STAFFORD – Dramatics at the front of the field in the closing laps has been a season-long theme for the SK Modified division in 2024 at Stafford Speedway.
That trend continued in three-wide fashion at the historic half-mile on Friday.
Marcello Rufrano held off the charges of both Anthony Flannery and Andrew Molleur coming to the checkered flag to win the 40-lap SK Modified feature Friday at Stafford.
It was the fifth SK Modified victory overall for Rufrano at Stafford and the first in 2024 for the North Haven driver.
Flannery, of East Hampton, was second and Molleur, of Shelton third, with podium trio coming to the checkered nearly three-wide.
On lap 37 restart, with Flannery leading and Molleur in second, Rufrano made a bold move to go low on Flannery in turn two. The three-wide move worked to move Rufrano to the lead.
Caution flew on lap 38. On the restart it was Rufrano and Flannery going side-by-side for the lead lap with Flannery leading at the start/finish line to complete the lap. They continued side-by-side on lap 39 with Rufrano leading to complete the lap. On the final lap it was Molleur taking the low lane and Flannery the high lane in bids to overtake Rufrano out of turn four in the drag race to the checkered.
“Awesome run,” Rufrano said. “I knew we had like four laps to go there and it was going to be a hectic one. I knew we had a good car, I needed to get track position there. That was really what played into the end of that. Anthony was a good sport about it. He had a really good car tonight. We had to do what we had to do to win tonight.”
Flannery, who set the pace out front for the majority of the event, was looking for his first career win in the division.
“We didn’t need any of those cautions,” Flannery said. “We had a really good car. Man, it sucks. We were close.”
It was Molleur’s fifth top-five in five starts this season and third consecutive event on the podium.
“It was a wild race for sure,” Molleur said. “Definitely was nice to start on the bottom a couple times there. Just another good run for us. Can’t thank everyone enough. … Another podium. Good points day for us for sure. We’ll just come back next week and keep clicking off at it.”
I live near Riverhead and have been going there since the 1970s, but try as I might, I can’t consider it my “home” track. Because of FloRacing and my 2 or 3 rides up to CT each year my heart is in Stafford. Why? #1) The talent level is top notch. #2) The interviews help a fan to get to really know the drivers’ personalities and even the few horse’s asses (we all know who they are) come out being quite likable, #3) The announcers are the best, and #4) The track is run extremely competently (just compare the amount of time it takes to clear the track during a caution and get back to green flag racing between the two tracks).
I’m bummed just a little bit, though, because I was rooting for Flannery.
going to Stafford for 48 years and counting all the divisions are the best the sk lights are growing like tomatos in my garden very cool. and sk modified. we don’t know who going to the front and win. 3 wide lots of drama. lets tell the track to fix the PA system. 20.00 bucks to get in is great but working all day 15.00.bucks for a sausage grinder and a 4.00 dollar not so much.
going to Stafford for 48 years and counting its getting good again. all the divisions the sk lights are growing like my tomatos in my garden. and the sk mod 3 wide racing. we don’t know who going to win very cool. 20.00 bucks great price. but 15.00 bucks for a sausage grinder and 4.00 for a coke not so much. still love it there. ps. maybe work on the pa.system. sounds like Japanese with subtitles. thanx.