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(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway was back in action on Friday, July 10 with the Arcari Motor Sales Underdog Night. Special contingency for this event was provided by Paul Arcari from Arcari Motor Sales which paid each 5th place feature finisher tonight an extra $550 and each 15th place finisher a $55 bonus. Troy Talman took down his first win of the season in the SK Modified® feature, Adam Gray took his third win in the Late Model feature, Chris Matthews was a winner for the second time this season in the SK Light feature, Travis Hydar was also a second time 2026 winner in the Limited Late Model, and Ryan Waterman continued his domination of the Street Stock division with his sixth consecutive win and eighth win in ten starts this season.
In the 40-lap SK Modified® feature, the field rumbled in a high speed pace lap with Meghan Fuller and Ethan Durocher side by side for the lead. Fuller led the first lap before Durocher went into the lead on lap-2. Alex Pearl took second on lap-3 with David Arute third. Todd Owen and Fuller were now side by side for fourth place. Owen won that duel and he took third from Arute on lap-7 while Pearl was still in the lead.
Arute came back strong in the outside lane to pull alongside Durocher for second on lap-8 with Owen in fourth and Troy Talman up to fifth. With 10 laps complete Arute and Durocher were still side by side for second with Pearl in the lead. Owen was still fourth with Talman right behind him in fifth.
Tyler Chapman got loose coming out of turn 2 and he spun after contact with Glen Reen to bring the caution flag out with 12 laps complete.
Pearl took the lead on the restart but Arute worked his way to Pearl’s inside and he took over the race lead on lap-14. Talman was now side by side with Pearl for second and he took that position on lap-15. Mikey Flynn was now up to fourth behind Pearl and Jon Puleo was up to fifth place.
At the halfway point, Arute was in command with Talman, Pearl, Flynn, Puleo, Keith Rocco, Marcello Rufrano, Owen, Nickolas Hovey, and Anthony Flannery making up the top-10. Talman worked his way around Arute to take over the race lead on lap-27 with Pearl, Flynn, and Puleo still making up the top-5.
With 5 laps to go Talman held the lead with Arute, Pearl, Rocco, and Puleo all giving chase. Arute couldn’t get close enough to Talman in the final laps as Talman scored his first win of the 2026 season. Arute finished second with Pearl, Rocco, and Puleo rounding out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Late Model feature, Wayne Coury, Jr. took the early lead with Michael Bennett taking second. Adam Gray charged from sixth to third with Kevin Gambacorta fourth and Chris Buffone fifth. Bennett and Gray went 3-wide with Coury on lap-5 for the lead with Bennett emerging in the lead. Gray took second with Coury sliding back to fourth behind Gambacorta, who took third.
Gray was working Bennett over looking to take the lead and he nearly took the lead on lap-13 but Bennett was able to maintain the lead. Gambacorta was still third with Coury and Buffone fourth and fifth. Gray and Bennett touched and spun on the backstretch just before the entrance to turn 3 to bring the caution flag out with 14 laps complete.
Gambacorta was the leader on the restart but Buffone quickly took the lead with Gambacorta falling back to second. Lap-16 saw Gambacorta slide back several more spots as Chris Meyer took second, Darrell Keane third, Paul Varricchio, Jr. fourth, and Gray fifth. Adon Burrell took sixth with Coury seventh and Gambacorta was finally able to get back into line in eighth place. Varricchio went around in turn 4 to bring the caution flag out with 21 laps complete.
Buffone took the lead on the restart with Gray taking with a 3-wide move. Keane settled into third with Coury fourth and Meyer fifth. Gray took the lead from Buffone on lap-25 with Keane, Coury, and now Gambacorta making up the top-5. Meyer was right behind Gambacorta in sixth with Varricchio back up seventh.
Gray led the field to the checkered flag to pick up his third win of the 2026 season. Buffone came home second with Keane, Coury, and Gambacorta rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap SK Light feature, Matt Brewer took the early lead after running wheel to wheel with Jake Hines for the first lap of the race. Chris Matthews quickly took second with Robert Bloxsom, III taking third. Hines settled into line in fourth place, just in front of Casey Vogt. Matthews took the lead from Brewer on lap-6 with Bloxsom now side by side with Brewer for second. Bloxsom took second on lap-7 with Hines still in fourth and Daltin McCarthy was up to fifth.
