David Comeau Takes Home 2013 R.A.D. Automachine DARE Stock Rookie of the Year Honors at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — For Palmer, MA native David Comeau, the 2013 DARE Stock season at Stafford Motor Speedway was truly a rookie experience. Comeau came to Stafford with no previous racing experience but that didn’t slow him down as he finished in the top-10 in 14 of 18 starts and was able to end the season in fifth place in the points standings to earn the very first R.A.D. Automachine Rookie of the Year Award.
“I had never raced a car before and I’m really excited to win the Rookie of the Year award,” said Comeau. “I saw there were a lot of rookies in the DARE Stock division this year and I was surprised to finish as the top rookie. It was exciting for me to be competitive and once I saw I was able to run up front, I was super pleased with all the decisions that I made leading up to the season hooking up with the right people to make things work.”
During the season, Comeau finished in second place four times and he looked like he was on track for his very first win on the final Friday night race, but a broken torque converter on the final restart ended his chances at victory.
“We had a couple of coulda, woulda, shoulda races this year, but I’m sure everyone had a couple of those during the course of the year,” said Comeau. “The one night we had the lead on the last restart the torque converter had shattered and the car just wouldn’t go. The only reason why the car was moving was Johnny Walker was pushing me from behind. I saw we had the potential to win a race while we were running up front, and it was a bit disappointing not to win, but I was still excited to finish second and be on the podium. I never put winning a race on my checklist for my rookie season so finishing second and being on the podium was like winning a race for me and it was very exciting.”
As close as Comeau had come to winning a race during the season all came to a head during the non-points Paradiso-Muska Shoot-Out as part of Fall Final Weekend. Comeau led all 8 laps to pick up his first victory at Stafford and he was also able to check off two important pre-season goals.
“Winning the shootout was huge,” said Comeau. “To top it off, my fiancé Mary was there and my baby boy Daniel and our stepdaughter Hannah were there, so it was a great day overall. I had won my heat race that day and we got spun out early in the feature on the first lap but we fought our way back to sixth and it was huge to be able to win the shootout. The biggest thing for me this year was I wanted to win a race for Hannah and I wanted to dedicate a win to my father who passed away before the season started. For winning the shootout I got an owner’s trophy with Hannah’s name on it and I was able to dedicate the Rookie of the Year to my father in victory lane on the P.A. To be able to do those two things was great since I never thought I’d get to do either of them this year.”
With a wealth of experience gained during the season, Comeau is ready to come back strong in 2014 and be a contender for the DARE Stock championship.
“I checked everything off and then some on my checklist for my rookie season,” said Comeau. “The only reason why I’m going to come back next year is how well we ran this year. If it wasn’t a good season I could always say that I went out and tried it and it’s out of my system now. But everything went so good this year we’re going to come back and try it again next year. Knowing the ropes now and who is who, I was a complete stranger starting this year. I knew Barry and Kris Fluckiger and that was really it. I went from not knowing that people left their trailers overnight in the paddock area during the Sizzler weekend to knowing all the basics and things like that about the car. I definitely think I can be a championship contender after how well we ran this year. The only times we didn’t finish in the top-10 was because of mechanical issues. I tried to just go out and run my race. I don’t think I roughed up one car during the year. A lot of times if a car was faster I just let them go because I didn’t have the skills to get towards the front. I’m sure if someone else was driving the car this year they probably would have won a race or two and been on the podium a lot more than it was. After finishing the season, I’m real comfortable in the car and everything is looking great for next season. I parked next to Kris and the 28 team every week and they helped me with everything, whether it was something with the car or something as simple of guiding me to back out of my pit when it was time to go onto the track.”
For the season, Comeau recorded 8 top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes in 18 races for an average finish of 7.4 in addition to his non-points victory in the Paradiso-Muska Shoot-Out. Comeau will be officially crowned the 2013 R.A.D. Automachine DARE Stock Rookie of the Year at the 44th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 22 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor.
For more information, please 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