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(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway was back in action on Friday, May 29th with the Great Rate Rentals Kids Night program. Stafford’s two open wheel divisions both featured first-time winners with Tyler Chapman taking down his first career win in the SK Modified® feature and Stephen Kalogiannis notching his first career SK Light feature victory. Other feature winners were Darrell Keane in the Late Model feature, Jason Lafayette in the Limited Late Model feature, and Ryan Waterman in the Street Stock feature.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, Wesley Prucker led the field to the green and he led the first lap before giving way to Glen Reen on lap-2. Alex Pearl was third in line behind Reen and Prucker with Troy Talman fourth and Matt Vassar fifth. Talman took third from Pearl on lap-4 while Prucker nearly took the lead from Reen before falling back into line in second place.
Prucker went back into the lead on lap-8 with Reen trying to hold off Talman for second. Pearl was fourth with Dylan Izzo glued to his back bumper in fifth place. Pearl got around both Talman and Reen to move into second with Talman taking third. Reen faded back to tenth place as Izzo took third from Talman. Mikey Flynn took fourth from Talman on lap-13 before the caution flew for spins in turn 2 by Curt Brainard, Josh Morrison, Chase Cook, and David Flammia, Jr.
Prucker took the lead back under green but Pearl took the lead from Prucker one lap after the restart on lap-15. Izzo was up to third with Talman fourth and Jon Puleo up to fifth. Flynn was sixth with Athony Flannery, Tyler Chapan, Keith Rocco, and Cook making up the top-10. The caution came back out with 20 laps complete as Tyler Hines spun coming out of turn 4.
Pearl took the lead on the restart but Izzo worked his way to the inside of Pearl in turns 3+4 and they came to the stripe wheel to wheel. Talman was third behind the lead duo with Prucker fourth and the wheel to wheel duo of Puleo and Flynn fighting for fifth place. Izzo got clear into the lead on lap-24 while Puleo took fifth behind Prucker . Pearl came back to the inside of Izzo on lap-26 but couldn’t complete the pass as Izzo maintained the lead. Prucker spun coming out of turn 2 which collected the majority of the field behind him and brought the caution back out with 26 laps complete.
Izzo took the lead back under green but they could only complete one lap before the caution came back out for the cars of Morrison, Ethan Durocher, Curt Brainard, and Josh Zentek who all spun coming out of turn 4.
Izzo took the lead on the next restart with Talman and Pearl going wheel to wheel for second. Chapman was fourth in line with Puleo fifth. Talman took second on lap-30 with Chapman and Pearl now wheel to wheel for third with Puleo still fifth. Talman came back to the inside of Izzo on lap-31 and he made the pass for the lead on lap-32. Talman and Izzo touched in turn 4, which allowed Chapman to streak into the race lead. Pearl was now second with Talman in third but the caution came back out with 33 laps complete as Puleo and Izzo touched with both cars going into the turn 1 wall.
Pearl took the lead on the restart with Chapman and Rocco side by side for second. There was another pileup of cars midpack to bring the caution back out with 35 laps complete.
Chapman took the lead on the next restart with Talman, the side by side duo of Pearl and Marcello Rufrano, and Rocco lined up behind him. Pearl took third on lap-36 with Rocco now alongside Rufrano in the fight for fourth place with 3 laps to go.
Chapman held off Talman to the checkered flag to pick up his first career SK Modified® feature win at Stafford. Pearl finished third with Rocco and Rufrano rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Darrell Keane took the lead at the drop of the green flag to set the early pace ahead of Josh Wood, Chris Buffone, Adon Burrell, and Wayne Coury, Jr. With 5 laps complete, the top-3 cars of Keane, Wood, and Buffone were running nose to tail in a 3-car train for the lead. Coury was now fourth with Michael Bennett up to fifth as Burrell slipped back to 10th place.
With 13 laps complete, Bennett was starting to apply heavy pressure to Coury for fourth place with Kevin Gambacorta and Paul Varricchio, Jr. both lined up right behind Coury, but Coury was able to hold off his challenge.
With 10 laps to go, Bennett was still looking for a way to get by Coury and take over fourth place while Keane continued to hold the race lead with Wood and Buffone still second and third. Lined up behind Bennett was Kevin Gambacorta, Varricchio, Adam Gray, Chris Meyer, and Burrell.
With 5 laps to go, Keane was still in command out front with Buffone getting around Wood for second. Coury was still holding off Bennett, Gambacorta, and Varricchio for fourth place with Gray in eighth, Meyer ninth, and Burrell tenth.
