Michael Gervais (Photo: Stafford Speedway/Driscoll MotorSports Photography)
Michael Gervais Jr. beat Rowan Pennink on a green-white-checkered restart to win the 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.
It was the first feature victory of the season for Gervais, of Southbury.
“I thought I jumped the start,” Gervais said. “I was expecting the caution to come out on the backstretch. It was good for me.”
Pennink, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was second and Tyler Hines of North Haven third.
It was the fourth career SK Modified victory at Stafford for Gervais, of Southbury.
“Most of the race I was thinking ‘Ok, we’ve got a top-five car here.’ Then after people started wrecking each other. I was like ‘Ok, now we’ve got a fourth place car’ Another car goes and now we’ve got a third place car. By the end it was like ‘Hey, we’ve got a first place car here.’ We just had to do it on the outside of Rowan. I did everything I had to do to win the race.”
Tom Fearn of East Longmeadow, Mass. won for the third consecutive week in the 30-lap Late Model feature.
Josh Wood of Palmer, Mass. was second and Ed Ricard of Stafford third.
Daniel Wesson of Monson, Mass. won the first time this season in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature.
Nick Salva of Prospect was second and Geoff Boisjolie of East Hampton third.
David Arute of Tolland won the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature. Cliff Saunders of Stafford was second and Duane Provost of Springfield, Mass. third.
It was the first victory of the season for Arute.
Alexandra Fearn of East Longmeadow, Mass. won the 15-lap DARE Stock feature. Frank L’Etoile of Wethersfield was second and Dan Dembek of Hampden, Mass. third.
Stafford officiating sucked tonite. The leaders in the sk lite touched and no one spun but they threw out membrino??? Then they black flag the 99 in the sk race,not sure why but it was at least two laps then they stopped, figured they stopped scoring him but then he intentionally takes out the 00 so he can get a caution. Next thing you know he is racin for the lead? WTF
and don’t forget Preece dumping Woody while Woody was lading…….destroying Woody’s car and ending his night but they let Preece line right back up and finish 6th (out of 6 cars left I think). If that was anybody else they would have been parked………but not Preece. And don’t forget he also tangled with Teddy earlier in the race while Teddy was leading……knocking both Teddy and 3rd place Sean Foster out. Again…..they parked Membrino in the SK Lite race for very minor contact. What a mess………6 cars finished the SK race. And then it seemed the entire pit area was going after Preece after the race. HUGE congrats to Michael Gervaise! P.S. What was up with that black flag for Rowen, and then one for Rocco????
It depends what your name is look at sk feature the punk takes out the leader and they leave him in his position at least at thompson when the punk took 2 cars out they put him to the back.Mr.Fox should be gone .
The biggest embarrassment of the night wasn’t just on the track. The display of Ryan Preece fighting with his own father at his trailer was just plain ugly. The worst part was watching that poor Bridgit Poulin try to break the fight up, nearly getting knocked over herself a few times in the process. What were they fighting about anyways?
Woody deserved the wall. He tried dumping Teddy twice and one other car (sorry I don’t remember who) coming out of four. Woody also needs to learn how to pass cars without hitting them.
Also, isn’t there a minimum speed for even the Dare cars? How can they let a car on the track that get’s lapped in 5 green flag laps?
Dan you must be a TC fan, Preece was in the lead when TC dive bombed him going into three, got sideways and got into Preece’s left nerf sending Preece up the track as TC came across the track after contact w Preece and hit the 25. The race stayed green, the contact allowed Pitkat to get the lead and Preece held onto second after a great save. Preece and woody ran side by side for 5 laps before Preece tried the crossover going into one on the last lap. One turn from pulling off the win. If Preece cost pitkat the win then TC cost Preece the win-just saying. I have seen TC pull that stupid move twice this year so far.
The only fair and consistent way to determine rough riding is the MRS no contact rule which is if there is any contact causing a car to lose a position you go to the back no matter what. No human judgement involved.
Pennick had to come into the pits because after the big wreck he drove up pit road the wrong way and then pitted to change a tire while facing the wrong way. Pit road is a one-way street. Kidrock got black flagged because his car was leaking fluid. His crew found the leak, fixed it and then he came back on track 7 laps down. Kidrock was blacked flagged 3 laps in a row but did not respond. The flag man then showed him the flag with the white stripe which means that the officials stop scoring you in the race. After that it is like you are not even on the track. Ryan did not take out TC. In fact it was TC who almost took out Ryan and then ended up taking out himself. He drove so hard into turn three while in the inside lane beside Ryan Preece that his car could not maintain traction. He got sideways and drifted up the track right into Preece. TC was driving way over his head. How many times have you heard TC make that comment about other drivers? What race were you guys watching? Were you even there last night?
Dan
Sorry I was there last night woody turned down on him. If you would like you can go to ryan preece twitter page and watch it. Preece was there and woody tried to take his line. @ryanpreece_
As far as woodys comment after the race. Racers don’t settle for second. Especially when they have a better car. Of course unless your pennik and you cant believe your luck.
It certainly was an entertaining SK feature…
I heard Race Control call Rocco’s black flag on the radio, it was for a fluid leak. The 99 got at least one lucky dog pass. Eric Berndt had a poor car from the get go. Give the guy a “survivor” award for pulling out a top five!
Steve you may be right about the TC incident….and no I’m not a TC fan. I was in turn 1 when it happened and from where I was it looked like Preece pinched down on TC….but you may be right. As far as Woody “deserving the wall” and can’t pass without hitting people…..I didn’t see him running people over last night?
sackett, What race were you watching??? Did you spend to much time at the beer stand last night? Maybe, you were up in in the tower with that so called race director, you appear to not have a clue just like Tom Fox. Don’t know where Stafford got him from but they need to send him back in a hurry, car counts and fan count is going down with each passing week! He either makes no call or makes the craziest calls I have ever seen in my life! As for Preece, he admits he is there to win and will do what it takes to win. It seems he does not want to face the consequences of his actions, when confronted by the owner of the 50 last night, it resulted in Preece wanting to press charges. The end result was, if Preece was going to press charges the 50 team was going to file charges against him for trying to run over crew members. Can you just imagine, a former member of the NASCAR NEXT PROGRAM, current Modified Tour Points leader arrested??? He would of had to report his arrest to NASCAR and who knows what would have happened next! NASCAR’S GOLDEN BOY would have been tarnished! The smartest thing Preece did all night was not press charges, in turn the 50 team did not press charges. All this could have been avoided if Stafford had a real RACE DIRECTOR, the powers that be better wake up soon or the car count and fan attendance is going to continue to fall. I have attended races for over 40 years, up and down the east coast, never been to a race track where the leader of the race gets taken out and the car responsible is allowed to continue on just like nothing ever happened. I will certainly be thinking twice before making the trip to Stafford Speedway for a Friday night show, may have to wait for the August Mod Tour race.
Stafford seems to be in rough shape; 13 late models and more Sk lights than Sk’s. The Late model race at Waterford last week proves you can run side by side without dumping the leader.
After the big pile up between turns 1 & 2, that collected half the field, Rowen entered the pits from the wrong direction. I’m quite sure that’s why he was given the black flag. After he served a drive through penalty it went away. On a mid race restart one other car and Rowen Pennink had not been able to catch up to the rest of the field, what was left of it. Why didn’t they let them catch up before throwing the green? Rowan was a half a lap behind, which forced him to cause a caution after he’d ridden around back there for half a dozen laps. And what happened on that final restart???? Gervais jumped the start really bad. I mean” really bad” and they let it go?????? I don’t care who the characters are, come on. The whole thing loses credibility after a while. Come on Stafford!!
Steve and Joe White- Two guys who have their eyes open and actually know what happened. What a refreshing change from the usual lost commenters. There was two to go when the Preece Pitkat thing went down but other than that right on the money. I did not see the 99,00 thing so no comment there. I will agree they robbed Tony Membrino though. To me the tragedy last night is the Foster team not getting what they surely deserved . That was the best run they have had in some time and its a shame what happened to them. All in all a strange night.
Are Preece and Pitkat both going to be at Monadnock tonight? And gee, gosh golly it sure was lucky that Pennink accidentally spun Flemke in the #00 when he ran right into the back of him way over in the third turn, a half lap behind the leaders( and most people’s attention), with no other cars anywhere around, and the quickest yellow flag of the night came out. Yeh, real lucky.
Regarding the sk lite race, the kid leading was running the 44 all over the track. He kept blocking and would not give the 44 a lane to race in. I was surprised the 44 did not dump him sooner. I still think the black flag was the right call. What ever happened to the rule that you can’t spin the leader of the race no matter what. They need to bring that rule back. In the SK race I found it ironic that the driver of the 94, who caused the big wreck on lap 1 and took out some really good cars, came in 3rd and was on the podium at the end. Also that last restart should have been called back. It was obvious that the 22 jumped the start. Obvious to everyone but the race officials. Does the flag man have the right to call off a restart or does the call have to come from Tom Fox?
Well first off even officials were saying Ryan got ted in 3 and 4 and what happened with woody after all his struggles this year he had a great run going and preece has not one win this year his stupid fan page is wrong if woody turned down on him that be the dumbest thing and he is a smart driver def didn’t do that preece isn’t drove like he did on wed night hense why his dad was mad and the fight and btw the 00 wasn’t tony Membrino last night it was Ed flemke jr. One thing TV and woody never do is drive over there heads both have the best equipment and both are great drivers.
“I thought I jumped the start,” Gervais said.
Never, ever, say that.
youhavenoidea, I don’t see where anyone comments about the 00 as Tony Membrino. It wasn’t Tony last night and never is. 44 lite= Tony, 00 Sk= Tommy. TC never drives over his head eh? He certainly threw it in there further than he could control it last night and there is probably only two thousand other times too but don’t get me wrong that’s ok its what makes it exciting and why we go. I rather have that then someone who complains the guy that was going to beat me always wants to win.
