Former Track Champion Jay Stuart Teams with Clark Motorsports for 2009 Late Model Season at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Former Stafford Motor Speedway Late Model track champion Jay Stuart will team with Clark Motorsports, who won the 2007 Late Model track championship with Corey Hutchings, for a run at the 2009 SMS Late Model track title.
Stuart is the 1994 Stafford track champion, and in his last three full seasons of Late Model competition at Stafford in 2001, 2002, and 2003, he finished second and third twice in the final points standings. Both Stuart and Clark are hungry to return to their winning ways at the Connecticut half-mile.
“I’ve wanted to come back to Stafford for a couple years now, but I just didn’t have the right opportunity,” said Stuart. “If I came back, I wanted to run up front, and these guys run up front every week. I really think we can have something good here this season. I’m really excited about it, it’s going to be nice to get into some good stuff and see what we can do this year.”
“I don’t think there is a better guy out there for setting the car up,” said car owner Daren Clark. “Jay builds cars and as a driver he can really give us a better idea of what we need to do to the car to make it go better.”
The Clark owned car will carry sponsorship from Arbitell Convenience Stores and Kennedy CDL Training, and the combination of Clark and Stuart is a perfect combination of a driver and owner pooling their resources to run a full season.
“Jay is bringing some sponsorship with him to the car, which was the main factor in putting him in the seat for this season,” says Clark. “I couldn’t have done a full season on my own, I needed some help and Jay is bringing that to the car along with his driving skill.”
“I’ve run a handful of races the past couple years, but I just didn’t have the money to run a full year,” said Stuart. “This is a better deal for me to be able to share the cost of running the car every week with an owner.”
Stuart and Clark both know what it takes to win a championship in the Late Model division at Stafford, and they think they have a winning combination for the 2009 season with a motor from Larry’s Auto Machine.
“This is the same car that Corey drove for me when we won the championship,” said Clark. “The car itself actually goes all the way back to when Todd Owen and Craig Collins drove for me, but now we have a new Larry’s motor. There is no comparison from the motor we had to the Larry’s motor we have now. It has real good power and we’re looking forward to seeing what Jay can do in the car. The key is to keep the car together in one piece and have a little bit of luck.”
“I’m real excited about the motor Daren has in the car,” said Stuart. “I’ve ran Larry’s engines in the past in some of my own cars and they have always made great power. The competition has gotten a lot tougher since I last ran at Stafford. It is hard to beat these guys every week when you’re operating out of your own shop, but now that I’m teaming up with Daren, I’m really excited about our chances for this year.”
The chase for the 2009 championship kicks off at the 38th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 24, 25, & 26. Tickets for “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring,” are now on sale at the Stafford Motor Speedway Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and free for children ages 5 & under. Reserved seats are priced at $38.00. Tickets can be ordered online at www.staffordspeedway.com, or by contacting the Stafford Motor Speedway office at 860-684-2783.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR