Michael Gervais, Jr. Primed for Breakout Season in Stafford’s SK Modified® Division
Stafford Springs, CT — As Michael Gervais, Jr. heads into his third season of SK Modified® competition at Stafford Speedway, he is coming off a season in which he improved his points finish from 21st to 10th place. That improvement in the points earned Gervais 2011 Most Improved Driver honors and he is looking to build upon that improvement and reach victory lane for the first time at Stafford.
“I don’t want to jinx myself, but we’re putting things together and we don’t’ see any reason why we can’t win a race this year,” said Gervais. “We’ve gone through the whole car to make sure all of our ends meet, the car is going to look pretty new and hopefully we’ll have a pretty good car for the Sizzler.”
While Gervais has yet to win a race at Stafford, he has tasted success. Gervais won the SK Light track championship as a rookie in 2009 and he made the move into the SK Modified® division for the 2010 season. After posting 3 top-10 finishes in his rookie season, Gervais followed that up by posting two top-5 and 8 top-10 finishes this past season.
“I think last year was a definite improvement over our rookie season,” said Gervais. “We had a Troyer car my rookie year and last year we changed to a CD car. We had a few issues with the CD car early in the season, but we had a lot of help from Mike Paquette to get the car better, and by the end of the year we had a pretty good car. It was a definite learning curve going from the Lights to the SK’s, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last 2 seasons and I’m still learning every time I go out on the track. I think that if I knew what I know now when I was in the SK Light division, I feel like we would have won some races. We had a lot of good runs last year and anytime you can have a good run and get a good finish, it helps build up your confidence for the next race and it helps everyone on the team’s drive.”
After several rule changes were enacted to make the Stafford SK Modified® spec engine more competitive, Gervais feels like he has everything he needs in order to break down the door to CARQUEST Victory Lane and improve upon his 10th place finish in the points standings.
“We’re feeling pretty confident that the motor will be good for us this year,” said Gervais. “Tony from T/A is pretty excited about it, so any time your motor man is excited, we’re definitely excited about the potential of the engine. Last year we were a top-10 car and I feel like we can definitely improve on that this season. Our goal is to get into the top-5 in points at the end of the year and we’re all excited and confident about our equipment. We can’t wait to get started and see what happens this season.”
As Gervais begins his journey to put his #22 into victory lane, he will carry sponsorship from NJK Automotive, Gervais Brothers Roofing, Town Line Auto Body, and Mark Edwards Siding.
“We have some great sponsors,” said Gervais. “Nick and his son Steven from NJK Automotive, they come out to the track every Friday to help us out with the car, and it’s always a plus to have two extra mechanics helping you out. We also have great support from Gervais Brothers Roofing, Town Line Auto Body, and Mark Edwards Siding, I can’t thank each of them enough for their support, we couldn’t do this without their help.”
Gervais and the SK Modified® division will kick off the 2012 season with the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 27-29. Tickets for the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler are available and on sale now through the SMS 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 will be priced at $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net 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