Red Light Racing S14 Martinsville

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 3
Martinsville Speedway

June 5, 2025
by Tim Corder

Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds roared into historic Martinsville Speedway for its third race of Season 14. The race played out in three phases. Phase 1 saw the caution flag waving often as the drivers worked their way into a rhythm. Phase 2 saw a long green flag run with much of the field running in single file. In Phase 3 the flagman re-entered the chat with frequent appearances. Phase 3 also saw some of the best racing of the event. Ultimately, it was pole sitter Chad Alcares who took home the victory. Brian Bianchi moved up from 10^th on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid to finish second. Eric Stout fought hard all day, often on the outside line, to complete the podium after starting on the outside pole. Josh Buckley finished in 4^th after starting in 8^th and Bradley Stefane rounded out the top five finishers improving on his 16^th place starting position.

Alcares claimed the pole with a 19.080 second qualifying lap. Stout was just 0.1 seconds slower than Alcares in claiming the outside pole. Ken Allen, last week’s winner Ethan Troutman, and Jeff Aho started in 3^rd – 5^th place, all within 0.15 seconds of Alcares’ qualifying time.

The caution flag waved 7 times resulting in 28 of the event’s 100 laps being run behind the pace car. The event started slowly with two cautions within the first 13 laps. Then, a long green flag run of 50 laps saw Alcares lead the whole run. The caution started waving again on lap 63 and would come out regularly for the rest of the event. Some outstanding battles were held on the restarts, especially at the front of the field. Alcares and E Stout put on a clinic for tight, tough, but clean racing, usually with Alcares on the inside line and E Stout on the outside. In total, Chad Alcares led 90 of the 100 laps. Eric Stout led the other 10 laps that Alcares did not.

Bruce Pearson picked up the most spots during the race. He finished 8^th after starting in the 22^nd spot. In addition to winning the race, the poll, and leading the most laps, Alcares also set the fastest lap during the race. He turned his 93^rd lap in just 19.247 seconds. Only three drivers completed the race without incident points: Alcares, E Stout, and Stefane.

Ethan Troutman came into the event with the early championship lead. Despite what was likely a disappointing 18^th place run, Troutman keeps the lead in the early standings. Eric Stout is just 3 points behind Troutman. Fred Leclair, Chad Alcares, and Brian Bianchi complete the top five in the point standings.

The fourth race of the season will be run at Thompson Speedway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on June 19th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing S14 Phoenix

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 14 Race 1
Phoenix Raceway

May 22, 2025
by Tim Corder

The first race of season 14 for Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modified series was an event with some rare occurrences. First, it wasn’t an SK Modifieds race. The drivers instead got a chance to climb into the SK’s big brother – the Whelen Tour Modifieds. This put at their disposal 600+ horsepower compared with the normal 385 horsepower in the SKs. Another rarity – the event was held on a track 1 mile in length, that being, Phoenix Raceway, rather than the “normal” truly short tracks the series visits.

Another rarity – last season’s dominator and Champion, Eric Stout, led the most laps of the race (51) but didn’t take home the checkered flag. Fellow frequently fast driver Jeff Aho led 29 laps but also didn’t take home the win. In the end, it was the driver that led the third most laps, and series newcomer, Bill Benedict, that claimed the checkered flag. Benedict led 6 of the Green-White-Checkered extended 94 lap event. Fellow series newcomer, and the event’s pole-sitter, Eric Troutman led four laps, as did Josh Buckley.

Troutman claimed the pole with a 27.251 second qualifying lap, besting Chad Alcares by just 0.066 seconds for the pole. Stout, Brian Bianchi, and yet another series newcomer, Louis Flowers, rounded out the top five in qualifying.

Despite Stout and Aho leading 85% of the events laps, there were several entertaining battles for the lead, indeed there were quality battles throughout the field, during the course of the race. The ultimate battle for the lead reached a crescendo when Benedict and Stout were side-by-side on lap 89 after a restart. Benedict was ever so slightly ahead of Stout when the yellow came out after Josh Buckley and Chris Oliver tangled on the back stretch. Benedict chose the preferred inside line on the green-white-checker restart and held on to win as a first time driver in the series. In the end, Fred LeClair took home second after starting 12th on the field. Stout slid to 3rd to round out the podium. The rest of the top five finishers were pole-sitter Troutman, who finished fourth, and TJ Henson who gained one spot from his sixth place starting position to finish fifth.

The race was slowed by six cautions for a total of 18 laps. Fred LeClair turned the fastest lap, finishing the last lap of the race in 27.186 seconds. Only 3 of the 23 drivers finished the event without incident points. Those were: LeClair, Glenn Jamieson (finished 6th) and Adin All-Vecchione (finished 8th). Jamieson’s clean run was especially impressive as he also was the Hard Charger of the race, picking up 16 spots from his 22nd place qualifying position.

This being just the first race of the season, the top five in the run for the championship mirrors the race’s finishing order. With Stout garnering one more bonus point than LeClair did, Stout and LeClair are tied for second in the early point standings. Troutman and Jamieson are 6 and 7 points, respectively, outside of the top points position.

The second race of the season will be contested at rather circular Oxford Plains Speedway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern on May 29th. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing Finale

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 16
Martinsville Speedway

April 24, 2025
by Tim Corder

Martinsville Speedway hosted the Culpeppers Bakery and Cafe 100, the final race of Season 13 of Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Eric Stout came into the race with an unbreakable grip on the championship trophy. In a storyline common for this season, he claimed the pole and went on to lead 98 of the 100 laps to also take home the checkered flag. Stout’s teammate AJ Hamel kept Stout honest, the pair running nose-to-tail for much of the latter half of the race. Hamel appeared at times to have the quicker pace, but, the two raced respectfully and finished as they qualified at the top of leader board. Kenny Allen joined Hamel and Stout on the podium with a strong 3^rd place run. Completing the top-5 were Chad Alcares and Joshua Buckley.

Stout claimed the pole with a 19.142 second lap in qualifying. Hamel, Alcares, Luke Logan Allen, and Rob Higgins started second through fifth on the RaceDayCT.com starting grid, respectively.

The race saw 3 cautions in the early laps before running under the green for the last 66 laps of the event. Kenny Allen picked up the most spots of any driver, four, in finishing third after qualifying seventh. Hamel was the only other lap leader beside Stout, Hamel led two laps during restarts in the early running. Hamel also had the fastest lap of the race, turning lap 12 in just 19.218 seconds. Nine of the 15 drivers completed the race without any incident points.

Stout, Bradley Stefane and Kenny Allen were first through third coming into the race in the championship and remained that way after the checkered flag wave. The race did have implications for several spots in the top 10 of the championship. Chad Alcares took over 4^th place from Luke Logan Allen, Luke falling to 8^th in the final standings. Josh Buckley took over 5^th from Fred Leclair who slid down to 6^th in the standings. Jeff Aho finished the season in 7^th with Rob Higgins and TJ Henson completing the top 10 in 9^th and 10^th respectively.

As for season stats, five drivers competed in all 16 races of the season, those being Stout, Kenny Allen, LeClair, Aho, and Luke Logan Allen. Eight different drivers were winners this season.  Stout took home 9 checkered flags and Stefane, LeClair, Aho, Henson, Brian Bianchi, Brandon Feeney and Hamel claimed a win each. In addition to the most wins in the season, Stout also claimed the most top-5s (11) and the most top-10s (13). Luke Logan Allen finished the most laps of all drivers, completing 1,614 laps. Of the drivers competing in all 16 events, Jeff Aho received the fewest incident points of all drivers (90 total incident points.)

The drivers take a break for the next few weeks before beginning season 14 on Thursday, May 22^nd at Phoenix Raceway. The green flag will drop at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing at N Wilkesboro

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 13
North Wilkesboro Speedway

April 3, 2025
by Tim Corder

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds mixed things up this week with Twin 50s at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Both races saw domination by their winners. AJ Hamel won the first event from the poll, leading 49 laps. Then, Jeff Aho secured his first win of the season, leading 45 of the 53 laps of the green-white-checkered extended second race.

