Dan Flannery Looks to Take Control of Points Race with Double Ltd. late Model Feature Event this Fri. at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Among Stafford Motor Speedway’s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions, the Limited Late Model division sports the tightest points race. Dan Flannery leads defending track champion Andrew Durand by a scant 6-point margin heading into this Friday night’s twin 20-lap Limited Late Model feature events.
After a disappointing 13th place showing in the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, Flannery took the points lead for the first time following the May 28th race and he has led the points standings every week since. Flannery was able to build up a nice lead in the standings with 10 consecutive top-5 finishes, but finishes of 12th, 10th, and 8th in three of his last four starts has allowed Durand to cut the difference down to the current 6-point margin heading into this Friday night’s doubleheader event, where twice the amount of points are up for grabs and the slightest bobble can shake up the points standings with only 5 weeks of racing remaining.
“I’ve never run 2 races in the same night before,” said Flannery. “We’re not really worried about running the two races, but you can lose twice the amount of points if you have a bad night versus one bad race. We don’t plan on changing anything, we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing all year long and show up with the expectation of winning the race. I’d like to say that we’re going to be a little more cautious in the first race, but things never seem to work out for us when we try to be cautious. We’ve had some mechanical issues the past couple of weeks, we’ve lost two transmissions and the rear end. We had to borrow a car one night when we lost the tranny and the rear end, so we’re happy to still be leading the points.”
If you compare Flannery’s and Durand’s seasons on paper, it looks like Flannery would by far have the upper hand with 5 victories to Durand’s 1 this season. But Durand has 15 top-10 finishes to Flannery’s 13 top-10 finishes, which has kept Durand in championship contention. The race for the 2010 Limited Late Model track championship is coming down to the two same drivers who dueled for the title last season, with a flat tire derailing Flannery’s championship hopes at the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend.
“We couldn’t be happier with how this season has gone for us,” said Flannery. “We never thought we’d have 5 wins in a season. Over the winter, we changed a few things on the car and everything has really come together for us this year. We’ve put last year behind us and we’re trying to build on what we have going for us this year. We haven’t talked at all about being conservative for the rest of this season, we’re going to keep on showing up and going for wins and if we can’t win then finish races up front. If we can do that, the points will be there for us.”
With two of the remaining 7 races on the 2010 schedule running this Friday night, whoever has the better two race finishes between Flannery and Durand just may take home the championship trophy at season’s end. Tickets for this Friday night’s Limited Late Model Doubleheader / 3rd Annual Late Model 100 are priced at $18.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at $20.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, or to order tickets, please 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