Stafford Speedway returned to weekly racing action with the Late Model division taking center stage with their extra distance Paradiso Insurance Late Model 50 feature event on Friday night, September 5th.
Chris Buffone was the big winner of the night with a dominating drive that saw him lead all 50 laps of the Paradiso Insurance LM 50 to pick up his second win of the 2026 season. Todd Owen was a winner for the second time this season in the SK Modified® feature, Amanda West won for the first time in nearly 2 years in the SK Light feature, Norm Root, III was a first time career winner at Stafford in the Limited Late Model feature, and Brent Gleason won for the first time this season in the Street Stock feature.
In the Paradiso Insurance 50-lap Late Model feature, Chris Buffone took the early lead with Paul Varricchio, Jr., Darrell Keane, Chris Meyer, and Wayne Coury, Jr. making up the top-5. Adam Gray was sixth in the early going with Michael Wray, Josh Wood, Kevin Gambacorta, and Adon Burrell making up the top-10.
With 10 laps complete Buffone was still in command with Varricchio, Meyer, Coury, and Keane making up the top-5. Coury was starting to apply heavy pressure to Meyer for third place but Meyer was able to hold him off. Coury was finally able to make a move and pass Meyer on lap-12 to take over third place. Gambacorta took fifth place from Keane on lap-18 while Buffone was comfortably leading Varricchio and Coury.
As the race approached the halfway point, Coury was all over Varricchio in the fight for second and lap-25 is when Coury was able to make the pass to take second. Varricchio dropped a place to third with Gambacorta fourth and Meyer fifth as Buffone was continuing to stretch out his lead.
With 10 laps to go, it was still all Buffone out front as he had stretched his lead out to a tad over 5 seconds over Coury in second. Gambacorta was still third with Michael Wray charging from sixth to fourth, going by both Meyer and Varricchio in the process.
Buffone led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2026 season in dominating fashion, leading all 50 laps in a green to checkered race. Coury finished second with Gambacorta, Wray, and Varricchio rounding out the top-5.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Mikey Flynn took the lead at the green flag with Andrew Molleur going 3-wide with Meghan Fuller and Dylan Izzo to move into second. The field completed one lap before Fuller got into the turn 1 wall and collected the cars of Jon Puleo, Alexander Pearl, and Marcello Rufrano.
Molleur again went 3-wide with Flynn and Izzo to emerge in the lead back under green. Tyler Chapman moved up to second with Anthony Flannery taking third. Flynn fell back to fourth in line with Izzo fifth. Todd Owen was sixth followed by Troy Talman, Michael Christopher, Jr., Keith Rocco, and Anthony Bello.
Chapman took the lead by a nose from Molleur on lap-6 with Flannery going wheel to wheel with Molleur for second. Flannery couldn’t make the pass and he fell back into line in third behind Chapman and Molleur. Talman dropped off the pace on lap-10 and limped back to pit road while Owen was challenging Izzo for fourth place and he was able to complete the pass on lap-11. Christopher was now up to sixth place with Flynn seventh and Rocco in eighth.
Owen worked his way into second behind Chapman and he was able to take over the lead just as the race hit the halfway point of lap-20. Flannery and Molleur were racing wheel to wheel for third place with Christopher in fifth and Rocco up to sixth. Chapman’s season of bad luck continued as he suddenly dropped off the pace from second place on lap-27 and he came to a stop in the middle of turns 1+2 to bring the caution flag out.
Owen took the lead on the restart with Christopher going wheel to wheel with Flannery for second. Christopher took second on lap-30 with Rocco now side by side with Flannery for third and Cory DiMatteo was up to fifth. Rocco took third place on lap-32 with Flannery fourth and DiMatteo fifth as Owen was starting to stretch out his lead over Christopher. David Flammia, Jr. and Wade Gagner spun in turn 2 to bring the caution flag out with 33 laps complete and set up a 7-lap dash to the finish.
A melee broke out as the field was coming around to complete the first lap after the restart as Flannery spun on the frontstretch which collected several cars to bring the caution flag right back out before a lap could be completed. Christopher took the lead on the outside of Owen on the restart with Owen slotting into second. Rocco was third with DiMatteo fourth and Bello fifth. David Flammia, Jr. spun on the frontstretch on lap-35 but he was able to get going and the race stayed green. Owen worked his way to the inside of Christopher and he had the lead by the nose as they took the white flag. Owen cleared into the lead on the final lap and he took down his second win of the 2026 season. Rocco finished second with Christopher, DiMatteo, and Bello rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light feature, Travis Downey led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead. Amanda West went by Paul Arcari at the start to take second with Arcari third. Peter Bennett was fourth in line with Ben Morrison holding fifth place. Stephen Kalogiannis took fifth place from Morrison on lap-4 while Bennett was looking to take third from Arcari as West went around Downey to take over the race lead. The caution flag came out with 5 laps complete for Casey Vogt, who went in to the turn 3 wall and David Webb, who took a hit into the turn 4 wall. West streaked into the lead but the caution flag came right back out as Arcari went around in turn 2 and Morrison spun through the backstretch grass. West took the lead back under green with Downey in second. Kalogiannis moved up to third with Robert Bloxsom, III taking fourth to drop Bennett back to fifth. Kevin Davis took fifth place from Bennett on lap-10 while West continued to lead the field. Austin Goff brought the caution flag out with 14 laps complete by taking a sideways trip through the backstretch grass. Aiden D’Agata was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Goff.
Chris Buffone won the Paradiso Insurance LM 50 at Stafford, with Wayne Coury, Jr. in second place, Kevin Gambacorta in third, Michael Wray in fourth, and Paul Varricchio, Jr. in fifth. Chris Meyer finished sixth, followed by Darrell Keane, Adam Gray, Josh Wood, Adon Burrell, Damian Palardy, Scott Davis, and Michael Lucia.
In the SK Modified feature, Todd Owen took the lead, followed by Keith Rocco and Michael Christopher, Jr. Cory DiMatteo, Anthony Bello, Mikey Flynn, Alexander Pearl, Marcello Rufrano, David Arute, Wesley Prucker, Curt Brainard, Andrew Molleur, Jon Puleo, Josh Morrison, Anthony Flannery, Wade Gagner, David Flammia, Jr., Dylan Izzo, Tyler Chapman, and Ethan Durocher.
Amanda West won the SK Light Modified feature, with Robert Bloxsom, III in second place, Peter Bennett in third, Tyler Barry in fourth, and Jason Finkbein in fifth. Other finishers included Stephen Kalogiannis, Ryan Charland, Dylan Houghton, S.R. Midford, Chris Matthews, Nick Anglace, Chad Jones, Bob Charland, Paul Arcari, Sami Anderson, Aiden D’Agata, John Brunelle, Anthony Forino, and Ben Morrison.
In the Limited Late Model feature, Conor Jencik took the lead at the green flag with his brother Devon Jencik in second. Kyle Theriault was third in the early laps with Norm Root, III fourth and Dave Secore fifth. Secore and Lafayette touched coming out of turn 2 with Lafayette taking a hard turn into the wall with a flat tire to bring the caution flag out with 6 laps complete. Aaron Plemons spun in turn 3 on the restart, which collected the car of Gary Patnode to bring the caution flag right back out.
Conor Jencik took the lead back under green with Theriault taking second but he was overtaken on lap-8 by Norm Root, III. Theriault slotted into third place behind Root with Devon Jencik fourth and Secore in fifth. Rich Hammann took fifth place from Secore on lap-11 while Conor Jencik continued to lead with Root in second place. With 3 laps to go, Conor Jencik had Root glued to his back bumper and then a margin back to Devon Jencik in third. Conor Jencik dropped off the pace briefly on lap-19 which allowed Root to take the lead and open up a margin. Root led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first career win at Stafford Speedway. Conor Jencik recovered to finish second with Hammann, Theriault, and Paradis rounding out the top-5.
In the Street Stock feature, David Ciastko took the lead at the green flag with Brent Gleason moving into second. Marvin Minkler was going backwards after starting on pole position with Ryan Waterman taking third on lap-2 with Matthew Lowinski-Loh fourth and Minkler fifth. Garrett Pease spun in turn 2 to bring the caution flag out with 4 laps complete. Gleason took the lead back under green with Waterman and Lowinski-Loh taking second and third. Brandon Warren was up to fourth and Jason Raymond was fifth. Steve Kenneway did a half spin in turn 2 on lap-7 which collected the car of Minkler, but both cars continued and the race stayed green. Jon Porter and Dave Salzarulo both spun in turn 4 to bring the caution flag back out with 11 laps complete. Gleason took the lead on the restart with Waterman, Lowinski-Loh, Warren, and Raymond lined up behind him. Peter Guarino, Jr. spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow back out with 12 laps complete. Gleason took the lead back under green with Lowinski-Loh and Waterman going door to door for second. Lowinski-Loh took second on lap-14 with Warren taking third as Waterman slid back to fourth. Raymond worked his way to the inside of Waterman on lap-15 in the fight for fourth place and he took the position. Waterman and Raymond touched with Raymond getting sideways and into the wall to bring the caution flag out with 15 laps complete. Waterman was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Raymond. Gleason took the lead on the restart with Warren moving up to second. Sundeen was third in line with PJ Evans fourth and Charles Beal fifth. Lowinski-Loh brought his car to pit road on lap-19 while Gleason led Warren to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2026 season. Evans finished third with Sundeen and Beal rounding out the top-5.
Buffone Wins Late Model 50 at Stafford; Multiple Winners
5) Charles Beal, Ledyard
6) Larry Barnett, Moosup
7) Steve Kenneway, Hampton, NH
8) Joe Arena, Bristol
9) Ryan Waterman, Danielson
10) Marvin Minkler, Stamford
11) Sean Riley, Wolcott
12) Roger Mahieu, Goshen
13) Peter Guarino, Jr., Killingly
14) David Ciastko, Madison
15) Matt Martel, Stafford Springs
16) Garrett Pease, Enfield
17) Matthew Lowinski-Loh, Thompson
18) Jason Raymond, Somers
19) Alex Spinnato, Wallingford
20) Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA
21) Jon Porter, Waterford
22) Joshua Comfort, Cornelius, NC
