Duane Provost Wins Reliable Welding and Speed Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year Honors at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — After five seasons in Stafford’s DARE Stock division, Duane Provost made a successful transition to the Limited Late Model division and he secured the Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year title with 14 top-10 finishes in 21 starts with a best finish of 5th. Heading into the 2010 season, Provost had five 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.
“I spent 5 years in the DARE Stock division and I found that the Limited cars are a lot more sensitive than the DARE cars,” said Provost. “The DARE car is a little easier to get around the track, there are a lot more tools on the Limited that you can change to make the car faster around the track. You can’t really take big swings at the car, if you change a little something here or there, it affects the entire car. This year was really a no pressure year for me, just learning what it takes to make the car faster. I had the car pretty good up until a night where I got hard into the wall and then it became a bit unpredictable. I’ll take the car and get it looked at and have it ready to go for next year.”
Getting the chassis looked at isn’t the only plans that Provost has for his car for the 2011 season.
“I’m going to put the wing on the car for next season, and we’ll do a lot more with the car than we did this year,” said Provost. “We were leading one night when the motor blew up on me. The car was handling good that night and I think that was my best chance to win this year. I really think I can win a race next season and that is the goal. It all comes down to getting all the variables right. Some nights the handling is good and the car doesn’t run, or sometimes you have the car running good but the handling isn’t there. I think if we can do that, we have a good chance of winning our first race.”
Provost’s blown engine nearly brought his 2010 season to a screeching halt.
“Luckily when the motor blew, I had the week off from work so I was able to work all week on the car and have it back to the track the following Friday night,” said Provost. “If I didn’t have that week off from work, I wouldn’t have made it back to the track. That’s what makes this Rookie of the Year title so special to me. It was a challenge to get the car to the track every week and this is something that I can look back on and be proud that I accomplished it.”
Provost will officially be crowned the 2010 Reliable Welding and Speed Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year at the 41st Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 19 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