Tight Point Races Set the Stage for the CARQUEST Fall Final
Stafford Springs, CT — The stage has been set for the 41st Annual CARQUEST Fall Final with 4 of the 5 NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions still battling for top honors at Stafford Motor Speedway. While Adam Gray has locked up Stafford’s Late Model crown already, the other four track championship races are the closest they have ever been going into the season ending event.
Leading the way in the tight championship races is Stafford’s premier division, the SK Modifieds®. The championship is down to Woody Pitkat and Ryan Preece, who are separated by only 4 points, or two positions on the racetrack. Preece has won a division leading 8 times this season, but he also has 5 finishes of 14th or lower this season. Although Pitkat wasn’t able to win a race until August 30th, he has had a consistent season that has kept him in Preece’s mirror for most of the year as his main championship rival. Pitkat recorded his first two wins of the season in back to back weeks on Aug. 30th and Sept. 6th and his 5th place finish last Friday night combined with Preece’s early retirement due to a distributor issue vaulted Pitkat to the top of the standings heading into the CARQUEST Fall Final. For Pitkat to win the championship, he must finish the race no more than one position behind Preece. For Preece to win the championship, he only needs to finish at least 2 positions in front of Pitkat, as he owns the tiebreaker with more wins.
Stafford’s SK Light division has come down to a rookie driver in Chase Dowling and a division veteran in Tony Membrino, Jr. Dowling has come onto the SK Light scene with a flourish, scoring a division leading 7 victories this season. One year after taking the championship chase down to the CARQUEST Fall Final, Membrino is once again taking the championship fight down to the wire. The two championship protagonists are separated by only 4 points, just like the race for the SK Championship. For Membrino to win the championship, he must finish at least 3 positions in front of Dowling while Dowling only has to finish no more than 2 positions behind Membrino in order to take the title in his rookie season.
The Limited Late Model division has the tightest race of any of Stafford’s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions. The championship race has been a 3-man duel all season long between Josh Wood, David Arute, and D.J. Burnham. All three drivers have taken a turn at the top spot in the championship standings and heading into the CARQUEST Fall Final Wood leads Arute by 4 points and Burnham by 6 points. For Wood to win the championship, he must finish second if Arute wins, otherwise he has to finish no more than 2 spots behind Arute and Burnham cannot finish more than 3 spots ahead of Wood. For Arute to take the championship, Wood must finish third or lower if Arute wins the race. If Arute doesn’t win the race, Wood needs to finish at least 3 positions behind Arute and Burnham must finish behind Arute. Burnham has the toughest path to the championship out of the three contenders. If Burnham wins the race, he needs to have Wood finish at least 4 positions behind him and Burnham would own the tiebreaker over Arute even if Arute finished second. If Burnham doesn’t win the race, he needs to finish at least four spots in front of Wood and 2 spots in front of Arute.
The DARE Stock championship will be decided between Dave Secore and Johnny Walker. Secore and Walker have each taken a turn leading the standings and currently Secore enjoys a 10-point lead over Walker. If Secore finishes 5th or higher, he will clinch the championship. If Walker wins the Fall Final race, Secore would need to be no more than 4 spots behind Walker. If Walker doesn’t win the race, then Secore would need to finish no more than 5 spots behind Walker to wrap up the championship. For Walker to win the championship, he would need Secore to finish at least 5 spots behind him if he wins the race and 6 spots behind him if he doesn’t win the race.
The SK Light, Ltd. Late Model, and DARE Stock titles will all be decided on Saturday, Sept. 28th with the SK Modified® championship to be decided on Sunday, Sept. 29th. Tickets for the 41st Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend 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 will be priced at $42.00 for all ages. All CARQUEST Fall Final tickets are good for admission on both Saturday and Sunday. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 41st Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, 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