Hamel set the pace in qualifying for the first race turning a 17.716 second lap. Eric Stout, Brian Bianchi, Chad Alcares, and Bradley Stefane rounded out the top five in qualifying, all within 0.06 seconds of Hamel’s lap time. The only challenges Hamel faced were on restarts after the opening event’s two caution flags. Stout and Bianchi both fought valiantly on the outside line on restarts, but Hamel would prevail and stay on the point. Stout spoiled Hamel’s shot at leading wire-to-wire by leading one lap of the race.

Joining Hamel on the podium for the first race were Bianchi and Stout. Completing the top five were Stefane and Alcares. Joshua Buckley’s 17.699 second lap 8 was the fastest lap of the first race. Benjamin Gerhardt won the first of the Hard Charger Awards. He gained 9 spots, climbing from his 20^th place starting position to 11^th. All but two drivers completed all 50 laps. Fifteen of the 20 drivers left the first event without any incident points.

The starting grid for the second of the Twin 50 races was set by inverting the first 10 finishing positions from the first event. As a result, Fred LeClair started on the pole. Rob Higgins, Jeff Aho, Rex Hoyle, and Joshua Buckley rounded out the top five starters.

LeClair led the first eight laps of the race before Jeff Aho was able to take over the point with a pass to LeClair’s inside. Buckley, in third, spun trying to follow Aho in passing LeClair, bringing out the first of 5 cautions on the night. Buckley would finish the night in 11^th. LeClair battled Aho for most of the event but on lap 47, battling traffic to his inside, LeClair’s hopes of a top 5 finish were dashed. After slight contact with Bianchi, LeClair bounced off the outside wall coming onto the front stretch. This sent LeClair spinning in front of half of the field, gathering several other cars in the melee. LeClair managed to finish in tenth.

Joining Aho on the podium were Stefane and Kenny Allen, Allen having picked up an impressive 10 spots from his 13^th place starting position. Completing the top five were Bianchi and Luke Logan Allen. Luke Logan Allen also won the event’s Hard Charger of the Race Award, picking up 14 spots from his 19^th place starting position. Joshua Buckley repeated his performance from the first event by turning the fast lap of the second race as well. He completed the fifth lap of the race in 17.704 seconds, besting Aho’s fifth lap by just 0.001 seconds.

Twelve of the twenty drivers finished all 53 laps of the second event. Only three drivers escaped with no incident points: Aho, Kenny Allen, and Andrew Lewis.

Championship leader Eric Stout finished the second race in 8^th. The top ten finish coupled with his 3^rd place finish in the first race meant that little changed at the top of the Championship standings. He keeps a commanding 51-point lead over Stefane for season championship. Chad Alcares and Kenny Allen left the day’s two races still in 3^rd and 4^th in the standings, respectively. Brian Bianchi moved up to fifth in the standings. With just three races left in the season, Stout seems to have all but locked-up the Championship.

Anything could happen, though, as the series heads to tricky Oswego Speedway on April 10^th. The green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing at Hickory

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 12
Hickory Motor Speedway

March 27, 2025
by Tim Corder

Fans would be forgiven if they’ve come to expect the same story at every Skitter Creek SK Modifieds race this season. They may feel that the only suspense often is “what margin of victory will Eric Stout have this time?” Fans for whom this common storyline has started to wear a little thin had a pleasant surprise in store when the series took to historic Hickory Motor Speedway on March 27, 2025. There were so many storylines during the race it resembled a Seinfeld episode . . . a long green flag run saw lap traffic come into play, pit strategy was a major factor, and a no-call by the tower had many fans wondering was anyone in the tower even watching the race? Oh, and Eric Stout didn’t win. It was instead Fred LeClair that took his first league trophy home after deftly picking up 12 positions from his 13^th place starting position.

In qualifying, Chad Alcares was the cream of the crop, grabbing the pole with a 13.534 second lap. Jeff Aho, Bradley Stefane, AJ Hamel and TJ Henson rounded out the top five in qualifying, all within 1/10^th of a second of Alcares time. Championship leader Eric Stout started in sixth.

