Closer: Adam Gray Clinches Late Model Championship Early At Stafford; Tom Fearn Wins Race

STAFFORD – After finishing 18th in the season opening event at Stafford Motor Speedway this year, Adam Gray’s optimism wasn’t exactly riding high.

Adam Gray celebrates his first Stafford Speedway Late Model championship Friday (Photo: Stephanie Kimball/Stafford Speedway)

Though nobody could have ever expected the streak that would follow that frustrating start.

Friday at Stafford, Gray finished third in the 30-lap Late Model feature. It marked a remarkable 16th consecutive podium finish for Gray and allowed him to clinch his first Late Model championship with one event remaining this season.

Gray, of Belchertown, Mass., now holds an 82-point lead in the standings over second place Tom Fearn going into the season finale on Sept. 29 at Stafford. The most points a driver can earn in an event is 50.

Gray’s only finish outside the top three in 2013 was the 18th place in the season opener. Along the way he recorded a division leading six victories.

“It was a dream season,” Gray said. “Starting the first week the way we did, we figured, another top five [in the standings]. I could have never imagined it to end this way. I’m speechless.”

Fearn, of East Longmeadow, Mass., had his fifth victory of the season Friday. Woody Pitkat of Stafford was second.

“I’ve got to thank the crew,” Fearn said. “They’ve had the car on rails the last two weeks. We were good last week and finished third. We came back this week with the same exact thing we did last week and we were really good.”