David Arute in victory lane after winning the TC 13 Shootout.
David Arute in victory lane after winning the TC 13 Shootout.

Arute Secures TC 13 Shootout Cash

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – David Arute and Stephen Kopcik shared victory lane in the SK Modified division Friday at Stafford Speedway as the track hosted the annual running of the TC 13 Shootout in addition to the regularly scheduled 40-lap feature.

In the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Doug Meservey Jr. took the lead at the green flag with Marcello Rufrano in hot pursuit from second place.  Matt Vassar was third with Arute fourth and Keith Rocco fifth.  Arute made a move to the inside of Vassar on lap five to move into third and his pass brought Rocco up to fourth and kicked Vassar back to fifth in line. Vassar would continue to slide backwards to eighth place as Bryan Narducci took fifth, Michael Gervais, Jr. sixth, and Andrew Molleur seventh.

Rocco worked his way around Arute to move into third while Meservey and Rufrano were still holding down the top-two spots on lap 12.  Arute went back by Rocco but spun with 13 laps complete to bring the caution flag out.  Narducci was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Arute. 

Meservey took the lead on the restart with Stephen Kopcik working his way into second.  Rufrano was third with Rocco and Todd Owen lined up behind him.  The caution came back out with 17 laps complete as Narducci spun in turn 2 and Fran Siana and Curt Brainard also spun. 

Kopcik took the lead from Meservey on the restart with Rufrano, Rocco, and Owen still making up the top-five.  Michael Christopher Jr. spun in turn two to bring the yellow back out with 19 laps complete.

Back under green, Kopcik again took the lead with Meservey staying right on his bump[er in second.  The two leaders touched in turn 3 but both were able to continue without losing any positions.  Rocco took third with Rufrano fourth and Owen still fifth.  Owen took fourth place from Rufrano on lap 24 and Cory DiMatteo took fifth from Rufrano on lap 25.  The caution came back out for a multicar crash in turn three involving Noah Korner, Christopher, Dylan Kopec, Vassar, and Narducci. 

Kopcik took the lead back under green with Meservey holding second.  Rocco was third with Owen fending off a challenge from DiMatteo to maintain fourth place.  Just behind DiMatteo, Jon Puleo was up to sixth followed by Gervais, Rufrano, Troy Talman, and Arute.  Kopcik led Meservey to the checkered flag to pick up his third consecutive win and fifth overall win of the 2021 season.  Rocco came home third with Owen and DiMatteo rounding out the top-five.

The top-13 finishers in the 40-lap SK Modified division race advanced to the TC 13 Shootout, which paid $1,313 from a purse of $7,000. 

Troy Talman and Marcello Rufrano both got out of shape in turn one at the start of the 13-lap race, with Rufrano collecting the cars of Rocco, Christopher and Kopcik to bring the caution out before a lap could be completed. Arute and Talman went wheel to wheel for the lead on the restart, but Dan Wesson spun on the backstretch to bring the yellow back out before the first lap could be completed.  The third start saw Arute power his way into the lead before the caution came back out with 1 lap complete for a spin in turn two by Gervais.

Arute took the lead on the restart while Owen was all over Talman for second place.  Owen made the pass for second on lap-three with DiMatteo in fourth and Rocco in fifth.  DiMatteo took third from Talman on lap five with a pass in turn three while Arute was still in command out front. 

Rocco got around Talman to move into fourth place and he made a move to the inside of DiMatteo for third  on lap 11.  DiMatteo came right back to the inside of Rocco in turn three but the two cars touched with Rocco spinning to bring the caution out with 11 laps complete and set up a green white checkered finish.  DiMatteo was sent to the rear of the field by Stafford officials for making contact with Rocco. 

Arute cleared Owen for the lead as the two lead cars came to the white flag.  Owen couldn’t make a move on the final lap as Arute took the checkered flag to win the TC 13 Shootout and the $1,313 bonus that comes with the win. Owen finished second with Talman, Gervais and Tyler Hines rounding out the top-five.

In other action, John Blake earned his first late model feature triumph, Derek Debbis scored his Stafford leading sixth win of the season in the SK Light feature, Alexandra Fearn notched her fifth win of the year in the limited late model feature and Chris Meyer took down his fifth win of the season in the street stock feature.