Travis Hydar Ready to Build on Impressive Street Stock Rookie Season at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — For for many drivers, making the transition from Wild Thing Karts to the full-bodied world of the Street Stock division at Stafford Speedway would prove to be a daunting task. For 14-year-old Woodbury, CT native Travis Hydar, the 2017 season couldn’t have gone much better than it did. Hydar’s rookie season saw him pilot his #11 Hydar Construction machine to his first career win in only his 4th career start and he finished in the top-10 in 15 of 17 races during the season.
“I’d say that last season was definitely above expectations for us,” said Hydar. “Winning a race was one of our goals at the beginning of the season and we felt pretty confident that we could win a race at some point during the year but it was a total surprise that we won so early in the year in only our 4th start. It definitely boosted our confidence knowing that we were fast and competitive. We were all really satisfied with how well we ran. We’re coming back with everything we had going in 2017 and we have Hydar Construction, ToolsPlus.com, Superior Signs, Chris Jones Roofing & Siding, ITF Electric, Superior Comfort, and Eastwood Fine Finishes all coming back on board as sponsors. Thanks to my Mom, Dad, Uncle Jeff, my sister, and Joe Brockett for all their help and support.”
Hydar’s impressive rookie season carried him to a fourth-place finish in the points standings and he was only 6 points behind third place Vince Gambacorta. With such a stellar rookie campaign to build on, Hydar is looking to win multiple races and be a championship contender in 2018.
“I’d say that we’re going to keep on going on the track that we left off of in 2017,” said Hydar. “I think we’ll be faster than we were last season and I think we’ll be more consistent than we were with the ups and downs we had last season and hopefully that will all lead to us getting a couple more wins. We want to win more races and we’d like to be contenders for the championship this season. We were almost in contention for the championship this season if not for two early season incidents that we had. I think without those 2 races we would have been third in the standings and not too far behind second. I can’t wait to get back out there and go racing, I’m really excited for the 2018 season.”
Hydar and the Street Stock field will be taking to the track with their feature distance expanded to 20-laps for each regular feature event with a 25-lap and 30-lap feature event also part of the 2018 schedule.
“I think the races will be a lot more fun because guys won’t be charging as hard as they can to get to the front with only 15 laps and I don’t think we’ll have as many incidents in the first couple of laps with guys jockeying for position,” said Hydar.
The 2018 Street Stock season will kick off with the 47th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler® on April 27-29. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $40.00 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 47th 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