Frank L’Etoile, Jr. Wins DARE Stock Championship at Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — When the sun came up and the green flag dropped on the 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Stafford Motor Speedway, DARE Stock driver Frank L’Etoile, Jr. was on a mission to prove his father’s words from 2013 to be prophetic. After a mechanical issue forced him to miss last year’s Fall Final and he watched Dave Secore celebrate a championship win, L’Etoile’s father told him that it would be him celebrating a championship in 2014.
The season began with Ryan Fearn and then David Comeau leading the DARE Stock standings. The consistency that L’Etoile would exhibit throughout the 2014 season began to manifest itself early on with three consecutive 2nd place finishes in the first four races of the season. L’Etoile took over the point lead from Comeau after the fourth race of the season and he held the lead until a 12th place finish on July 18th dropped him to 2 points behind Johnny Walker. L’Etoile retook the point lead the very next week with a victory and he never finished lower than 8th for the remainder of the 2014 season as he indeed proved his father’s words to be prophetic.
“This championship all goes back to last year,” said L’Etoile. “We broke in the heat race for the Fall Final and we were watching Dave Secore win the championship and my Dad turned to me and said ‘We’re going to win the championship next year’ and he wasn’t lying. I didn’t really believe it but we did it. My Dad, Gil, and everyone on this team gave me a top notch car every single night and I just tried to be consistent and it paid off for us. I have to thank KOMA Unwind, Zeke’s Pump Services, Tommy’s Supplies, Jet Electric, Auto Wise, Minuteman Press, Better Letter Signs, LaJoie Brothers, The Wheel Shop, High Point Heating And Cooling, Brian Watson, GRP Services, Dave Miller, Wild Thing Karts, K & W, and my entire family. We had one goal this year and it was pretty out there, but if you believe and you try you can make it happen.”
Although the DARE Stock championship is L’Etoile’s first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series title, it is his fourth championship win at Stafford Motor Speedway. L’Etoile began his racing career at Stafford in the Monday night Wild Thing Kart Series, and he won three championships there before locking up the DARE Stock championship. L’Etoile credits his time in the Wild Thing Karts for helping him develop the focus and consistency needed to win a championship.
“Growing up racing in the Wild Thing Karts, I learned that to win the race you have to finish the race,” said L’Etoile. “If you finish every race, you can win the championship and the car was really good just about every single week. Stafford is the home track for me. I can remember I was here when I was 8 years old with my Mom and my sister watching and to actually make it happen and be out there and to be here right now, there’s no words that you can actually say.”
The Wild Thing Karts taught L’Etoile well as not only did he finish races, but he finished races at the front this season. L’Etoile led all DARE Stock drivers with 14 top-5 finishes in the 18 DARE Stock features, including 2 wins and 7 second place finishes, which gave him top-2 finishes in half of the DARE Stock races held this season. With the Wild Thing Kart Series continuing to flourish on Monday nights at Stafford, stay tuned to see who will join L’Etoile as the next graduate to win a championship in a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series division.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web atwww.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR