Dan Flannery Wins Reliable Welding & Speed Ltd. Late Model Rookie of the Year Honors at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Coming off a 2008 season that saw him drive to 2 victories and a fourth place finish in the DARE Stock points standings, Dan Flannery made the move up to Stafford’s Limited Late Model division for the 2009 season. Flannery and his team purchased the car that Sean Foster drove to the 2007 Limited Late Model track championship and a second place finish in the 2008 standings, which helped give him a leg up at the start of the 2009 season.
“We knew we had something to start with right away,” said Flannery. “Having a car that was proven to be fast put us ahead of where we would have been if we had bought a new car and had to start from scratch working on the car.”
Heading into the 2009 season, Flannery had four years of DARE Stock experience at Stafford to lean on, but he quickly found out that he was dealing with a totally different car than he was accustomed to in the DARE Stock division. “The car was completely different than what I was used to in the DARE car,” said Flannery.
“It was a complete change for me. The Limited had a lot more power than the DARE car and it handled differently, the Limited always seemed to be loose. It took us until around halfway through the year that we really started making the car faster. If you look at the season, we put together 9 top-5 finishes in a row, which all started at the halfway point of the season.”
Flannery’s newfound top-5 consistency carried him to the top of the Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie points and also put him in contention to win the Limited Late Model track championship. Flannery was in position to win the track championship in the final race of the 2009 season, but a flat right rear tire ended his championship chances.
“We were right where we needed to be that last race and it looked like we had it, but we got a flat right rear under caution and everything that was looking great for us went downhill real fast,” said Flannery. “That day, coming off the track I was pretty disappointed but looking back now, I can’t be happier with how we did this year. We never thought we were going to finish second in the points standings. The Rookie of the Year was our main goal and I thought a top-10 finish in points would have been nice, so we had a great year.”
Although he fell just short of the championship, Flannery can take solace in the fact that he did get to victory lane in his rookie season.
“It was great to be able to win a race,” said Flannery. “I set a goal for myself of winning at least once this year. It gets a little discouraging when you race all year long and you don’t get to victory lane.”
Flannery and his team will return to Stafford’s Limited Late Model division for the 2010 season and try to climb that final step of the end of the year podium that comes with winning a track championship.
For the 2009 season, Flannery posted 1 win, 9 top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 starts to outpoint Norm Sears by 100 points in the chase for the Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie title. Flannery will receive his 2009 Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year award 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