{"id":5083,"date":"2011-05-08T20:03:34","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T01:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-05-08T20:03:34","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T01:03:34","slug":"rocco-gray-galko-sears-wood-score-opening-night-feature-victories-stafford-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/rocco-gray-galko-sears-wood-score-opening-night-feature-victories-stafford-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"ROCCO, GRAY, GALKO, SEARS, & WOOD SCORE OPENING NIGHT FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROCCO, GRAY, GALKO, SEARS, & WOOD SCORE OPENING NIGHT FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway kicked off its Friday Night
\nNASCAR Whelen All-American Series schedule with 5 divisions of racing on
\nFriday night, May 6th. Keith Rocco picked up his first win of the 2011
\nseason in the 40-lap SK Modified\u00ae feature event, Adam Gray took down his
\nfirst career victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Matt Galko was
\ndeclared the winner of the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature after race
\nwinner Zach Aszklar\u2019s car did not meet the minimum ride height requirement,
\nNorm Sears returned to victory lane after a year away from Stafford Speedway
\nin the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, and Don Wood drove to victory in
\nthe 15-lap DARE Stock feature.<\/p>\n

In the 40-lap SK Modified\u00ae feature event, Bo Gunning took the lead at the
\ngreen flag, but Keith Rocco went around Gunning on the high side to grab the
\nlead on the first lap. Rocco\u2019s car was hooked up early on as he immediately
\nbegan to pull away from Gunning in second. On lap-5, Mark Bakaj moved to
\nthe inside of Gunning for second and the two cars began to run side by side.
\nSean Foster was fourth with Woody Pitkat and Brian Sullivan side by side
\nbehind Foster for the fifth position.<\/p>\n

Rocco was widening his lead lap by lap, but his lead was erased by the
\ncaution flag with 11 laps complete for Fran Siana, who had a flat left front
\ntire.<\/p>\n

Rocco took the lead ahead of Bakaj as the race resumed. Gunning continued
\nto run in third, with Pitkat and Ryan Preece making up the top-5. Eric
\nBerndt nearly spun on lap-13 and he fell to the back of the pack and the
\ncaution would come out one lap later as Sean Foster went around in turn 4.
\nBakaj briefly edged ahead of Rocco on the restart, but Rocco powered past
\nBakaj to maintain the race lead. The caution came back out with 16 laps
\ncomplete for a spin by Bo Gunning and John Montesanto. Rocco again took the
\nlead on the restart with Bakaj right behind him. Pitkat was third, with
\nTodd Owen and Avery behind him. The race was red flagged with 17 laps
\ncomplete for a multicar incident in turn 2 that involved Tom Bolles, Curt
\nBrainard, and Dave Salzarulo.<\/p>\n

Rocco took the lead back under green with Bakaj in second. Pitakt made a
\nmove to the inside of Owen to take over third place with Avery holding down
\nthe fifth spot. The top-5 ran in line until lap-26 when Pitkat was able to
\nmake a pass on Bakaj to take over second place.<\/p>\n

With 10 laps to go, Rocco held a comfortable margin over Pitkat, who in turn
\nwas well in front of the trio of Bakaj, Avery, and Owen. Owen got by Avery
\nand was hounding Bakaj for third place. Owen was finally able to make a
\npass for the position on lap-36. But at the front of the field, it was all
\nRocco, who scored a dominating feature victory with Pitkat coming home in
\nsecond. Owen finished third, with Avery fourth and Bakaj fifth.<\/p>\n

In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Adam Gray powered in the lead lead
\nat the start of the race with Mark St. Hilaire, Tom Butler, Jim Peterson,
\nand Dillon Moltz behind him. Butler spun on the backstretch to bring the
\ncaution out with 4 laps complete. Butler was able to keep his car off of
\nthe wall he was able to continue in the race.<\/p>\n

Gray again took the lead back under green with Peterson moving by St.
\nHilaire for second. J.J. Hill moved into fourth with Keith Rocco in fifth.
\nRyan Posocco, who started towards the rear of the field, was now up to sixth
\nplace with Woody Pitkat right behind him in seventh. Tom Fearn spun in
\nturns 3+4 to bring the caution out with 9 laps complete.<\/p>\n

Gray maintained the lead back under green with Peterson and St. Hilaire
\nbehind him. Rocco moved up to fourth place and Pitkat was fifth as Posocco
\nwas falling back in the outside groove. Posocco fell from sixth back to
\n11th place before he could find a spot in line. Corey Hutchings spun in
\nturn 2 to bring the yellow back out with 14 laps complete.<\/p>\n

