Contingency for Spec Engine Users

From before the Spring Sizzler weekend, a bit of contingency news for you.

New England Racing Fuel will hop on the contingency bandwagon by awarding $25 (via fuel certificate) to any SK Modified and Late Model drivers who not only finish in the top three in their respective features, but who also use the spec engine.

Is this motivation for teams to start using said spec engine?

100 Lap WMT Race in May?

That's apparently what the plan will be. Because instead of a normal 150-lap event on May 22, the Whelen Modified Tour will be running a 100-lap event. There will also be a reduced prize money purse to go along with the lap cut.

What would you have taken -- a shortened race? Or three races at Stafford?

The decision was made to shorten the race and purse for the Tour's next event because of the obvious economy problems, and a want to try out a shorter race.

I'm not okay with the idea, because this may mean that the field will be smaller, but if it works, why not go ahead and plan the event in '10? Only time will tell. We still have a month before the Tour returns to Stafford. I'm not truly counting chickens until I have to.

Spring Sizzler '09, or Cue the Welcome Back Kotter Tune

(Apologies for just copying the stuff I used elsewhere. I'll think of new material next time.)

Months of waiting finally came down to the opening of the racing season at Stafford Motor Speedway. With temperatures reaching the mid-80s, the 2009 Spring Sizzler was just that. A sizzler. Two days of action, with the five weekly divisions and the Whelen Modified Tour to boot.

SATURDAY
The weekend started off with qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour. 36 cars attempted time trials for 33 spots. Setting fast time was Ted Christopher, who clocked in an 18.150 (or 99.174 mph). Upon the redraw, which took place later in the afternoon, Ryan Preece (third fastest time) and Mike Stefanik (second fastest time) would find themselves on the front row. Christopher would redraw fourth.

Heats for the weekly divisions rolled off next, with a few cautions interspersed inbetween the racing action. It seemed like there was a caution for every heat race that took place. But all was well with the world and feature racing started without a hitch.

SK Lights: The theme at the start of the season is usually "welcome back", and the first official race of the year was no exception to the theme. Brit Andersen returned to the track in SK Light competition in style. He took the lead from Earl Pelletier on the third lap of the race, and, other than a quick lead loss to Tony Santangelo which he quickly regained and a few cautions, held off all competitors to take down the win. Santangelo unofficially finished second, but in tech, it was found out that he had staggered brake calipers and was scored last. Ted Cain moved up to second, followed by Pelletier and Jay Goff.

Limited Late Models: Only two cars in the division switched over to a new body style with wing this season. One of them, Andrew Durand's, also sports the new spec engine that Stafford allowed the drivers to use. Both the new body style and engine were put to good use in the second feature of the afternoon. The first leader of the event was Michael Chaves, who lead for the first ten laps until Durand powered by him. Also coming was 2008 division champion Bill Davis, and a caution with three laps to go set the stage for a duel. It took a lap before Durand was finally clear of Davis, and it was Durand who won his first race of the season. Davis finished second, with Dennis Botticello unofficially finishing third. (Tech revealed that the car exceeded the maximum left side weight percentage, and he was scored last.) Carla Botticello moved to third, with Jesse Hinze finishing fourth.

DARE Stocks: It was the only feature of the weekend that saw only one leader. Don Wood led all fifteen laps as he claimed his first win of the season. It wasn't all easy for him, as he had Jeff Jolly on his back bumper over the course of the last five laps. But Jolly would finish second behind Wood, with Bill Dunn in third and Albert Saunders in fourth.

SUNDAY
With the hotter of the two days came the second day of racing action. There were still two weekly divisions to be run, along with the main event -- the Whelen Modified Tour race. And there was the pit party, which is always a crowd-pleaser.

SK Modifieds: A pair of multi-car accidents made the end of the first feature of day two look more like a heat race rather than an actual feature. The accidents, taking place on the first lap of the event and on the thirtieth, cut the field by more than half and took out some of the more familiar front-runners. They also set the stage up for a first-time winner in the SK Modified division. After the red flag on the lap-30 accident, Richie Pallai, Jr became the fourth different leader of the event. Brad Hietala was second, but during one battle for the lead, Hietala got loose, which gave Pallai a comfortable-sized lead with three laps to go. Pallai would record his first career SK Modified victory. Ted Christopher would finish second, followed by Jimmy Blewett and Todd Owen.

