STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Stafford Speedway hosted Stafford Weekly Racing on Friday night, with Open Modified cars on hand for the Call Before You Dig Open 81.
Michael Gervais, Jr. was the SK modified feature winner, his first win of the season and his first SK win at Stafford since June 2015.
In the 40-lap event, Michael Christopher, Jr. and Tyler Leary led the field to the green after polesitter Curt Brainard came to pit road before the start of the race and the two cars ran wheel-to-wheel with Christohper leading lap one, Leary lap two, and Christopher lap three, all by a nose.
Tom Bolles came to a stop in turn four to bring the caution out with four laps complete.
Christopher took the lead back under green with Talman now side-by-side with Leary for second. Just behind them, Anthony Flannery and Todd Owen battled for fourth place. Talman spun in turn two to bring the caution back out with nine laps complete.
Keith Rocco also spun in turn two and came to pit road with a flat right front tire.
Christopher and Leary resumed their duel for the lead on the restart with Owen and Flannery still fighting for third. Christopher cleared into the lead on lap 12 but Owen made a move to Christopher’s inside and he took the lead by a nose at the line.
Owen cleared Christopher on lap 13 with Gervais coming up to second and Jimmy Blewett third as Christopher fell back to fourth with Leary fifth.
Gervais made a move to the inside of Owen on lap 16 to take over the lead. Gervais’ pass opened the door for Blewett to take second and drop Owen back to third. Christopher was still fourth and and now Tyler Hines was up to fifth with 18 laps in the books.
With 10 laps to go, Gervais was still out front with Blewett right behind him in second. Owen was third in line with Hines and Christopher making up the top five.
Blewett stayed right with Gervais but couldn’t get close enough to make a bid for the lead as Gervais took down the win. Owen finished third with Hines and Christopher rounding out the top five.
Ryan Fearn notched the Late Model victory with a dominating driver that saw him lead all 30 laps, George Bessette, Jr. won the SK Light feature, Kevin Cormier won the Limited Late Model feature, and Ryan Waterman won the Street Stock feature to make it two-for-two in 2023 at Stafford.