Tyler Hines Wins SPAFCO SK ModifiedR Rookie of the Year Award at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — After collecting a win and a top-10 finish in the points standings in Stafford Speedway’s SK Light division, North Haven native Tyler Hines made the move into Stafford’s premier SK Modified® division for the 2015 season. Hines was joined from the SK Light ranks by 2014 track champion Jeremy Sorel and Mike Christopher, Jr. for what had all the promise of a great fight for the SPAFCO Rookie of the Year honors in 2015. The three SK Light drivers didn’t disappoint with the rookie race going right down to the final race of the year where Hines outlasted Christopher by a 16-point margin, or 8 positions on the race track, to claim the Rookie of the Year title.
“It’s a great feeling, we were able to complete our long-term goal for the year,” said Hines. “It was a tough season, but at least we were able to get some success out of it. I think it was a little below expectation for us. We were battling with the car for most of the season more than anything which didn’t allow us to compete at the level we were hoping to be at. We were fast, it just seemed like something was always missing each week. We had some brake issues, which was a disaster, but we kept going and towards the end of the year, we started to figure things out and we got some speed again in the car.”
For the season, Hines and the #94 DC Rentals team managed to capture a best finish of third place on June 12th. Although that performance was Hines’ only top-5 finish during his rookie campaign, it showed him and the team that they could run up front and that is what they have their eyes set on for the 2016 season at Stafford along with putting the #94 into NAPA Victory Lane.
“There were a few highlights from the year, but definitely that night was the best,” said Hines. “It was nice to battle up front with those guys and the car was doing what we wanted it to do that night. I think the team and myself both have the ability to run up front it was just we had some issues with the car that didn’t enable us to compete the way we needed to each week. The plan is to come back for the full season again next year. Hopefully, we’ll have all the bugs in the car worked out and we can contend for some wins right away. We’d love to win more than one race, but we’d definitely start with getting one win. I have so many sponsors and people to thank for all their support this season, Sponsors – Sunny Side Up Early Learning Center, Wholly Chiropractic, Leslies Jewelers, Acculift Of Berlin, Trimino Protein Infused Water, Roberts Garage, Bruneau’s Service Center, Cordone And Son, Dc Rentals, Branford River Marine, Shore Haven Sheet Metal, Organic Tick Free Tick Control, BAM Motorsports, AAA Northeast, Wayne “Muffy” Wildermuth, Lauren Gagner, Chris Dupont, Kevin Pierce, Bill Dillon, Stan Zunda, Sue Weller, Emily Weller, Jarrett Skwira, Mark Cooper, Butch Hines, Stash Butova, Steve Butova, Jim Regan, Matt Crowley, Ron Williams and the Williams Crew, Mom and Dad, Mike Pettit, Mike Paquette, Ricky Rotondo, Kenny Barry, and Sly Szaban.”
For winning the 2015 SPAFCO SK Modified® Rookie of the Year Award, Hines will take home an $1,100 bonus from SPAFCO, which will be paid in $100 increments for the first 11 races of the 2016 season that Hines attends. Hines will officially be crowned as the 2015 SPAFCO Rookie of the Year at the 46th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 20 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor.
Tickets to the 46th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony are $47 per person and can be ordered by calling the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at(860) 684-2783, or by downloading an order form from www.staffordspeedway.com and returning the form to the track office.
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