STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Stafford Speedway hosted the Cleetus McFarland New England 900 on Friday, July 17 with a 90-lap feature event featuring nitrous infused Crown Victorias, a 40-lap Altima Enduro event, and a Van Prix feature event with minivans.
Zack Walker survived a fast and furious duel with Ty Dillon and Ryan Preece to come home as the winner of the New England 900.
In the 90-lap Cleetus McFarland Crown Victoria feature event, Jackstand Jimmy took the lead at the start of the race with Jim York taking second. JH Diesel was third in the early laps with Cleetus McFarland moving up to fourth and KSR Kevin Smith was fifth. Smith took foruth place from Cleetus on lap-8 while Ryan Preece was working his way towards the top-5 as he moved into seventh. Bobby Earnhardt brought the first caution flag of the race out with 8 laps complete.
Jackstand Jimmy took the lead on the restart but he would lose the lead to JH Diesel, who took over the race lead on lap-10. Smith took second with Preece now up to third behind the two leaders with Jackstand Jimmy fourth and Ty Dillon fifth. Dillon was working the outside lane against Preece and he took third from Preece on lap-14. The caution came back out with 14 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by York.
Smith took the lead on the restart with Dillon taking second. JH Diesel was third with Preece fourth and Brad DeBerti was up to fifth. Dillon went to the inside of Smith on lap-19 and nearly took the lead, but Smith was able to maintain the lead. Danny Stockman spun in turn 1 to bring the caution flag back out with 21 laps complete.
Smith took the lead on the restart with Dillon settling into second after dueling door to door with Smith for a lap. JH Diesel was third with Deberti taking fourth place from Preece on lap-24. With 30 laps complete Smith and Dillon were glued together and slowly pulling away from JH Diesel in third. DeBerti was still fourth with Preece holding fifth place. Zach Walker, who started last, was up to sixth with York, Squirrel McNutt, Tye Braun, and Earnhardt making up the top-10.
Dillon took the lead from Smith on lap-35 but Smith came right back to Dillon’s inside with a crossover move to retake the lead on lap-36. The caution came back out with 37 laps complete for a spin in turn 2 by Kyle BoostedBoi.
Smith took the lead back under green with Dillon right behind him in second. Preece moved up to third with JH Diesel fourth and Walker fifth. Dillon tried a pass on lap-42 but couldn’t complete the pass and he then had to hold off a challenge from Preece for second. Preece took second from Dillon on lap-43 and Dillon had to make a great save as he and JH Diesel touched coming out of turn 4. Dillon maintained third with Diesel fourth and Walker fifth. McNutt got out of shape after contact with another car and brought his car to pit road with a flat tire on lap-45 as Smith continued to lead Preece and Dillon.
Preece was starting to apply heavy pressure to Smith for the lead and he took the lead on lap-52. Dillon took the lead from Preece on lap-56 as the leaders began to navigate lapped traffic. Preece came back to the inside of Dillon to retake the lead on lap-57. Preece and Dillon went 3-wide through the middle of lapped cars as they fought for the lead. Preece got through a group of lapped cars a little better than Dillon and he was able to stretch his lead out to just over a second with 60 laps complete. Danny Stockman spun in turn 1 to bring the caution back out with 60 laps complete.
Preece fended off a challenge from Dillon on the restart to take the lead while Smith got by Dillon on lap-62 to move into second behind Preece. Richard Childress spun in turn 2 to bring the caution flag back out with 62 laps complete.
Smith and Dillon went 3-wide for the lead on the restart with Smith taking the lead but Preece came right back the following lap to retake the lead. Smith was second with Smith third, Dillon fourth, and Walker fifth. Smith got a good run to the inside of Preece on lap-66 to take over the lead. Preece took the lead from Smith on lap-68 but before the lap was completed, Smith was back in the lead with Preece in second. A multi-car incident in turn 1 brougth the yellow flag back out with 68 laps complete.
Cleetus made an aggressive move on Preece to take the lead on the restart but Preece came back several laps later to move back into the lead on lap-72. Cleetus got into the turn 2 wall after again making contact with Preece while fighting for the lead which brought the caution flag back out. Preece developed a flat tire after some on track shenanigans with Cleetus while under caution which gave the lead to JH Diesel for the restart with DeBerti in second.
Several cars came together going into turn 3 on the restart to bring the caution flag right back out. The next restart saw McNutt go around with heavy damage to his car to again bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed.
JH Diesel took the lead on the restart with DeBerti taking second. Dillon was third with Walker fourth and Braun fifth. Speedycop spun in turn 1 to bring the caution back out with 74 laps complete.
DeBerti took the lead by a nose on the outside of JH Diesel back under green and he got clear in to the lead on lap-76. Dillon worked his way to the inside of DeBerti on lap-77 to move back into the lead. Diesel was third with Braun taking fourth and Walker fifth. DeBerti spun coming out of turn 2 which collected several other cars and brought the caution out with 78 laps complete.
Dillon took the lead back under green with Walker in second. JH Diesel was third but Preece took third from him one lap after the restart with Earnhardt in fifth place. Preece then took third from Diesel on lap-80 and set his sights on Walker in second. The caution came back out with 85 laps complete for debris on the track.
Dillon took the lead on the restart but Walker got a good run going down the backstretch and he had the lead to complete lap-86. Dillon held off a challenge from Preece to maintain second with Braun, JH Diesel, and Smith went 3-wide for fourth place on lap-87 with Smith taking fourth, Braun fifth, and Diesel sixth. Dillon took to the outside line on lap-89 and he took the lead by a nose over Walker as they took the white flag. The final lap saw Dillon and Walker touch in turn 2 with Dillon getting out of shape and Walker going on to the checkered flag to win the New England 900. Preece finished second with Smith, Braun, and JH Diesel rounding out the top-5.
In the 40-lap Altima Enduro, the #32 Speedycop car took the lead at the start of the race and led all 40 laps on the Manafort Mini-Mile navigating his way through constant debris and smoke to emerge with the victory. Kenny Kline was second in the #264 car with Lucas Tiberio, Jr. in the #000 third, Carl Balzer in the #04 car fourth, and hometown Stafford Late Model driver Adam Gray finished fifth in the #97 car.
The Cleetus McFarland Van Prix feature event saw Rocket Ryan Pyro in the #424 van take home best in show honors as a host of mini-vans raced 10 laps around the Manafort Mini-Mike complete with a ramp and plenty of various parts left on the track.
