Jim Peterson Takes Third Career Stafford Speedway Late Model Track Championship
Stafford Springs, CT — After a year away from Stafford Motor Speedway, Jim Peterson hooked up with the #13 Flamingo Motorsports team owned by Joe Hamm and returned to Stafford’s Late Model division. The object was to go out have fun and win races and at season’s end, Peterson found himself at the top of the Late Model points standings to collect his third career Stafford Late Model championship.
“After missing a year and coming back with Joe, things worked out real well for us this year,” said Peterson. “This championship is special because it was the first year together with a new team and I missed a year. We were hoping to get some wins this year. Joe has a fast car and everyone who has driven it before me had done real well and won races, so that was our goal. To be able to win the championship this year was just icing on the cake.”
Peterson is no stranger to success at Stafford, having won two championships prior to the 2009 season and he finished second behind Corey Hutchings in 2007, his last full season of Late Model competition at Stafford. For Peterson, getting behind the wheel of a new car for a new team was just like riding a bicycle.
“After the first practice of the year I was just happy to be back in a race car,” said Peterson. “I was comfortable in the car, but it was a new team, I was moving back up north, and competition was very close, there’s a lot of fast cars out there. The fans and the drivers all welcomed me back to the track, which was a pretty special feeling.”
Having already won two championships at Stafford, Peterson knows exactly what it takes to win a championship, but he didn’t let that knowledge compromise how he attacked the competition this year.
“We came to the track each week to win the race,” said Peterson. “We made a deal with each other that we wouldn’t points race, that we would go for wins. We didn’t points race until the last two races of the season. We went week to week doing everything we could to get the car into victory lane. We only got two wins this year, which normally would not be enough, but winning the championship makes those two wins look pretty good. I have to thank all of our sponsors this season for their support, Hamm’s Welding, Flamingo Motorsports, Start/Finish Productions, New England Race Cars, Shaw-Peterson Realty, Chuck’s Towing, Independent Racing Wheels, T/A Engines, Hampden Fuel Oil, Goshea Electric, and Racing Electronics.”
For the season, Peterson posted 2 wins, 12 top-5, and 15 top-10 finishes in 16 starts to take the championship by a 20 point margin over Ryan Posocco. Peterson will officially be crowned the 2009 Late Model track champion at the 40th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 20, 2009 at the La Renaissance Banquet Facility in East Windsor.
For more information about the Champions Awards Ceremony, or to order tickets, 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