Puleo, Gray, Chapman, Hammann, & Hydar Score Sept. 27 Weekly Racing Wins at Stafford; Tyler Chapman Clinches SK Light Track Championship
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway hosted its penultimate Weekly Racing event of the 2024 season on Friday, Sept. 27. Taking down feature wins on the night were Jon Puleo in the SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray in the Late Model feature, Tyler Chapman in the SK Light feature, Rich Hammann in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature. Champan’s SK Light victory, his ninth of the season, enabled him to clinch the 2024 SK Light track championship.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Anthony Flannery led the field to green and he took the early lead but the field was only able to complete one lap before the caution flew for Ethan Durocher, who came to a stop on the frontstretch grass with damage to his right front suspension.
Jon Puleo took the lead on the restart with Keith Rocco moving into second. Marcello Rufrano took third with Flannery sliding back to fourth. Cory DiMatteo went by Flannery on lap-3 to move into fourth and Steven Chapman took fifth as Flannery went back to sixth. Rocco took the lead on lap-4 with Rufrano moving into second right behind him. DiMatteo pulled alongside Puleo for third on lap-6 with Chapman running in fifth. DiMatteo took third on lap-8 with Puleo holding fourth. Troy Talman was all over Chapman for fifth place, but Chapman was able to hold him off.
Rocco lost the lead to Rufrano but he went back to the front on lap-11. DiMatteo was now wheel to wheel with Rufrano for second with Puleo in fourth in a 4-car train for the lead. Talman was fifth and quickly closing in on the lead foursome with Todd Owen, David Arute, George Bessette, Jr., Chapman, and Mikey Flynn making up the top-10.
Rufrano went back by Rocco on lap-17 to take the lead. Noah Korner spun in turn 4 to bring the caution out with 17 laps complete.
The field completed one lap before the caution came right back out for spins in turn 3 by Wesley Prucker and John Sandberg.
Rufrano took the lead on the next restart with Puleo working his way past Rocco on lap-22 to move into second. Talman took third with Rocco fourth and DiMatteo fifth. Puleo was beginning to apply heavy pressure to Rufrano and he took the lead as they completed lap-29. Talman was now up to third behind Puleo and Rufrano with Bessette fourth and Rocco back to fifth, just in front of DiMatteo in sixth.
Puleo was starting to stretch out his advantage while Talman was working Rufrano over for second and he was finally able to make the pass on lap-37. Puleo led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2024 season. Talman finished second with Rufrano, DiMatteo, and Michael Christopher, Jr. rounding out the top-5.
September 27 SK Modified Feature Results
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Chris Buffone took the early lead but the caution flag came out with 2 laps complete as Kevin Gambacorta did a half spin in turn 4.
Buffone again took the lead on the restart with Tom Fearn, Tom Butler, Josh Wood, and Andrew Durand lined up behind him. Butler made a move to take second from Fearn on lap-3 and that opened the door for Wood to take third, Durand fourth, Al Saunders fifth, and Adam gray sixth as Fearn slid back to seventh.
Butler made a move to the inside of Buffone on lap-9 and he took over the race lead. Wood followed him by to take second and drop Buffone back to third, just in front of Durand, Al Saunders, and Gray. As the race hit the halfway point, it was still Butler in the lead with Wood, Buffone, Al Saunders, Gray, Chris Meyer, Paul Varricchio, Jr., Durand, and Bobby Stirk, III lined up behind him. Wood and Buffone touched coming out of turn 4 on lap-19 with Wood taking second and Gray third while Buffone fell back to fourth. Wood spun in turn 4 to bring the caution flag back out with 24 laps complete.
Gray charged into the lead on the restart but only 1 lap was completed before the caution came back out for spins on the frontstretch by Wood and Scott Foster, Jr. Under the caution period, the car of Gambacorta came to a stop in turn 3 and he had to be pushed back to pit road, where his crew went to work on the right side o fhis car.
Gray took the lead back under green with Butler in second. Meyer was third with Darrell Keane fourth and Durand fifth. Durand and Keane got hooked together coming down the frontstretch to complete lap-27 with Durand clipping the car of Cliff Saunders, who spun and collected his brother Al to bring the caution flag back out to set up a 3-lap dash to the finish.
Gray took the lead with Meyer taking second from Butler back under green. Meyer made a move to take the lead but he and Gray touched with both cars drifting up the track and allowing Butler to take over the lead. Gray came right back to the inside of both Butler and Meyer with a 3-wide move to take the lead as the cars hit the white flag. Gray led the cars back around to collect his fifth win of the 2024 season. Stirk finished second with Butler, Meyer, and Keane rounding out the top-5.
