SK Light Past Champion Provisional Added to Stafford SK Modified Features At Stafford Speedway

(Press Release from Stafford Motor Speedway)

10 Years Of Sk Lights LogoTo mark the 10th season of the SK Light Modified division, Stafford Speedway is announcing a new program for SK Light champions moving into the SK Modified® division. Starting at the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, an additional provisional starting position will be available to the defending SK Light Modified division champion. The provisional will be available for use three times throughout the entire season under a “use it or lose it” policy.

Defending SK Light Modified Jeremy Sorel will be the first beneficiary in the inaugural year for the program.

“That’s a great program and it’ll be a nice benefit for us if we need to use a provisional spot,” said Sorel. “I’ve been looking at the roster on staffordspeedway.com and it looks like it’s going to be extremely competitive, maybe the best short track racing field anywhere in the country. I want to race against the best because when you run well, it makes it that much more rewarding.”

Sorel will have 3 provisional starting positions available to him throughout the 2015 season. The details of the provisional policy are as follows: If the defending SK Light champion fails to qualify for the SK Modified® field on a given race night a 28th starting position will be added to the standard 27 car field. This provisional will be available for a maximum of 3 time throughout the season and will be held under a “use it or lose it” policy (driver is not able to save the provisional for certain events).

“We want drivers to use the SK Lights as a stepping stone to the SK Modified® division,” explains Director Of Racing Operations Tom Fox. “The goal of this program is to do just that; encourage drivers new to the half-mile to begin in the SK Lights while also encouraging the defending champion to move up to the SK Modifieds®.”

The SK Light division has been a proving ground at Stafford since the division’s inception. During the 2014 season SK Light graduates Chase Dowling, Michael Gervais, Jr., Matt Galko, Joey Cipriano, III, Ronnie Williams, Glen Reen, and Tony Membrino, Jr. competed for wins in the SK Modified® division on a weekly basis.

Since its inception at Stafford 10 years ago, the original SK Light Modified mission statement continues to be pertinent to this day.

SK LIGHT MODIFIED MISSION STATEMENT

AN OPEN WHEELED MODIFIED BASED UPON THE SK MODIFIED® FORMAT INTEGRATING RIGID COST CONTROLS. THIS DIVISION WILL PROVIDE A BUDGETED OPEN WHEEL RACING OPPORTUNITY FOR TEENS AND ADULTS SEEKING TO PURSUE AN OPEN WHEELED RACING CAREER.

“We have had many SK Light drivers and teams transition successfully from the SK Lights into not only the SK Modifieds®, but into every form of modified racing in New England with a great amount of success,” said Mark Arute, COO Stafford Motor Speedway. “If you look through the list of 2014 SK Modified® winners you see a handful of young drivers that have moved up from the SK Lights. This program will continue to encourage the modified progression that is one of the pieces that has made the SK racing so impressive the last few years.”

The 10th season of SK Light Modified racing will take the green flag during the running of the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Springs Sizzler on the weekend of April 25-26. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 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.

For more information on the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, 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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Comments

  1. Tony Membrino says

    Pretty neat idea! This isn’t from my own thought process, but if I’m allowed to dip into the same pool that the aforementioned concept came from…

    Maybe it’s possible to bring back to life a past concept that was used (I believe) at Stafford, with a modern touch, in which the winner of the night’s SK Light Modified feature event has the option to relinquish the winnings from that feature and start at the tail of the field in the SK Modified feature on that same night, giving the driver/team an opportunity to not only pocket a little more money, but to also gain that valuable experience racing amongst the caliber of drivers in the SK Modified division.

    Maybe even go so far as to give that opportunity to the top-3 finishing drivers? Let ’em throw four-barrels on to give them a chance to actually race with the crowd? Maybe adopt the same concept into the Limited Late Model/Late Model divisions?

    Of course it has its risks, there have been examples of how that can go bad (entire TIS/NLWS SKL field in SK races), but it’s a concept that can be easily altered and prove to be very entertaining for teams, fans, and sponsors, as well as giving those lower division teams thinking about making the big move up a chance to see what it’s all about before they go spending thousands of dollars making the transition.

    We see talk about wanting to see SK Light teams use that division as a stepping stone to the SKs, it’s MUCH easier said than done, it is far more involved than throwing in a bigger powerplant, snottier fuel, more advanced shocks, and a two-way radio in the car and going racing – not talking from experience or anything! I think the racing community would benefit more seeing someone get the chance to get that experience in the new division and make the decision on their own that it isn’t the right move for them rather than having worst case scenarios make that decision for them which ultimately results in one less car on the entire Stafford Speedway roster.

    Stafford has been coming up with more and more innovations to not only bring back excitement to the weekly racing program, but more than ever before – keep wheels turning!

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