Bello rings up first career Stafford victory | Sports

“What a night,” Bello said. “We missed making the handicap in the heat race and had to start far back. That was a setback. But we missed the wrecks and got to the front. I didn’t mean to get into Marcello. I’m not sure what happened.”

Rufrano, meanwhile, enjoyed the fight for the lead.

“It was fun racing with Anthony,” Rufrano said. “We were so close, but we didn’t have the roll that we had earlier in the race and Anthony got away. It’s just dejection.”

And jubilation for a rookie driver who enjoyed the best night of his career — even though he really didn’t know what happened.

Todd Owen finished third and maintained his SK point lead.

They are the three most exciting words in motor sports — green-white-checker. They were even more exciting for George Bessette Jr. when the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature turned into a two-lap scoot for the loot between Bessette and point leader Tyler Barry.

“I couldn’t get Tyler on the bottom,” Bessette Jr. said. “So I had to get him on the top.”

Bessette Jr, fireballed his way around Barry on a lap 19 restart to rack up his second win of the season.

Barry, who made a masterful move between the wall and a wrecked car to move into contention, held off Bessette Jr. for several laps, but didn’t have enough firepower at the end.

“We were lucky we had a good car tonight,” Bessette Jr. said. “It was a great battle between me and Tyler.”

For Bessette Jr., it was green, white, checker — and victory.

There was no collapse in the game plan of Darrell Keane of Enfield Friday. One week after letting a big lead get away from him in the 30-lap Late Model feature, Keane found redemption — and a victory.

Keane took the lead early and spent the entire race expanding it as he captured his first win of the year. Instead of a collapse, it was a command performance.

“I told Dennis Botticello on Sunday that I was going to win tonight for him,” said Keane, referring to his car owner. “And we did it. It was a tough week for us, but everything worked out.”

Kevin Gambacorta of Ellington also had a good run, bobbing and weaving his way through traffic to finish second.

“I didn’t think we would even get in the top 5,” Keane said. “I don’t know how we did it.”

Point-leader Adam Gray, who tracked down Keane last week for his fifth win of the year, had to settle for third.

During his long racing career at Stafford Motor Speedway, Rich Hammann has driven almost every kind of race car ever invented. So when rookie Kevin Cormier challenged him for the lead midway through the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, Hammann knew exactly what to do: depend on his experience.

Hammann, the point leader in the division, pulled away from Cormier — and everybody else — en route to his fourth win of the season.

“I knew I had a decent car,” Hammann said.

And he used it to prevent Cormier from getting his first Stafford win.

“We did pretty well for a car that’s been sitting in the weeds for four years before we decided to bring it out this year,” Cormier said. “To give Rich Hamman that good a run, it means that we were really fast tonight.

Cormier had the speed. Hammann had the experience.

There are two sides to every caution flag, and Burt Ouellette saw the happy side Friday during the 20-lap Street Stock feature. It appeared that Travis Downey was on the verge of roaring past Ouellette for the lead with seven laps remaining, but the caution flag came out when Travis Hydar’s engine blew up, stalling Downey’s momentum.

When the race resumed, Downey got stuck in traffic and Ouellette was able to pull away, giving the Ellington driver his second win of the season. He was also able to pull within 24 points of Hyder in the battle for the track championship.

It wasn’t easy, however. Downey provided a scare for more than half of the race.

“This is fantastic,” Ouellette said. “My bumper was hit a bit, but I’m used to that. I have that trick too.”

His best trick, however, was taking advantage of the caution. He blistered his way into the lead on the restart and maintained it.

Jason Lafayette of Somers made a major move with six laps to go to move into second while Downey was third.

40-lap SK Modified: 1. Anthony Bello, Newtown; 2. Marcello Rufrano, North Haven; 3. Todd Owen, Somers; 4. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 5. David Arute, Tolland; 6. Ronnie Williams, Ellington; 7. Bryan Narducci, Colchester; 8. Michael Gervais, Wolcott; 9. Tyler Leary, Hatfield, Mass.; 10. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton.

20-lap SK Lights: 1. George Bessette Jr., Danbury; 2. Tyler Barry, Griswold; 3. Alexander Pearl, Salem; 4. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 5. Amanda West, Colchester; 6. Tyler Alkas, Berlin; 7. Tyler Chapman, Ellington; 8. Nick Anglace, Ansonia; 9. Jason Chapman, Ellington; 10. Bob Charland, Stafford.

30-lap Late Model: 1. Darrell Keane, Enfield; 2. Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington; 3. Adam Gray, Belchertown, Mass.; 4. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 5. Tom Fearn, East Longmeadow, Mass.; 6. John Blake, North Haven; 7. Andrew Durand, Chicopee, Mass.; 8. Paul Arute, Tolland; 9. Paul Varricchio Jr., Berlin; 10. Michael Wray, Northford.

20-lap Limited Late Models: 1. Rich Hammann, Tolland; 2. Kevin Cormier, Agawam, Mass.; 3. Matt Clement, Wethersfield; 4. Alexandra Fearn, East Longmeadow, Mass.; 5. Jeremy Lavoie, Windsor Locks; 6. Jay Clement, Wethersfield; 7. Devon Jencik, Canton; 8. Matt Scappini, Litchfield; 9. Ari Jencik, Canton; 10. Trinity Provost, Holland, Mass.

20-lap Street Stock: 1. Bert Ouellette, Ellington; 2. Jason Lafayette, Somers; 3. Travis Downey, Barkhamstead; 4. Adrien Paradis III, Plainville; 5. Brandon Warren, Chicopee, Mass.; 6. Pat Grady, Berlin; 7. Marvin Minkler, Stamford; 8. Nick Hovey, Chaplin; 9. David Macha Sr., Columbia; 10. Chris Danielczuk, Goshen.