Disaster in the front of the field on lap 1 of the Late Models sidelined Aaron Plemons and Shawn Gaedeke immediately. This left Jordan Hadley and Ray Christian at the point, but only for another lap when contact between the two send both to the rear. Diego Monahan and Jason Palmer now took point with Monahan working hard to keep Palmer at bay. They stayed side-by-side for much of the race as Christian rallied forward and a visiting Jeff Belyea waited patiently behind. That patience wore off just after halfway when Christian dove underneath the low groove running Palmer, and picked off the high groove running Monahan shortly after. He ran off to safely win race number two of the season.
After a couple rough and tumble SK Light races, the drivers put on a green to checker affair. Sami Anderson started off strong after some bad luck races pulling away from Evan Bourgeois and Kevin Cormier. Her large lead was slowly getting whittled away as the laps clicked down with Bourgeois and Cormier running nose to tail. Lapped traffic came into play in the closing stages but Anderson was able to both maneuver that and hold off Bourgeois to pick up the win.
Stafford Speedway was back in action on Friday, May 29th with the Great Rate Rentals Kids Night program. Stafford’s two open wheel divisions both featured first-time winners with Tyler Chapman taking down his first career win in the SK Modified® feature and Stephen Kalogiannis notching his first career SK Light feature victory. Other feature winners were Darrell Keane in the Late Model feature, Jason Lafayette in the Limited Late Model feature, and Ryan Waterman in the Street Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Wesley Prucker led the field to the green and he led the first lap before giving way to Glen Reen on lap-2. Alex Pearl was third in line behind Reen and Prucker with Troy Talman fourth and Matt Vassar fifth. Talman took third from Pearl on lap-4 while Prucker nearly took the lead from Reen before falling back into line in second place. Prucker went back into the lead on lap-8 with Reen trying to hold off Talman for second. Pearl was fourth with Dylan Izzo glued to his back bumper in fifth place. Pearl got around both Talman and Reen to move into second with Talman taking third. Reen faded back to tenth place as Izzo took third from Talman. Mikey Flynn took fourth from Talman on lap-13 before the caution flew for spins in turn 2 by Curt Brainard, Josh Morrison, Chase Cook, and David Flammia, Jr.
After nearly 70 years, Lime Rock Park finally played host to a field of race cars running at full output on a Thursday.
For the first time since opening in 1957, Lime Rock Park hosted a major unmuffled Thursday race event. This watershed moment arrived during the opening day of the long-standing Trans Am Memorial Day Classic (May 21-24), featuring the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, International GT and the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA).
To most fans arriving at The Park, it may have simply looked like the beginning of another holiday race weekend, but for those behind the scenes, it represented nearly five years of negotiations, collaboration and careful planning to reshape one of Connecticut’s most unique holiday traditions.
Stafford Speedway was back in action on Friday, May 22nd with the Monaco Ford SK Light Double Down program. The big winner of the night was Nick Anglace, who scored his second consecutive and third overall win in only 5 starts this season. Anglace took home the $1,750 winner’s check from Monaco Ford with contingency bonuses pushing his win total to $2,200. Other winners on the night were Marcello Rufrano in the SK Modified® feature, Chris Meyer in the Late Model feature, Travis Hydar in the Limited Late Model feature, and Jason Raymond in the Street Stock feature.
In the 40-lap Monaco Ford SK Light Double Down feature, Cassandra Cole got into the turn 1 wall to bring the caution out before the first lap could be completed.
Matt Brewer led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead with Amanda West second, Eddie Gomarlo third, Jason Finkbein fourth, and Chris Matthews fifth. Finkbein took third on lap-3 while Matthews took fourth on lap-4. Peter Bennett also got past Gomarlo to move into fifth and drop Gomarlo back to sixth in line. Ben Morrison got into the turn 4 wall to bring the caution flag out with 5 laps complete.
When Stafford Speedway’s SK Lights last ran a 40-lap extra distance feature on July 16th last season, Peter Bennett drove his #50 FEWLR car to NAPA Victory Lane to notch what was his first career victory. After securing three top-5 finishes along with a seventh place effort in his four starts to date this season, Bennett is looking forward to the Monaco Ford SK Light Double Down 40-lap feature this Friday night, May 22nd where another victory would be his first win of the 2026 season and give him back to back extra distance feature wins.
“The 40 lappers are the races that I think everyone has circled on their calendars,” said Bennett. “It’s a really good opportunity to showcase yourself and I’m really excited for the race. Winning last year gives us a little extra confidence going in and I’ve always said I have a good long run car and 40 laps might not seem like a lot, but it is for the SK Lights when we’re used to going 20 laps. I’ve got some experience to fall back on and I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing how the race unfolds. I don’t think last year was a fluke, we put our best effort forward and I think we can definitely do that again. The Monaco Ford Double Down is a big race and it’s for sure one of the three or four races I want to win this season and it would be awesome to win. We’ve had three top-5’s in the first four races so definitely feeling confident going into the race.”
Nick Anglace came into 2026 at Stafford Speedway fresh off a career best season that saw him win a career high 3 races and finish 5th in the final points standings.
With the 2026 season now underway, Anglace and his #10 UCONN team have enjoyed their best start to a season with 2 wins in the first four races to go along with a second place and a fourth place finish. With the $1,750 to win Monaco Ford Double Down feature on the docket for this Friday, May 22nd, Anglace would like to continue his winning ways in the biggest SK Light race of the season.
“Any time you can win races is a good thing,” said Anglace. “With this race being a bigger payday and more laps it would be nice to come home with a special trophy. Last year we finished second in one 40-lapper and we got wrecked in the other one, the year before that we had the deal with Meg Fuller where we got penalized to the last car on the lead lap and lost the win, and the year before that we had a top-5 finish, so normally we’re pretty good when it comes to the 40-lappers. The race gives me a little more time to get to the front and I’m guessing I’ll be starting somewhere around 15th so I won’t have to stress about getting to the front in only 20 laps. I’m pretty confident that we have the ability to at least bring home a good finish. I’d love to be able to win the race and go back to back with our win last Friday night but if that doesn’t happen then a good points day will be just as good.”
With the 2026 season only 4 races old, Anglace has already won twice, which nearly matches his career high of 3 wins from a season ago. With how his 2025 season came to an end, Anglace wasn’t quite sure what to expect when the 2026 season kicked off so his results have come as somewhat of a surprise.
