TC WINS HIS 4TH TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER
By Mike Fields

April 27, Stafford Springs, CT--- The 2nd of the 3 Sunday races at Stafford Motor Speedway is billed as the 200-lap "Greatest Race in the History of Spring", the Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. Ryan Preece had won the pole during Saturday time trials. After the redraw, the top ten were Rob Summers, Frank Ruocco, Jimmy Blewett Eric Beers, Ted Christopher, Matt Hirschman, Ryan Preece, Chuck Hossfeld, Kevin Goodale, and Mike Stefanik. part of the pre-race festivities were Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell.

One of the new NASCAR tech officials is a name familiar to Long Island race fans. John Manno was the 2004 Riverhead Raceway Modified Rookie of the Year. Many of the Long Island drivers in the pits were surprised when he was introduced on Saturday.

After the Governor gave the command to start engines, the pace car driver took her around the track at speed for three laps. Then the field took to the track for their pace laps. Jimmy Blewett, who normally drives the No. 12, had the No. 19 for this season. Ken Heagy was utilizing the No. 12. Although 33 cars were scheduled to take the green, Stafford's Mark Arute paid the extra purse to allow all 35 qualifiers to take the green.

When the green flew at 2:38pm, it was Summers taking the lead, with Frank Rocco 2nd, Ted Christopher 3rd. With one lap complete several cars got together in turn two, as Chuck Hossfeld had a left rear tire go down. Charlie Pasteryak needed a wrecker off the track.

When the green flew on lap 6, it was Summers, Blewett, and Christopher the top three. Of course, the caution fell on lap 7, as Ronnie Silk and Jake Marosz got together on the backstretch. Both needed to be towed behind the wall.

When the green flew on lap 13, it was Summers in the lead, followed by Christopher, Ryan Preece, and Blewett. Mike Stefanik had moved up to fifth from his 10th starting spot.

Stefanik moved under Blewett on lap 20 for 4th. Preece got under Christopher for 2nd on lap 22, and set sail on Summers. Meanwhile, Stefanik and Blewett got under TC on lap 24 for 3rd and 4th. On lap 25, Preece got under Summers through turns one and two for the lead. It was now Preece, Summers, Stefanik, Blewett, and Eric Beers.

By lap 32, there was some separation between the first four cars. On lap 37, Blewett was all over the back of Stefanik , trying for the 3rd spot.

Rob Summers surprisingly pulled into the infield on the backstretch on lap 47, bringing out a caution. Summers was running 2nd at the time. Summers was pushed behind the wall with a reported broken drive shaft. Several cars took advantage of the yellow to come into the pits, including TC, who needed an adjustment.

With the green back out on lap 54, it was Ryan Preece, Jimmy Blewett, Eric Beers, Mike Stefanik, and Kevin Goodale. A backstretch crash on lap 58 occurred, as Ed Flemke got up in the air, and almost rolled on his side, as he made contact.

Both cars were towed off behind the wall. Flemke needed the always dreaded (and usually very expensive) double hook. At least the sun came out for the first time today during the caution, which could unexpectedly change the track conditions.

When the green flew on lap 66, it was Preece pulling away, as Blewett got a little sideways, with Beers 2nd. Blewett was 3rd, Stefanik 4th, and Richard Savory 5th. Savory started 19th. Todd Szegedy, who started 23rd, was now up to 6th.

By lap 80, Preece had a 5-car lead over Beers, with both having a 20-car lead over Blewett. On lap 89, Ryan Preece's motor went up in a puff of smoke entering turn one. That ended a fabulous run for the young driver, who seemed to have the race well in hand.

That brought wholesale pit stops, as the leaders came in. TC, who had made an earlier pit stop, stayed out and inherited the lead.

As the green flew on lap 96, TC took the lead, followed by James Civali, Jamie Tomaino, Matt Hirschman, and Glenn Tyler. Beers took over the 5th spot on lap 99, and with fresh ties, set his sights on Hirschman. Jamie Tomaino spun in turn four on lap 103, with "help" from Matt Hirschman. That brought out another caution, as Hirschman was sent to the rear for rough-riding. He went to the pits for tires before taking his proper spot.

The restart on lap 108 showed TC first, Beers 2nd, Stefanik, 3rd, Civali 4th, and Szegedy 5th. Civali fell back to 5th, as Szegedy moved up to fourth. 17-year old Erick Rudolph, the youngest driver in the field, was doing a great job in 6th, as Chuck Hossfeld was working over his rear bumper in the turns. With 127 laps down, there were still 19 cars on the lead lap.

By lap 135, it was now TC, Beers, Stefanik, Civali, and Szegedy the top five.

On lap 140, the yellow flew for Wade Cole, who spun in turn two. Christopher, Stefanik, Civali, and a number of others, took the opportunity to come in for tires.

As the green flew on lap 146, it was Beers, Szegedy, Hossfeld, Rudolph, and Goodale. Hossfeld got around Szegedy on lap 148, as TC moved back up to 7th, after his trip to the pits. Goodale spun in turn four on lap 153, as the field scrambled to avoid him.

With more than 3/4 of the race complete, the flag flew on lap 158 with Beers in the lead, Hossfeld 2nd, Szegedy 33rd, and TC 4th. TC took over the 3rd spot on lap 159. Of course the yellow flew on 160, as Tomaino spun in 3.

The green came out on lap 163. Beers was in the lead, TC 2nd, Hossfeld 3rd, Stefanik 4th, and Civali 5th. Stefanik went under for 3rd. Cars spun and tapped the turn one wall on lap 166 for another caution.

This sets up a very interesting restart  on lap 171with Beers on the inside and TC outside, as with the sun out, the track has heated up and definitely changed.

Although Beers briefly kept the lead, TC dove to the bottom in turn three to take the lead. It was now TC, Beets, Stefanik, Hirschman, and Hossfeld. Several cars got together on lap 173 in turn one, as Erick Rudolph got the worst of it. The young driver, who had a very good run going, needed the double hook to get off the track.

The lap 178 restart showed TC in the lead, as Beers slipped slightly getting on the throttle. A very bad looking wreck happened as cars were going into turn one. Jimmy Blewett got airborne in the middle of the turn, and slammed the end of the SAFER barrier while in the air. Replays showed that Matt Hirschman spun, while Blewett was launched over him. That brought out a brief red flag for the cleanup.

When the green flew again on lap 184, the caution flew as again, a number of cars got together in turn one. If the cars finished all green, this set up a shootout for the finish, with 15 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 192 saw the green for the final 8 laps. TC had the lead, followed by Beers, Hossfeld, Stefanik, and Civali. But with five to go, it didn't appear that anyone could catch Christopher.

And nobody could, as TC took his 28th career Tour win, with Beers 2nd, Hossfeld 3rd, Stefanik 4th, Civali 5th, Rowan Pennink 6th, Savary 7th, Tomaino 8th, Szegedy 9th, and Glenn Tyler 10th. It was TC's 4th Sizzler win.

  Mike Fields has written for the Area Auto Racing News, Raceway Media Magazine, various track programs, as well as being a contributing author for the book Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul.  He has also been a co-host of a weekly motorsports radio program, and a track announcer. Fields currently writes a weekly internet column, and is the editor/publisher of Long Island Motorsports News.  He may be contacted by e-mail at MFields@LongIslandMotorsports.com or by phone at (516) 376-4028.

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