Al Stone III Leaving SK Modified Division At Waterford; Returning To Street Stocks In 2013

WATERFORD – It will be a major loss of a character player for the SK Modified division at the Waterford Speedbowl after today’s final event of the season, but the result is the gain of the track’s Street Stock division.

Al Stone III confirmed that he will leave the SK Modified division and return to running full-time in the Street Stock division at Waterford in 2013.

Stone, who made the jump to running an SK Modified full-time this year, is the all-time winningest driver in a Street Stock at Waterford.

“We’ve just been struggling with the car,” Stone said. “We’ve just been trying to figure it out and it’s never an easy situation when you step into something completely different. But I think I earned some respect of the veterans out there and I’m pretty happy about that.”

The struggles were many for Stone this year in making the jump from a Street Stock driver/team owner to an SK Modified driver/team owner.

After a winter’s worth of preparation for the jump to the track’s premier division, Stone, of Durham, lost his primary car in a major wreck in the first event of the season.

In 21 starts this year before Sunday’s 50-lap finale event, Stone had seven top-10 finishes with a best finish of eighth in 2012. He sits 12^th in the standings going into the final event of the year.

“We know we’re capable of running up front,” Stone said. “The problem is the funds. That’s the bottom line. In this division you need a big sponsor behind you and we just don’t have that. I’m trying to start a family and I’ve got to really look at where my priorities are.”

Stone won Street Stock championships at Waterford in 2008 and 2010. He has 31 career Street Stock wins at the track, 29 of those coming during a five-year span from 2007-2011.