STAFFORD – It’s a comical cliché in short track racing circles after a driver has a big wreck to say the knocked the wall down.
A week ago at Stafford Motor Speedway Todd Owen literally wrecked so hard he knocked the wall down in turn three at the historic half-mile.
Owen was leading on lap 17 of the SK Modified feature last Friday when contact from Marcello Rufrano sent him hard into the turn wall. The damage done by Owen’s wreck led to an hour-long repair of the turn three barrier. It marked the second consecutive week that Owen was involved in a hard wreck.
Friday Owen returned to Stafford triumphantly, scoring victory in the 40-lap SK Modified feature.
It was the second win of the season for Owen, of Somers.
“First off, I can’t do this without my guys that support me no matter what, good or bad,” Owen said. “The last two weeks have just been killer. When you have your head down and the guys are pushing you in the back to keep going, I can’t thank everybody who helps me so much. There’s so many names and sponsors and people.”
Mike Christopher Jr. of Wolcott was second and Rufrano, of North Haven, third.
Owen was up to second behind Rufrano when caution flew on lap eight. On the ensuing restart it was Christopher going back Owen for second. Christopher moved to the lead past Rufrano on lap 10 with Owen following to second place.
On lap 13 Owen got under Christopher into turn three and came off turn four with the lead. From there Owen checked out on the field.
The top-13 finishers in the feature qualified for the TC 13 Shootout special event to close out the night.
“It’s pretty special to win this race,” Owen said. “It’s Ted’s race. Ted was special to all of us. I remember I went a long time without winning a race. I finally got to victory lane and the first car next to me was Ted giving me the thumbs up. … He was just a great guy. Hopefully we can go and [win the TC 13 Shootout]. I’ve finished second two years in a row.”
Ten-time Bowman Gray Speedway Modified champion Burt Myers was 15th in the Stafford Speedway SK Modified debut.
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