Tyler Leary Ready for Rookie Season in Stafford Speedway’s Late Model Division
Stafford Springs, CT — When the curtain is lifted on the off-season and the green flag is displayed to drivers during the 45th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway, 19-year old Hatfield, MA native Tyler Leary will make his debut behind the wheel of his #11 Amherst Trucking Late Model. Leary comes to Stafford after 3 seasons in the Super Stock division at Monadnock Speedway, where he was the championship runner-up in 2015.
“I got started racing at Monadnock in 2013 and that was the first car that I ever drove,” said Leary. “I’m definitely excited about it and I think it’s going to be a totally different environment for me. It’s definitely going to be a little bit more competitive. I don’t think we’re going to get the hang of it right away, it’s going to take some getting used to the track for me and for us to find the sweet spot with the car. We’re still going to race at Monadnock this season along with Stafford and we’ve been pretty busy working on both cars. Our Monadnock car is just about ready to go and we have Donnie Wood from R.A.D. going through our engine and we still have a lot of things left to work on. Monadnock is a bit smaller and higher banked so it’ll take some getting used to the flat corners and higher speeds for sure. We bought Scott Cook’s #5 car and we’re going to have Bob Fill helping us out with the chassis.”
With only 3 seasons of experience under his belt, Leary has shown a propensity to be a quick learner. He took Rookie of the Year honors in his first season and followed that up by winning Most Improved Driver in his second season and then being the championship runner-up this past season. Leary would like to add another Rookie of the Year title to his collection of accolades and he also has his eyes on the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points standings.
“I remember the very first time I got behind the wheel I ended up getting the car into the wall during practice,” said Leary. “But we won Rookie of the Year and when we came back for our second season we were one of the fastest cars on the track and then we were the runner-up in the championship last season. I’d say we are definitely looking to finish in the top-10. I think that if we can do that at Stafford and if we can run well enough at Monadnock and finish in a top-3 spot, that should put us in a pretty decent spot for the NASCAR points standings. We were able to win Rookie of the Year at Monadnock and winning another Rookie of the Year title would be huge for us.”
Leary will kick off his rookie campaign with the 45th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler on April 22-24. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available. All tickets are good for both Saturday and Sunday admission. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 45th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, 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