Headline: Evil Preece uses telepathic tractor beam to cause havoc in SK race
Subhead: Forgets to turn off after race attracting car owner fist to face
Subsubhead: Known Preece homies Buckler and Dodge call havoc: “Racing deal”
SK Modifieds have and will continue to kill Stafford Motor Speedway. No class racing no matter who is in the drivers seat.
This is really sad.
just my thoughts, what are you trying to say? Letting the white 58 or 85 Dare car out there is safe for the other competitors? A car that slow shouldn’t be on the track.
Oh, and if you watch the video, you will see the Stafford golden boy, woody, came down on Preece. And if you were sitting in turn 4 last night, you would have also seen woody trying to take out TC early in the race.
Sect d you are correct I read to fast but yes if u do watch online there is the video of the race u see preece drive it into teddy and teds cars are prob the best there is and best equipment and we all know Him as a driver but when u have people like that run him off especially after doing it the week before as well because he is desperate for a win its kinda rediculas
Craig, have you watched a single SK race in the last two years? Best racing you will ever see. EVER
So happy for Mike I wish we were there to see you win from your friend in the stands! Once again good for you
Remember folks, different seats can have different views on what fans, drivers, crew, and track officials see, so it’s OK to disagree. Think of the different TV camera angles in any sport. As you read the comments below, know that I enjoy short track racing, and don’t really have a favorite driver.
I remember seeing Pennink being serviced while facing the wrong direction on pit road for the second week in a row, but I didn’t see how he got there. Last week, he backed into his pit stall with broken steering. Jerry probably has it right why the 99 got a black flag this week. I completely missed anything he had to do with the 00 spinning, but I heard him get a lucky dog at least once on the Race Control radio. I also heard the 00 crew talking about a broken sway bar, so he may have been ripe to spin all by himself.
I freely admit liking TC, and from my spot in section I, I couldn’t tell if he was hit from behind. It looked to me like he hammered into the corner too hard and kind of boinked himself. I don’t remember him saying much on the radio, either, but I might have missed it.
Even though I like both guys involved, I couldn’t tell from my angle if Preece was below the line and moved up, or if Woody pinched him. It looked like a classic crossover play to me, maybe with questionable racing room, one that went south at the last minute. I do wonder if there would have been less drama if both had crashed out of the race, or both had been able to continue.
sackett, Once again I think you have had a few too many alcoholic beverages or you are just plain stupid, and you can’t fix stupid! Where in my post did I say anything about the Dare Stock race. I assume you are talking about Jake, a 14 yr. old kid that just started racing in the division, by the way his number is 84. Don’t know where that comment came from, but since you brought it up I will give you my opinion. The Modified Tour lets Melissa Fifield race at every Tour race even though she is way slower than all other cars, so in answer to your question, yes I think they have to let him race, it is a learning division, hopefully he learns to stay out of the way until he gets more experience. As to Woody being Stafford’s Golden Boy, if that were true Preece would have gotten the black flag last night! As for TC, it is my understanding that the SK drivers will be in Autograph Alley next Friday, perhaps you could stumble down from your seat in the 4th turn, it is not too far and ask TC who he would rather race with Woody or Preece? While you are at it ask him if he thought as you do that Woody was trying to take him out last night? I know the answer, but go ahead and ask.
Isn’t the concept of “backmarker a problem” in a DARE Stock race an oxymoron?
Barry, you left out 1 thing… Alcohol consumption can also affect someone’s view of the action on the track. I am glad Cryan Preece pulled that move cuz it is moves like that one that will keep him from winning the championship. Just sorry to see Woody’s car wrecked.
Woody and team owner suspended for one race according to Stafford web site.
I hope nobody got carpal tunnel syndrome typing up this week’s penalties…
They dinged preece too…$150
It will get even more interesting when this spills over into the NWMT races.
It looks like Preece is the Golden Boy at Stafford. Infraction: Getting into 50 car, Penalty: Placed to last position on track. WOW, what they are not saying is last position was 7th, in my opinion, this opens a brand new grey area, destroy the leader or anyone else and the penalty will be, put to the rear of the field. HAVE AT IT BOYS! I see the field getting smaller with each passing week! Remember that guy that got into you a few weeks back, well go ahead and destroy him this week, after all you will only be sent to the rear of the field. When the team of the wrecked car comes after you, KEEP YOUR HELMET ON, go right ahead, try to run down the wrecked teams crew members with your car, it’s okay, that will only cost you $150.00 and after all, the fine is going to a good cause. Don’t worry you won’t get suspended and you will feel so much better that you showed that guy that got into you a few weeks back. I know this sounds crazy, but welcome to racing at Stafford Motor Speedway.
I’m pretty sure if Woody’s crew didn’t go after Preece in the pits there wouldn’t have been any suspensions.
They were both at Monadnock saturday…was anyone there? Did anything happen between those two?
And anyone know why Chris Jones hasn’t come back? (This question seems to be on topic)
Looks like Preece is growing up to be just like TC.