Christopher, Gray, Morrison, Clement & Hydar Score Oct. 4 NAPA Championship Night Wins at Stafford; Molleur, Gambacorta, Clement, & Downey Clinch Track Titles
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway hosted its final Friday night race program of the 2024 season with NAPA Auto Parts Championship Night on October 4. Feature wins were notched by Michael Christopher, Jr. in the SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray in the Late Model feature, Josh Morrison in the SK Light feature, Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature. Tyler Chapman had already secured the SK Light track championship last week and the other 2024 track champions are Andrew Molleur in the SK Modified® division, Kevin Gambacorta for the second consecutive season in the Late Model division, Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model division, and Travis Downey in the Street Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Anthony Flannery and Michael Gervais, Jr. brought the field to the green flag with Flannery taking the early lead. Steven Chapman quickly took second and then he took the lead from Flannery on lap-3. Keith Rocco was third behind Chapman and Flannery with Gervais fourth and Mikey Flynn fifth. Flynn made a move to the inside of Gervais on lap-5 and the two cars raced wheel to wheel with Troy Talman taking sixth place behind them. Flynn took fourth on lap-7 with Talman pulling alongside Gervais in the fight for fifth. Talman was able to clear Gervais on lap-11 after 5 laps of side by side racing with Michael Christopher, Jr. following Talman by Gervais to move into sixth and drop Gervais back to seventh place as Chapman was still in command with Rocco and Flannery behind him. The caution came out with 13 laps complete for Jon Puleo, whose car came to a stop just before the entrance to pit road in turn 3.
David Arute spun as the field came to the green flag but he rejoined at the rear of the field and the race stayed green. Chapman was again the race leader followed closely by Rocco, Christopher, Jr., Flynn, and Talman. Gervais and Flannery were side by side for sixth with Owen, Tyler Hines, and Cory DiMatteo making up the top-10.
Christopher was all over the back bumper of Rocco for second for several laps and he was finally able to make a pass on lap-22 to take over second and drop Rocco back to third. Flynn was still fourth with Talman still holding fifth as Chapman continued to lead the race.
Christopher rode behind Chapman until lap-29 when he took the lead with a pass in turn 4. Rocco was still third with Flynn and Talman making up the top-5. Gervais was sixth followed by Flannery, Owen, Hines, and Tyler Chapman. Flynn took third from Rocco on lap-36 while Christopher was starting to stretch out his advantage over Steven Chapman in second. Christopher led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his fourth win of the 2024 season. Chapman finished second with Flynn, Rocco, and Talman rounding out the top-5. Christopher’s win wasn’t quite enough in the race for the 2024 SK Modified® championship as Andrew Molleur’s 13th place finish made him the 2024 SK Modified® champion.
October 4 SK Modified Feature Results
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Tom Fearn and Wayne Coury, Jr. led the field to the green flag but it was Bobby Stirk, III going 3-wide with the two lead cars to nearly take the lead before taking second on lap-2. Stirk worked his way to the inside of Coury on lap-3 and was looking to take the lead when the caution flag came out with 3 laps complete as Josh Wood and Darrell Keane made contact and spun in turn 3.
Coury took the lead on the restart with Alexandra Fearn taking second. Andrew Durand took third with Kevin Gambacorta fourth as Stirk fell from second back to fifth. Gambacorta took third place from Durand on lap-6 while Adam Gray took fifth from Stirk on the same lap. With 10 laps complete the order was Coury followed by Alexandra Fearn, Gambacorta, Durand, and Gray. The caution flew with 11 laps complete for Stirk, who spun to a stop on the backstretch grass.
Fearn took the lead back under green with Coury and Gambacorta behind her. Gray dove to the inside of Gambacorta as did Chris Meyer in turn 3 with Gambacorta spinning to bring the caution flag back out with 13 laps complete.
Gray took the lead from Fearn back under green with Durand going door to door with Alexandra Fearn for second. Durand took second on lap-14 with Coury taking third and Meyer fourth as Fearn fell back to fifth. Fearn would lose fifth to Paul Varricchio, Jr. on lap-17 just before the caution came back out for a spin in turn 4 by PJ Zarrella with Stirk also involved.
Gray took the lead on the restart with Coury in second and Durand third. Durand took second from Coury on lap-19 with Alexandra Fearn nearly following Durand by Coury. Varricchio went 3-wide with Coury and Fearn on lap-20 to move into third place. Meyer took fourth with Gambacorta back up to fifth after his earlier spin while Gray continued to lead the race with Durand trying to chase him down. Fearn spun in turn 4 to bring the caution flag back out with 23 laps complete.
Gray again took the lead back under green while Varricchio made a move to the inside of Durand to take second. Gambacorta nearly took third from Durand one lap later, but Durand was able to hold him off. Meyer was running in fifth behind Gray, Varricchio, Durand, and Gambacorta.
