Austin Beers Latest Driver to Enter NAPA Spring Sizzler
(Stafford Springs, CT)—The field for the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® set for April 27-28 at Stafford Motor Speedway has added 2022 Whelen Modified Tour Rookie of the Year Austin Beers to its entry list. Beers has teamed up with the Jensen Family to drive their #179 Avenue Auto machine in “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”.
“I had heard [the Jensens] split up with their last driver so I gave Glenn a call and we worked out a deal and here we are,” said Beers. “We’re going to go race by race, feel things out, and see if we’re a good connection. We finished third at Loudon and the Jensens have had a lot of success at Stafford and they have a big notebook so I’m looking to continue that and have another good run. I’m working on trying to put a crew together right now so we can have a competitive pit stop and I’m really excited about coming back to race at Stafford since I’ve only raced there once before.”
Beers comes to Stafford at a disadvantage in the experience department. Beers has only 1 start at the Connecticut half-mile facility, qualifying 7th and finishing 13th in the 2021 NAPA Fall Final. Beers has shown to be a quick study on the Whelen Modified Tour, where he broke out in 2023 by notching his first 2 career wins along with 6 pole positions in only his second full season and he will have his father Eric, who has 41 career WMT starts at Stafford, along with the Jensen family, as experienced voices he can lean on for advice.
“Practice will be more important for me than for the car,” said Beers. “The guys will show up with a fast racecar and it’ll be up to me to figure out where I’m at and figure the track out since I haven’t been there since 2021. I’m sure I’ll be asking my father for advice once we get to the track. We’ll do a track walk together and I’m sure that he’ll be able to teach me some things that I don’t know yet like where guys used to run and where to set guys up for passes. He has a lot of knowledge and he’s helped me out a lot. Once I get up to speed, we can fine-tune things later on in the practice round.”
In addition to being short on-track experience, Beers will face another unknown when it comes to qualifying as he is accustomed to 2-lap time trials where now he’ll be facing a 40-lap NAPA Duel Qualifying race.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the qualifying,” said Beers. “We’re all still out there racing and trying to get to the front. I do enjoy qualifying with 2 laps, but the Duel will be just another race where you’re trying to get to the front.”
Beers is confident that he can build on the 3rd place finish that he and the Jensen #179 crew earned at New Hampshire while setting a reasonable goal for how he would like his NAPA Spring Sizzler® weekend to go.
“I’d like to have a repeat of what we did at New Hampshire and try to contend for the win and learn a lot,” said Beers. “I think a top-5 would be outstanding for us with the caliber of field that’s going to be at Stafford. This is probably the biggest Modified race that we’ll have all year long so we want to hang with those heavy hitters and show that we’re contenders. I’d expect to see Ron Silk and Matt Hirschman up front, and with Justin [Bonsignore] in the 7ny car he’s going to be really fast, so we have to be patient, try to not use up the tires that you’re not changing during the race, and keep your nose clean to be there at the end. I’d like to say I’ll be happy with a top-10, but if we could go out there and put it on them, and do something that my Dad hasn’t even done, it would be amazing to win the Sizzler. And I like milk!”
The 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. Saturday, April 27th will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Stafford’s Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program with qualifying and feature racing.
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Sunday, April 28th will play host to the $20,000 to win 52nd NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified® and SK Light Modified divisions along with last-chance qualifiers for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Speedway PR