STAFFORD – Chris Meyer went to the lead three laps in and never trailed again on the way to victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature Friday at Stafford Speedway.
It was the seventh career win in the division for Meyer, of North Franklin.
Meyer leads the division standings after four events.
“We’re actually keeping our plan, which is fantastic,” Meyer said in regard to early season struggles in recent years. “In the last couple of years, the plan has gone to the wayside pretty much on week one. This year we’re actually keeping our plan, we’re finishing where we want to be finishing. Everything has been working in our favor and we’re feeling really confident going into the rest of the season.”
Adam Gray of Granby, Mass., who had won the previous two events, was second. Paul Varricchio Jr. of Berlin was third.
“For where we started … I got no complaints,” Gray said. “Obviously I would have liked to make it three in a row, but a good second place from where we started.”
Said Varricchio: “Tonight was a good night. … A lot of different set up changes we’ve been doing, so we’re trying to get ahead of these new tires and that’s our struggle right now, trying to figure out the new tires. Other than that, I mean, we’re getting there, I got a good piece, I got a good crew, so they tried their ass off, so there’s nothing else I can really say.”
In a race that degenerated into a wreck-fest over the closing laps, Travis Hydar of Woodbury was able to keep the mayhem behind him and run away to his first victory of the season in the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature.
Hydar passed RJ Surdell for the lead with 14 laps remaining and never trailed again.
“There’s a lot of good cars in the field and I’m just really happy to get one tonight,” Hydar said.
Matt Clement of Wethersfield was second and Jason Lafayette of Somers third.
“Car fired off really well,” Clement said. “Once Travis got by, his car got a little better.”
Said Lafayette: “It was kind of a mess, but, I mean, we were thankful to finish in kind of in one piece.”
Jason Raymond recored podium finishes in two of the first three events of the season, but Friday he found that top of that podium.
Raymond, who had a second place in the season opening race and a third place last week, scored victory in the 20-lap Street Stock feature.
It was the third career victory for Raymond, of Somers, who had two wins last season.
“We made minor changes this week, we knew we had a good car last week, just kind of went through it, made sure everything was good and sound, but the car was really good tonight,” Raymond said. “I think the inside restarts at the start, the inside starting position, helped a little bit. I was able to nail some pretty good restarts to get the jump on the outside there, but overall the car was just really good and I’m just proud to be here.
Brent Gleason of Griswold was second and Brandon Warren of Chicopee, Mass. third.
“We found a bunch of stuff over the week in the back end of the car and that was contributing to a lot of our handling issues and we were chasing that all day as well,” Gleason said. “We just tried to figure out what it wanted and we finally kind of got pretty close.”
Said Warren: “My girlfriend was yelling at me that we spent way too much time in the garage and it’s good to show all that hard work and effort that I put in is actually paying off.”
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