Stafford Notes: Albert Saunders, Michael Bennett Make Return Visits To Victory Lane

Albert Saunders

STAFFORD – The second victory of the season Friday had a little more meaning than usual Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway for Albert Saunders.

Being a multi-time winner in the Limited Late Model division in 2017 at Stafford Motor Speedway has been a rarity.

Saunders lost the lead and then rallied back to win the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature Friday at Stafford Speedway.

There have been eight different winners in 10 events this year for the division at Stafford. Saunders and Duane Provost are the only two drivers with two victories.

Saunders, of Stafford, said the deep competition has made the division more enjoyable and challenging each week.

“It’s a lot of fun because you never know who’s going to be good each night,” Saunders said. “You look at the time charts and guys who haven’t won a race are leading practice and are competitive and can win races. We might show up one week with the car exactly the same as the week before and we might not be good enough anymore. It makes it a challenge and it makes it more interesting trying to find ways to get the car faster and stay ahead of the field.”

Bryan Narducci of Colchester was second and Jeremy Lavoie of Windsor Locks third.

Narducci got under Saunders for the lead on lap 12 following a restart, but Saunders got regained the lead on lap 14 and never trailed again.

“Bryan is probably not too happy with me but these races are so hard to win that if you get a chance you have to take it,” Saunders said. “He left the door open a little bit so I sent it in there. We’ve had eight different winners in 10 races this year so that kind of proves how tough the division is. But the car was awesome. [Crew chief Barry Fluckiger] did a lot of work on it yesterday and today during practice and I knew right away we were going to have a car capable of winning. That restart the car kind of went away a little bit, so I was a little bit unsure of that. But once I get back in my rhythm I knew the car was good enough to win.”

Michael Bennett bounced back from a rough and tumble second place finish last week to get his third victory of the season in the 30-lap Late Model feature.

“This thing had old tires on tonight,” Bennett said. “The way the tire rules are and stuff, you’re forced. I think we had a 50-lap tire on here somewhere. It started giving up out there. I’ve got to thank Bob Fill for thrashing on this thing this week after last week. We had a good car last week and we ended up second.”

Kevin Gambacorta of Ellington was second and Glen Reen of Wilbraham, Mass. third.

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