Bloxsom was glued to Matthews’ back bumper and he made a move for the lead on lap-10 to take the lead from Matthews by a nose at the line. Connor Christmas and Chad Jones spun on the backstretch to bring the caution flag out with 10 laps complete.
Bloxsom and Matthews went wheel to wheel on the restart with Matthews taking the lead by inches to complete lap-11. Lap-12 saw Matthews have a half car length advantage over Bloxsom but Bloxsom came back to lead lap-13 by inches. Brewer was third behind the two leaders with Hines fourth and Jason Finkbein up to fifth. Bloxsom finally got clear into the lead on lap-14 with Matthews right behind him in second.
The caution came back out with 16 laps complete as Peter Bennett and Hines ended up together against the turn 2 wall with Nick Anglace coming to a stop to avoid hitting them while behind them, Stephen Kalogiannis spun to bring the caution flag out with 16 laps complete and set up a 4-lap sprint to the finish.
The field completed one lap with Bloxsom leading Matthews before the caution came back out for Aiden D’Agata, who came to a stop in the middle of turns 3+4. Under the caution, Bloxsom’s car came to a stop in turn 4 while Finkbein retired from the race, putting Matthews and Brewer on the front row with McCarthy and Amanda West making up the second row for the restart.
Matthews took the lead on the restart with Brewer in second. McCarthy took third after running side by side with West, who was now side by side with Tyler Barry fighting for fourth place. Brewer couldn’t make a move on the final lap as Matthews took down his second win of the 2026 season. Brewer finished second with McCarthy, West, and Barry rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Kyle Theriault streaked into the lead at the start with RJ Surdell and Gary Patnode behind him. Travis Hydar was on an early charge, moving from seventh up to fourth with Duane Provost holding fifth place. Surdell took over the lead which brought Patnode to second, Hydar to third, Provost to fourth, Jason Lafayette to fifth, and Norm Root, III to sixth as Theriault was continuing to go backwards stuck in the high line.
With 10 laps complete, the running order was Surdell, Patnode, Hydar, Lafayette, Provost, Root, Matt Winter, II, Jeremy Lavoie, Rich Hammann, and Devon Jencik. Hydar took second from Patnode on lap-11 and he took the lead from Surdell on lap-12.
Lafayette made a move to the inside of Surdell on lap-16 to take over second place but he couldn’t get close enough to Hydar, who took the checkered flag to pick up his second win of the 2026 season. Lafayette finished second with Surdell, Provost, and Patnode rounding out the top-5.
In the 20-lap Street Stock feature, Marvin Minkler led the field to the green flag and he took the early lead. Scott Sundeen moved up to second behind Minkler with Brandon Warren coming up to third, Brent Gleason fourth, and Ryan Waterman charged from ninth to fifth in the first several laps. Waterman took fourth place from Gleason on lap-6 while Minkler was still in command with Sundeen and Warren behind him. Doug Curry went around in turn 2 which collected the car of Roger Mahieu and brought the caution flag out with 7 laps complete.
Minkler and Sundeen raced door to door for a lap on the restart before Minkler got clear into the lead on lap-9. Gleason and Warren went 3-wide with Minkler on lap-10 with Gleason emerging into the lead with Sundeen taking second. Minkler slid back to tenth place as Kolton Gambacorta was now third, Waterman was fourth, and PJ Evans was up to fifth. Warren also slid back in the field to seventh place while Waterman took third from Gambacorta on lap-12 but the caution came back out with 12 laps complete for a spin in turn 1 by Brennan Murdza.
Warren dropped off the pace on the restart and parked his car behind the wall while Gleason took the lead ahead of Waterman and Sundeen. Waterman and Sundeen touched racing for second as the field completed lap-13 with Sundeen spinning into the frontstretch wall to bring the caution flag back out with 13 laps complete.
Gleason took the lead on the restart but Evans made a move to his inside in a bid to take the lead. As they came out of turn 4, they came together with the two cars getting stuck together and driving into the infield to bring the caution flag right back out with 14 laps complete. Gambacorta was now the new leader for the restart with Jason Raymond to his outside and Waterman and Tyler Trott on the second row.
Gambacorta took the lead back under green with Waterman, Raymond, Trott, and Curry lined up behind him. Trott made a move to the inside of Raymond for third on lap-17 while Gambacorta was still leading Waterman. Waterman took the lead from Gambacorta on lap-19 and he led Gambacorta back to the checkered flag to pick up his sixth consecutive win of the 2026 season and his 8th win in 10 starts this season. Raymond finished third with Trott and Evans rounding out the top-5.
