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PRESENTS---

Frank Ruocco, Scott Foster, Glen Reen, Andrew Durand and Bobby Thompson Take Down Opening Night Wins

May 8--Westfield, MA--- For the opening night at Stafford Motor Speedway, the SK Modifieds seemed to pick up right were they left off for the 2006 season. The #91 of Frank Ruocco jumped out to a quick lead but a first lap caution came out. When the green came back out Ruocco was being challenged for that position by the #90 of Todd Owen. By lap three the second yellow flew on the track.

After the clean up the field was back to racing two by two from second back. Making his way through the field was 'TC' Ted Christopher. But by lap seven the field had strung out. That didn’t stop some mini battles in the field. Everyone was searching out each others' rear bumpers. On lap ten the third caution flew and tightened up the field. That was good news for Owen because it put him right back on Ruocco’s bumper.

When the green came back out the main battle was between Ruocco and Owen. After a few more cautions and many more battles between Ruocco and Owen, Ruocco came out victorious.

In the 30 lap Late Model event it was the #77 of Ed Ricard taking a quick lead but lost it to the #42 of Dave Wray. Once that battle was taken care of they were able to pull away from the rest of the pack, because from third back, they were battling two by two. Due to the side by side action early on, the caution was brought out on lap four.

Once the green came back out the 44 of Scott Foster started his charge to the front. Foster eventually takes the lead on lap six and never looked back. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t challenged during the race. From lap nineteen to the end Foster was challenged by the 17 of Jim Peterson. Peterson and Foster fought long and hard but it was Foster taking down the win.

Cautions seemed to be the theme of the SK Lites on Friday night. When the green flag dropped for the first time it was the 54 of Harry Wheeler taking the lead but that only lasted into the first turn due to an accident that happened behind him. When the green came out for the second time the 23 of Alan Provost jumped to the lead. By lap three, the yellows were out again with Provost in the lead.

When they went back to racing, the #9 of David Webb quickly took the lead from the rookie, Provost. They completed only one lap then the cautions came back out. Again the leader was faced with a hard charger, this time it was the #29 of Chris Matthews. It seemed like that there were just as many leaders. This being the longest green flag run it gave Matthew a chance to pull away from the field. While he was doing that the #17 of Glenn Reen was making his way through the field. Reen took the lead on lap 16 and that was the last pass for the lead of the race. The race ended on a yellow-checker with Reen taking down the win.

Taking down the D.A.R.E. Stock feature win was the #21 of Bobby Thompson. Also taking the checkers was the R.A.D powered #43 machine of Andrew Durand.


Lisa Pignatare behind the wheel of the #99 Mini-Sprint Car at the Whip City Speedway (John Balathunis photo)

Lisa Pignatare is a recent high school graduate and now pursues a degree in Communications, Mass media.  From May through October, she is a track announcer and scorekeeper for Whip City Speedway in Westfield, Ma.  Her column is sponsored by Haskell Motorsports, located at www.HaskellRacing.com. Lisa may be contacted at ryrfan8828@comcast.net.

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