(Press Release from Stafford Motor Speedway)
Duane Provost celebrates his second consecutive Limited Late Model championship at Stafford Speedway in 2017 (Photo: Jim DuPont)
When the 2018 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season kicks off at Stafford Speedway, Palmer, MA native Duane Provost will be looking to etch his name in a special place in the Stafford record books.
Provost has won the Limited Late Model track championship the last two seasons and the 2018 season will see him going for a three-peat. Since Stafford began crowning NASCAR champions in 1959, only three drivers have ever accomplished a championship 3-peat. Provost will be looking to put his name alongside Late Model drivers Phil Rondeau (’87-’89), Ryan Posocco (’03-05), and Street Stock driver Norm Sears (’06-’08)
“That’s the plan this season,” said Provost. “That would be pretty cool to be one of a few guys who have done three in a row. I think the competition will be as good as it’s ever been. There’s some drivers that are hungry to be contenders and there’s some new drivers coming into the division so it should be a good season of competition. I hope we’ll be among the favorites. You can never plan for something that might take you out of a race but if everything goes good for us again, I’d like to think we’d be one of the contenders for the championship.
The past 2 seasons of Limited Late Model competition has seen Provost and his #88 Facchini Law Firm Chevrolet be a model of consistency. In the 34 Limited Late Model features that have been held during the past 2 seasons, Provost has scored 28 top-5 and 31 top-10 finishes along with 4 wins. While those are eye-popping numbers, Provost says that it took him several seasons to build up to a car setup that would allow him the consistency that he has displayed on the track. Provost also fears that he may be reaching the limits of what he can do to keep his car fast on a weekly basis.
“2017 was a good year and things went the way I hoped they would for me,” said Provost. “The car stayed pretty consistent and we didn’t have to make too many changes during the year. Towards the end of the year I was struggling with something on the car and I took it to Barry Fluckiger and he got it fixed up which set us up to finish out the year. This season I can afford to try some different things with the car during practice. I’ve tended to stick with the same setup over the years. You have to take into account variables like track temperature and how many laps you have on your set of tires. I don’t think my car is way ahead of everyone on speed, my biggest asset is patience and knowledge of the track and the experience I’ve gained in my years of racing at Stafford. I think as other drivers gain more experience they’ll be getting closer and closer to me which will make it harder to win the championship again. My car is an older car and the learning curve with my car might be just about maxed out where other drivers still have things they can do to pick up speed.”
With two championships under his belt, Provost is itching to get back on track and go racing to try to win a third.
“I’m exited to get back racing again,” said Provost. “I associate racing with warm weather and I could really use some warmer weather. I can’t wait to go racing again. The winter is nice and slow but you start to go through withdrawal from racing every Friday night. It’s nice to have a break but I’m definitely ready to get back racing. I’d like to thank Team Link in Ludlow, Michael Facchini Law Firm, and JollyJoeK.com for their support last season and for coming back on board for 2018.”
Provost will begin his quest for a three-peat at the 47th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler® on April 27-29. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $40.00 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 is priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available. All tickets are good for both Saturday and Sunday admission. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Discount Spring Sizzler® tickets will be available beginning in March at participating NAPA Auto Parts stores.
For more information contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
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Waste of a division.
I was thinking the same thing; why not scrap the 2 and run and ACT like Late Models
They should figure a way to merge this division with the Late Model Division. Would make for better racing. Maybe even a 20 car LM feature.
Really a who cares division’
I have to agree with everyone the limited’s are a waste they should merge them with the late models to form a division that gas half a chance of having a full field. That being said don’t hold your breath as Stafford See’s this as an ” affordable” division. Since when has affordability been a consideration in racing you impose limits and teams spend 6 times the amount of money finding a way out. Get rid of the “affordability” aspect in racing and teams will spend less. Personally I would like to see stafford goe to ACT cars because that step itself would make racing more affordable because you could run it at more than one track but again I don’t see that happening for that very reason. As far as Duane going for 3 can see it happening he is talented as a driver and he would join Phil and Norm as for Ryan anyone who raced late models from 03-05 knows the story there. Enough said Good luck to Duane and his team in ’18.
Hey Rob P, how does making the car compatible with other tracks make it more affordable?
What can you say about a 10 car feature. Sure there are some pretty great cars battling in the 10. And sure at the end of the year the competition was pretty great.
Shawn C. a few years back may have been the first to recommend a merge of the two divisions on Matt Bucklers show when it wasn’t as bad as it is now. Stafford won’t do anything since they are afraid to mess with what is working. SK’s and SK Lights are working so why throw a wild card into the mix with a division change in the under card and lose a bunch of cars.
The Saunders and Narducci are out. Narducci’s old car is back. Lavoie, Alexandra Fearn, Bloxsom are contenders. Ryan Fearn as well if he can shake off the funk he was in at the end of last season and recover his fence climbing form. Only having to go from 10th to first instead of 18th to first for a really good car is just a bummer from a competitive standpoint.
I agree something really needs to be done to all of the full fender divisions at all the racetracksin CT. Years ago in its hay day there were 50+ cars shooting for 26 spots at some of the CT tracks during the tri-track days. But then the tracks had to mess with the rules to try to make racers stay at their particular track and none other. Now days the car counts are really weak and everyone loses, the fans see crap for car counts and competition, the tracks lose grandstand and pit area revenues leading directly to lower concession sales even the racers lose out as the tracks can’t pay a fair purse vs. the amount it costs to field a car. As for a 10 car feature as Doug mentioned, that is a heat race in this race fans mind and whatever division it is (cars, trucks, mods, midgets, etc…) should only be given one 10 lap feature/ no heats. I am sure those as talented as those that Stafford has on their team could find a way to merge the two divisions to provide the race fans a race worth watching instead of giving them the choice of heading to the car for cheap beer or watching a race that may be as entertaining as watching grass grow or golf on tv.
Amen I wish Stafford would run a 10 car heat race for the LLM. That 5 car who cares stuff is a time filler suitable for getting food or going to the rest room. Drive me nuts.