Stafford Notes: Michael Bennett Rolls In Late Models; Duane Provost Tops Limited Late Models

Michael Bennett

STAFFORD – Michael Bennett got rush hour done early and then went for a Sunday cruise Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Bennett, of Stafford, put on a mad rush from fourth to first in the opening laps and then left the field in his wake on the way to victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.

It was the division leading fourth victory of the season for Bennett and his 38th career victory overall at Stafford.

“I had to be aggressive there on the start, starting fourth,” Bennett said. “It’s somewhere you don’t really want to be here at Stafford. I don’t know why I went to the outside of [Josh Wood]. That was probably a little bit crazy. … You’ve got to be aggressive with these cars at the start and that happened to work out tonight.”

Matt Vassar of Plantsville was second and Tyler Leary of Hatfield, Mass. third.

Vassar closed on Bennett over the closing laps, but neer got close enough to challenge for the lead.

“I was driving conservative the last ten laps and my spotter had a little antsy in his voice,” Bennett said. “I wanted him to calm down. If we had a late race restart, you never know what happens.”

Limited Late Model points leader Duane Provost extended his lead in the standings with the two races remaining in the best fashion possible.

Provost, of Palmer, Mass., got his third victory of the season in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature.

Robert Bloxsom III of Stratford was second and Albert Saunders of Stafford third.

Provost got by Bloxsom for the lead on lap 11 and never trailed again.

“It was a great race,” Provost said. “… I’m just glad to pull it back in victory lane before the end of the year. … This car is on rails now.”

On Sept. 11, 2015 Nicole Chambrello got her first career DARE Stock feature victory at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Friday the Kensington driver completed her chase for the second.

Chambrello held off Brandon Michael to win the 15-lap DARE Stock feature.

Michael, of Granville, was second and Johnny Walker of Ludlow, Mass. third.

“I didn’t think that we were going to go through all the trials and tribulations it took to get back to victory lane,” Chambrello said. “I ended that season pretty confidently and I came back and last season was, I don’t know, it was hard. We had a hard time. Over this whole season we’ve been trying really hard to critique my driving, not just the car, but my driving. Where I’m flawed we tried to work on it. It just feels amazing to be back and I’m so grateful for everything and everyone that went through this to get me back to this point.”

Walker will clinch his second consecutive DARE Stock championship by taking the green flag in the Sept. 22 feature.

Brett Gonyaw of Vernon won the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature. Wesley Prucker of Stafford was second and Daniel Wesson third.

David Arute, who came into the evening holding a four-point lead at the top of the SK Light Modified standings over second place Cory DiMatteo, was fourth. DiMatteo was fifth. Arute now holds a six-point lead in the standings with two events remaining.

Comments

  1. Edit ” Nicole Chambrello got his”
    Nicole indeed got a very popular win last night. Not just running off and hiding but surviving a restart next to a very competitive Brandon Michael with Johnny Walker not far behind. And she was perfect hitting her spots while maintaining her lead. After she took the checker Brandon Michael and Johnny Walker surrounded her waving congratulations pealing off at the front stretch so she could be alone to receive the accolades of the an enthusiastic crowd. It was a very popular win for a women that persevered through some very disappointing finishes.

  2. Tom Fearn said it best when he was winning all those races last year. He said something like it may look easy but it’s really hard to win. Turns out he was right. The Late Model division is loaded with some hard core talented drivers and it’s such a shame the racing is so spread out and routine far too often.
    And what is the deal with the Limited Late Models. One week one set of drivers is strong and another week it’s a completely new crop of front runners. Lavoie gets a great starting postion and goes straight to the back. Poor Ryan Fearn, a prior winner can’t buy a good lap. Narducci looks like he has a tiger by the tail one week and last night he was mediocre. Is it tire credits? Do fans like that or not? Seems like the Saunders twins and Alexandra are the only drivers that can consistently pass cars from week to week.

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