Jeff Fuller Returns to Stafford for 31st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
Stafford Springs, CT — Jeff Fuller, the 1992 Featherlite Modified Series champion, and 1991 winner of the Spring Sizzler, will return to Stafford Motor Speedway behind the wheel of Ed Whelen’s #17 FMS entry for the 31st annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, replacing Mike Ewanitsko.
“I’m going to Talladega this weekend with the #88 Scott Paper Towels car for Joe Nemechek, and then we’ll fly up to the shop on Sunday to prepare the car,” said Fuller. “People don’t realize how much work goes into changing a car. I’ve got to get fitted for a seat in the car, and with all the safety items in the cars now, we’ve got to change them around to fit me. Mike’s a pretty big guy, and I’m pretty small, so we’ve got some work to do to get the car changed around.”
The pairing of Fuller with the Whelen owned team will reunite Fuller with crew chief Brad LaFontaine, who served as Fuller’s crew chief during his championship season of 1992. Stepping into a car that won last year’s Connecticut Classic 150 and set the Stafford Motor Speedway qualifying track record, combined with once again working with LaFontaine, has Fuller looking forward to getting back to Stafford.
“Brad and I worked together for a couple of years, and we won a lot of races and a championship together, so I’m looking forward to working with him again,” said Fuller. “Those guys have a good car, a good team, a good motor, and a great pit crew, so hopefully we can have everything right with the car and put it up front and have some fun.”
Fuller is the third all-time winningest Featherlite Modified Series driver, with 31 career FMS victories. He also has 5 career wins at Stafford, but he will face a new car, and a new track when he returns to Stafford.
“I just hope I can remember how to get around the track,” said Fuller. “I haven’t raced there since 1994, and the track has been repaved since then, so it’ll be a totally new experience. We held the track record at Stafford for a while with an 18.9, and the track record is now 18.1, so the track is almost a second faster, which is a lot of speed. I came back last year for the 300 at Thompson, and it took almost half the race for me to get used to the car. By the end of the race, we were running real fast lap times. But Brad and I have a good feel for each other and the car, so I’m sure we can get it dialed in. We’ll definitely need to be on top of our game to compete with the guys who do this every week.”
For the remainder of the 2002 season, Fuller’s racing plans remain up in the air.
“Right now, I’m hoping that something will happen for myself in the Busch Series,” says Fuller. “We’re going to Talladega this weekend with the same car Joe put on the pole at Daytona this year. After that race, we may do the second Daytona race and maybe Kentucky. Right now, I’m playing things by ear. If we can get some sponsorship, I’d love to do some more races for Joe Nemechek. We had a good qualifying effort at Daytona, but we didn’t have a backup car, so we never practiced it in a pack of cars, which bit us during the race. The car was too tight at the start, and we just went backwards. Then we got caught up when Kerry Earnhardt spun. But we’re looking for a good run at Talladega this weekend, and hopefully I’ll get to do some more races for Joe this year.”
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR