STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Tyler Leary scored his first victory of the season Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway in the biggest late model race of the season, taking the checkered flag in the running of the Late Model 50.
In the 50-lap late model feature, Duane Provost took the lead at the green flag with Paul Varricchio Jr., Wayne Coury Jr., Al Saunders and Michael Bennett lined up behind him. The caution came out with two laps complete for R.J. Surdell, who came to a stop against the turn three wall.
Provost took the lead back under green with Coury applying heavy pressure to his back bumper. Coury took the lead from Provost on lap five with Bennett now third behind Provost. Leary was up to fourth with Saunders holding down fifth. Just behind Saunders was Tom Fearn and Ryan Fearn, Adam Gray, Darrell Keane and Michael Wray.
Bennett got around Provost to take second on lap-8 and Leary followed suit to take third. With Provost kicked to the high side of the track, he faded back to eighth in line as Saunders took fourth, Tom and Ryan Fearn took fifth and sixth and Gray was seventh. This was the order with 10 laps complete when the caution came out for a spin in turn one by John Blake.
Coury took the lead on the restart but Bennett made a good run to Coury’s inside and was challenging for the lead when the caution came back out one lap after the restart for Marc Curtis, who spun and hit the turn one wall. The caution came right back out on the restart as Provost spun coming out of turn four to the green flag. The next restart saw Coury take the lead with Saunders going by Bennett to take over second. Tom Fearn and Adam Gray were lined up behind Bennett and they both got by Bennett on lap 14 to move into third and fourth and drop Bennett back to fifth. Darrell Keane spun in turn one to bring the caution back out with 14 laps complete.
Coury took the lead back under green with Tom Fearn and Saunders side by side for second. Leary was fourth with Bennett in fifth. Leary took third on lap 17 and Bennett followed him by Saunders to move into fourth and drop Saunders back to fifth. Coury’s car dropped off the pace on lap 20 as Tom Fearn streaked into the lead. Fearn didn’t hold the lead for long as Leary charged his way to the front on lap-21 while Coury limped his way to pit road. Bennett took second and Saunders and Ryan Fearn took third and fourth on lap-22 as Tom Fearn fell from second back to fifth. The caution came back out with 23 laps complete for Keane, who spun into the turn one wall.
Leary took the lead on the restart while it was two by two behind him with Bennett and Saunders side by side for second and Ryan and Tom Fearn side by side for fourth. Bennett took second with the Fearns and Saunders behind him. Ryan Fearn took second from Bennett on lap 31 and Tom Fearn was applying heavy pressure to Bennett for third as Leary continued to lead the race.
Bennett briefly dropped off the pace on lap-37 and he fell back to seventh before his car came back up to speed. With 12 laps to go, Leary was still in the lead with Ryan Fearn closing in from second. Tom Fearn was third followed by Saunders, Coury, Bennett, Paul Varricchio, Jr., Kevin Gambacorta, Provost, and John Blake.
Ryan Fearn was slowly shrinking the gap to Leary while behind the two leaders, Saunders took third on lap 44 before the caution came back out for Bennett, who had a flat right front tire. The caution eliminated the large lead that Leary and Ryan Fearn had over the rest of the field and set up a 6 lap sprint to the finish.
Leary and Ryan Fearn were side by side for the lead back under green with Fearn taking the lead by a nose at the line to complete lap 45. They were dead even to complete lap 46 before Fearn got loose on lap 47 which allowed Leary to get clear in the lead. Fearn recovered in second, just in front of Saunders, but he was a full second behind Leary. Leary took the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the 2020 season. Ryan Fearn finished second with Saunders, Tom Fearn, and Varricchio rounding out the top-five.
In other feature racing action, it was a night of back to back winners as Keith Rocco in the SK Modified feature, Derek Debbis in the SK Light feature, Andrew Durand in the Limited Late Model feature, and Chris Meyer in the Street Stock feature all repeated their wins from one week ago.