(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway hosted Stafford Weekly Racing on Friday, May 17th with its five weekly divisions plus the remaining 12 laps to be made up from the April 28 SK Light feature. Tyler Chapman was the big winner of the night, winning both the 12-lap completion of the April 28 SK Light feature event as well as the regularly scheduled 20-lap feature. Chapman’s 2 wins tonight gives him 3 wins in 3 SK Light races this season and dating back to the end of 2023, Chapman has now won 5 consecutive points paying SK Light feature events. Other winners on the night were Cory DiMatteo in the SK Modified® feature and Kevin Gambacorta in the Late Model feature with both drivers scoring their second consecutive wins of the 2024 season. R.J. Surdell came home a winner for only the second time in his Stafford career and the win was his first since July 7, 2017. Travis Hydar locked up his second Street Stock win of the 2024 season and in the process became Stafford Speedway’s winningest Street Stock driver in history with 21 career wins, breaking a tie with Kyle Casagrande.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature event, Bryan Narducci led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead with Teddy Hodgdon going wheel to wheel with Austin Beers for second. Keith Rococ was fourth with Andrwe Molleur and Mikey Flynn wheel to wheel for fifth. Several cars including Curt Brainard, Wesley Prucker, John Sandberg, and Cody Rose spun in turn 1 to bring the caution flag out with 2 laps complete.
The restart saw Rose, David Flammia, Jr., and Ethan Durocher all get together on the frontstretch just as the green came out to bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed.
Narducci took the lead on the restart but he would only last one lap in the lead as Rocco streaked by him on lap-4. Molleur was third behind Rocco and Narducci with Steven Chapman and Hodgdon making up the top-5. Narducci went back by Rocco to retake the lead on lap-6 and now Molleur was wheel to wheel with Rocco for second. Chapman was fourth with Mikey Flynn up to fifth. Rocco went back by Narducci on lap-9 to retake the lead but Narducci made a cross over move on lap-10 and had the lead by half a car length over Rocco at the line to complete lap-10. Rocco settled into second behind Narducci on lap-11 with Molleur, Flynn, and Chapman making up the top-5.
The lead swapping continue as Rocco took the lead on lap-15 but Narducci again made a cross over move to take the lead on lap-16. Molleur was still third with Flynn fourth and Chapman fifth. At the halfway point of the race it was Narducci followed by Rocco, Molleur, Flynn, Cory DiMatteo, George Bessette, Jr., Chapman, Marcello Rufrano, Troy Talman, and Austin
Beers. The caution came back out with 21 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Wesley Prucker.
Narducci took the lead back under green while Molleur fended off a strong challenge from Rocco for second. Rocco settled into third with DiMatteo fourth and Bessettefifth. The caution came back out with 23 laps complete for spins going into turn 1 by Brainard, Jon Puleo, and Frank Ruocco.
Narducci again took the lead back under green with Rocco in second. Bessette went wheel to wheel with Molleur for third with DiMatteo in fifth. Bessette took second and with 10 laps to go, he was glued to the back bumper of Narducci fighting for the lead. RJ Marcotte brought the yellow flag back out with a spin in turn 2 with 30 laps complete.
Narducci was back in the lead with Bessette and DiMatteo behind him on the restart but the caution came back out with 31 laps complete as Todd Owen, Chapman, Hodgdon, Michael Gervais, Jr., and Michael Christopher, Jr. were all involved in a spin in the middle of the backstretch.
On the restart, Dimatteo nearly went 3-wide with Narudcci and Bessette but Narducci was able to maintain the lead. DiMatteo made his move on the next lap, going to the lead on lap-33. Troy Talman charged his way into the lead on lap-34 with DiMatteo fading back to second. Narducci was third with Bessette fourth, Molleur fifth, and Rocco sixth. The caution flag came back out with 36 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Gervais.
Talman took the lead on the restart with DiMatteo in second. Narducci and Bessette were racing wheel to wheel for third with Rufrano taking fifth. DiMatteo pulled alongside Talman on lap-38 and he completed his pass on lap-39. Talman gave DiMatteo a tap to his back bumper in turn 3 but DiMatteo was able to hold on and drive to the checkered flag to pick up his second consecutive win. Talman finished second with Molleur, Rocco, and Rufrano rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Alexandra and Tom Fearn led the field to the green with Alexandra setting the early pace. Tom Fearn slotted into second with Andrew Durand third, Bobby Stirk, III fourth, and Chris Meyer fifth. Tom Butler took to the outside lane to try to get around Meyer for fifth but he couldn’t make the pass and fell back a spot where contact with Wayne Coury, Jr. sent Butler into the turn 3 wall and brought the caution flag out with 5 laps complete. Coury was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Butler.
