STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Keith Rocco held off all challengers to win Friday’s NAPA Auto Parts Open Modified 100 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Michael Christopher Jr. took the lead at the drop at the start with Tommy Barrett, Jr. and Craig Lutz behind him. Matt Galko and Anthony Nocella were side by side for fourth but Galko took third on lap four. Ronnie Williams was on the charge in the early going, moving up to fourth behind Galko with Nocella fifth as Christopher and Barrett continued to head the field.
With 10 laps in the books, it was still Christopher and Barrett leading the field. Galko was third with Rocco now up to fourth and Williams was fifth. Nocella was sixth in line followed by Joey Cipriano, Andrew Molleur, Matt Swanson and Eric Goodale. Charlie Pasteryak spun in turn four to bring the caution out with 15 laps complete.
Under the caution the lights went out and after a brief delay, racing resumed with Christopher taking the lead. Rocco went around Barrett to take second on lap 16 while Galko and Nocella were side by side for fourth place behind Barrett. Nocella took fourth on lap 18 with Williams going around Galko on lap 19 to move up to fifth. Several cars, including Dave Etheridge, Pasteryak, Brad Van Houten, Calvin Carroll, and Anthony Flannery, came together in the turn three wall to bring the caution out with 19 laps complete.
Rocco nearly took the lead on the outside of Christopher but Christopher came back strong and was able to maintain the lead. Several cars, including Jeff Gallup, Dylan Kopec, Joey Cipriano, and Carroll spun in turn four to bring the caution back out with 20 laps complete.
Christopher again took the lead with Nocella and Rocco side by side for second. Galko was fourth in line followed by a side by side duel between Ronnie Silk and Williams for fifth. Silk took the place on lap 22 and he then took fourth from Galko on lap 25. Williams followed him by Galko to move into fifth and drop Galko back to sixth in line as Christopher was several car lengths in front of Rocco and Nocella.
Nocella made a move to take second from Rocco on lap 30 and Silk took third as Rocco fell back to fourth in line. Williams was now on Rocco’s inside and he took fourth on lap-31 to drop Rocco back to fifth. Rocco lost fifth place to Galko on lap 32 while Christopher was still out front. Craig Lutz went by Galko on lap-38 to move into fifth while it was still Christopher, Nocella, Silk, and Williams making up the top-four. Rocco spun coming out of turn four to bring the caution out with 47 laps complete.
Under the caution, the majority of lead lap cars all came to pit road for tires. Lutz was the first car off pit road followed by Christopher, Galko, Silk and Williams. Eric Goodale stayed out and assumed the lead followed by Anthony Flannery, Jeff Gallup and Lutz.
On the restart, Goodale took the lead but behind him Molleur spun to bring the caution right back out. The next restart saw Gallup spin in turn two to bring the caution back out. The third restart saw Lutz take the lead from Goodale. Goodale settled into second with Galko third and Silk fourth. Christopher took fifth from Flannery.
Silk was charging way to the front as he took third on lap 48, second on lap 49, and he took the lead on lap-50 before the caution flew for Cipriano, who spun in the middle of turns three and four.
Silk took the lead back under green with Lutz and Christopher fighting side by side for second. Galko was fourth followed by Swanson, Owen, and Van Houten. Christopher won the battle with Lutz for second and now Silk, Christopher, and Lutz were lined up nose to tail in a three-car train for the race lead.
Christopher made a move to the inside of Silk for the lead on lap 59 and he moved back to the front of the pack. Lutz was still third with Swanson, Galko, Rocco, Owen, Barrett, Van Houten and Gallup lined up behind him.
With 30 laps to go, Christopher and Silk were starting to pull away from Lutz in third, who had a large gap back to Swanson and Rocco in fourth and fifth. Owen was sixth followed by Barrett, Van Houten, Gallup, and McDermott. Kopec spun in turn four to bring the caution out with 72 laps complete.
Under the caution, Goodale came to pit road for a three tire change and he rejoined the race at the rear of the field. Christopher and Silk ran side by side for a lap for the lead on the restart with Christopher getting clear on lap 73. Lutz was third in line with Rocco fourth and Swanson in fifth. The caution came out with 79 laps complete as Swanson spun in turn 2 and collected Nocella.
Silk powered his way around Christopher to take the lead on the restart but before he could get back to the start/finish line, Galko charged past both Silk and Christopher going into turn three to take the lead. Rocco and and Silk were now side by side for second with Rocco getting clear on lap 83. Christopher went by Silk to take third and drop Silk back to fourth. McDermott was fifth and Goodale was back up to sixth with the freshest tires of the front runners.
Rocco pulled to the outside of Galko and took the lead by a nose at the line to complete lap 86. Rocco cleared Galko on lap 87 with Christopher taking second. Galko fell back to third with Silk fourth and Goodale now in fifth.
Rocco led the rest of the way to claim the victory over Christopher, Galko, Goodale and Silk.
Weekly wins were scored by Jeremy Lavoie in the Limited Late Model feature and Zack Robinson in the Street Stock feature.