STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Keith Rocco returned to his winning ways at Stafford Motor Speedway with his first SK Modified win of the season as part of the Call Before You Dig Open Modified 81 program Friday at the half-mile Connecticut oval.
Rocco edged out Stephen Kopcik for the victory in a thrilling 40-lap feature, making a last-corner pass stick and reaching the finish line first by a scant .076 of a second in his familiar No. 88.
Bryan Narducci led the SK Modified field to the green flag and took the early race lead with Mikey Flynn right behind him in second. Michael Gervais Jr. was side by side with Doug Meservey Jr. for third, with Noah Korner in fifth.
Flynn made a move around Narducci on lap four to move into the lead while Gervais took third. Meservey quickly slid backwards outside the top 10 as Korner took fourth and Ronnie Williams moved into fifth.
Gervais made a move to get by Narducci and take over second on lap nine. Williams was also on the charge as he took fourth and then took third from Narducci on lap 11. The caution came out with 13 laps complete as Matt Vassar spun coming out of turn two and collected the car of Troy Talman.
Tom Bolles spun in turn one on the restart to bring the caution right back out. Gervais took the lead on the next restart with a three-wide move against Narducci and Flynn, but Narducci charged back to the front on lap 15. Todd Owen then put on a charge as he took the lead from Narducci on lap 16.
Narducci came right back to the inside of Owen on lap 17 to hold the lead at the line. Kopcik quickly found himself fighting side by side with Owen for second when the caution flew with 18 laps complete for Teddy Hodgdon, who got into the frontstretch wall.
Kopcik got around Narducci with a slick move going into turn three on the restart to take the race lead. Rocco took third and then went by Narducci on lap 20 to move into second. Narducci was third in line at that point, followed by Owen and Flynn.
Owen got around Narducci to move into third on lap 23 while Rocco applied heavy pressure to Kopcik for the race lead. Rocco was able to make a move to get by Kopcik on lap 25 to take the lead, but Kopcik came back to the inside of Rocco on lap 27 to take the lead by a nose at the line.
With five laps to go, Kopcik and Rocco had pulled away from Owen in third to settle the race between themselves. The caution flew with 37 laps complete, however, for a spin by Narducci coming out of turn four. That set up a three-lap dash to the finish.
Kopcik took the lead back under green with Rocco in second. Owen was third followed by Flynn and Tyler Hines. Rocco made a move to get to the inside of Kopcik as they came to the white flag, and then he beat Kopcik to the checkered flag by a half car length to pick up his first win of the season.
Owen finished third ahead of Hines and Flynn.
In other weekly classes, Tom Fearn won his first late model feature since August of 2019, while Brian Sullivan (SK Lights), Matt Clement (limited late models) and Frank L’Etoile Jr. (street stocks) also scored their first wins of the year in their respective classes as well.
Michael Christopher Jr. won the headlining Call Before You Dig 81 for open modifieds Friday night at the half-mile paved oval.