September 27 Late Model Feature Results
2024 Late Model Points Standings
In the first 20-lap SK Light feature, Chris Matthews streaked into the lead at the drop of the green flag with Sami Anderson taking second. Chris Viens was third in line with Meghan Fuller and Nick Anglace racing wheel to wheel for fourth place. Cassandra Cole spun coming out of turn 4, which collected several other cars including Bob Charland, Norm Sears, Brandon Michael, Dean Lambros, Casey Vogt, and Nickolas Hovey to bring the caution flag out with 7 laps complete.
Matthews took the lead back under green with Anderson in second. Anglace was third with Tyler Chapman up to fourth and Fuller and Viens dueling side by side for fifth. Chapman took third from Anglace on lap-14 and he went by Anderson on lap-15 to move into second. Viens won the duel with Fuller for fifth with Fuller, Robert Bloxsom, Brian Sullivan, Stephen Kalogiannis, and Amanda West making up the top-10. Aiden D’Agata brought the caution out with 16 laps complete with a spin in turn 2.
Matthews took the lead on the restart but Chapman pulled alongside Matthews as they completed lap-17 and he took the lead on lap-18 but that pass would be negated by the caution flag for spins in turn 2 by Bloxsom and Vogt.
Matthews took the lead on the restart with Chapman taking to the outside lane to try to get around Matthews. Chapman had the lead over Matthews by a nose as they came off turn 4 to the white flag. They continued to run side by side for the final lap with the two cars coming to the checkered flag in a photo finish with Chapman taking the win by inches. Fuller finished third with Anglace and Sullivan rounding out the top-5.
September 27 SK Light Feature Results
2024 SK Light Points Standings
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Rich Hammann led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead. Matt Clement took second with Gary Patnode third. Connor Jencik was fourth with Kevin Cormier fifth when the caution and red flags flew for Kyle Theriault, who took a hard hit into the turn 1 wall.
The caution came right back out on the restart for spins on the backstretch by Kevin Crosby and Matthew Winter, II. Hammann took the lead on the next restart with Devon Jencik moving up to second. Adrien Paradis, III took third with Connor Jencik fourth and Matt Clement fifth.
Clement worked his way back to the inside of Connor Jencik on lap-10 and he retook fourth place. RJ Surdell followed him by to take fifth and drop Connor back to sixth. Hammann led the field to the checkered flag to score a dominating victory, his third win of the 2024 season. Devon Jencik finished second with Paradis, Matt Clement, and Surdell rounding out the top-5.
September 27 Limited Late Model Feature Results
2024 Limited Late Model Points Standings
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, Sean Petlock took the lead at the start of the race and he led the field to complete the first lap. Bert Ouellette took second with Marvin Minkler settling into third after starting from pole position, with Chris Danielczuk fourth, Bill Cote fifth, and Jason Lafayette sixth.
With 6 laps complete, Petlock was still in command with Ouellette still holding second. Lafayette worked his way up to third with Cote, Tyler Trott and Brandon Warren making up the top-5. The caution flag came out with 9 laps complete as Matt Martel and Kevin Moore spun in turn 1 and ended up against the wall.
Petlock and Ouellette went door to door for the lead with Lafayette nearly making it 3-wide as they came around to complete lap-10 but he settled back into third behind the two lead cars. The caution came back out with 10 laps complete when Cote got loose in turn 2 and spun.
Ouellette took the lead back under green but Petlock and Warren came together and took a trip through the infield grass to bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed. Petlock retired from the race with a flat tire while Warren was able to continue on.
Lafayette took the lead on the restart with Ouellette taking second behind him. Warren was third in line with Trott and Travis Hydar lined up behind him. Trott pulled to the inside of Warren on lap-12 and he completed the pass on lap-13. Hydar followed Trott by Warren to move himself into fourth and drop Warren from third back to fifth while Ouellette was still giving chase to Lafayette at the front of the pack. Alex Spinnato spun coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution flag back out with 15 laps complete.
Lafayette again took the lead back under green with Ouellette falling right into line in second. Hydar moved up to third with Trott fourth and Warren fifth. Jeff Asselin was up to sixth with Travis Downey, Jason Raymond, Mike Caprio, and Minkler making up the top-10. Spinnato spun in the middle of turns 3+4 to bring the caution back out and set up an green white checkered sprint to the finish.
Lafayette and Hydar came together on the restart with the two cars drifting up the track, allowing Ouellette to charge into the lead. Lafayette’s car appeared to break something in the front end as he pulled off the track in turn 2, which brought the caution back out before a lap could be completed and set up another green white checkered finish.
Hydar was able to resume at the front as his car never stopped on track and he took the lead on the restart. Ouellette slotted himself into second but he couldn’t catch Hydar, who took down his 10th win of the season. Trott finished third with Downey and Caprio rounding out the top-5.
September 27 Street Stock Feature Results
2024 Street Stock Points Standings
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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