Kyle Casagrande Joining Stafford Speedway’s 2014 Late Model Rookie Class
Stafford Springs, CT — After setting a Stafford Speedway record for the most career DARE Stock victories with 20, hometown driver Kyle Casagrande will join the track’s Late Model rookie class for the 2014 season. Casagrande has 7 years of DARE Stock experience at Stafford and he will try to make it back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners in the Casagrande family as his younger brother Cory took home the 2013 Late Model ROY honors. Casagrande made three starts in his family owned #71 Late Model last season and he is ready to take on a full season in Stafford’s premier full fendered division with his familiar #7 on the car.
“It’s going to be a pretty big step for me,” said Casasgrande. “I’ve been racing DARE Stocks for 4 or 5 years now and I had 3 starts in the Late Model last year. Cory made it look pretty easy but I don’t think I’ll have as easy a time but we’ll see what happens, I’m definitely excited. I hope to compete for Rookie of the Year. I know Josh [Wood] is moving up this year and he’s going to make it tough competition for me. I think that’s not too ridiculous of a goal for me and I just want to stay consistent, get better every week, learn, maybe get some top-10 or top-5 finishes if the cards fall my way, and have a nice clean season. If you’re a racecar driver, you have to think that you have a chance to win. I don’t have any expectations of winning, but I always like to think there’s an outside chance to win if something should fall my way.”
While Kyle is joining his brother Cory in the Late Model ranks, they took different paths to get there. Cory started out racing in the DARE Stock division in 2010 and then moved to the Limited Late Model division for the 2011 and 2012 seasons before stepping into the Late Model division last year. Kyle will be making the jump into the Late Model division straight from the DARE Stocks. Although Kyle was the winningest driver in DARE Stock history, he knows he faces some growing pains but that he can also lean on Cory, his father Rick, and his uncle Dean for help.
“[Moving from DARE to Late Model] probably doesn’t help,” said Casagrande. “The Limited and Late Model cars aren’t too much different, it’s just having the experience and track time. I think I’ll just need some track time to get things figured out. My uncle Dean used to race and he is Cory’s spotter and he can spot for me in practice and tell me where I’m missing. It’s a big advantage for me because Cory went through the same struggles when he got started and he can tell me what I’m doing wrong and the team has been around for a year and they can hopefully make adjustments a little quicker. With all the experience we have on the team between Cory, Dean, my Dad, and my cousin Charles, I think we’ll get the car setup like I want. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot at the beginning of the year and then hopefully just keep on learning from there. I have all the resources I just have to go out and take advantage of them.”
In addition to his team’s experience, Kyle made three starts in a moonlight effort this past season that helped get his feet wet and give him a better idea of what to expect as he makes a move to full-time status in the Late Model division.
“I think our experience last year will help everyone involved because we know what works and what doesn’t,” said Casagrande. “We had a few problems with the car last year and we took it to Bob Fill and made a few adjustments. We know what works on Cory’s car so we’re going to switch that over to my car and hopefully it will handle as good as Cory’s car. I have to give a big thanks to Bob Fill for the chassis help and R.A.D. Automachine for the power under the hood. It’s definitely not going to be as easy to win races as it was in the DARE Stock division. In my 3 starts last year, we got one top-10 finish but I felt a ton more comfortable in the car at the Fall Final than I did in any other race. I think with more seat time it’s going to be better. We’re also looking to pick up some additional sponsorship for the season as well.”
Casagrande will kick off his rookie campaign in the Late Model division with the Spring Sizzler on April 25-27. For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR