Williams
Ronnie Williams after his victory at Stafford. (Stafford Speedway Photo)
Northeast

Ronnie Williams Wins At Stafford

May 21, 2022

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. — Ronnie Williams took the checkered flag with a dominant drive to outlast Woody Pitkat over the final laps at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Open Modified cars returned to the track for the second of five visits of the season for the Call Before You Dig Open 81.

Williams and Eric Goodale brought the field to the green flag and they were still side-by-side after the first lap were completed before the caution flew for a spin in turn 2 by Matt Swanson.

Williams took the lead on the lap 2 restart with Goodale and Keith Rocco side-by-side for second.

The action was slowed by a caution flag with 50 laps complete for a spin by Marcello Rufrano.

Galko streaked into the lead on the ensuing restart with Pitkat moving into second. Williams fell back to third with Chase Dowling and Teddy Hodgdon side-by-side for fourth place.

Pitkat took the lead from Galko on lap 53 and Williams was now trying to follow Pitkat by Galko, which he did one lap later to move into second.

Williams was applying heavy pressure to Pitkat for the lead, and he made a move to the inside of Pitkat on lap 59 to move back into the lead.

Jeff Gallup spun in turn 2 to bring the caution back out with 60 laps complete.

A multi-car incident broke out on the restart with Tommy Barrett Jr. taking the hardest hit into the turn 2 wall to bring the caution right back out before a lap could be completed. 

Pitkat powered his way into the lead on the outside of Williams on the lap 61 restart. Williams made a move to the inside of Pitkat in turn 3 on lap 64 to move back into the lead, but Pitkat didn’t cede the position and he retook the lead one lap later coming out of turn 2. 

The lead battle continued on lap 66 with Williams taking the lead in turns 3 and 4. 

Pitkat couldn’t get close enough to Williams over the final laps as Williams took down a dominating victory.

Stephen Kopcik took down his first SK Modified feature win of the 2022 season, while Kevin Gambacorta was victorious in the Late Model feature.

Rich Hammann scored in the Limited Late Model feature events, with Chris Matthews winning a rain-shortened SK Light feature for his first SK Light feature win at Stafford since 2008.

Jason Finkbein scored his very first career feature win at Stafford in a photo finish with Travis Downey.Â