Whelen Tour: Luck was what set the tone for the ending of the main event. On lap-121, Ted Christopher ended up on pit road because of a cut tire. Seven laps later, he found himself going through the grass during a backstretch accident, and all hope of him winning back-to-back races had started to look unlikely. Yet he made his way through the field, and by lap-182, Christopher had passed Todd Szegedy for the lead. It would not only be the pass for the lead, but it would also be the pass for the win. It was the second straight win for Christopher on the Tour. Szegedy would finish second, with Ryan Preece third, and Mike Stefanik in fourth.

Late Models: It took the Late Models five attempts to get the race done on a green-white-checkered scenario, as the latter stages of the race became caution-filled. At one point in time, Corey Hutchings and Tom Fearn -- the leaders at the time -- made contact, sending Hutchings spinning in the turn-four grass and Fearn to the back of the field via way of penalty. The new front row consisted of Scott Cook, the new leader, and Dillon Moltz on the outside. Two more cautions kept the field bunched together, but when everybody was cool-minded, Moltz was able to power past Cook for the lead. The final two laps went by caution-free, and Moltz picked up the win. Cook was second, with Ryan Posocco in third and Jim Mavlouganes in fourth.

Friday, weather permitting, Stafford will be hosting the first Friday night event of the season. Five divisions in action. Should be a great time if Mother Nature cooperates with us.

Disqualifications [4/25 + 4/26]

Ah, yes. Not a good list to be posting two days after the Spring Sizzler. But it has to be done. The official press release of disqualifications was released yesterday, and it involves a Limited Late Model and a SK Light. I won't spoil the details for you. The link has everything you want to know.

I'll be back later tonight with a recap of the weekend in one huge entry.

Even More Sizzler News

+ Ted Christopher has run 15 races so far in 2009, winning nine of the events. He's looking to win his tenth race of the season is grand fashion in a possible fifth career Spring Sizzler victory -- Whelen Modified Tour style.

+ Brush up on your Sizzler history with the notebook of the opening weekend.

Sizzler Grand Marshal Named

I would have done this earlier, but I've been swamped as of late. Hope you don't mind.

Anyway, Stafford has announced that they've named Steve Nichols as their grand marshal for the Spring Sizzler. Nichols is the VP of the CARQuest division of Gates Corporation.

Erica Santos Joins the SK Light Field

It will be double duty for Erica Santos this year. While she'll race in the NEMA Midgets, she'll also take on the SK Light field as she'll be racing in all but two races in the '09 season.

She'll drive Vern Porter's #21 machine; the same car that John Walmsley drove last year.

Because she won't be racing in the SK Lights twice throughout the course of the season, her goals for the aforementioned season are to be consistent and to not wreck the car.

Even though this is her first time in an SK Light at Stafford (previous three trips have been in the NEMA Midgets), she's got some knowledge of the track going for her.

SMS in the HoF

On April 3, 2009, Stafford Speedway was inducted into the Connecticut Business Hall of Fame. Along with four other inductees, they join the class of '08. There were over 80 nominations handed in over the last three months before the decision was made to induct the track.

Congratulations, SMS.

(Post) Good Friday Headlines

This is only a quick kind of update. When I said that news would either come in bundles or sporadically, I wasn't kidding.

+ Dillon Moltz hopes that he can bring the success of last year into this year.

+ GH Berlin Oil is renewing their sponsorship as a Late Model contingency partner. They'll offer $100 to the second place finisher in each Late Model race this season.

Foster Coming to SK Modifieds

Sean Foster found that ride he was looking for. It's in a SK Modified, but I don't think he minds that at all.

He's the second choice for the ride after an Earnhardt, but again, can't say he doesn't mind that.

For the 2009 season, Foster will be part of a three-car team, driving for Glen Johnson. He'll team up with Doug Coby and Zach Sylvester. The experience his teammates have works out -- Foster has yet to get behind the wheel of a Modified.

As for Earnhardt, well... Johnson said that he may make some starts around his schedule. Nohing is fully set in stone yet.

Sizzler Schedule

We're a little more than two weeks away from kicking off racing at Stafford this season. News these days is either fast paced or slow out of the gate.