Buffone was able to get to the back bumper of Keane but he couldn’t make a move for the win as Keane led the race wire to wire to pick up his first win of the 2026 season. Buffone finished second with Wood, Bennett, and Coury rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light feature, Sami Anderson brought the field to the green flag and she took the early lead. Casey Vogt was second behind Anderson but Tyler Barry went around Vogt on lap-3 to take over second. Cassandra Cole was fourth behind Vogt with Bob Charland making up the top-5. Barry took the lead from Anderson on lap-5 with Vogt taking second to drop Anderson back to third. Jason Finkbein worked his way around Charland for fifth place and he was now looking to get by Cole to take fourth place.
Vogt was applying heavy pressure to Barry for the race lead but wasn’t able to complete a pass. Vogt got to Barry’s inside on lap-6 and he took the lead on lap-7 by a nose at the line. Vogt got loose in turn 2 and collected the car of Finkbein to bring the caution flag out with 9 laps complete.
The restart saw Rob Pederson spin in turn 1 which collected John Brunelle and Chad Jones to bring the caution right back out.
Anderson took the lead on the outside of Barry on the restart but going into turn 3, Chris Matthews spun and then coming out of turn 4 Anderson went around in front of the entire field to bring the caution flag out with 9 laps still complete.
Robert Bloxsom, III was the new leader but he didn’t quite come up to speed on the restart with Dylan Houghton taking the lead. Bloxsom spun in turn 2 to bring the caution back out with still 9 laps complete.
Stephen Kalogiannis took the lead on the next restart with Houghton taking second. Jake Hines was third in line with Daltin McCarthy fourth and Travis Downey fifth. Houghton went by Kalogiannis on lap-12 to take over the lead. McCarthy took third from Hines on lap-14 while Houghton continued to lead Kalogiannis, who was staying glued to the back bumper of Houghton. Pederson spun in turn 3 to bring the caution back out with 17 laps complete and set up a 3 lap dash to the finish.
Houghton dropped off the pace on the restart, allowing Kalogiannis to take the lead. Matthews was third and he took second from Hines on lap-19. Hines was third with Downey fourth and Connor Christmas was up to fifth as the field took the white flag. Kalogiannis held Matthews off to the checkered flag to pick up his first career SK Light feature win. Hines finished third with Downey and Christmas rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, RJ Surdell nearly took the lead with a three-wide move on the first lap but he backed out of the move with Tyler Secore leading his father Dave on the opening lap. Going into turn 1 with the first lap complete, Rich Hammann spun and Gary Patnode did a half spin with Dana Wray coming to a stop to avoid Hammann to bring the caution flag out.
Dave Secore took the lead on the restart with Kyle Theriault taking second. Tyler Secore was third but he spun in turn 1 to bring the caution flag back out with 2 laps complete.
Dave Secore got swallowed up on the restart with Theriault taking the lead, Jason Lafayette second, Duane Provost third, RJ Surdell fourth, and Norm Root, III fifth as Secore slid all the way back to 11th place. Lafayette wasted little time moving to the front as he took the lead from Theriault on lap-6. Provost was still third with Patnode now fourth and Surdell fifth.
With 10 laps complete the order was Lafayette in the lead with Theriault, Provost, Patnode, and Surdell lined up behind him. Surdell would fall back to seventh place as Jeremy Lavoie took fifth and Travis Hydar sixth. Scott Clement did a quick spin and recovery on lap-18 so the race stayed green and it was all Lafayette as he took down his second win of the 2026 season. Theriault finished second with Provost, Patnode, and Lavoie rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, David Ciastko brought the field to the green flag and he took the early lead ahead of Charles Beal, Bill Cote, Brent Gleason, and Ryan Waterman, who quickly moved from his 11th starting position up to fifth in the opening three laps of the race. Waterman took fourth from Gleason on lap-7 and then took third from Cote on the same lap. Waterman continued his charge to the front by taking second place from Beal on lap-9 while Brandon Warren was now fifth behind Ciastko, Waterman, Beal, and Cote at the halfway point of the race. Waterman took the lead from Ciastko just before the caution flag flew with 12 laps complete for PJ Evans, who spun in turn 4.
Waterman streaked into the lead on the restart with Warren moving into second. Kolton Gambacorta worked his way up to third with Matthew Lowinski-Loh fourth and Ciastko fifth. Lowinski-Loh took third from Gambacorta on lap-14 while Beal took fifth from Ciastko on lap-15. Beal spun in turn 2 which collected the car of Scott Sundeen and brought the caution flag back out with 15 laps complete.
