Duane Provost Looking Forward To PASS Sportsman Race Opportunity At Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Speedway Limited Late Model driver Duane Provost is excited about the challenge that lies ahead of him when the Pro All-Star Series comes to Stafford on Sunday, August 26th. Stafford’s Limited Late Models will join the PASS Sportsman cars for a 60-lap feature event as part of the Inaugural PASS 125 program, which will provide Provost with a host of challenges. While Provost has never driven a feature longer than 25 laps previously, he is excited about the opportunity to showcase himself against the PASS Sportsman cars and he hopes his track knowledge will help him drive his #88 Gus’ Auto Repair Chevrolet to the front.
“I’m definitely excited and looking forward to it,” said Provost. “It’s going to be a real good experience to run that many laps as I’ve never ran that many laps before. We really have no idea how to set the car up or what the car will do, so it will be a unique experience to run that many laps at a track that I’m familiar with. If the Sportsman guys have run some tracks similar to Stafford up North, then they might have a bit of an advantage. If Stafford is unique to what kinds of tracks those guys run, then we’ll have an advantage. I think being able to combine the Sportsman and Ltd. Late Model cars, it could go either way, but I’m hoping the advantage is on our side.”
In order to prepare for the Sportsman race, Provost and his #88 team will have to decide on a few options. The Stafford cars can run either with their normal wings, or use a spoiler, and they have several options at their disposal to change around the weight configuration of their Limited Late Model car.
“There’s some left side weight we can work with and we can bring the ride height down,” said Provost. “That might make us a little faster than what we run on Friday nights. I would anticipate maybe a tenth or two faster, but I don’t think it will be much faster than we usually run. We have the weight and we can run our wing if we want, but I have a spoiler from a Late Model that I can put together if we want to use the spoiler. We’re not really sure which will be better, but if everyone is running faster than me with the spoiler, then we’ll be sure to change to the spoiler. I think I’ll be measuring myself against two things: 1) how are we compared to the Limited Late Model guys, and 2) how do we stack up against the Sportsman regulars? In a perfect world, everything would be even and the only unknown factor would be how are we going to run these 60 laps. I’m optimistic that the cars will be pretty even when it comes to lap times.”
While Provost will have track knowledge in his back pocket as a resource to lean on when it comes to the car setup, Provost admits that he may be behind some of his fellow Limited Late Model competitors when it comes to the car setup for the 60-lap feature.
“I think some of the Limited Late Model guys that are in close contact with some of the Late Model teams will have a bit of an advantage as they can get some information from them about what happens to the car during a 100-lap race,” said Provost. “I’m going to try to get in contact with some people and see if I can get some good ideas and run with it from there. I’m not sure how much changes over 60 laps, but I imagine if you’re burning off all that fuel, it’s going to be a flip of the coin if the car tightens or loosens up. I don’t really have any idea what the car is going to do. Hopefully we can take advantage of the infield pitting to make an adjustment on the car during the race if we need to.”
Provost will also be in search of some crew help for his Sportsman entry as his team consists of himself and his brother on Friday nights.
“I don’t really have the resources to get a spotter, but I’m trying to get a couple of guys together to have on pit road in case we need to make an adjustment or make a tire change,” said Provost. “That will be a unique experience as we don’t get to have infield pitting on Friday nights. I have only my younger brother who gives me a hand at the track when he is not working on Friday nights, and I have great support from my sponsor Gus’ Auto Repair. We go up against some guys with a lot larger crews and support behind them and I think we run pretty well for what we have to work with. Barry from Fluckiger Race Chassis has also been big help to me this season, and I think we could be consistently a lot faster than we are if I was able to take advantage of his services every week.”
There will be a bonus awarded to the first five Limited Late Model finishers in the PASS Sportsman feature. The bonus breakdown is $200 to the top LLM finisher, $100 for the next LLM finisher, and then $50 each for the third through fifth LLM finishers.
The Inaugural PASS event at Stafford will consist of the PASS Super Late Models in a 125-lap race, the PASS Sportsmans and Stafford Limited Late Models in a 60-lap race, the PASS Modifieds in a 40-lap race, the 602 Dirt Sportsman Modifieds in a 40-lap feature, and the N.E. Truck Series in a 30-lap race.
Tickets for the Inaugural PASS event are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $27.50 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 $30.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
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