Joey Ferrigno Riding Hot Streak in Stafford Speedway’s SK Lights in Season Full of Highs and Lows
Stafford Springs, CT — The 2014 SK Light season at Stafford Motor Speedway for Joey Ferrigno can be summed up as a season of two halves that have seen both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Ferrigno’s season got off to a dismal start with wrecks in the first two races that left him sitting in 20th place in the points standings. But since then, Ferrigno has gotten his season turned around with 4 wins and a second place finish over the next eight races that has helped him climb back into the top-5 of the points standings. 3 of Ferrigno’s wins have come in the last 4 races as he is riding a hot streak as the season heads into the homestretch.
“Everything has clicked for us lately,” said Ferrigno. “We’ve found a little something different setup-wise, I’m comfortable in the car, we have a lot of people in the right place, and luck is changing a little for me.”
For as hot as Ferrigno has been of late, his season was nearly derailed after wrecks during the first two weeks of the season. Ferrigno’s budget was tapped out but thanks to Gino Difilippo from RH2 Radios, Ferrigno was able to continue racing and he and his #87 team have caught fire.
“If it wasn’t for Gino, my season would have been over after the first two races,” said Ferrigno. “I destroyed the car two weeks in a row and after rebuilding the car over the winter, I was broke and my credit cards were maxed out. I also have a lot of great support from Kurt D’Addario with D’Addario’s Auto Service, Dave Stevens with Stevens Duct Work, Pinto Manufacturing, RK Machine, Brothers Pool, Noah Ennis Shell Shock, and Donnie at R.A.D. Gino comes up from New Jersey on Thursday nights and stays at my house to help on the car and he takes care of the tires on race nights. I also have to thank all the crew guys who are at the shop during the week and at the track, Paul, Frank, Dean and Debbie, Greg, Lenny, Steve, and John.”
After the 2-race stretch to open the season, Ferrigno finished second and first in his next two starts. But after another finish outside the top-15 on July 11th, Ferrigno found himself sitting in 13th place in the points standings. But since that July 11th finish, Ferrigno has caught fire, posting 3 wins in the last 4 races heading into the Aug. 15 feature event. Ferrigno has climbed his way up to fourth place in the points standings, but he is 72 points behind Jeremy Sorel. With a feature win worth 50 championship points, Ferrigno still has nearly a race and a half worth of points to make up in the race for the championship but if he keeps up his winning ways, he just may be in contention when the green flag falls on the season ending NAPA Fall Final on Sept. 27-28.
“It’s mathematically possible,” said Ferrigno. “We started out on a really rough foot, I think I was as low as 22nd after the first couple of races this year. It’s a hard hole to dig out of. For a couple of weeks, money was gone and I was trying to keep the car in one piece so I wasn’t making the extra aggressive moves to pass a couple of cars in one shot. Now that things have stabilized a little for us, I’m able to drive a little more aggressively than I was at the beginning of the year.”
As Ferrigno looks to continue his hot streak, he has 2 factors working in his favor as he hopes to claw his way back into championship contention. Ferrigno won the DARE Stock track championship in 2005, so he knows how to successfully win a championship. Another factor is the addition of the #76 car driven by Paul French to the SK Light field, which gives Ferrigno a team car to try new setup ideas before he tries them on his #87 car.
“We originally started with the 76 as a backup car for me and then Paul wanted to drive the car because he hadn’t raced at Stafford and Gino said as long as he didn’t tear it up to keep it going,” said Ferrigno. “My car has been running decent and with Paul’s car we can try new things and implement them into my car if they work, without running the risk of making my car worse. It’s also been good for me because Paul has been getting a feel for Stafford and he’s seeing what the car needs for the setup. Paul is phenomenal at what he does. I know where we’re at now but it’s not like I’m looking at the points and figuring out I need to finish here and where someone else has to finish. If it’s meant to be, the numbers will add up. We definitely want to win again and finish up front and put on a good show for the fans. When I’m watching video, if I see half the crowd stand up and cheer for something I did, that makes it all worth it.”
Ferrigno still has a long way to go to catch up to Jeremy Sorel in the SK Light standings, but in short track weekly racing, anything is possible.
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