Gray again took the lead ahead of Peterson back under green with Rocco
\nmoving up to third. Jim Mavlouganes was now into fourth place and St.
\nHilaire fell back to fifth. Rocco had a half spin in turn 4 to bring the
\ncaution out with 18 laps complete.<\/p>\n

On the restart, there was a multicar spin in turn 4 that brought the yellow
\nback out. This shuffled the order to put Gray and Mavlouganes on the front
\nrow with Posocco and Peterson on the second row for the restart. Gray and
\nMavlouganes were side by side for the lead with Posocco in third and Moltz
\nin fourth. Mavlouganes and Gray stayed side by side for several laps before
\nMavlouganes took the lead in the outside groove. Posocco was looking to
\nmake a bid for second, but was unable to make a pass.<\/p>\n

Posocco\u2019s fortunes changed on lap-25 as he was able to move by Gray to take
\nover second. Rocco spun in turn 1 on lap-26 but was able to get going and
\nthe race stayed green. But the caution came out with 27 laps complete for a
\nspin by Fearn and St. Hilaire in turn 4.<\/p>\n

Mavlouganes took the lead at the green, but Gray made a two for one pass in
\nturns 3+4 as he went by both Posocco and Mavlouganes to take over the lead.
\nScott Cook brought the yellow back out with a spin in turns 1+2 with 28 laps
\ncomplete. On the restart, Hutchings and St. Hilaire spun in turn 3 to bring
\nthe yellow back out.<\/p>\n

Mavlouganes and Gray were once again side by side for a lap before Gray took
\nthe lead. Peterson moved into second, with Posocco and Mavlouganes side by
\nside for third. Gray held off Peterson to the checkered flag to pick up his
\nfirst career victory. Rounding out the top-5 behind Gray and Peterson was
\nPosocco, Mavlouganes, and Pitkat.<\/p>\n

In the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature event, Zach Aszklar streaked into
\nthe lead as the field scrambled behind Aszklar with Matt Galko moving into
\nsecond and polesitter Tony Santangelo falling back to third. Joey Cipriano
\nwas on the charge and he moved by Santangelo for third on lap-4 and Tommy
\nBarrett, Jr. followed Cipriano by Santangelo. Earl Pelletier was also on
\nthe move as he too got by Santangelo and put a move on Barrett for fourth,
\nbut was not able to complete the pass. Aszklar continued to hold down a
\nlead of several car lengths on Galko as Cipriano and Barrett were nose to
\ntail for third place. Pelletier was now several car lengths behind Barrett
\nin fifth place at the halfway point of the feature.<\/p>\n

Galko began to slowly reel Aszklar in and he made a move to the inside of
\nAszklar to take over the race lead on lap-14. Galko\u2019s move for the lead
\nallowed Cipriano to close in on the lead duo and Cipriano was right on
\nAszklar\u2019s bumper when the caution came out with 14 laps complete for a spin
\nby Cody Gneiting.<\/p>\n

On the restart, Victoria Bergenty and Harry Wheeler spun to bring the yellow
\nback out. Galko took the lead back under green, but Aszklar was glued to
\nGalko\u2019s bumper. Barrett was taking a peek to the outside of Aszkar in turns
\n3+4, but the caution came out for Earl Pelletier, who spun and hit the turn
\n2 wall with 15 laps complete.<\/p>\n

Galko took the lead on the restart but Aszklar made a nice move coming out
\nof turn 4 to get by Galko for the lead. Not to be outdone, Galko came right
\nback to the inside of Aszklar for the lead on lap-17, but couldn\u2019t complete
\nthe pass. Barrett ran third, with Cipriano and Kyle Spencer making up the
\ntop-5. Tommy Membrino, Jr. went around in turn 2 to bring the caution out
\nand set up a green white checkered finish.<\/p>\n

Aszklar and Galko raced wheel to wheel for the lead as Barrett\u2019s car didn\u2019t
\nquite come up to speed. Aszklar cleared Galko into the lead, but on the
\nfinal lap, Galko made a run back to the inside of Aszklar in turns 3+4.
\nGalko and Aszklar made contact coming to the checkered flag with Aszklar
\ndoing a 360 degree spin and taking the checkered flag backwards to cross the
\nfinish line first. But in post-race inspection, Aszklar\u2019s car did not meet
\nthe minimum frame height requirement, which made Galko the feature winner.
\nCipriano finished second, with Frank Cardile, Barrett, and Shayne Prucker
\nrounding out the top-5.<\/p>\n

