New Philosophy Has Shawn Thibeault Leading the Way in Stafford’s Limited Late Model Division
Stafford Springs, CT — With the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Stafford Speedway nearing the halfway point, the Limited Late Model season has been a dream year for Shawn Thibeault and the #58 Enterprise Rental Cars team. They have scored 2 wins this season and they have finished on the podium in 7 of 8 races with a worst finish thusfar of fourth. This white-hot streak of consistency has Thibeualt at the top of the points standings and he credits his success all to a simple change in his driving philosophy.
“I’ve changed my driving style a bit this season, and it’s been paying off for me so far,” said Thibeault. “We’ve always had a fast car and In the past, I was pretty aggressive. Looking back on it now, I can see how I was aggressive with other drivers and sometimes I would put myself into situations that would put a damper on the car and our race as a whole. This year we have a fast car again and I’m trying to let the race come to me. We haven’t finished lower than fourth so far, so it’s been working out.”
Thibeault began the 2011 season with a third place in the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler and after 2 consecutive 2nd place finishes, he picked up his first win of the year on May 20th which put him into the points lead. Thibeault has been the point leader every week since his first victory with a second win and three more podium finishes. Being the points leader is a new experience for Thibeault, but he seems to be pretty comfortable with his position at the moment.
“I think we had the points lead for one week last year, but we lost it the next week,” said Thibeault. “We’ve always had fast cars here at Stafford, but our finishes didn’t always reflect the speed we had in the car. This year has gone a lot better than I expected. It can be difficult to get to the front if we start deep in the field and the race goes green to checker, but twenty laps is plenty of time to get the car to the front. One of my goals last year and for this year was to win the championship, and everything is fitting in right now with my taking it easier approach.”
As good as Thibeault has been this season in the Limited Late Model division, he says that he and his crew are still searching to find the right setup combination.
“The main thing we’re working on right now is the car seems to drop off in the heat of the summer,” said Thibeault. “We struggled a little at the start of the season, but we went back to some of our older setup stuff and it has worked out for us. Our setup hasn’t changed that much from last year, we’re just trying to make the car more consistent and fast in the summer heat. These new Hoosier tires that we’re racing on this year have been working out for us, we seem to be able to get a little more tire contact with the track than the American Racer tires with how the Hoosier tires mount on the 7-inch rims.”
With the 2011 season set for its second half, Thibeault has his sights set squarely on continuing his consistent finishes and being a championship contender.
“The championship is our goal, we’ve been shooting for that ever since we got started in the Limited Late Model division,” said Thibeault. “We have two wins so far this year and if we can get another win and beat our 2 wins from the last 2 seasons, that would be great. We’re not going to push things just to get to that, there’s a lot of good cars that we race with every week. Being in the division for 4 years now, it would be great if we could win the championship. I’d like to move up to the Late Model division, whether it’s our own car or if we could put together a deal to drive someone’s Late Model, that would be awesome.”
Thibeault has posted an average finish of 2.3 through the first 8 races of the 2011 season. Thibeault’s main championship rivals also have stellar average finish numbers with Kevin Gambacorta at 3.4, George Nocera, Jr. at 3.9, and Norm Sears at 4.4. If Thibeault and his crew can find the key to keeping their car fast during the summer heat while maintaining their level of consistency, then they just may realize their dream of being a champion when the curtain closes on the 2011 season at Stafford.
For more information, 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