Fans finally got to enjoy the postponed Fall Final at
Stafford Motor Speedway this past weekend, greeted by mild
temperatures and sunny skies. Several divisions ran qualifying
on Saturday, and a number of features were run as well. On
Sunday, the day started with a pit party, and fans then crowded
the stands for an exciting afternoon of racing.
The first feature of the day was the 150-lap Camping World
East series race. Brian Ickler started on the pole, with Max
Dumarey on the outside pole. Ickler jumped out front on the
start, with Dumarey second and Ted Christopher third. On the
first lap, Long Island native Steve Park came from his
tenth-place starting spot up to seventh. The first caution of
the race came on lap 5, as Jonathan Smith had slid through the
infield. On the restart, Ickler continued to lead, while
Christopher moved into second and Matt Kobyluk took over third.
On lap 9, Park was up to fifth, and he moved into fourth on lap
11. Caution came out again on lap 32, as Ryan Duff went around
in turn 2. Kobyluk pitted on lap 35, surrendering third to Park.
On the lap 37 restart, Christopher grabbed the lead, with Ickler
taking second and Peyton Seller came to third. Sellers passed
Ickler, moving into second. Another caution came out on lap 40
for James Pritchard and Scott Bouley, who made contact on the
frontstretch. Park pitted on lap 42 to remove tape from the
front of his machine. The lap 45 restart pitted Christopher on
the inside against Sellers on the outside. Sellers got out
front, with Christopher falling back to second. At lap 84, the
top three cars were running nose to tail, but they were in heavy
lapped traffic. Christopher shot to the inside of Sellers for
the lead on lap 85, taking the position. Ickler followed to take
second, but Sellers took the spot back on lap 86. Park went a
lap down to Christopher on lap 93. Ickler again passed Sellers,
and began to close the lead Christopher had built up. Caution
came out again on lap 102, as Smith went around in turn 2. Park
brought his car back down pit road on lap 104, and the car was
pulled behind the wall with a reported brake problem.
Christopher shot out front on the lap 108 restart, but Kevin
Swindell hit the wall in turn 1 and the caution came back out.
On the lap 112 restart, Ickler got ahead of Christopher, while
Trevor Bayne and Sellers battled side-by-side for third. The
next caution came on lap 132, as Marc Davis spun in turn 2.
Ickler got back out front on the lap 135 restart. Christopher
fought back to lead lap 136, but Ickler took the position back
the following lap. Caution was out again on lap 137, as six cars
came together on the frontstretch. On the lap 143 restart,
Ickler went around but no caution was thrown as Christopher
inherited the lead. Sellers was second, with Bayne third.
Christopher checked up for Ickler’s car on lap 149 and spun,
giving the lead to Sellers, with Bayne taking third and Jesus
Hernandez moved into third. A yellow/checker combination was
thrown, with Sellers taking down his first CWE series win in the
series’ final 2008 race.
Next out was the caution-filled SK Modified feature. Curt
Brainard took the lead on the start, but Rich Pallai grabbed the
spot on lap 2. Pallai held on to the top spot until Keith Rocco
got by on a lap 23 restart. Ted Christopher wrestled the spot
away from Rocco on lap 24. With only three laps to go in the
40-lap event, Christopher’s car appeared to suddenly lose power
on the backstretch and spun in turn 3. This handed the lead to
Woody Pitkat. Pitkat went on to win the race, followed by Keith
Rocco and Jeff Baral. As a result of his second-place finish,
Rocco claimed the 2008 SK Modified championship.
Mike Stefanik couldn’t have asked for a much better showing
at the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway this past
weekend. The driver set fast time in qualifying, redrew the
pole, and wrapped up the weekend with a win in the 150-lap
Whelen Modified Tour event. In the process, Stefanik set a
number of WMT records by posting his eighth Fall Final win, his
20th win at Stafford, and his 69th career Modified win.
“We had a good run last week and a little better run this
week…it’s a good time to get our program up to where it always
should have been,” Stefanik commented in Victory Lane. “It’s
great to win. That’s what it’s all about.”
Stefanik started the race on the pole, with Ted Christopher
to his outside. Stefanik took the lead on the start, with
Christopher falling into second and Eric Beers third. Chuck
Hossfeld sat fourth. By lap 1, Ryan Preece had rocketed from a
10th place starting spot up to fifth, while Matt Hirschman had
come from 13th to sixth. By lap 11, Stefanik and Christopher had
begun to break away from the remainder of the field, and Jake
Marosz was the first car to be lapped by the duo on lap 14. On
lap 16, Beers got out of shape in turns 1 and 2, allowing
Hossfeld to pull up on the inside to challenge for the third
spot. Hossfeld grabbed the spot coming into turn 3. Preece
attempted to follow underneath for fourth, but was unsuccessful
and settled back into fifth. By lap 24, Hossfeld was very
apparently reeling in Stefanik and Christopher, who had built a
sizeable lead. Hossfeld positioned himself right on
Christopher’s back bumper by lap 27. On lap 28, Frank Ruocco
slid through the infield on the frontstretch, but no caution was
thrown. The leaders began to encounter lapped traffic at lap 32.