In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Carla Botticello took the
\nearly race lead as Shawn Thibeault got out of shape and drifted up the
\ntrack, causing a 4-wide situation as the cars raced out of turn 2. Jesse
\nHinze took second with George Nocera, Jr., Norm Sears, and Kevin Gambacorta
\nmaking up the top-5. With 6 laps complete, Hinze got into the back of
\nBotticello in turn 1, which sent her spinning and brought the caution out.
\nHinze was sent to the rear of the field by NASCAR officials for rough
\nriding.<\/p>\n

Back under green, the fight for the lead was in full effect as Nocera
\ndropped off the pace, putting Sears and Thibeault into a side by side duel
\nwith Sears taking the lead. Thibeault settled into line in second with
\nGambacorta, D.J. Burnham and Cory Casagrande making up the top-5. Nocera\u2019s
\ncar didn\u2019t quite make it back around the track to pit road and came to a
\nstop on the backstretch grass to bring the caution out with 9 laps complete.
\nBack under green, Casagrande spun to the infield, but was able to get going
\nand the race stayed under green with Sears in the lead ahead of Thibeault,
\nGambacorta, Burnham, and Bill Davis. Sears continued to hold the lead, but
\nThibeault was staying glued to Sears\u2019 bumper with Gambacorta right behind
\nThibeault with 5 laps to go.<\/p>\n

Just as Thibeault was looking like he was going to get by Sears, Sears began
\nto pull away. But Thibeault put one more run together in the closing laps
\nbut he came up just short at the checkered flag as Sears took his first
\nvictory of the 2011 season. Gambacorta finished third, with Burnham and
\nHinze rounding out the top-5.<\/p>\n

In the 15-lap DARE Stock feature event, Kaitlyn Brice spun in turn 3 before
\nthe field completed a lap to bring the caution out. Brice was able to
\ncontinue the race and she restarted at the rear of the field as Nick Salva
\ntook the early race lead back under green. Vince Gambacorta settled into
\nsecond with Andrew Hayes taking third. Hayes quickly moved by Gambacorta
\nfor second on lap-2 and he brought Don Wood with him past Gambacorta. Josh
\nWood spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out with 2 laps complete.
\nGambacorta came to pit road under the caution period with a flat right rear
\ntire and he was finished for the evening.<\/p>\n

Back under green, Salva and Hayes ran side by side for a lap before Salva
\nmoved to the front. Don Wood moved by Salva for second with Hayes settling
\ninto third. Don Wood continued his charge to the front as he moved to the
\nlead on lap-5. Hayes followed Wood by Salva and David Arute, Josh Wood, and
\nKyle Casagrande were also part of the train of cars moving by Salva, who
\nfell from the lead back to sixth place.<\/p>\n

Josh Wood moved by Arute to take over third place on lap-7 and he nearly
\ntook second from Hayes on lap-10, but he got loose in turn 4 and fell back
\nseveral spots to fifth place. Casagrande moved into third with Arute in
\nfourth as Wood continued to hold down the lead ahead of Hayes.<\/p>\n

Don Wood slowly pulled away from the rest of the field over the closing laps
\nas he scored his first win of the 2011 season. Casagrande made a move to
\nthe inside of Hayes for second on the final lap, but he got sideways and
\nspun out. Hayes came home for second, with Josh Wood, Arute, and Cliff
\nSaunders rounding out the top-5.<\/p>\n

For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
\n(860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
\n###<\/p>\n

SK MODIFIED\u00ae (40)
\n1) Keith Rocco, Meriden
\n2) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
\n3) Todd Owen, Somers
\n4) Dan Avery, Somers
\n5) Ryan Preece, Berlin
\n6) Mark Bakaj, Lebanon
\n7) Eric Berndt, Cromwell
\n8) Chris Matthews, Stafford
\n9) Nichole Morgillo, Wallingford
\n10) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Ma
\n11) Brad Hietala, Ellington
\n12) Bo Gunning, Bethlehem
\n13) Heather DesRochers, Granby, Ma
\n14) Sean Foster, Willington
\n15) Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury
\n16) Kirk Zervas, Winthrop, Ma
\n17) Tom Bolles, Ellington
\n18) Curt Brainard, Canton
\n19) Dave Salzarulo, Monson, Ma
\n20) Brian Sullivan, South Windsor
\n21) John Montesanto, North Branford
\n22) Fran Siana, Springfield, Ma
\n23) Adam Skowyra, Brimfield, Ma
\n24) Frank Ruocco, Cheshire
\n25) Jeff Malave, Manchester
\n26) Ted Christopher, Plainville<\/p>\n

