Jay Goff Enjoying Early Season Success on Shoestring Budget
Stafford Springs, CT — For hometown driver Jay Goff, the 2013 season at Stafford Motor Speedway has been the season that almost didn’t happen. Goff was laid off from his job in the off season and it was only through several consulting jobs he took on that got him and his #07 SK Light to the track for the Spring Sizzler. After back to back top-5 efforts in the first two races of the 2013 season, Goff is hopeful that he can find sponsorship to run the entire 2013 season and make a run at the track championship.
“I got laid off from work after the Fall Final last year, so money has been tight since most of it comes out of my own pocket for racing,” said Goff. “I have great support from my family, which helps, and we decided to race this year as we could financially. I was able to pick up a couple of consulting jobs, which got me to the Spring Sizzler. We really thought we were done around Christmas time. If not for those consulting jobs, we wouldn’t have made the Sizzler. The car is basically the same as it was at the Fall Final. We refreshed the engine and we added a couple of new parts and pieces, but the car was just sitting in my garage. Our plan for this year was to race as much as we can and have some fun, and so far we’re doing that. We have to watch every penny right now, so we’re probably going to be racing a little longer on older tires than we want and getting a primary sponsor would definitely help us out with that. I do have a couple of product sponsors, NAPA of Tolland, they’ve been very helpful, Personal Touch Landscaping, and Rob B’s Plumbing, who purchases my fuel. I also have Team 78 Publications, they build go-kart engines and they help me out with tires. We were pretty successful at the Sizzler, and we were pretty successful last week, so we’re going to continue to take things race to race.”
After starting his racing career in the late 70’s, Goff finally was able to drive his car into CARQUEST Victory Lane at Stafford last season when he won on June 15th. That victory, plus his good start to the 2013 season, has Goff hoping for bigger things this season if he can keep on racing.
“The win last year was huge for us,” said Goff. “I started racing in Street Stocks in 1978 or 1979 and ran through the 80s at Stafford and Thompson. We never quite had the success, we were second quite a few times, but we could never quite cross over and get a win. It wasn’t until we won last year that I realized how large my fan base was. The outpouring and support that I got from my fans was tremendous. I think we have a winning car this year. It takes a little bit of luck to win, but hopefully we can run the whole season. We need some help, but I think we can hang right with the young guns who have a bit more financing behind them. We were up to third last week and we got a couple of bad restarts late in the race, but I think we’re right there on the cusp of winning again. We came from the back of the pack a couple of times at the Sizzler, including coming back from 18th, so I think we have a pretty good car. But if we have to change a front clip, or something major like that, it would put us out of business for the season unless we can find some sponsorship.”
One thing that keeps Goff coming back to the track every week besides the thrill of competition is the fans. Goff is always parked by the admission gate in the paddock area and it is the fan inspiration that helps keep him going.
“The competition is important to me, I really enjoy it,” said Goff. “Any night you can get frustrated, but there’s a lot of exciting nights when you go home and you’re really happy with what you did that night. The other big thing is the fans. I park right by the admission gate and that’s 50% of the reason why I’m still here racing. I’ve seen kids that were in strollers and who are now 6 and 7 years old and I’ve given them pictures over the years and they always come by the fence and say hello and they’re huge 07 fans now, which is really great.”
Another reason that keeps Goff going is the motivation to reach his goal of having three generations of his family all racing at the same time.
“One of my goals is to have three generations all racing at the same time,” said Goff. “My grandson is 5 this year and my son Aaron is looking into getting him started on Monday nights here at Stafford in the Wild Thing Karts. Aaron runs a pure stock at Lebanon and I want to keep racing for a few more years, and it would be really nice for all 3 of us to be racing at the same time.”
Goff currently sits in fifth place in the 2013 SK Light points, only 10 points behind two of the SK Light Young Guns, Troy Talman and Chase Dowling. After recording back-to-back top-5 finishes, Goff is hopeful that he can continue racing this season and achieve more top-5 finishes and maybe even put his car back into the winner’s circle.
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