Trackside Now: The TSI Harley Davidson 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway - Friday, May 23, 2008
Hossfeld wins first race since 2004
NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour
May 23, 2008
Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT
Friday,  6:55pm ET - Qualifying has completed at Stafford and Chuck Hossfeld has taken the pole with a fast time of 18.132 (99.272 mph).  Qualifying was not without controversy as Ryan Preece's original second lap didn't record, so he had to run both laps again, and was only able to time in 5th fastest.  Starting lineup will follow shortly once the redraw is completed.
Friday,  4:45pm ET - Good afternoon from Stafford Motor Speedway!  Right now we're in the middle of practice for Stafford's weekly teams.  Whelen Modified Tour qualifying is set to go off at 6:00 PM, with 31 cars making the race.  Heres the following qualifying order:
1. James W. Civali
2. Erick Rudolph
3. Jimmy Blewett
4. Rob Summers
5. Glenn Tyler
6. Ed Flemke, Jr.
7. Eric Beers
8. Ken Heagy
9. Ronnie Silk
10. Bobby Grigas, III
11. Wade Cole
12. Jamie Tomanio
13. Mike Stefanik
14. Reggie Ruggiero
15. Chuck Hossfeld
16. Joe Hartmann
17. Billy Pauch, Jr.
18. Tom Abele, Jr.
19. Anthony Sesely
20. Rowan Pennink
21. Eric Berndt
22. Ted Christopher
23. Danny Sammons
24. Ryan Preece
25. Jake Marosz
26. Rick Fuller
27. Woody Pitkat
28. Renee Dupuis
29. Todd Szegedy
30. Richard Savary
31. Kevin Goodale
32. Charlie Pasteryak
33. Carl Pasteryak
34. Matt Hirschman
35. Glen Reen
36. Frank Ruocco
37. Gary McDonald
Saturday,  12:46am ET - It was nearly a wild finish at Stafford, with Todd Szegedy doing everything in his power to get under Chuck Hossfeld.  Hossfeld bobbled but held on for his first win since 2004.  He continues to hold the point lead, following in the path of current Craftsman Truck driver Donny Lia, who drove the #4 car last season.  Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, and Eric Beers round out the top 5.

Saturday,  12:33am ET - It's been GREEN at Stafford since lap 114, and after a nice little green flag stretch, it's YELLOW again for Ronnie Silk hitting the wall in turn 3.  He had been running 5th at the time.  With 15 to go, Chuck Hossfeld continues to lead and is trailed by Todd Szegedy, Ted Christopher, Eric Beers, and Mike Stefanik.  Does anyone have anything for Hossfeld?  We'll soon find out.

Saturday,  12:28am ET - We're back to the Green/Yellow show here at Stafford.  It went Yellow on 103, Green on 107, and now we're back under Yellow on lap 109.  Chuck Hossfeld had just retaken the lead from Matt Hirschman and they're followed by Ronnie Silk, Eric Beers, Todd Szegedy, James W. Civali, Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Kevin Goodale, and Jimmy Blewett.

Saturday,  12:19am ET - Caution flies on lap 90 for a spin through the backstretch by Glen Reen.  Bobby Grigas III loses several spots in the pits, and when all is said and done, Matt Hirschman sits in the lead, followed by Jamie Tomaino.  Of the cars who hit pit road, it's Eric Beers, Chuck Hossfeld, Ronnie Silk, James W. Civali, Todd Szegedy.  The GREEN comes back out on lap 96.

Saturday,  12:07am ET - Good morning!  Bobby Grigas III continues to lead and had a solid gap between himself and second place Chuck Hossfeld.  Ryan Preece, who had been running solidly in 5th spun through the backstretch grass but kept it going and the race stayed green.  Preece lost a ton of positions but remained on the lead lap.

Friday,  11:58pm ET - Bobby Grigas III takes the lead on lap 41 and starts to pull away.  Behind him its Chuck Hossfeld, Eric Beers, Ted Christopher, Ryan Preece, Todd Szegedy, Jimmy Blewett, Ronnie Silk, Matt Hirschman and James W. Civali.

Friday,  11:53pm ET - YELLOW again on lap 30, this time for a Richard Savary spin coming out of turn 4.  He did a good job not making contact with anything, but we're under yellow nonetheless.  We're back GREEN on lap 34, with the top 5 still unchanged.

Friday,  11:45pm ET - Green, Yellow, Green, Yellow...feels like we're at a badly misfunctioning stop light instead of a race.  Race went green on lap 14, yellow on 15, green on 18, and yellow again before that lap had completed. Top 5 remains the same.  Racing will resume again (hopefully?) on lap 26. 

Friday,  11:38pm ET - 11 laps in and the first YELLOW flag of the night has been thrown.  Charlie Pasteryak and Glenn Tyler get together in turn 3 but both get it moving again.  Prior to the caution, the top 5 had been breaking away from the rest of the field.  Running order under caution: Chuck Hossfeld, Bobby Grigas, III, Eric Beers, Ted Christopher, and Ryan Preece.

Friday,  11:33pm ET - Finally, the glorious sounds of Modifieds racing!  It's a dog fight already with Bobby Grigas, III and Chuck Hossfeld battling side by side for several laps for the lead.

Friday,  11:15pm ET - The Dare Stocks have completed their 15 lap feature and the Whelen Modified Tour cars are being staged.  The racing action should (hopefully) be beginning shortly.

Friday,  10:50pm ET - Dare Stocks are on track and about to go green for their 15 lap feature.  At the conclusion of this race, the Whelen Modified Tour is scheduled to run.  It's going to be a late night here at Stafford!

Friday,  10:25pm ET - The rain has finally stopped here at Stafford and track drying efforts continue.  The straights are starting to look better but the turns continue to need work.  The game plan at this point is for the Dare Stocks to run before the Modified Tour.  Additionally, the track has a Midnight curfew - the Tour race must be started before that point in order to be able to run.

Friday,  9:05pm ET - With 1 lap remaining in the SK race, the skies opened up and the rain started coming down.  The SK race went red/checkered, with WMT competitors Ted Christopher and Woody Pitkat finishing 1-2.  It's going to be a bit before the Modified Tour will go, if they can go at all.  The radar isn't looking good.

Friday,  8:30pm ET - The schedule has altered (Tour Modifieds are up next) after about 30 minutes worth of repairs were done on the turn 2 wall.  SK Modifieds are on the track currently.

Friday,  7:30pm ET - The top 6 cars redrew, with Chuck Hossfeld keeping the pole position.  With racing scheduled to begin at 9pm, the rest of the starting lineup is as follows:
1. Chuck Hossfeld
2. Bobby Grigas, III
3. Eric Beers
4. Ted Christopher
5. Ryan Preece
6. Jimmy Blewett
7. Matt Hirschman
8. Richard Savary
9. Erick Rudolph
10. Reggie Ruggiero
11. Ronnie Silk
12. Rob Summers
13. Jamie Tomaino
14. Todd Szegedy
15. Danny Sammons
16. Anthony Sesely
17. Ed Flemke, Jr.
18. Rick Fuller
19. James W. Civali
20. Woody Pitkat
21. Charlie Pasteryak
22. Glenn Tyler
23. Eric Berndt
24. Rowan Pennink
25. Glen Reen
26. Kevin Goodale
27. Mike Stefanik
28. Ken Heagy
29. Billy Pauch, Jr.
30. Wade Cole
31. Joe Hartmann


DNQ: Tom Abele, Jr., Renee Dupuis, Carl Pasteryak, Frank Ruocco, Gary McDonald, Jake Marosz
Saturday,  2:35am ET - Here's the final unofficial run down from NASCAR.  We may see penalties in a few days - Jimmy Blewett's #19 team had a part confiscated and taken to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further evaluation.
1. Chuck Hossfeld
2. Todd Szegedy
3. Ted Christopher
4. Mike Stefanik
5. Jimmy Blewett
6. Eric Beers
7. Eddie Flemke, Jr.
8. Ryan Preece
9. James W. Civali
10. Erick Rudoloph
11. Matt Hirschman
12. Rowan Pennink
13. Charlie Pasteryak
14. Jamie Tomaino
15. Billy Pauch, Jr.
16. Bobby Grigas, III

17. Kevin Goodale
18. Woody Pitkat
19. Ken Heagy
20. Danny Sammons
21. Glen Reen
22. Wade Cole
23. Joe Hartmann
24. Richard Savary
25. Glenn Tyler
26. Ronnie Silk
27. Eric Berndt
28. Anthony Sesely
29. Reggie Ruggiero
30. Rob Summers
31. Rick Fuller


The Mystic Missle Team returned to Victory Lane with Chuck Hossfeld.  Hossfeld's last victory came with the same team.     (Jim DuPont Photo)