The race got off to a rocky start with two cautions within the first ten laps, both of which involved Stout. The first fell on lap 2 when Rob Higgins tapped Eric Stout’s rear bumper in turn 4, sending the two spinning and gathering other drivers along the way. Stout would drop all the way back to 17^th for the restart on lap 7. On the restart, Bob Higgins checked up because of those in front of him slowing. Stout was unable to slow down in time to avoid Higgins sending Higgins spinning.

The green flag would again wave on lap 12 with Alcares still at the point. The yellow would not again come out until lap 68. Alcares set a blistering pace over the green flag run and caught the back end of the field. Battling to stay on the lead lap Brandon Feeney spun, Ken Allen also spun as the drivers reacted to Feeney’s car, which brought out the lap 68 caution.

Six of the top ten drivers at the time of the caution pitted to take on tires, including Stout and eventual winner LeClair. Stout and LeClair restarted on lap 73 in 10^th and 11^th, respectively. The next caution came out on lap 77 when TJ Henson spun in turn 4 with Alcares still leading. After the resulting lap 82 restart, Bradley Stefane took over the point from Alcares on lap 84.

The tower’s decision to keep the race under green despite a massive pileup on the front stretch on lap 89 left the entire grandstand scratching their collective heads. The melee started with AJ Hamel spinning at the exit of turn 4. Car after car then piled-in blocking the front stretch, with the better part of ½ of the field involved. The race stayed green while those involved tried to rejoin the race. Leader Stefane completed lap 90 before hitting Rob Higgins who was trying to get his car pointed in the right direction after being involved in the pileup. The Stefane wreck woke up the assumed-to-be-sleeping officials who finally decided to throw out the caution. As a consolation to Stefane, the tower allowed him to keep the point position.

At the time of this officiating disaster, LeClair had worked his way up to 4^th and Stout had risen to 6^th, both taking advantage of their fresh tires over the brief green flag run. The green briefly came out again on lap 95 but the yellow waved again before the completion of that lap. As briefly as the green was out, though, LeClair was able to take over 2^nd and Stout took over 5^th.

The final restart of the night happened on lap 100, resulting in a green-white-checkered finish. Stefane led the field on the restart, but LeClair took over the point with an outside line pass on lap 101. LeClair would not relinquish the lead and took home the checkered flag. Stefane finished second just 0.188 seconds behind LeClair. Rounding out the top five were Alcares, Stout and Chris Haizlip.

The twelve spots LeClair picked up in winning the race were the most spots gained by any driver, so LeClair also claimed the Hard Charger of the Race award. Chad Alcares led 78 laps of the event. Joining Alcares, LeClair, and Stefane as leaders of the race was Jeff Aho who led two laps. Alcares also set the fastest lap of the race, completing lap 18 in 13.582 seconds. No driver escaped the event without any incident points.

Stout stays well in control of the championship point standings. Stefane stayed in second for the championship, 56 points in arrears to Stout. Alcares moved up to third in the points. Kenny Allen stays fourth, and with the race win, LeClair moved into fifth in the championship running.

The series next visits historic North Wilkesboro Speedway on April 3^rd with a Twin 50 lap event. The first green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing at Oxford

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 11
Oxford Plains

March 20, 2025
by Tim Corder

A mere 6 days after 3/14, known amongst nerds as Pi Day, Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds drivers roared into the most circular track on the schedule. The drivers calculated “2 x Pi x r” 103 times around uniquely shaped Oxford Plains Speedway. The event was extended due to a green-white-checkered finish. The name at the top of the finishing positions was a very familiar one, Eric Stout. However, his winning yet another race this season was in no way a certainty. Pit strategy turned out to be a major deciding factor in the race.

Chad Alcares claimed the top spot in the RaceDayCT.com starting grid with a 14.467 qualifying lap. The remainder of the top-five in qualifying were Eric Stout, Brian Bianchi, Jeff Aho, and Rob Higgins. All of the top-5 qualifiers were within one-tenth of a second of each other.

Alcares led the first 59 laps of the event, with Stout not far behind in second. The duo headed to pit road on a lap 60 caution, which allowed Brian Bianchi to take over the point. When the green came back out on lap 64, Stout and Alcares were in 7^th and 8^th, respectively.

