Don Wood Takes 2009 DARE Stock Track Championship at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — In only his second full season of competition at Stafford Motor Speedway, Don Wood was able to capture the 2009 DARE Stock track championship. Wood’s 2009 season began in grand style as he won the season opening Spring Sizzler event, which helped propel him and his team to the 2009 championship.
“At the start of the year, winning the championship was the goal for the crew, but for myself, it was just to go out there every Friday night and have some fun and let things fall where they may,” said Wood. “We were in the hunt for the championship all year, and that’s thanks to my crew. My car owner, John Berardi, his daughter Stepahnie, and Dave, they gave me a great car each Friday night, I had the easy part, just show up to the track and drive.”
Consistency is often the key factor to winning a championship in motorsports and Wood and his R.A.D. Automachine team were consistently fast during the 2009 season. Wood drove to 2 victories along with 8 podium finishes in 16 starts this season. But even with Wood’s stellar on track performance, the race for the championship was ultra tight until the final few races of the year, when Wood was able to distance himself from his championship rivals.
“We had a fast and consistent car all year long,” said Wood. “We had a brake rotor that broke off the car one night, which was the only thing we had go bad on the car all year long. We had a couple bad nights during the season, but we were better than the other guys. My crew was on the money with the car all year long. Every Friday night, it was ready to race. We made some small adjustments to the car here and there throughout the year, but every week it was a great car to drive.”
In chasing a championship, one might think that a driver would change how they approach the week to week competition, but Wood says it was hammer down all year long.
“I never changed my driving style this year,” said Wood. “I drove the car as hard as it would go. There were some extra nerves going out onto the track each week, but I ran it as hard as it would go right up unitl the last two or three races. Those last couple races I points raced.”
For Wood, winning the DARE Stock championship couldn’t have come at a better time as he will be stepping out of the driver’s seat in 2010 to allow his son Josh to begin his racing career at Stafford.
“The plan right from the beginning of the season was this was going to be my last year in the car,” said Wood. “It worked out nicely that I was able to win the championship this year and now that I’m a champion at Stafford, it feels great.”
For the season, Wood posted 2 wins, 11 top-5, and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 starts to take the championship by a 98-point margin over Cliff Saunders.
Wood will officially be crowned the 2009 DARE Stock 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