STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Stafford Speedway returned to NASCAR weekly racing action with the Late Model division taking center stage with their extra distance Paradiso Insurance Late Model 50 feature event.
Tom Fearn was the big winner of the night by winning the 50-lap Paradiso Insurance 50-lap race for his first career extra distance victory among his now 61 career Late Model feature wins at Stafford.
Paul Arute led the field to the green flag and he set the early pace at the start of the race with Wayne Coury, Jr. right behind him in second. Michael Wray was third in the opening laps followed by Kevin Gambacorta and Fearn.
Coury made a move to the inside of Arute on lap four coming out of turn four to take over the lead.
Coury would get loose in turn two on lap five, which also slowed Arute and allowed Wray to take over the lead. Gambacorta, Fearn, Michael Bennett, and Ryan Fearn were the new top five cars behind Wray.
Gambacorta was applying heavy pressure to Wray and he was able to make a move in turn two to take over the lead on lap 11. Tom Fearn came up to second with Bennett, Wray, and Coury behind him.
Ryan Fearn spun coming out of turn four to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete.
Tom Fearn took the lead from Gambacorta on the restart, but Darrell Keane spun in turn four to bring the caution out before a lap could be completed.
It was Tom Fearn and Gambacorta door-to-door for the lead on the next restart with Fearn taking the lead by a nose at the line.
They were still side by side on lap-13 with Fearn again the leader by a nose.
Fearn got clear of Gambacorta on lap 14 and Gambacorta now had Adam Gray all over his back bumper looking to take over second.
Gray took third on lap 15 with Gambacorta falling back to fourth and Coury was fifth in line. The caution came back out with 15 laps complete for a spin in turn four by Michael Bennett that also collected the car of Keane.
Tom Fearn took the lead back under green with Gambacorta, Coury, Wray, and Tom Butler lined up behind him.
At the halfway point of the race, Tom Fearn was still in command with Gambacorta, Coury, Butler, and Wray making up the top five.
Tom Fearn took the lead back under green but only one lap was completed before the caution came back out for a spin in turn two by Adon Burrell. Paul Varricchio, Jr. was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Burrell.
Tom Fearn charged back into the lead on the restart with Coury taking second.
Butler worked his way past Gray for third on lap 29 but Gray came right back on lap 30 to retake third.
Gambacorta took over fourth with Butler sliding back to fifth after Gray retook third from him. Gray took second from Coury on lap-34 with a pass going into turn 3 and Andrew Molleur followed him by Butler to take over fifth place and drop Butler back to sixth.
With 10 laps to go, Fearn had a lead of just over 1 second back to Gray in second with Coury, Gambacorta, and Molleur still making up the top five. Duane Noll’s car dropped off the pace and came to a stop on the access road in turn one to bring the caution out with 41 laps complete.
The restart saw Butler spin coming to the green, which brought the caution right back out.
Tom Fearn took the lead with Gray glued to his back bumper on the restart. Gambacorta was third in line followed by Molleur and Coury. With five laps to go, Fearn and Gray were starting to pull away from Gambacorta in third with Gray about a car length behind Fearn.
Gray couldn’t get close enough to Fearn as Fearn took down his fourth win of the 2022 season and his first ever late model victory out of 61 career Stafford Late Model wins in an extra distance feature event. Gambacorta finished third with Molleur and Coury rounding out the top five.s
Other feature winners on the night were Cory DiMatteo in the SK Modified feature, Tyler Barry in the SK Light feature, Damian Palardy in the Limited Late Model feature, and Adrien Paradis, III in the Street Stock feature. There were two kids big wheel races and they were won by Joseph Davenport and Alexander Ayers.
The Finish:
Feature (50 Laps): 1) Tom Fearn, 2) Adam Gray, 3) Kevin Gambacorta, 4) Andrew Molleur, 5) Wayne Coury, Jr., 6) Ryan Fearn, 7) Michael Wray, 8) Paul Arute, 9) Duane Provost, 10) Adon Burrell, 11) John Blake, 12) Tom Butler, 13) Marc Curtis, 14) Duane Noll, 15) Michael Bennett, 16) Paul Varricchio, Jr., 17) Darrell Keane, 18) Andrew Durand