Dan Avery Hoping for Momentum Boost with Good Finish in Coors Light SK Modified® 80
Stafford Springs, CT — After nearly winning and finishing 5th in the June 14 SK Modified® feature at Stafford, Somers native Dan Avery has not finished lower than 7th in the three races since then. Avery’s #10A Horsepower Hill Farm team enjoyed a positive boost of momentum from that strong run and they are in search of another momentum boost when the SK Modifieds® hit the track for the 40th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 80 Xtra Mart Xtra D on July 19.
“That race we almost won helped pick up some momentum and it picked up the morale of the guys on the team and a win in the 80-lapper would really help pick us up for the remainder of the season,” said Avery. “We definitely have something to build on, the last couple of seasons we’ve built on our notes and we’re working hard on the car. I think we’re really close right now and hopefully it will be that one little tweak that will do it for us. We need a little bit of racer’s luck too, sometimes it comes easy and sometimes it comes hard and right now it’s coming hard for us. The longer race gives you some extra chances to tweak on the car if you need it and you don’t have to race as hard early on. You can let things settle down and come to you and hopefully be there at the end and capitalize.”
During that June 14th race that Avery nearly won, he took the lead on lap-16 and looked to be headed towards his first SK Modified® feature victory since the inaugural season of SK Modified® competition at Stafford in 1982. But current SK Modified® points leader Ryan Preece tracked Avery down in the closing laps and made the winning move 2 laps from the end of the race. As heartbreaking as that race was for Avery and his team, they know that race proved to not only them but the rest of the field that the #10A car is one to be reckoned with on a weekly basis.
“We were starting to fade a little bit and Ryan made a good move on us,” said Avery. “He had the better car and let’s face it, it was tough to take. We had the race won with only 2 laps to go, but what can you do. That’s just one more example of us having to step our game up to try to beat these guys. With only 2 laps to go, you’re talking about less than 40 seconds of time and the race is over. Throughout that race we had a lot of restarts and we had a lot of strong cars line up next to us. There was only one car that was better than us and he got us with two laps to go, so that says something in itself that we were pretty competitive that night. Everyone has an off week or two, and that’s where we’ve been the last couple of weeks but I have no doubt we’ll be competitive the rest of the season.”
Avery points to two factors in his team’s quest to find that last ounce of speed in their car. They are having trouble figuring out what their car needs with the hot summer weather and the level of competition in the SK Modified® division is so great at the moment that there are a number of cars that can win on any given night.
“We were really good until the last couple weeks when the weather got hot,” said Avery. “It seems to me that some guys who were struggling have been helped out by the hot weather and it’s slowed some of the other cars down a bit. We’re still making changes to our car and we’ve lost some ground to the competition the last couple weeks so hopefully we’ll get that squared away. The hot weather has seemed to affect our car more than most and it took a while for us to get a handle on it. I think the last race we got back on the right track and we should be better for the rest of the season. The thing is there’s such good talent in the SK’s at Stafford and it’s tough racing. I think it’s the most competitive field that I’ve ever been involved with from the Tour to Riverside Park to anywhere else. The equipment is second to none across the board and you have the top-10 drivers that are either current or former Tour drivers, so it’s a very talented bunch of guys. To me it’s a lot of fun racing against those guys because when you do get up front and win, you know you’re beating the best. When I raced at Riverside we had Reggie Ruggiero, Jerry Marquis, Mike Stefanik, and guys like that. We had to elevate our game to match them and that makes you a better driver. I think the same thing is happening this year in the SK’s at Stafford with all these talented drivers and good equipment. You can’t win a race at Stafford without being good and it’s very rare that you can luck into a win. We’re looking to keep on getting stronger as the year goes on.”
The 40th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 80 Xtra Mart Xtra D event is scheduled for July 19th. Tickets are priced at $20.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14 general admission, and Free for Children ages 5 & under. Reserved seating is available for $23.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
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