Cory Casagrande Seeks Return to Championship Form at Stafford; Adds Granite State Pro Stock Events
Cory Casagrande of Stafford Springs, CT will return for his sophomore season in the Shark Cycle #1 with his sights set on a Stafford Late Model championship. After claiming the 2012 Limited Late Model championship, Casagrande finished fifth in Late Model points with one victory last season. He was also the 2013 SPAFCO Rookie of the Year.
“First and foremost, to go after a Stafford championship in the Late Model, then get our hands wet in a little Super Late Model racing in the Granite State Tour,” Casagrande said. Team members are Shawn Hosey, James Connors, Rick Casagrande, Troy Luchon, Derek Bebe, Albert Royce, and John Smith.
While sponsorship is still in the works, Casagrande will share the #51 Connors Motorsports entry with veteran Jeff Connors of Ellington, CT. “I know Jeff Connors will most likely be doing the two Thompson races and I plan on doing two in between,” Casagrande said. “So far it’s looking like Hudson will be one of my races. I liked the track the couple of times I visited it last year. (I’m) waiting for a definite schedule to come out, though.” Casagrande’s first visit to the historic 1/4 mile was to spot for eventual champion Mike O’Sullivan last season.
The Connors and my family are pretty close,” Casagrande said. “James (Connors) the car owner works on my car on Friday nights. They were in need of a motor to compete so I was able to put a deal together with R.A.D. (Automachine) and it led to us working out a deal to run the car. James was the crew chief on my uncle’s (Dean Casagrande) Late Model in the 90s so it started out there.”
“Of course we want to go out and be competitive, that’s why we do this, but I’m looking to get experience in a new type of car and see if it’s something my dad and I might do in the future ourselves.”
Kyle Casagrande will be driving the #71 Casagrande Motorsports car. “Its (going to) be cool,” Casagrande said. “He will have his younger brother to help him and I look forward to teaching him some things if he needs me to. We always are able to get along at the track and it’s a big family sport for us, so running in the same division will be awesome as long as we can keep the wheels on them. It’s always good to have someone that I can relate things to like how the tracks changing, how are cars are handling and if I ever had to use his car if something drastically happened to mine I know it’s there.”
Casagrande took the #71 car to other tracks last season with finishes of second at Canaan, third at Thompson and 10th at Waterford. Casagrande does not expect to venture to other tracks with his Late Model this season. “At the end of the year I plan on going to World Series with the 71 again, most likely no mid-season deals like last year since my brother is going to try running it full time at Stafford.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com