Bianchi would lead until lap 76 when he pitted under caution. During the green flag run leading up to the caution which saw Bianchi pitting, Stout and Alcares made admirable moves through the field. Stout and Alcares took over first and second with Bianchi on pit road. Bianchi rejoined the field in 13^th and finished the event in 10^th place. Stout would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the event. Alcares finished in third. Rob Higgins put in a stellar performance, moving up from fifth at the start of the race to finish second.

The race was slowed by 7 cautions totaling 28 laps. Only four drivers finished the event without incident points: Stout, Higgins, Alcares, and Jeff Aho, who finished in 16^th after experiencing mechanical issues at the start of the race.

TJ Henson one the Hard Charger of the Race Award, having gained 10 spots from his 16^th place starting position to finish 6^th. Eric Stout set the fastest lap of the race, completing lap 86 in 14.458 seconds.

Stout’s seventh win of the season further extends his lead in the championship standings, he is now 59 points ahead of Bradley Stefane. Kenny Allen stays in third, Chad Alcares moved up to fourth and Brian Bianchi dropped back to 5^th in the standings.

The series next visits historic Hickory Motor Speedway on March 20^th for the 12^th race of the season. The green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.

Red Light Racing at Southern National

Skitter Creek SK Modifieds
Season 13 Race 10
Southern National

March 13, 2025
by Tim Corder

Red Light Racing’s Skitter Creek SK Modifieds drivers circled Southern National Speedway 25 laps more than they usually do on the series’s short tracks on March 13, 2025. The race had 125 scheduled laps instead of the normal 100 laps per event. Eric Stout, for the sixth time of the season, took home the checkered flag. However, the journey to the win was more challenging than the earlier five wins.

AJ Hamel brought the RaceDayCT.com starting grid to the green flag after turning a 13.426 second lap in qualifying. Eric Stout, Ken Allen, Bradley Stefane, and Chad Alcares started 2nd – 5th, all turning in qualifying laps within a tenth of a second of Hamel’s lap.

Hamel held on to the lead until lap 42 when Stefane took over the point on a restart following a yellow flag. The two drivers later tangled on lap 46 when the yellow flag came out as a result of Brian Neff getting loose off of turn four and making contact with Rex Hoyle. Stefane slowed coming out of turn 2 but Hamel, who was following closely, did not slow down in time to avoid contact with Stefane. Stefane spun as a result and rejoined the field in ninth before race control returned him to the lead position for the restart on lap 58.

The event was slowed by a total of seven cautions. Perhaps the most consequential yellow occurred on lap 58 following the aforementioned restart. Hamel and his teammate Stout restarted in second and third behind Stefane. Heading into turn one, the two teammates made contact, sending them both spinning in front of the rest of the field. Several other cars were collected in the melee. Hamel retired from the event following the spin. Stout restarted in 8th place when the green came back out on lap 67. What likely was the winning move of the race, though, was Stout’s decision to take on fresh outside tires during the caution.

With the fresh rubber, Stout climbed back through the field, ultimately taking over the lead for the first time on lap 111. He would not relinquish the point position for the rest of the race. Stefane finished in second place and Kenny Allen completed the podium in third having led 4 laps of the event. Joshua Buckley finished in 4th. In doing so, he won the Hard Charger of the race award as he picked up 12 spots from his 16th place starting position. Brian Bianchi rounded out the top 5 in 5th.

Other notable performances included Stout setting the fastest lap of the race, completing lap 75 in 13.446 seconds. Only two drivers escaped the event without incident points, those being Kenny Allen and Bob Higgins. Higgins finished in 12th, gaining 7 spots from his 19th place starting position.

With yet another win, Stout further solidified his lead in the championship, now 50 points ahead of second place Stefane. Kenny Allen moved up one spot to 3rd in the championship standings. Brian Bianchi also moved up one spot to 4th, and Rex Hoyle fell from third to fifth place.

The series heads to circular Oxford Plains Speedway on March 20th for the 11th race of the season. The green flag drops at 7:55 PM Eastern. Catch all the action LIVE on Virtual Grip Network.