Alexandra took the lead ahead of Tom back under green with Meyer moving into third. Kevin Gambacorta was on the charge as Tom Fearn started to slide backwards. Durand took the lead from Alexandra on lap-10 with Meyer taking second, Kevin Gambacorta third, and Al Saunders fourth on lap-11 as Fearn fell back to fifth in line. Stirk and Alexandra Fearn spun together in the middle of turns 1+2 to bring the caution back out with 13 laps complete.
Durand took the lead back under green with Gambacorta taking second and immediately starting to apply heavy pressure. Gambacorta was able to take the lead on lap-17 with Paul Varricchio, Jr. now up to third behind Gambacorta and Durand. Al Saunders was fourth in line with Meyer in fifth. Kevin Cormier spun coming out of turn 2 and Josh Wood spun to avoid hitting Cormier, which brought the caution back out with 19 laps complete.
Gambacorta took the lead on the restart with Varricchio taking over second. Durand was third with Meyer fourth and Cliff Saunders got around his twin brother Al to move into fifth place. Meyer was able to pull alongside Durand on lap-23 and he took third on lap-24. Meyer’s move allowed Cliff and Al Saunders to take fourth and fifth on lap-25 as Durand fell back to sixth.
With 5 laps to go, Gambacorta and Varricchio were starting to stretch out their advantage over Meyer in third with Varricchio looking high and low for a way to get around Gambacorta and move into the lead. Varricchio couldn’t get close enough to Gambacorta to make a move as Gambacorta nailed down his second consecutive feature win. Meyer finished third with Cliff and Al Saunders rounding out the top-5.
In the SK Light feature that was resumed from lap-9 on April 28, Tyler Chapman and Meghan Fuller led the field to the green with Chapman taking the lead followed by Nickolas Hovey. Alexander Pearl took third with Brian Sullivan going wheel to wheel with Fuller for fourth before the caution came out with 9 laps complete for a spin coming out of turn 4 by Wade Gagnerk
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Chapman took the lead back under green with Hovey in second. Sullivan worked his way up to third with Chris Matthews taking fourth and Pearl fifth. Fuller was sixth followed by Chris Viens, Tyler Alkas, Paul Arute, and Matt Brewer. Fuller made a move to the inside of Hovey to take over fifth place on lap-16 as Sullivan had taken second with Matthews third and Pearl fourth while Tyler Chapman continued to lead the race
Sullivan couldn’t get close enough to Chapman to make a bid for the lead as Chapman took down his second consecutive feature victory. Matthews finished third with Pearl and Fuller rounding out the top-5.
In the regularly scheduled 20-lap SK Light feature event, Peter Bennett went from third to the lead on the opening lap with Meghan Fuller taking second behind him. Chris Viens took third with Frank L’Etoile, Jr. falling from pole position back to fourth, just in front of Nickolas Hovey. Joey Ferrigno and Matt Brewer came together at the end of the backstretch and spun to bring the caution flag out with 2 laps complete.
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The restart saw Tyler Alkas hit the turn 2 wall to bring the yellow flag right back out. Fuller took the lead on the next restart with Chris Matthews going wheel to wheel with Peter Bennett for second. Matthews took second on lap-6 with Bennett taking third. Anglace was fourth in line with Hovey in fifth. The caution came back out with 6 laps complete for a spin in turn 3 by Mike Parolo.
Fuller and Matthews went wheel to wheel for the lead back under green with Anglace and Bennett wheel to wheel for third. Hovey spun in turn 2 and collected the car of Alexander Pearl as well as Ed Chicoski, Mark Massirio, Paul Arcari, and Anglace to bring the caution flag back out with 8 laps complete
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Matthews took the lead on the restart with Brian Sullivan moving up to second. Tyler Chapman was up to third with Fuller in fourth and Amanda West was now up to fifth. Chapman took second place from Sullivan on lap-13 after a lap of side by side dueling with Fuller and West sill behind them and Matthews out in front.
