Todd Owen Wins SK Modified Feature; Chris Matthews Wins SK Light Feature at NAPA Spring Sizzler
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway hosted the 54th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® on Sunday, April 26th with its SK Modifieds® and SK Lights joining the Open Modified cars in feature action. Todd Owen took down the victory in the SK Modified® feature, his first Stafford SK Modified® victory since September 2024. In the extra distance 30-lap SK Light feature, Chris Matthews notched his first win of the 2026 season.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Marcello Rufrano and Glen Reen led the field to the green flag with Rufrano taking the early lead. Jon Puleo made a strong move to slide into second behind Rufrano with Reen third, Michael Christopher, Jr. fourth, and Matt Vassar fifth. Puleo took the lead from Rufrano on lap-4 and Todd Owen took fifth from Vassar on lap-5.
Rufrano went back by Puleo on lap-6 to reclaim the race lead. Lap-6 also saw Owen get by Reen to take fourth place and that move opened the door for Keith Rocco to follow Owen by and take fifth and drop Reen back to sixth place. Puleo went back to the lead on lap-9 with Christopher getting by Rufrano on lap-10 to move into second place. The caution flag flew with 11 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by David Flammia, Jr.
Puleo took the lead on the restart with Rufrano taking second. Rocco and Christopher ran wheel to wheel for a lap before the caution came back out with 11 laps complete for a multicar incident in turn 3 involving the cars of Tyler Hines, Wade Gagner, and Curt Brainard.
Puleo again took the lead back under green with Christopher and Rufrano going wheel to wheel for second. Rocco was fourth in line with Owen fifth. Christopher charged past Puleo on lap-15 to move into the lead. Christopher’s pass opened the door for Rufrano to pull alongside Puleo and he took second on lap-16. Rocco took third with Puleo falling back to fourth. Puleo would lose another position on lap-18 as Owen took fourth to drop Puleo back to fifth. Vassar was now sixth with Anthony Flannery, Reen, Mikey Flynn, and Tyler Chapman making up the top-10. The complexion of the race changed drastically with 28 laps complete as Christopher spun in turn 2 after his car began to smoke heavily and Rufrano, who was right behind Christopher, also spun to bring the caution flag out.
Owen and Puleo led the field back to green with Vassar going 3-wide in turn 2 to emerge in the lead. Owen was second with Flannery moving up to third. Puleo was able to get in line in fourth with Tyler Chapman up to fifth. Owen made a move to take the lead on lap-32 with Flannery and Puleo both following Owen by Vassar on lap-33 to take second and third and drop Vassar back to fourth. Dylan Kopec spun in turn 4 to bring the caution out with 34 laps complete.
Owen took the lead on the restart with Puleo glued to his back bumper in second. Tyler Chapman was third but Mikey Flynn charged past him on lap-36 to move into third. Reen followed him into fourth to drop Chapman back to fifth. Puleo made a final effort coming out of turn 4 as he touched with Owen but he couldn’t get around as Owen took the checkered flag for his first SK Modified® victory at Stafford since September of 2024. Puleo finished second with Flynn, Reen, and Chapman rounding out the top-5.
April 26 SK Modified® Feature Results
2026 SK Modified® Points Standings
In the extra distance 30-lap SK Light feature, Casey Vogt and Brian Sullivan led the field to the green flag with Sullivan charging into the early lead. Vogt was second with Sami Anderson third, Peter Bennett fourth, and the side by side duo of Amanda West and Dylan Houghton were contesting fifth place. Anderson took second from Vogt on lap-4 while Sullivan was beginning to stretch out his advantage.
Vogt spun in turn 2 and fell to the rear of the field as did Jake Hines on lap-10 but both cars kept moving and the race stayed green. The caution did fly with 14 laps complete as Travis Downey hit the wall coming out of turn 2, which erased Sullivan’s comfortable lead.
Sullivan took command back under green with Peter Bennett moving up to second. There was a pileup of cars coming out of turn 4 as Anderson’s car went around and collected the cars of Vogt, Matt Brewer, Norm Sears, Stephen Kalogiannis, Hines, Austin Goff, Connor Christmas, and Kevin Davis to bring the caution back out with 16 laps complete.
Bennett took the lead on the restart with Tyler Barry working his way to the inside of Sullivan for second. The caution came right back out with 17 laps complete as David Webb came to a stop in the middle of turns 1+2.
Bennett took the lead on the restart with Sullivan taking second. Chris Matthews was now up to third with Nick Anglace and Barry right behind him. Anglace took to the outside lane and nearly made a 3-wide move for second before backing out of the move on lap-20. Matthews took the lead from Bennett on lap-21 while Anglace was now working the inside lane to take third from Barry. Sullivan slid back to fifth place while Bennett was holding second behind Matthews.
Matthews led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2026 season. Anglace finished second with Bennett, Barry, and Sullivan rounding out the top-5.
April 26 SK Light Feature Results
2026 SK Light 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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