthews was up to third with George Bessette, Jr. in fourth and Alkas back to fifth. Chapman spun in turn 2 on lap-6 to bring the caution back out.
Charland took the lead back under green with Matthews taking second. Zach Aszklar worked his way up to third with Nickolas Hovey taking fourth and Nick Anglace fifth. Anglace took fourth from Hovey on lap-9 and he began to immediately apply heavy pressure to Aszklar for third place. Aszklar was able to fend off Anglace’s challenges and he took second from Matthews on lap-14. Anglace was looking to follow Aszklar by Matthews when the caution came back out for a multi-car incident in turn 4 involving Matt Brewer, Jason Chapman, David Webb, Brandon Michael, and Paul Arute.
A chain reaction accident on the restart involving Wade Gagner, Daltin McCarthy, Casey Vogt, and Meghan Fuller brought the caution flag right back out. The next restart saw another multi-car accident on the backstretch that caught up the cars of Tyler Chapman, Tyler Barry, Brandon Michael, Norm Sears, and several others.
Charland took the lead back under green with Brian Sullivan going wheel to wheel with Anglace for second. Cassandra Cole moved up to fourth with Bessette in fifth. Bessette took fourth on lap-18 and he pulled alongside Anglace for third on lap-19 while Sullivan and Charland were wheel to wheel for the lead. Sullivan inched into the lead coming through turns 3+4 on the final lap with Bessette coming on strong on his outside. Sullivan beat Bessette to the checkered flag by a car length to secure his third win of the 2023 season in 4 races. Charland finished third with Anglace and Pearl rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, Bill Cote took the early lead at the drop of the green flag with Travis Downey settling into second place. Jeff Asselin was third in line followed by Tyler Trott, who quickly moved from seventh to fourth and Johnny Walker in fifth. The caution came out with 2 laps complete for a spin in turn 1 by Jason Finkbein.
Downey powered his way by Cote on the restart to take over the race lead. Ryan Waterman moved up to second with Trott third, Cote fourth, and Walker fifth. The caution came back out with 6 laps complete for a spin in turn 1 by Jason Raymond.
Cote did a 360 spin in turn 1 on the restart but kept going and the race stayed green with Downey holding the lead but Waterman took the lead from Downey on lap-8. Walker was up to third with Trott back to fourth and Jason Lafayette now in fifth place. Walker went by Downey on ap-9 to take over second and he brought Trott and Lafayette by to drop Downey from second back to fifth place as Waterman continued to lead.
Lafayette made a move to get by Trott on lap-14 to move into third and he brought Downey with him up to fourth as Trott fell from third back to fifth with Waterman and Walker holding down the top two spots. Walker couldn’t get close enough to Waterman as Waterman took down his third win in four races this season. Lafayette finished third with Downey and Jeff Asselin rounding out the top-5 after Trott pulled off the track in the closing laps with a mechanical issue.
In the Kids Big Wheel race, it was Joey Davenport taking the checkered flag in a field of 20 kids.
For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
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