Stafford Notes: Tony Membrino Jr. On Top In SK Light Mods; Cliff Saunders Gets DARE Win

STAFFORD – Tony Membrino Jr. passed Joey Ferrigno on lap 19 and held on to win the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Tony Membrino Jr.

It was the second victory of the season for Membrino, of Plantsville.

Ferrigno, of East Hartford, held on for second and Ronnie Williams of Tolland was third.

A long caution for extended cleanup proved the undoing for Ferrigno.

Ferrigno was able to hold off Membrino initially after the lap 17 restart, but when he pushed up the track in turn one on lap 19 Membrino pounced and took over the top spot.

“Nothing against Joey, but he kind of did it to himself,” Membrino said. “He was protecting his lead like anybody should. He was hanging onto to the bottom and he drove in over his head and I just waited for him to push up, I just stepped on the gas and drove by him. He raced me clean.”

Said Ferrigno: “The caution was out for a while, the tires cooled off way too much and they were too old for them to come back. I had nothing for him. Tony did a good job. I’m proud of him for not using me up.”

Membrino won for the first time this season on May 17.

“The biggest thing of all is that we haven’t won two or more races in a season,” Membrino said. “I’ve always been a one-hit wonder. That was my goal this year. I didn’t really care about a championship, I was like, ‘I’ve got to get more than one win and I got it.”

And Membrino pulled it off with a cast on his broken right hand.

“I can really say I’ve got something in common with Keith Rocco,” Membrino said. “We’ve both won with casts on.”

Cliff Saunders of Stafford passed David Comeau on lap 11 and held on to win the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. It was the second victory of the season for Saunders.

Comeau, of Palmer, Mass., held on for second and Kelsey Rottino of Wethersfield was third.