Brian Chapin Looks to Break Down Barrier to CARQUEST Victory Lane in Stafford’s Late Model Division in 2010
Stafford Springs, CT — As the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series off-season burrows through the winter months, Stafford Speedway race teams are busy preparing their equipment for the upcoming 2010 season. One team that is busy with preparation is the #47 Jolly Joe Koziol Polka Pop Hits Chevrolet Late Model team of Brian Chapin. Chapin and his team are dropping a new body on their car as well as having their engine freshened.
“We ran the spec engine all last season without a refresh, so we dropped that off to Mike Pettit and we’re hanging a new body on the car,” said Chapin. “We have to thank our sponsor, Jolly Joe Koziol Polka Pop Hits, for the body. Our plans was to keep the same body we had on the car and just beat out some of the dents, but Jolly Joe stepped up and gave us money for a brand new body. Once we get the body hung on the car, Jolly Joe is going to pick out our color combination, so we aren’t sure yet what the car is going to look like when it hits the track. I have to thank all my guys for their hard work: my father Wayne, Dale, Brian, Andy, Mark, Craig, and Brett.”
As Chapin and his team prepare for the upcoming 2010 season, they have one goal in mind and that is to reach victory lane. Chapin was the 2008 Late Model Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year, and in two full seasons of Late Model competition he has two 9th place points finishes with a career best finish of second, which occurred August 14th of the 2009 season. Chapin wants to break into CARQUEST Victory Lane this season, and he is confident that he and his team can reach that goal.
“Our main goal is to break that win barrier this season,” says Chapin. “We’ve been racing two full seasons at Stafford now and it kills me that we haven’t won yet. Obviously we want to be in the top-5 or top-10 every week, but our main focus is to get that first win. We have great equipment to work with and we’ve been close to winning on a couple occasions, so we feel good about our chances. The best-case scenario for us would be to get that first win at the Spring Sizzler and keep going throughout the 2010 season. We know first hand that nothing comes easy at Stafford, it’s a tough track and there are some tough drivers to beat in the Late Model division. We feel like we’ve learned the track pretty well these last two years and as long as we can have a little luck on our side, we feel like we can get that first win this year.”
Along with picking up his first career victory, Chapin has his sights set on improving his season end points finish.
“Everyone says at the beginning of the year they want to win the championship and for us I’d say a realistic goal is to get a top-5 finish in points this year,” said Chapin. “As long as we can finish better than 9th place, we’ll be happy. I actually thought we ran better my rookie season than we did last year and we ended up in 9th place both times. If we can improve on that, it will be a good year for us.”
Should Chapin capture his first career victory this season, ear protection is recommended for all fans in the grandstands.
“If we get that win this year, the entire place is going to know we won that night,” said Chapin. “I’ll still be in the car with my helmet on, but everyone is going to be able to hear me celebrating.”
Chapin and the #47 Jolly Joe Koziol Polka Pop Hits team will make their 2010 debut along with the rest of the Late Model division at the 39th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 23-25, 2010. Tickets for “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are now on sale at the Stafford Motor Speedway box office. Tickets 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 24, and Sunday, April 25 portions of the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, with the Friday, April 23 practice session open to the public free of charge.
For more information, or to order CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler 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