2013 Stafford Speedway Late Model Season Review
Stafford Springs, CT — The 2013 Late Model season began right where it left off in 2012 with Woody Pitkat the dominant force on the track. Since that dominant opening stretch to the year, Adam Gray and Tom Fearn have not only inserted themselves into the championship picture, but they have overtaken Pitkat in the Late Model standings as the second half of the season is now underway.
Pitkat opened the year with four consecutive podium finishes and a fifth place finish in the first five races. In the last 7 races since that 5-race streak, Pitkat has three finishes of 16th or worse and he has fallen from the points lead to third in the standings. Pitkat has 2 wins thus far with the #88 New Haven Truck and Auto Body team and his 8 top-5 and 9 top-10 finishes are second among all Late Model drivers, but his three poor finishes have left him third in the standings, 88 points behind Adam Gray.
Adam Gray and the #97 Meadows Motor Car team have taken the chase for the championship and put a stranglehold on it. Gray’s season began with mechanical issues relegating him to a dismal 18th place finish in the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. Since that opening race Gray has been the car to beat. Gray has finished on the podium for 11 consecutive races and he has recorded four wins in that span.
Tom Fearn was keeping pace with Gray for much of the year with the #92 SAFECO Foam / King Ward Coach Lines Chevrolet. But a recent run of trouble has seen Fearn fall 60 points behind Gray in the chase for the championship. Fearn has put the #92 into CARQUEST Victory Lane three times, which is second only to Gray’s four victories.
Cory Casagrande has made a nice transition from the Ltd. Late Model division into the Late Model division. Casagrande nearly won his first Late Model race on May 31st as he followed Woody Pitkat to the checkered flag and he has piloted his #1 Shark Cycle Ford to 6 top-5 and 9 top-10 finishes to sit fourth in the standings, 92 points behind Gray.
Kevin Gambacorta has yet to reach CARQUEST Victory Lane this season with his #32 Right Image Signs Chevrolet but he currently sits fifth in the standings, 114 points behind Gray. Right behind Gambacorta is Mark St. Hilaire, who got a late start to his 2013 season. St. Hilaire didn’t race in the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, but since he hooked up with the Clark Brothers to take over the wheel of the #3 USS Chowder Pot / CT Boat Chevrolet he has a victory and three podium finishes among his 5 top-5 and 9 top-10 finishes.
Other drivers who have won a race this season in the Late Model ranks include J.J. Hill, who won the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler and Jay Stuart.
The SPAFCO Rookie of the Year award looked to be Casagande’s for the taking, but strong runs by Michael Scorzelli in the #18 Syracuse Utilities car over the past four weeks has seen him chip away at Casagrande’s point lead. The two leading rookie contenders will have a great duel between them over the final 7 races to see who will take home the SPAFCO rookie honors.
As the 2013 Late Model season heads into the second half the question will be can anyone slow down the Adam Gray train. Both Fearn and Pitkat have large gaps to make up in order to catch up to Gray but in the great sport of auto racing anything can happen.
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