John Hanafin Joins Stafford SK Light Modified Rookie Class for 2009
Stafford Springs, CT — The 2009 SK Light Modified rookie class at Stafford Motor Speedway will welcome a newcomer to open wheel racing in John Hanafin. Hanafin comes to SMS after racing in the Street Stock and Late Model divisions at Seekonk Speedway, where he collected 8 feature victories and a Rookie of the Year title. Hanafin has always wanted to race in an open wheeled modified, but never had the budget until he found Stafford’s SK Light Modified class.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to race modifieds at Stafford,” said Hanafin. “I used to watch the races at Stafford and I’ve always wanted to race there, but we didn’t have the money to do. The SK Light class is a great way for us to be able to get into modified open wheel racing.”
Hanafin knows his way to victory lane, winning 7 times in a Street Stock and once in his freshman Late Model endeavor this past season. The car that Hanafin will be campaigning this season has been to victory lane at Stafford in each of the past two seasons with Alan Provost behind the wheel. Provost sold his race-winning car to Hanafin as he will be moving up to compete for Rookie of the Year honors in Stafford’s Late Model division. Being a newcomer to open wheel competition, Hanafin feels confident that he can find his way to victory lane.
“It all comes down to seat time, so we’ll find out at the first practice how good I am in the car,” said Hanafin. “We’ve finished second and third in points in the Street Stock and we finished sixth in the Late Models this year, plus we won the season ending race at Seekonk the last three years in a row, so we feel pretty good about our chances with the car we bought from Alan. Our main goal is to gain the respect of the other drivers in the division and hopefully we can win Rookie of the Year honors.”
Hanafin’s car will carry sponsorship from President’s Landscape Design and Union Ironworkers Local #7, but the team is searching for additional sponsors with their move to Stafford Motor Speedway.
“We’re still looking for some additional sponsorship,” says Hanafin. “With our moving from racing in Massachusetts to Connecticut, we lost several of the sponsors that we had. We’re excited about racing at Stafford this season and we’re hopeful we can find some additional sponsors to put on the car.”
Hanafin will be part of a 2008 SK Light Modified rookie class that includes Chris Drouin, Jr., Michael Gervais, Jr., Lauren Cooper, and Steve Greer. The battle for Rookie of the Year honors begins the weekend of April 24-26 with the 38th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, “The Greatest Race In the History of Spring.” Tickets for the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, $38.00 for reserved seats, and free for children ages 5 & under. Tickets are good for admission to the Saturday April 25, and Sunday, April 26 portions of the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, with the Friday, April 24 practice session open to the public free of charge.
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