STAFFORD – The calendar was closing in on a full year between SK Modified wins at Stafford Speedway for driver Troy Talman.
And it’s fair to say, after eight races this year, the veteran from Oxford, Mass. was feeling the pressure to get back to victory lane.
Friday Talman found that pressure relief.
Talman drove by David Arute for the lead on lap 27 and then drove away from the field to win the 40-lap SK Modified feature Friday at Stafford Speedway.
It was the first victory for Talman since Aug. 15, 2025.
“It was a little weight on the shoulders, a little bit, but I knew it was going to happen,” Talman said, “Just so much hard work into this thing, and the thing’s always fast. Ever since we brought this car four weeks ago now, it’s been fast every time, and every adjustment we do just works. So, yeah, I’m just so proud of all my guys, all my team, along the way.”
Arute went by Alexander Pearl following a restart on lap 14. Talman followed quickly followed to second and closed to Arute’s bumper. Talman sized up Arute for a few laps before making his move for the lead on lap 27.
“I tried not to beat it up too much,” Talman said. “I knew I was tick better than him, and I think he faded. I saw him get sideways one time in [turns] one and two, and I was kind of licking my chops, like, ‘Oh, I got this’ because I still had drive off. And I got a good run out of [turn] four, and I didn’t want to chance it. I got a run, I got to take advantage of it.”
Arute, of Stafford, ended up second and Alexander Pearl of Salem was third.
“Really happy with the podium finish after last week’s convertible that we were running at the end of the race,” Arute said. “Really thought I had a really good car at the entire beginning of the race when we got to the lead. I was really hoping I could pull away, but Troy had a really good car tonight. We were battling hard. I think I might have used a little bit too much of the right rear when I was running the outside groove. … Just used up the tires a little bit too much, and the car kind of faded when his picked up towards the end of the race. I’m really happy with the podium finish after last week.”
Said Pearl: “It was definitely a step in the right direction. We’ve been really struggling the last couple of weeks, definitely down on the confidence, but we’ve been working really hard trying to figure out what we can do to get better. I feel like tonight was a step in the right direction. If you had talked to me after the heat race, I would have said we’re going in the wrong direction. Someone actually was like, I thought you were driving a Late Model in the heat race. It felt good to lead some laps, obviously didn’t want that caution there. Yeah, we just got beat straight up, so definitely a step in the right direction and we’ll keep moving forward into the summer stretch.”
Tyler Chapman came into the night atop the SK Modified standings with Keith Rocco, Jon Puleo and Todd Owen all tied for second, four points off the lead. Rocco used a fourth place finish to move into the lead in the standing. Jon Puleo, the reigning division champion was fifth and remained second in the standings, two points behind Rocco. Owen (seventh), is now third in the standings, six points behind Rocco. Chapman got punted early in the feature and settled for a 13th place. He fell to fourth in the standings, 14 points behind Rocco.
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