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) Troy Talman, Oxford, MA
2) David Arute, Stafford Springs
3) Alexander Pearl, Salem
4) Keith Rocco, Berlin
5) Jon Puleo, Branford
6) Mikey Flynn, Hampden, MA
7) Todd Owen, Somers
8) Marcello Rufrano, North Haven
9) Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin
10) Anthony Flannery, East Hampton
11) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, MA
12) Dylan Izzo, Monroe
13) Tyler Chapman, Ellington
14) Ethan Durocher, Canterbury
15) Meghan Fuller, Auburn, MA
16) Josh Morrison, Ashford
17) David Flammia, Jr., Waterbury
18) Wesley Prucker, Stafford Springs
19) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington
20) Curt Brainard, Canton
21) Josh Zentek, East Haven
22) Art Caruso, Windsor
LATE MODEL (30)
1) Adam Gray, Granby, MA
2) Chris Buffone, Belchertown, MA
3) Darrell Keane, Enfield
4) Wayne Coury, Jr., Milford
5) Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington
6) Paul Varricchio, Jr., Berlin
7) Chris Meyer, Franklin
8) Damian Palardy, Stafford Springs
9) Adon Burrell, Barkhamsted
10) Rob Taylor, Warren
11) Michael Bennett, Willington
1) Chris Matthews, Stafford
2) Matt Brewer, Norwich
3) Daltin McCarthy, Oxford, MA
4) Amanda West, Colchester
5) Tyler Barry, Griswold
6) Casey Vogt, Windsor Locks
7) David Webb, Nashville, TN
8) Bob Charland, Stafford Springs
9) Dylan Houghton, Springfield, MA
10) Cassandra Cole, Westport
11) Ryan Charland, Stafford Springs
12) Ben Morrison, Ashford
13) Glenn Bartkowski, Manchester
14) Austin Goff, Stafford Springs
15) Sami Anderson, Wolcott
16) Nick Anglace, Seymour
17) Paul Arcari, Somers
18) Chad Jones, Quakertown, PA
19) Leo Nunes, Somers
20) Stephen Kalogiannis, New Hartford
21) Ian Nunes, Somers
22) Anthony Forino, Waterbury
23) Travis Downey, Barkhamsted
24) Ava Lombardo, New Hartford
25) Tom Sekulski, Neconset, NY
26) Robert Bloxsom, III, Milford
27) Jason Finkbein, Manchester
28) Aiden D’Agata, Willington
29) Jake Hines, North Haven
30) Peter Bennett, Windsor
31) Kyle Pinkham, Enfield
32) John Brunelle, Stonington
33) Connor Christmas, Enfield
DNS – Norm Sears, Coventry
LIMITED LATE MODEL (20)
1) Travis Hydar, Woodbury
2) Jason Lafayette, Somers
3) RJ Surdell, Willington Conor Jencik, Canton
4) Duane Provost, Palmer, MA
5) Gary Patnode, Barkhamsted
6) Matt Winter, II, Springfield, VT
7) Norman Root, III, Old Saybrook
8) Rich Hammann, Tolland
9) Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks
10) Devon Jencik, Canton
11) Steve Daddio, Seymour
12) Matt Clement, Rocky Hill
13) Aaron Plemons, Uncasville
14) Kyle Theriault, Three Rivers, MA
15) Samantha Dell, Pascoag, RI
16) Scott Clement, Wethersfield
17) Dana Wray, Northford
18) Shelby Swan, Durham
STREET STOCK (20)
1) Ryan Waterman, Danielson
2) Kolton Gambacorta, Ellington
3) Jason Raymond, Somers
4) Tyler Trott, East Hartford
5) PJ Evans, Uncasville
6) Brent Gleason, Griswold
7) Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA
8) Scott Sundeen, Sutton, MA
9) Doug Curry, Plainfield
10) David Ciastko, Madison
11) Marvin Minkler, Stamford
12) Garrett Pease, Enfield
13) Rob Sears, Stafford Springs
14) Alex Spinnato, Wallingford
15) Brandon Warren, Chicopee, MA
16) Brennan Murdza, Chicpee, MA
17) Roger Mahieu, Goshen
