David Comeau Ready to Fulfill Racing Dream By Joining DARE Stock Class at Stafford Speedway in 2013
Stafford Springs, CT — For Palmer, MA native David Comeau, the urge to race in stock car competition has been a lifelong dream. Comeau was unable to fulfill that dream due to his travel commitments for work. But that has all changed for the 2013 season and Comeau will finally be able to realize his dream as he will join the DARE Stock ranks at Stafford Motor Speedway for the 2013 season.
“I work in water treatment and I travel a lot for my job,” said Comeau. “2013 will be the first time in 11 years that I’m local for work and Stafford is close to home for me. I have a couple of friends that race at Stafford and I’ve raced with Ernie from Josh Wood’s crew and I first got the itch to go racing from going to the track with Ernie. I’ve been saving my money and doing a lot of research on cars that were available. I wanted to race in an entry level division so that’s why I chose the DARE Stock division at Stafford.”
When Comeau takes to the track for the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler this coming April, he will be a rookie in almost every sense of the word.
“I ran some motocross for a while, mostly in Maine, and I have some go karting experience, but this will be my first time racing on pavement in a full size car,” said Comeau.
Although this will be Comeau’s first time behind the wheel of a full sized stock car, he has hooked up with Barry Fluckiger and Fluckiger Race Chassis. FRC helped Cliff Saunders win the DARE Stock championship this past season, and FRC also got to victory lane with Albert Saunders and Kris Fluckiger in the DARE Stock divison, Josh Wood in the Limited Late Model division and Corey Hutchings in the Late Model division. FRC also helped out the teams of Glenn Bartkowski, Duane Provost, Vince and Kevin Gambacorta, Andrew Hayes, Brian Clement, Johnny Walker, and Andy Marchese.
“Another major reason why I’m going racing this year is Barry Fluckiger’s help,” said Comeau. “I heard Barry’s name in victory lane all the time this year so I’m excited about having him help me out with the chassis setup. I don’t think I’m going to have a lot of feedback for Barry right away, but he’s going to get me started with a setup for the car. Between Barry’s help with the chassis and R.A.D. Automachine doing my engine, I don’t have any excuse if I don’t run well this year.”
While Comeau hasn’t been doing any iRacing on his computer, he is using video study to help prepare him for his rookie season.
“I’ve been watching a lot of races and YouTube in car videos,” said Comeau. “The YouTube in car videos are the best, you can really see what’s going on around the car and it gives me a great idea of what to expect.”
Comeau has yet to accumulate any driving experience, but he does have a great knowledge base to lean on during his rookie campaign.
“I got an ’84 Olds Cutlass from a junkyard 20 years ago and I’ve gone through the car and restored it over the last 20 years with a full rollcage and it now has a Chevy 350 engine with a 671 blower,” said Comeau. “It’s the same body style as the DARE Stock cars, so I’ve learned a lot about from just taking the car apart and putting it back together. It gives me a good idea of the mechanics of a DARE Stock car, but it’s the chassis and setup part that worries me. But I have Barry Fluckiger helping me out, so it will be all about focusing on learning my way around the track with corner entry and where to get on and off of the brakes. Hopefully I can get behind a fast car in practice and learn those things a bit quicker.”
The 2013 season will kick off for Comeau and the rest of the DARE Stock field with the 42nd Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 26-28. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” may be ordered by calling the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 42nd Annual CARQUEST TECH-NET Spring Sizzler®, 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