Gambacorta took third from Durand on lap-28 but Durand came right back to the inside of Gambacorta to retake third. Varricchio closed in on Gray’s back bumper but couldn’t make a move for the lead as Gray took down his third consecutive victory and his sixth win of the 2024 season. Gambacorta was able to steal third from Durand on the final lap with Meyer rounding out the top-5. Gambacorta’s third place finish was good enough to make him the Late Model track champion for the second consecutive season.
October 4 Late Model Feature Results
2024 Late Model Points Standings
In the 20-lap SK Light feature, Bob Charland and Josh Morrison led the field to the green with Morrison taking the lead on the opening lap in the outside lane. Charland slotted into second with Matt Brewer third, Paul Arute fourth, and Ron Midford, Jr. fifth. Nick Anglace took fifth from Midford on lap-7 as Morrison continued to hold the lead with Charland, Brewer, and Arute behind him.
At the halfway point of the race, the order was still Morrison, Charland, Brewer, Arute, and Anglace. Nickolas Hovey was sixth and applying heavy pressure to Anglace for fifth, with Midford, Tyler Chapman, Chris Viens, and Meghan Fuller making up the top-10.
Hovey took fourth with Anglace fifth, Midford sixth, and Chapman seventh as Arute slipped back to eighth place as the field clicked off lap-14. Hovey was on the charge as he moved into second behind Morrison on lap-17. Chapman took third from Brewer on the final lap but it was all Morrison as he took down his first SK Light feature victory. Hovey finished second with Chapman, Brewer, and Charland rounding out the top-5. Chapman clinched the SK Light championship during the previous week on September 27th.
October 4 SK Light Feature Results
2024 SK Light Points Standings
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Connor Jencik led the field to the green flag and he led the first lap before Matt Clement took over the lead on lap-2. Gary Patnode got out of shape going down the backstretch but he gathered his car up and rejoined the field at the rear as the race stayed green. Matt Winter moved into second on lap-3 with Jeremy Lavoie third, Devon Jencik fourth, and Connor Jencik fell back to fifth. Adrien Paradis, III took over fifth from Connor Jencik while Devon Jencik took third place from Lavoie on lap-8 as Matt Clement continued to hold the race lead.
Clement was still in command at the halfway point with Winter, Devon Jencik, Lavoie, and Paradis making up the top-5. Rich Hammann was sixth followed by RJ Surdell, Travis Hydar, Connor Jencik, and Kevin Cormier.
With 3 laps to go, Clement had pulled out to a comfortable lead over Winter in second with Devon Jencik right behind Winter in third. Lavoie was fourth with Paradis and Hammann both lined up right behind him in fifth and sixth. Clement led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2024 season and in the process become the 2024 Limited Late Model track champion. Winter finished second with Devon Jencik, Lavoie, and Paradis rounding out the top-5.
October 4 Limited Late Model Feature Results
2024 Limited Late Model Points Standings
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, Sean Petlock led the field to the green and he took the early lead with Jason Raymond, Bill Cote, Bert Ouellette, and Chris Danielczuk all lined up behind him. Jason Lafayette spun through the grass in turn 1 but he was able to keep going and no one made contact with his car so the race stayed green. Raymond took the lead from Petlock on lap-2 with Cote taking second. Ouellette moved up to third with Jeff Asselin taking fourth and Brandon Warren fifth as Petlock slipped back to ninth place.
As the race hit the halfway mark, Raymond was still in the lead with Cote, Ouellete, Travis Hydar, and Asselin making up the top-5. Travis Downey was sixth with Tyler Trott, Warren, Lafayette, and Petlock making up the top-10. Hydar took third from Ouellette on lap-13 while Cote was starting to look to make a pass on Raymond for the lead. Doug Riley spun and backed into the turn 4 wall to bring the caution flag out with 15 laps complete.
Raymond took the lead on the restart with Hydar moving into second. Cote spun coming out of turn 4, which collected the cars of Ashton Young and Isabella Minchella to bring the caution flag back out with 16 laps complete. Under the caution period, Tyler Trott, who came into the race as the Street Stock championship leader, brought his car to pit road with a flat right front tire and retired from the race.
Hydar took the lead on the outside of Raymond but the caution came out before the field completed a lap for a spin in turn 2 by Danielczuk, which put Raymond back into the lead for the next restart.
Hydar again took the lead from Raymond in the outside lane on the restart with Raymond settling into second. Ouellette was third in line with Downey fourth and Asselin fifth. The caution came out with 19 laps complete for a spin on the backstretch by Bill Bailey.
Hydar took the lead on the restart with Ouellette taking second. Raymond was third with Downey and Asselin dueling side by side for fourth. Hydar took down his 11th win of the 2024 season with Ouellette and Raymond behind him. Downey edged out Asselin for fourth at the line and Downey’s finish combined with Trott’s misfortune, made Downey the 2024 Street Stock champion by a 4-point margin over Trott.
October 4 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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