STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – Ronnie Williams became the first two-time winner of the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k on Friday night at Stafford Motor Speedway.
In the 100-lap NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K feature event, Marcello Rufrano took the lead at the green with Tyler Hines in second. Hines would lose second to Joey Cipriano on lap two, while Troy Talman was fourth and Williams was quickly up to fifth.
With 20 laps complete, Rufrano was still in the lead ahead of Cipriano, Mike Christopher Jr., Talman, and Hines. However, the caution flew with 26 laps scored, as Nick Salva spun coming out of turn four and John Studley and Kenny Horton got into the wall behind him.
Christopher made a two-wide move coming out of turn two on the restart to nearly take the lead, but ended up locked in a side by side duel with Cipriano for the lead. Christopher cleared Cipriano on lap 29, while Rufrano fell back to third in line.
Andrew Molleur spun in turn four to bring the caution back out with 36 laps complete.
Christopher took the lead back under green with Rufrano in second. Todd Owen took second from Rufrano on lap 39 with a forceful pass in turn four, while behind them Chase Dowling was up to fourth and Keith Rocco took fifth as Rufrano slid back to sixth.
Tyler Leary and Stephen Kopcik got into the turn two wall to bring the caution back out with 40 laps complete.
Owen got a push from Dowling to take the lead on the restart, but the lap wasn’t completed before the caution came back out for a multi-car incident.
Christopher and Owen went wheel to wheel for the lead when the green flag returned, with Dowling in third behind him. Owen got clear to the lead on lap 42 but Christopher was all over his back bumper in second.
Dowling took second from Christopher on lap 56 as Owen was still in command. Dowling completed his charge to the front of the field by taking the lead from Owen on lap 60.
With Dowling and Owen dicing for the lead, Christopher was able to close in on the two leaders and make it a three-car fight for the lead. Christopher got by Owen to take second on lap 63, but he lost the spot on lap 65 as his car appeared to momentarily lose power.
Christopher came back up to speed in third, but the caution flew with 69 laps complete for a spin in turn four by Kenny Horton.
Christopher’s car stumbled on the restart and he fell back several spots, but the caution flew again before a lap could be completed for a spin in turn three by Rufrano. Under the caution, Christopher came to pit road for his crew went to diagnose his issues.
Owen got a good run on the outside of Dowling to take the lead on the restart. Rocco followed in Owen’s tire tracks in the outside lane, and he pulled even with Dowling for second. Rocco cleared Dowling and then took the lead from Owen on lap 72.
Another multi-car incident at the entrance to turn one then brought the caution back out with 73 laps complete.
Rocco took the lead on the restart, with Dowling coming back up to second. Owen and Tony Membrino Jr. went through the frontstretch infield on lap 77, but both cars kept going and the race stayed green.
Williams went by Dowling to move into second on lap 83, and he began to set his sights on Rocco for the lead. Williams was about a tenth of a second a lap quicker than Rocco and with 13 laps to go, he was right on Rocco’s back bumper.
Williams dove to the inside of Rocco on lap 90 but wasn’t able to complete the pass as Rocco charged back out front. Williams again tried an inside move on lap 92, but Rocco was able to fend off that challenge as well.
Williams again made a turn three move and the two leaders were side by side at the line as they completed lap 93. They were still side by side on lap 94 before Williams fell back behind Rocco on lap 95. Williams got back to Rocco’s inside on lap 98 and took the lead by a nose at the line.
Williams edged ahead of Rocco in turns three and four on the final lap and he beat Rocco to the checkered flag by half a car length.
Dowling finished third, with Cipriano and Molleur rounding out the top five.
Al Saunders held off Tom Fearn in the late model feature to score his second win of the year, while Teddy Hodgdon locked down his second win of the year in the SK Light division.
Jeremy Lavoie reached victory lane for the third time this season in the limited late model class, and George Bessette Jr. notched his second Street Stock win of the year.
The finish:
Ronnie Williams, Keith Rocco, Chase Dowling, Joey Cipriano, Andrew Molleur, Marcello Rufrano, David Arute, Tony Membrino Jr., Todd Owen, Tyler Hines, Ed Spiers, Tyler Leary, Dan Wesson, Cory DiMatteo, Tom Bolles, Michael Gervais Jr., Troy Talman, Nick Salva, Matt Galko, Kenny Horton, Michael Christopher Jr., Dan Avery, Matt Vassar, Glen Reen, Eric Berndt, Stephen Kopcik, John Studley.