Right now, it's a bit fast paced. There's been news, yes... And now, there's also a schedule. The schedule for the Spring Sizzler has been released for a few days now (how did I miss this?), and it's as tentative as you can get. Everything's (almost) all planned out to a T.

Fifth Championship in the Works?

The "five championship" club at Stafford is an exclusive club. In fact, it's so exclusive, there are only two members in it -- Bob Potter and Ted Christopher.

But 2009 could be a year of change (as if it wasn't supposed to be already). The club could induct a new member in Ryan Posocco.

Would anyone have anything to say that would prove otherwise? Things are looking up for Posocco this season. He'll have a part-time teammate in Christopher. But even so, it may not be easy for him to repeat and win championship number five.

It's the same car, the same engine, and the same team backing Posocco up this season. If all of that adds up, he'll be in some elite company.

A Weekend of WMT News

Welcome to April -- where we're literally counting down the days until the start of Stafford's season.

While news stories may continue to pour in, there's also word that the first entries for the Spring Sizzler have been filed. It's confirmed word and only nine entries, but it's a sign that we're indeed getting closer to this season kicking off. It's enough to get me hyped up.

Speaking of Whelen Modified Tour drivers, Richie Pallai, Jr is planning to make his WMT debut when the Tour comes to the track in May. He bought equipment from former Tour driver Mike Molleur and was planning on debuting last season, but the work on the SK pushed plans back a year. If all works well, his goal for the season is to run three of the four WMT races at Stafford, a race at Chemung and Thompson (latter up in the air), and the open show at Seekonk.

Matthews Moves Up to SKs

The 2009 SK Modified rookie class at Stafford just got a little bit bigger... And a bit more decorated.

Chris Matthews becomes the fifth former SK Light competitor to make the jump to the SKs this offseason, and the second past champion to move up (Joe Allegro, Jr being the other SK Light champion to graduate).

The car that Matthews will be driving will be a car that was previously run by Todd Owen.

The Welcoming of the LLM Spec Engine

From earlier this week (read as: Tuesday), there's news from the Limited Late Model division.

Andrew Durand's going to make the switch this season to the new spec engine package available for the Limiteds. He'll also be changing the body style to the new Mid-American NGB style with a New Era win.

Business Expo in May

Throughout the month of May, Stafford has decided to host their own business expo.

Sponsors of any Stafford competitor, track sponsor, and/or track advertising partner are allowed to come on down to the track during any Friday night in the month of May (excluding the 22nd for some reason) to promote their business.

Out of all of the sponsors that set up shop on the midway that evening, one business will get to ride in the pace car, start the race, and award the winner their trophy at the end.

There are some catches.

• Sponsors can only have up to three attendees set up and work the display.
• Displays must be up no later than 4:30pm.
• In the event of rain, the event will be held during the next week's event. Again, this is sans the May 22nd event.
• RSVP by April 29 by reading the link found at the top of the post.

More on Rocco's Meet With the Governor

In regards to a past entry I wrote this month...

Stafford has a piece up on their site about Keith Rocco going to the state capital to meet with Jodi Rell. The story, if you don't remember, has Rocco being honored for his achievements last season (SMS SK champion, Connecticut champion in the Whelen All-American Series, and fourth overall in the national standings) by the Governor.

I know, not much to discuss about this. Sorry about that. I promise I'll have more stuff coming. Lack of patience, I guess.

Sizzler Open Practice

You know the start of the racing season at Stafford's coming when there's an open practice for the Spring Sizzler coming up.

The open practice this year will take place on Appril 18 -- that's a Saturday. In the event of rain, the date will be the very next day; April 19.

Entrance for the practice is $25, and if you have a season pit pass, it's already covered. General admission stands will not be open.

The track opens at 10:00am, and practice runs from 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

Ticket Prices Increasing SOON

Read as "after Monday". So you really only have about two or three days to save money for season tickets.

Monday is also the last day you have an opportunity to follow Stafford's convienient Buy Now, Save Later plan (pay half of the ticket price by Monday and the other half on or before April 9).

16 Days and Counting...

Until the first event on Stafford's calendar occurs. I know. The days get longer, and so does the feeling of waiting.

At the end of the month -- March 29 -- the first of two spring swap meets will take place with the spring motorcycle swap meet.

Really, though, at least this means that the racing season's closer than it was when I first posted the countdown.