2014 Stafford Motor Speedway Late Model Season Preview

By admin April 24, 2014 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, Stafford

Stafford Springs, CT — For as much change as there has been in Stafford Motor Speedway’s SK Light, Ltd. Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions for the 2014 season, the Late Model division remains relatively unchanged from 2013.  There are 4 rookie drivers signed up for Late Model competition with the remaining roster filled up with veteran drivers.

Defending Late Model champion Adam Gray will return to defend his crown from the 2013 season but he will have a long way to go to match his amazing consistency and dominance of one year ago.  Gray recorded 16 consecutive podium finishes during the year to beat Tom Fearn to the championship with one race still to go in the season.  Between them, Gray and Fearn won 11 of the 18 feature events run last year and if not for Gray’s string of podium finishes, Fearn could very well have taken his first Late Model championship to go along with his 3 ProStock track championships.

Other feature winners from the 2013 season that will be returning in 2014 include Woody Pitkat, who won 3 times, and Cory Casagrande, J.J. Hill, and Jay Stuart, who each won a single feature.  One winner from 2013 that has not yet registered a car for the 2014 season is Mark St. Hilaire.

Aside from last year’s feature winners, the Late Model division is chock full of drivers who have won in Stafford’s Late Model division.  Jim Mavlouganes, Tom Butler, Michael Bennett, Jim Peterson, Dennis Botticello, Rick Lanagan, J.J. Hill, Jay Stuart, Mike Quintiliano, Joe Rzeszutek, Cliff Stakey, Ed Ricard, Woody Pitkat, and Scott Cook have all visited victory lane behind the wheel of a Late Model at Stafford and the winners list doesn’t stop there.  Although they have yet to win a Late Model race at Stafford, both Kevin Gambacorta and George Nocera, Jr. are feature winners from Stafford’s Limited Late Model division, and Gambacorta is also a 2-time champion of that division along with a championship in Stafford’s DARE Stock division.

The remainder of the veteran driver roster is made up of Skip Breunig, Wayne Coury, Jr., Rick Charette, Mike Scorzelli, Peter Portante, Peter Thickett, and Tony Lafo.  Among the veteran drivers, there are three former Late Model champions in Stuart, Quintiliano, and Pitkat.  Cory Casagrande and Bennett are both former Limited Late Model champions and Pitkat is a former Late Model and SK Modified® champion.

The Late Models also have a nice rookie class with 5 drivers this season: Richard Duranti, Justin O’Neill, Kyle Casagrande, Josh Wood, and Mark Heim.  Wood is the defending Limited Late Model track champion and he had a fast car when he made his Late Model debut in last year’s Fall Final event.

With so much experience in the field with both former track champions and feature winners, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be the driver to beat during the 2014 season.  And as Cory Casagrande proved last year, a rookie driver can find his way to victory lane and both Wood and Kyle Casagrande have won races at Stafford.  The 2014 Late Model season should provide plenty of unpredictable action on the track this season.

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.  To view the Sizzler event schedule or to order tickets online, please CLICK HERE.

Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway