STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Michael Christopher Jr. scored his first victory of the season in the SK Modified division at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday.
Keith Rocco also had reason to celebrate after clinching the SK Modified division championship. By doing so, he claimed the 18th NASCAR Division One track championship, setting a NASCAR record in the process.
In the 40-lap SK Modified feature, Matt Vassar took the early at the green flag with Tyler Leary right behind him in second. Ronnie Williams was on the charge, going from fifth to second on lap three. Michael Gervais Jr. followed Williams by Leary to take third on lap three with Keith Rocco taking fourth on lap four to drop Lear back to fifth in line.
Williams took to the outside lane and he powered his way by Vassar to take over the race lead on lap five. Vassar now had Gervais on his outside looking to take second with Rocco right behind Gervais and Chase Dowling and Leary side by side for fifth place.
Rocco went around Gervais on lap-9 to take over second and he pulled to the inside of Williams on lap 10 as they raced into turn one. Rocco took the lead in turns three and four before the caution came out for a multi-car incident in turn four with 10 laps complete.
On the restart Rocco took the lead with Gervais and Williams side by side for second and Dowling and Christopher side by side for fourth behind them. Williams emerged in second with Christopher third, Gervais fourth, and Dowling fifth as Rocco continued to hold the race lead.
Todd Owen was now side by side with Dowling for fifth place on lap 15 while Christopher took a look to the outside of Williams on lap 17. Christopher completed his pass for second on lap 18 while Owen took fifth from Dowling and was now side by side with Gervais for fourth place. Rocco was still in the lead with Christopher and Williams behind him.
The order continued to shuffle on lap 23 as Owen took over third place behind Rocco and Christopher with Gervais in fourth, Dowling fifth, and Williams sixth. With 10 laps to go, Rocco was still in the lead with Christopher giving chase from second. Owen was third with Gervais, Dowling, and Williams behind him.
With six laps to go, Christopher was looking high and low for a way around Rocco and just as it looked like Christopher was ready to set up a move for the lead, the caution came out with 35 laps complete for a spin in turn four by Vassar. Tony Membrino Jr. was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Vassar.
Rocco took the lead on the restart while Christopher appeared to lock up his right front tire as he drifted up the track in turn one and he fell back to third in line as Owen took over second. Gervais spun in turn two to bring the caution back out with 36 laps complete and Dowling was sent to the rear of the field for making contact with Gervais.
Leary spun on the restart to bring the caution right back out and Teddy Hodgdon was sent to the rear for making contact with Leary. The next restart saw Owen go three-wide with Rocco and Christopher to take over the lead, but Vassar spun in the middle of turns three and four to bring the caution back out before a lap could be completed and put Rocco back in the lead for the next restart.
Owen took the lead from Rocco, but Rocco came right back to Owen’s inside and went back to the front on lap 38. With two laps to go Rocco and Owen were side by side but Rocco got clear of Owen as they dame to the white flag.
Christopher was third in line with Williams and Narducci side by side for fourth. Christopher shot from third to the lead as the leaders raced through turn two on the final lap and he held off the field to the checkered flag to pick up his first win of the season in spectacular fashion.
Williams came through to take second behind Christopher with Rocco, Narducci, and Owen rounding out the top-five.
Rocco’s third place finish was good enough to make him the 2020 SK Modified® track champion. Rocco’s title was his fourth SK Modified crown at Stafford and his 18th career NASCAR Weekly Series Division One track championship.
In other action Friday night, Adam Gray moved closer to locking down his third late model track championship at Stafford by scoring his sixth win of the year. Derek Debbis continued his red hot rookie season with his fifth win of the season in the SK Light feature. Andrew Durand scored his seventh win of the season in the Limited Late Model division. Meghan Fuller took over the Street Stock point lead with one race left by winning her third consecutive feature event of the season and her fourth overall.