Stafford Notes: George Bessette, Teddy Hodgdon IV, Jeremy Lavoie Grab Wins



George Bessette celebrates victory in the Street Stock feature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT)

STAFFORD – For George Bessette Jr., there was no waiting patiently for “Go Time” Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway. 

Bessette, of Danbury, turned a three-wide move on lap two into the winning decision Friday. 

Bessette, the reigning division champion, scored his second win of the season in the 20-lap Street Stock feature Friday at Stafford. 

“In the beginning there I didn’t mean to go three wide, but it’s all or nothing now at times,” Bessette said. “We’ve got to put it all forth right now and go for it.” 

Travis Hydar of Woodbury was second and Meghan Fuller of Auburn, Mass. third. 

With Hydar outside of leader Adrien Paradis III on lap two, Bessette made the diving move under both down the backstretch. The three-wide battle continued through turn four and right to the start-finish line before Bessette cleared to the front. 

Hydar would stalk Bessette the rest of the way, but couldn’t find a way around him. 

“It’s hammer down because everybody is fast,” Bessette said of the early three-wide move. “We were pretty consistent all year. That one move can change the whole night. It’s either go or no go. You can’t think about what’s going to happen until it actually happens. I sent it in there and I held my line and we were racing clean. Side-by-side three wide is like Talladega. It was good fun.” 

Teddy Hodgdon IV celebrates victory in the SK Light Modifiedfeature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT)

Teddy Hodgdon IV is proving to the be the monthly “closer” in the SK Light Modified division. 

On May 31 Hodgdon closed the first month of the season with his first victory of the season. 

Friday he returned to the top spot for the second time this year. 

Hodgdon, of Danbury, came out on top of a battle for the lead with Jon Puleo and went on to victory in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature. 

“We’ve been very consistent, we just haven’t been on that top step in about a month,” said Hodgdon, who is the division’s point leader. “So to get back there is good.” 

Puleo, of Branford, was second and Robert Bloxsom III of Stratford third. 

Puleo went by Bloxsom for the lead on lap 13 with Hodgdon following to second. 

A lap later Hodgdon went by Puleo for the lead off turn two. Puleo tried to cross Hodgdon over to regain the top spot, but couldn’t make the move work. 

“Me and [Puleo] we drafted right to the front on the high side,” Hodgdon said. “I had to pull a move eventually. Just glad to get it done.”

Said Puleo: “The car was on rails tonight. The car was really fast. We were kind of even with Teddy and he got me there. It was awesome racing with him.” 

Jeremy Lavoie celebrates victory in the Limited Late Model feature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT)

Reigning division champion Jeremy Lavoie of Windsor Locks got his third victory of the season in the 15-lap Limited Late Model feature. 

Matt Clement of Wethersfield, who already has four wins this season, was second. Duane Provost of Palmer, Mass. was third. 

“I’ve been chasing [Clement],” Lavoie said. “Now he’s chasing me.” 



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