-Stafford Speedway kicked off its 2024 race season with the NAPA Auto Parts Duels as part of the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® Weekend. Feature races were held for Stafford’s weekly Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions along with two 40-lap NAPA Duel races that set the top-20 lineup for Sunday’s 100-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler® main event. Scoring wins in the two NAPA Duel races were Teddy Hodgdon and Ronnie Silk. Weekly feature wins were scored by Darrell Keane in the Late Model feature, Matt Clement in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar in the Street Stock feature.
In the first 40-lap NAPA Duel Race, Matt Swanson took the early lead at the drop of the green flag with Teddy Hodgdon quickly moving into second. Michael Christopher, Jr. was third in line with Stephen Kopcik fourth and David Arute fifth. Ronnie Williams took fifth from Arute on lap-4 and that allowed Doug Coby to follow him through and take over sixth and drop Arute back to seventh.
Hodgdon hounded Swanson until lap-15 when he was able to take over the lead with a pass going into turn 3. Williams was now in third behind Hodgdon and Swanson with Christopher fourth and Coby in fifth. Jon McKennedy was sixth followed by Eric Goodale, Justin Bonsignore, Woody Pitkat, and Arute.
At the halfway point, Hodgdon was still in command with Swanson, Williams, Christopher, and Coby giving chase. McKennedy took fifth from Williams on lap-27 as Hodgdon continued to lead the race with Swanson, Christopher, and Coby behind him.
Hodgdon led the field to the checkered flag to win the first NAPA Duel and earn pole position for tomorrow’s NAPA Spring Sizzler® 100-lap main event.. Swanson finished second with McKennedy, Christopher, and Coby rounding out the top-5.
In the second 40-lap NAPA Duel Race, Ronnie Silk took the lead at the green flag with Marcello Rufrano moving into second. Andy Jankowiak took third with Cory DiMatteo fourth and Max Zachem in fifth. With 15 laps complete, it was still Silk in the lead with Rufrano, Jankowiak, Zachem, and Anthony Bello making up the top-5. Keith Rocco was sixth followed by Matt Hirschman, Cory DiMatteo, Todd Owen, and Noah Korner.
With 10 laps to go, it was still Silk in the lead with Rufrano, Zachem, Jankowiak, Hirschman, Bello, Rocco, Austin Beers, Owen, and Korner making up the top-10 cars. Beers made a move around Bello on lap-37 to move into fifth and drop Bello back to sixth as Silk was comfortably leading Rufrano, Zachem, and Hirschman.
Silk cruised to the checkered flag to win the second NAPA Duel and earn a front row starting position for tomorrow’s NAPA Spring Sizzler® 100-lap main event. Rufrano finished second with Zachem, Hirschman, and Beers rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature event, Kevin Gambacorta and Tom Fearn led the field to the green flag with Gambacorta setting the early pace. Fearn slipped back to fifth as Michael Wray took second, Zack Robinson third, and Darrell Keane fourth. Paul Varricchio took fifth from Fearn on lap-3 and he went by Robinson for fourth place on lap-4. Tom Fearn and Tom Butler spun on the backstretch to bring the caution flag out with 5 laps complete.
Gambacorta took the lead on the restart while Wray went around to bring the caution back out with 7 laps complete. Gambacorta charged back into the lead on the next restart with Varricchio slotting into second. Keane was third in line with Robinson fourth and Wayne Coury, Jr. in fifth. Coury made a move to the inside of Robinson on lap-9 to move into fourth and that move allowed Bobby Stirk, III to take over fifth as Robinson fell back to sixth in line. The caution came back out with 9 laps complete as Tom Butler and Adam Gray came together coming out of turn 2 and ended against the backstretch wall.
Gambacorta resumed his place at the front of the field back under green with Varricchio staying glued to his back bumper. Keane was third with Coury in fourth and Stirk in fifth. With 10 laps to go, it was still Gambacorta in the lead followed by Varricchio, Keane, Coury, and Stirk. Varricchio and Gambacorta touched in turn 2 with Gambacorta spinning on lap-22 but Gambacorta did a 360 spin and rejoined the action in fourth place as Varricchio took the lead, Keane second, and Coury third.
Varricchio was shown the black flag on lap-25 for the contact with Gambacorta, moving Keane into the race lead with Coury, Gambacorta, Al Saunders, and Cliff Saunders now making up the top-5 cars. Keane led the field to the checkered flag to win the first Late Model feature of 2024 and his first Late Model win since July 2022. Coury finished second with Gambacorta, Cliff Saunders, and Al Saunders rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature event, Matt Clement and Adrien Paradis led the field to the green and they remained in those positions at the start of the race. Matt Winter, II was third in line followed by Ari Jencik and Jeremy Lavoie. Lavoie went past Jencik on lap-3 to move into fourth while Clement was starting to stretch out his advantage out front. Jencik would lose the fifth position to R.J. Surdell on lap-6 while Clement was still leading Paradis, Winter, and Lavoie.
Clement was still comfortably out front at the halfway point of the race with Paradis, Winter, Lavoie, and Surdell making up the top-5. Lavoie was all over the back bumper of Winter looking for a way to get past and take over third, but Winter was able to fend off his challenges. The caution flag came out with 15 laps complete for spins by Christopher Phelps and Dana Wray coming out of turn 2.
Clement again took the lead on the restart with Paradis, Winter, Lavoie, and Surdell all lined up behind him. Lavoie was finally able to make a move stick on Winter to move into third on lap-19. Surdell couldn’t quite follow him through and held on to fourth place. Clement cruised to the checkered flag to pick up the first Limited Late Model feature win of the year with Paradis, Lavoie, Winter, and Patnode rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature event, Travis Hydar and Bill Cote led the field to the green flag with Hydar taking the early lead while Jason Lafayette took second. Cote slid back to fifth in line as Ryan Waterman took third and Travis Downey was fourth in line. Waterman took second from Lafayette on lap-3 just before the caution flew for a spin by Cote on the backstretch.
Hydar took the lead on the restart but Lafayette went around in turn 3 and collected the cars of Marvin Minkler and Jonathon Avery with Bert Ouellette unable to avoid making contact with Lafayette’s car to bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed.
Hydar took the lead back under green with Waterman right behind him in second. Downey was third in line followed by Tyler Trott, Johnny Walker, and Ouellette. At the halfway point of the race, the order remained unchanged with Hydar still in command followed by Waterman, Downey, Trott, Walker, and Ouellette. The caution flag came back out with 14 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Matt Martel.
Hydar took the lead back under green with Downey moving into second. Trott followed him into third to drop Waterman from second back to fourth with Walker still holding down the fifth position. Hydar slowly pulled away from Downey to take down the first feature win of the 2024 season. Downey finished second with Trott, Waterman, and Walker rounding out the top-5.
For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Stafford Speedway PR