At lap 35, Stefanik had roughly a three-carlength lead over
Christopher and Hossfeld, and the three were distancing
themselves from the rest of the field. Heavier lapped traffic
came into play by lap 37, as Stefanik continued to build his
lead, which had grown to about six carlengths by lap 42. The
leaders continued to consistently lap cars, while Preece had
grabbed the fourth spot from Beers by lap 43 and he began to
close the gap between himself and the leaders. At lap 58,
Stefanik was still roughly six carlengths ahead of Christopher,
Hossfeld, and Preece, who were running nose to tail. On lap 59,
the first caution of the race was thrown after Eric Goodale slid
through the infield on the frontstretch. The majority of the
field pitted, leaving Rob Summers in the lead as he opted not to
pit. Preece was the first of the lead cars out of the pits,
followed by Hossfeld, Hirschman, Doug Coby, Stefanik, and Jimmy
Blewett. Christopher had issues during his pit stop, and lost
considerable track position. After pit stops, Summers was the
race leader, followed by Jamie Tomaino and Preece.
On the lap 66 restart, Summers shot out to the lead, as
Preece grabbed the second spot and Hirschman took third. On lap
67, Stefanik pulled to the inside of Hirschman, battling
side-by-side for third. Stefanik took third on lap 68. On lap
70, Preece looked to the inside of Summers as Stefanik moved to
the outside of Preece. Stefanik grabbed second on lap 71.
Caution waved on lap 80 as Danny Sammons spun between turns 1
and 2. Summers pitted from the lead on lap 81, surrendering the
position to Stefanik.
The field restarted on lap 83, with Stefanik on the inside
and Preece on the outside. Stefanik grabbed the top spot, with
Preece second and Hirschman third. On lap 85, Reggie Ruggerio
slowed considerably on the backstretch, but was able to get the
car to the pits and no caution was thrown. Caution came out on
lap 87 for Tom Abele, Jr.
The lap 92 restart once again pitted Stefanik on the inside
against Preece on the outside. Preece was able to nose ahead of
Stefanik coming into turn 1, but the two battled side-by-side
and Stefanik was once again in the lead by the time the lap was
completed. Hirschman pulled to the inside of Preece on lap 93,
with Beers and Hossfeld side-by-side behind them. Preece was
able to retain second, but the two continued to wrestle for the
position. Meanwhile, Todd Szegedy broke into the top five on lap
95. Hirschman took over second on lap 96. The top 11 cars were
running nose to tail, as Hirschman looked for a way around
Stefanik. By lap 105, the top four cars began to pull away from
the remainder of the competition. On lap 115, Preece suddenly
fell off the pace and pulled down to the inside of the track,
handing the third position to Hossfeld. At lap 120, Stefanik,
Hirschman, and Hossfeld were running nose to tail. Preece’s car
was pushed behind the wall. On lap 134, Hossfeld looked to the
outside of Hirschman for second, but caution came out again on
lap 135 as Glen Reen and Ronnie Silk spun in turn 1.
The race restarted on lap 140 with Stefanik on the inside and
Hirschman on the outside. Stefanik jumped out front and Hossfeld
shot into second, but the caution came out again before a lap
was completed because of a loose tire near the frontstretch.
Stefanik was out front for the single-file restart on lap
145, with Hirschman again in second and Hossfeld third. Wade
Cole spun in turn 1 on lap 145, but there was no caution.
Stefanik went on to win the race, followed by Hirschman and
Hossfeld. Szegedy and Beers completed the top five.
And the Word Around the Pits...
During pre-race festivities, Bobby Allison was recognized for
his 1964 and 1965 championships as part of NASCAR’s year-long
celebration of 60 years of Modified champions.
The WMT points battle will be an intense one heading into the
final race of the season at Thompson Motor Speedway during the
World Series. Christopher heads into the race with a 35 point
lead over Hirschman, with Szegedy just 8 points behind
Hirschman. If Matt Hirschman were to win the championship, it
would be the first time a father and son duo had both won WMT
championships.
It was announced that car owner Ed Partridge is selling all
of his SK Modified equipment in order to concentrate solely on
the WMT in 2009.
Among those in the pit area was 2008 Riverhead Raceway
Modified champion Bill Park, who was on hand to watch his nephew
Steve Park run the Camping World East series race.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 14, 2008