LATE MODEL (30)
\n1) Adam Gray, Belchertown, Ma
\n2) Jim Peterson, Monson, Ma
\n3) Ryan Posocco, Stafford Springs
\n4) Jim Mavlouganes, Bethany
\n5) Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs
\n6) J.J. Hill, Stafford Springs
\n7) Dillon Moltz, Waterford
\n8) Tom Butler, Stafford Springs
\n9) John Kasper, Wilbraham, Ma
\n10) Michael Bennett, Stafford Springs
\n11) Mark St. Hilaire, Berlin
\n12) Corey Hutchings, Salem
\n13) Scott Cook, Uncasville
\n14) Patrick Townsend, Springifeld, Ma
\n15) Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Ma
\n16) Keith Rocco, Meriden
\n17) Tony Lafo, Higganum
\n18) Walt Wosko, Jr., West Suffield<\/p>\n

SK LIGHT MODIFIED (20)
\n1) Matt Galko, Meriden
\n2) Joey Cipriano, Iii, Waterbury
\n3) Frank Cardile, Bolton
\n4) Tom Barrett, Jr., Millis, Ma
\n5) Shayne Prucker, Stafford Springs
\n6) Kyle Spencer, Montgomery, Ma
\n7) Jay Goff, Stafford Springs
\n8) Dylan Kopec, Palmer, Ma
\n9) Dylan Liseo, East Hartford
\n10) Cody Gneiting, Broad Brook
\n11) Tony Santangelo, Middlefield
\n12) Stephen Greer, Harwinton
\n13) Tommy Membrino, Jr., Prospect
\n14) Harry Wheeler, Stafford Springs
\n15) Rick Williams, Haddam
\n16) Jesse Ruocco, Cheshire
\n17) Paul Tommasino, Meriden
\n18) Earl Pelletier, Wolcott
\n19) Victoria Bergenty, Plainville
\n20) Mike Parolo, Feeding Hills, Ma
\n21) Zach Aszklar, Wallingford<\/p>\n

LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
\n1) Norm Sears, Andover
\n2) Shawn Thibeault, Plainville
\n3) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
\n4) D.J. Burnham, East Hartford
\n5) Jesse Hinze, Farmington
\n6) Duane Provost, Indian Orchard, Ma
\n7) Bill Davis, Monson, Ma
\n8) Carla Botticello, Manchester
\n9) Joe Nogiec, Bristol
\n10) Chris Cook, Pepperell, Ma
\n11) Marshall Usher, Monson, Ma
\n12) Cory Casagrande, Stafford Springs
\n13) George Nocera, Jr., Plainville
\n14) John Lelas, III, Guilford<\/p>\n

DARE STOCK (15)
\n1) Don Wood, Palmer, Ma
\n2) Andrew Hayes, Charlton, Ma
\n3) Josh Wood, Palmer, Ma
\n4) David Arute, Tolland
\n5) Cliff Saunders, Stafford
\n6) Nick Salva, Prospect
\n7) Kris Fluckiger, Enfield
\n8) Joe Mcallister, New Britian
\n9) Austin Bessette, Stafford Springs
\n10) Kyle Casagrande, Stafford Springs
\n11) Kaitlyn Brice, Manchester
\n12) Doug Plelps Jr, New Salem, Ma
\n13) Andrew Marchese, Tolland
\n14) Vince Gambacorta, Ellington
\n15) Johnny Walker, Ludlow, Ma
\n16) Seth Wallace, Berlin
\n17) Albert Saunders, Stafford
\n18) David Macha, Columbia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROCCO, GRAY, GALKO, SEARS, & WOOD SCORE OPENING NIGHT FEATURE VICTORIES AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY (Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway kicked off its Friday Night NASCAR Whelen All-American Series schedule with 5 divisions of racing on Friday night, May 6th. Keith Rocco picked up his first win of the 2011 season in the 40-lap SK Modified\u00ae feature […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,4163,126,197],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-5083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-modified","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5083\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}