Stafford Speedway's 2006 season may be truncated somewhat due to May-June rainouts, but it remains on the gas and following an Independence Day extravaganza highlighted by John Blewitt's win in the Whelen Modified Tour feature the "regular season" for Stafford's divisions picked up for July 7th's fireworks.
And there turned out to be some fireworks. Limited Late Models, D.A.R.E. Stocks, and SK Lights helped sate the appetites of racefans, but the big dogs remain Late Models and SK Modifieds. For Late Models the fireworks began on the second lap for the closest one can get to a massive wreck with no one touching anything - the result of Scott Foster Jr's spin in Turn Three with traffic four-wide splitting him.
Foster Jr's night, though, went from bad to worse following the subsequent restart as Wayne Coury Jr., battling for third, cut into Ryan Posacco and the result was a five-car stackup that began with Ed Ricard's spin and impact with Tony Lafo while Foster got hit by Jerry Del Re behind them.
From there Tom Fearn took the lead as Woody Pitkat, driving the Kretchman #48 Ford, clawed to second. Pitkat, with three wins under his belt this season entering July 7's feature, has been a strong fit for a car that has had several drivers over the years and seen success on a consistent basis, notably in the 2004 season and Mike Quintiliano's epic showdown with Ryan Posacco for the Late Model title.
The decisive showdown in July 7's feature came in the second ten laps of the 30-lap feature. Pitkat rooted Fearn out of the groove in Four and grabbed the lead near halfway; Fearn crossed back underneath and the two crinkled sheetmetal past halfway for two laps before Scott Cook kicked Fearn sideways and Pitkat got in the clear.
From there Pitkat, celebrating his 27th birthday, was home free for his fourth Late Model win of the year. Unnoticed amid Pitkat's win, though, was a solid rally by Scott Foster Jr. to eighth and a business-like top five by defending division champ Ryan Posacco.
Pitkat's win on his birthday was a solid double whammy, but the real double whammy was yet to come, as Pitkat was slotted in the SK Modified feature, driving one of two Dave Rowe cars, with Jeff Malave as a teammate. Pitkat started in the middle of the first five rows and worked to fourth early on. Chris Jones, driving Frank Ruocco's backup car this week, had the lead ahead of Curt Brainerd. Pitkat closed up on Brainerd by Lap Six and finally took second at Lap 11, a pass that allowed Jones to open up a one-second lead.
As in the Late Model feature the action picked up approaching halfway as Pitkat caught Jones and grabbed the lead at Lap 18, but he soon had a new adversary to concern himself with as Bo Gunning, driving Bob Parker's dark-yellow #84, assumed third by Lap 21. This became a serious issue when the yellow flew for the first time at Lap 29, wiping out a five-length lead for Pitkat. The yellow came for Jimmy Blewitt, spinning after contact with Kenny Horton, a former Late Modeler.
On the restart Gunning pushed to second and made the move with ten to go; Gunning cleared in One but Pitkat crossed underneath and the two banged wheels for two laps before Gunning slammed the door with eight to go. Pitkat swerved past Gunning with seven to go but a backmarker spin drew the yellow and wiped out the pass, but not the intensity as Gunning nailed Pitkat's left rear and lifted momentarily off the ground.
Kenny Horton's wreck wiped out the next restart. With Gunning the leader due to reverting to the last completed lap he had the bottom of the two-abreast restart. Gunning and Pitkat went at it hard; Pitkat fired into a momentary lead in Three but Gunning stormed a bumper bar ahead in Four and they fought side-by-side for two laps. Gunning cleared but with two to go Pitkat opened a hole in Three and the two leaned hard.......
....too hard as Gunning tried to pinch off Pitkat and Pitkat hooked him at the stripe; Gunning spun to a stop in the infield grass. For all practical purposes the race was over, but the win by Pitkat over Chris Jones and Jeff Baral was marred by a nasty five-car melee on the backstretch - with no injuries - and hardly noticed at all was a solid top five by Chris Osella, a driver who has struggled in SKs for several years.
Gunning finished 13th and his conversation with a NASCAR official in the garage was animated for certain.
"I feel bad about that spin," Pitkat said. "Gunning has had a lot of bad luck, he runs up front every week and he's an awesome driver, having been here for so long. For us, we've had a lot of bad luck the past several weeks. The biggest thing was to get our car to turn, and this may be the biggest win because winning both the Late Model and the SK on the same night is hard. I figured Todd Owen would be the first to do it, so this is big."
Indeed it was, a double whammy that helps make Stafford Speedway's season exciting regardless of impediments thrown in the track's way.
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