Waterman again took the lead on the restart with Warren right behind him in second. Lowinski-Loh took third with Gambacorta fourth and Cote going door to door with Jason Raymond for fifth place. Raymond took fifth but it was all Waterman at the front as he took the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2026 season. Warren finished second with Lowinski-Loh, Gambacorta, and Raymond rounding out the top-5.
The kids big wheel races were won by Bradley Bennett from Stafford Springs and Cameron Sikes from Monson, MA.
For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
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SK MODIFIED® (40)
1) Tyler Chapman, Ellington
2) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA
3) Alexander Pearl, Salem
4) Keith Rocco, Berlin
5) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
6) Michael Christopher, Jr., Wolcott
7) Todd Owen, Somers
8) Wesley Prucker, Stafford Springs
9) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, MA
10) Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin
11) David Arute, Stafford Springs
12) Matt Vassar, Berlin
13) Curt Brainard, Canton
14) Josh Zentek, East Haven
15) Wade Gagner, East Longmeadow, MA
16) Art Caruso, Windsor
17) Meghan Fuller, Auburn, MA
18) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton
19) David Flammia, Jr., Waterbury
20) Dylan Izzo, Monroe
21) Jon Puleo, Branford
22) Riely O’Keefe, Manorville, NY
23) Josh Morrison, Ashford
24) Ethan Durocher, Canterbury
25) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA
26) Chase Cook, Norwich
27) Tyler Hines, North Haven
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Darrell Keane, Enfield
2) Chris Buffone, Belchertown, MA
3) Josh Wood, Palmer, MA
4) Michael Bennett, Willington
5) Wayne Coury, Jr., Milford
6) Adam Gray, Granby, MA
7) Chris Meyer, Franklin
8) Adon Burrell, Barkhamsted
9) Damian Palardy, Stafford Springs
10) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
11) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
12) Scott Davis, Enfield
13) Bobby Stirk, III, Naugatuck
SK LIGHT (20)
1) Stephen Kalogiannis, New Hartford
2) Chris Matthews, Stafford
3) Jake Hines, North Haven
4) Travis Downey, Barkhamsted
5) Connor Christmas, Enfield
6) Cassandra Cole, Westport
7) Casey Vogt, Windsor Locks
8) Robert Bloxsom, III, Milford
9) Glenn Bartkowski, Manchester
10) Amanda West, Colchester
11) Daltin McCarthy, Oxford, MA
12) Austin Goff, Stafford Springs
13) Aiden D’Agata, Willington
14) Paul Arcari, Somers
15) Matt Brewer, Norwich
16) John Brunelle, Stonington
17) Joey Ferrigno, East Hartford
18) Rob Pederson, Fairfield
19) Dylan Houghton, Springfield, MA
20) Ben Morrison, Ashford
21) Tyler Barry, Griswold
22) Sami Anderson, Wolcott
23) Peter Bennett, Windsor
24) Bob Charland, Stafford Springs
25) Nick Anglace, Seymour
26) Norm Sears, Coventry
27) Chad Jones, Quakertown, PA
28) Jason Finkbein, Manchester
DNS
Kyle Pinkham, Enfield
Will Anderson, Wolcott
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Jason Lafayette, Somers
2) Kyle Theriault, Three Rivers, MA
3) Duane Provost, Palmer, MA
4) Gary Patnode, Barkhamsted
5) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
6) Travis Hydar, Woodbury
7) RJ Surdell, Willington
8) Rich Hammann, Tolland
9) Matt Winter, II, Springfield, VT
10) Adrien Paradis, III, Plainville
11) Norman Root, III, Old Saybrook
12) Matt Clement, Rocky Hill
13) Devon Jencik, Canton
14) Connor Jencik, Canton
15) Dave Secore, Union
16) Tyler Secore, Union
17) Dana Wray, Northford
18) Scott Clement, Wethersfield
19) Aaron Plemons, Uncasville
STREET STOCK (20)
1) Ryan Waterman, Danielson
2) Brandon Warren, Chicopee, MA
3) Matthew Lowinski-Loh, Thompson
4) Kolton Gambacorta, Ellington
5) Jason Raymond, Somers
6) Brent Gleason, Griswold
7) Bill Cote, Belchertown, MA
8) David Ciastko, Madison
9) Charles Beal, Ledyard
10) Scott Sundeen, Sutton, MA
11) Matt Martel, Stafford Springs
12) Roger Mahieu, Goshen
13) Marvin Minkler, Stamford
14) Herb Carlon, Groton
15) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs
16) PJ Evans, Uncasville
