SK Modified division driver George Bessette has been indefinitely suspended by Stafford Speedway for his actions following the SK Modified feature Friday at the facility.
Bessette’s suspension is the harshest of four suspensions announced Tuesday stemming from actions following the SK Modified feature at the track on Friday Sept. 27.
Stafford Speedway officials had announced on Saturday that Bessette was being suspended for the remainder of the events on the 2024 schedule at the track, which included Saturday’s SK Modified feature and the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series NAPA Fall Final. That suspension is now indefinite.
Stafford Speedway runs its final SK Modified event of the season on Friday at NAPA Championship Night.
Stafford Speedway also announced suspensions for SK Modified driver Marcello Rufrano and two members of Rufrano’s crew.
Bessette, the 2023 SK Light Modified champion at Stafford, was suspended for: Actions detrimental to auto racing, unsportsmanlike conduct and post-race contact with the car driven by Marcello Rufrano. He was also disqualified from Friday’s feature SK Modified feature.
On the final lap of the SK Modified feature Friday at Stafford, Bessette got under Rufrano for third place through turns one and two. Rufrano fought back on the outside down the backstretch and the pair went side-by-side into turn three. Contact into the turn got Bessette sideways and ultimately spinning into the infield grass.
After the conclusion of events at Stafford cars are directed to go down pit road from turn three and exit the track via a turn one gate to the paddock. After taking the checkered flag Bessette proceeded to speed past most of the field on the backstretch and then did not drive down pit road, instead continuing to speed around the track back onto the frontstretch, where gates were being opened to allow fans and crew members access to victory lane.
Bessette then sped down an infield access road off the frontstretch. Rufrano was coming off of pit road and turning to go back down the backstretch to go over the scales as prescribed for the top finishers in the division. Bessette sped onto the pit road exit area where Rufrano was and drove into the side of his car, causing extensive damage.
“Post race … checkered flag flew, the race track was what we call cold,” Stafford Speedway director of racing operations and competition Tom Fox said Saturday. “We had opened the gates by the flag stand to let [fans and crew members] go to victory lane. Our tech officials, flagman, was on the frontstretch and George came through at a high rate of speed. You’re not supposed to go down the frontstretch. We have protocol on how the cars have to exit [the track]. He sped around down the frontstretch, which again was cold and potentially full of people, I’m glad nothing happened. And then he made his way through the infield and drove into the side of [Rufrano’s car] on purpose. He was mad at him. So the decision to park him was pretty easy. That’s a flagrant foul as far as we’re concerned.”
After hitting Rufrano, Bessette went back onto to the track and entered pit road in turn three. Bessette then continued through the pit box lane on pit road, passing at least six cars that were attempting to exit the track. At some point a crew member with Rufrano’s team threw an object at Bessette’s car and he stopped on pit road.
Stafford also announced Tuesday that Rufrano has been suspended for one event with the infraction list as “Driver is responsible for crew member actions.”
Joe Rufrano and James Reagan, crew members for Rufrano’s team, were each suspended for six events: The cited infractions for the crew members were: “Actions detrimental to auto racing, unsportsmanlike conduct.”
The suspensions for Joe Rufrano and Reagan carry over to the 2025 season at Stafford. Should Stafford not get its final event of 2024 in, Marcello Rufrano’s suspension would carry over to the first event of the 2025 season.
I would like to also see Fines imposed that go into a Fund that gives away free tickets in some sort of Raffles etc etc… When Drivers or Crew Members act up it costs them Money and Suspensions…You do not get off suspensions until fines are paid… The fund would be used to bring people into the Racetrack who normally could not attend …. Just an Idea ..?? Feel free to add to this …. All ideas are welcome for the FUND…!!!
Suitcase Jake, don’t you think the teams pay enough just to bring you race cars every week? Why would one want to capitalize on their misfortunes and mistakes. Makes no sense. Sorry.
Nobody Special,
I don’t think Suitcase Jake was suggesting more fines, I think he was suggesting using the money collected by current fines to help introduce new fans to the sport. I think it’s a pretty good idea. That said, I also think it’s a good idea the way Stafford handles it now with the fines being directed to charitable entities.
FACT
Never a fan of Bessette. Seems to come off as a spoiled brat. I don’t know!
How many young people would you say have started their careers at Stafford with full financial and team involvement from their parents? A lot right? How many have acted out at events? Not just using salty language in victory lane or after a wreck but engaging in behavior way, way outside the rules for all to see resulting in significant penalties. I can think of 4 in recent memory, Bessette now one of them.
In three of the four cases the reaction from family and friends has been so predictable it’s gotten tedious. Their driver pure as the driven snow, a victim. Good kid, hard worker, salt of the earth and so on. The bad guys the track for enforcing the rules and RaceDayCt merely for reporting it. Even the parents getting involved in the verbal fisticuffs at times, joining right in pointing fingers at everyone but their offspring.
Add up all the kids that have immediate family that have direct influence over their child’s racing “careers” that act out in very public and at times dangerous ways it’s a very small percentage but they all have one thing in common. Accepting responsibility never enters the discussion at all. That’s not just a guess at how they handled the incident family members and even parents advertise it on social media.
A video was posted from Bessette’s car that appears to show Rufrano abruptly turning in on Bessette. For some reason the majority of replies that followed appear to take the position that the bad call, if it was in fact a bad call, justified everything Bessette did subsequently. Say it was a bad call so what that happens all the time in sports. That does not justify the petulant, reckless behavior that follows but try to explain that to some of these families you might as well be speaking Chinese.
How do I know this very small percent of young people and their families are wrong in how they react to adversity that’s simple. Just think of all the dust ups, many far more egregious then this, we see nothing and hear nothing. Like Meg Fuller getting spun out of a championship in the Streets years ago or Amanda West out of what would have been her first win at the time. Public, petulant reactions, dangerous behavior… zero! Most likely because they were taught self control and to give the organization in which they compete a minimum amount of respect for how difficult it is to put on race events these days.