STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Keith Rocco outdueled Todd Owen in the closing two laps to come away with his second feature win of the 2021 season in a thrilling fight to win the 50-lap North American Motor Car Senator’s Cup feature for SK Modifieds Friday night at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Teddy Hodgdon took the lead at the green flag with Jon Puleo behind him in second. Bryan Narducci was third followed by Andrew Molleur and Keith Rocco when the first caution came out with 4 laps complete for a spin by David Arute on the frontstretch.
Hodgdon took the lead on the restart with Puleo still in second. Narducci and Molleur were side by side for third place with Keith Rocco up to fifth. Hines took fifth from Molleur on lap-11 as Hodgdon continued to hold the lead with Puleo, Rocco, and Narducci behind him. The caution came back out with 13 laps complete for a spin by Tyler Leary. Danny Cates was black flagged to the rear of the field for making contact with Leary.
Hodgdon maintained the lead on the restart with Rocco working his way into second. Hines made a move to the inside of Puleo to take third on lap-15 with Narducci holding down the fifth position. Rocco got around Hodgdon to take over the race lead on lap-17 while Narducci got out of shape but made a nice save on the backstretch and he only fell back to eighth place.
With 20 laps complete, the order was Rocco, Hodgdon, Hines, Puleo, and Stephen Kopcik making up the top-5. Molleur was sixth followed by Owen, Narducci, Dan Wesson, and Michael Gervais, Jr. Hines made a move to the inside of Hodgdon on lap-24 and he was able to take over second place on lap-25. The caution flag came back out with 27 laps complete for a spin by Dylan Kopec in turn 4.
Rocco took the lead on the restart with Hodgdon and Hines right behind him. Kopcik moved up to fourth with Owen taking fifth. Puleo faded back to sixth, with Molleur, Narducci, Wesson, and Arute making up the top-10. Hines made a strong move to the inside of Hodgdon on lap-34 to move into second place. Owen was now fourth with Kopcik back in fifth. Hines’ good run came to an end with 38 laps complete as he appeared to lose an engine with a big plume of smoke pouring from underneath his car, which brought the caution flag back out.
Rocco took the lead with Owen falling into line in second. Kopcik was third followed by Molleur and Hodgdon. Puleo was sixth with Arute, Wesson, Mikey Flynn, and Michael Christopher, Jr. making up the top-10. Owen was all over the back bumper of Rocco, looking for a way to make a pass for the lead. After hounding Rocco for the lead for several laps Owen was finally able to get to Rocco’s inside but just as he made his move for the lead, the caution came out with 43 laps for a spin in turn 4 by Puleo, which put Rocco back in the lead with Owen in second for the restart.
Gervais spun in turn three on the restart to bring the caution right back out. The next restart saw Rocco and Owen again take the top two spots with Kopcik and Molleur in third and fourth. Wesson was fifth with Christopher up to sixth. Rocco slipped up the track in turn 3 on lap-48, which gave Owen enough room to get to Rocco’s inside and take the lead by a nose at the line.
The two leaders ran side by side on lap-49 with Owen on the outside of Rocco and holding the lead by a nose. The two leaders ran the final lap side by side with Rocco able to edge in front of Owen coming off turn 4 and he took the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2021 season. Owen finished second with Kopcik, Molleur, and Wesson rounding out the top five.
Other feature winners on the night included Michael Wray getting his first Late Model win of the season, Tyler Chapman scored his second SK Light win of the season, Devon Jencik also scored his second Limited Late Model win of the season and Chris Meyer notched his third Street Stock feature win of the season.