With 3 laps to go, Chapman was hounding Matthews for the lead, looking high and low for a way to make a pass. Matthews drifted up the track just enough in turn 1 on the final lap to allow Chapman to get alongside. As the cars raced down the backstretch and into turn 3, Chapman took the lead with Matthews slotting into line behind him. Matthews couldn’t make a move coming to the checkered flag as Tyler Chapman collected his second win of the night and his third win in as many SK Light races this season. Stretching back to the end of the 2023 season, Chapman has now won 5 consecutive SK Light points paying feature events. Matthews finished second with Sullivan, Fuller, and West rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, the caution came out at the start as several cars got bottlenecked together with Rich Hammann going around in turn 1 after the caution came out. RJ Surdell took the early lead on the restart with Gary Patnode taking second behind Surdell. Hammann was third with Matthew Winter, II in fourth and Adrien Paradis, III fifth. The caution came back out with 4 laps complete as Devon Jencik’s car had a flash fire as his car appeared to lose the engine coming out of turn 2 that quickly went out by itself
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Surdell and Patnode went door to door for the race lead back under green with Surdell taking the lead after a full lap of side by side racing. Winter moved into third with Hammann fourth and Mike Hopkins up to fifth. Paradis was sixth followed by Matt Clement, Jeremy Lavoie, Kyle Theriault, and Samantha Dell. The caution came back out with 8 laps complete as Patnode, Hammann, and Hopkins all spun in the middle of turns 1+2. Winter was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Patnode.
The field completed one lap on the restart before the caution came back out for spins in turn 3 by Hopkins and Dana Wray. Surdell again took the lead back under green with Paradis moving into second. Matt Clement moved into third with Lavoie taking fourth and Theriault fifth. Winter went by Theriault on lap-12 to move into fifth while Surdell continued to hold the race lead. Darryl Vertefeuille spun in turn 1 to bring the caution flag back out with 16 laps complete
Surdell took the lead on the restart with Clement getting by Paradis to move into second. Hamman was fourth but he got loose in turn on lap-18 and spun to fall to the rear of the field. Hammann was able to continue on so the race stayed green with Surdell leading Clement and Paradis. Surdell led Clement to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2024 season. Clement finished second with Paradis, Winter, and Hopkins rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature event, Chris Danielczuk and Marvin Minkler brought the field to green with Danielczuk taking the early lead. Bert Ouellette moved into second with Jeff Asselin taking third. Minkler fell back into a door to door battle with Jason Raymond for fourth place. Jason Lafayette went by Minkler to move into fourth on lap-4 and that move allowed Ryan Waterman to follow him by and take fifth. Up front, Ouellete took over the race lead from Danielczuk on lap-6 while Waterman moved into fourth and Hydar took fifth on lap-6 as Lafayette fell back to seventh place behind Tyler Trott.
Asselin went by Danielczuk on lap-8 to move into second and that brought Waterman up to third, Hydar to fourth and Trott to fifth as Asselin fell back to sixth. Ouellette was stretching out his lead while all the position swapping was going on behind him. Waterman continued to charge towards the front as he took second from Asselin on lap-9 and brought Hydar into third as Asselin fell back to fourth. Waterman and Hydar were eating into Ouellette’s advantage when the caution flag came out with 12 laps complete for a spin in turn 3 by Brandon Warren.
Ouellette and Waterman went door to door for a lap for the lead with Ouellette coming out with the lead on lap014. Hydar took second from Waterman with Trott in fourth and Asselin in fifth. Hydar made a move to the inside of Ouellette on lap-16 to move into the lead. Waterman followed him past Ouellette on lap-17 to take second and drop Ouellette back to third. Trott was still fourth with Asselin in fifth. The caution came back out with 17 laps complete for a spin in turn 1 by Danielczuk.
Matt Martel spun in turn 1 on the restart but he was able to get his car moving and the race stayed green with Hydar and Waterman door to door for the race lead. Ouellette was third with Asselin fourth and Trott fifth. Hydar and Waterman ran the final 3 laps door to door for the lead and coming out of turn 4 to the checkered flag, Waterman got loose and slid back to fifth at the line as Hydar took down his first Street Stock feature victory of the 2024 season. In the process, Hydar broke a tie with Kyle Casagrande to become the winningest driver in Stafford Street Stock history with 21 career wins. Ouellette finished second with Asselin, Trott, and Waterman rounding out the top-5.
For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at w
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