(Press Release from Stafford Speedway)
Andrew Molleur
For Shelton native Andrew Molleur, the 2018 season at Stafford Speedway has been all about making dreams come true.
The 15-year old driver has scored 4 wins this season in his first full season of SK Light competition and as he looks to close out the year with another victory, he will realize another dream by making his first ever NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start this weekend, September 29-30 in the NAPA Fall Final 150 behind the wheel of the #35 RaceChoice.com / Bud’s Diesel Chevrolet.
“I’m very excited to make my Whelen Modified Tour debut at Stafford, I can’t wait,” said Molleur. “I’ve been watching the guys who race on the Tour for years and I grew up racing with Matt Swanson, so it’s going to be pretty cool to race with him again. Stafford is one of my hometracks and there is nowhere else I’d rather make my Whelen Modified Tour debut than at Stafford. Bud’s Diesel and RaceChoice.com have been sponsors of ours for a while and they were happy to come on board with support to make this possible. It’s the big stage and this is the biggest series in New England, I am a little nervous. I’ve been watching the Whelen Modified Tour for so long now, it’s awesome that I’m actually going to be a part of it at the NAPA Fall Final.”
For his debut effort on the Tour, Molleur has teamed with Rob Fuller and LFR Chassis for not only a car, but chassis setup as well. With Chase Dowling’s knowledge and having won pole positions in the first two NWMT races held at Stafford this season, Molleur knows he will have a stout piece of equipment to work with.
“The car is an LFR car that Austin Pickens has driven and we made a deal with Rob Fuller to drive the car this weekend,” said Molleur. “We just got the car in the shop the other day and we’re going to letter it up and go racing. We’ve been to the LFR shop a bunch of times and Rob is putting a setup in the car for us.
While Molleur is ecstatic to be making his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, he has a realistic goal in mind of finishing all 150 laps and learning as much as he can from the 2-day event.
“The goal is to learn a lot and keep all 4 wheels on the car,” said Molleur. “I’d say a top-15 finish would be a reasonable goal for us. I’d like to learn from some of the guys who have been racing on the Tour for a long time and hopefully we can avoid wrecks and come out with a solid finish.”
With Molleur being a newcomer to Whelen Modified Tour competition, he can lean on some of his previous experience in tour-type racing at Stafford to help him get a leg up on his WMT learning curve. Molleur has made 6 career touring series starts at Stafford, with 2 starts each in Open Modified competition, the Valenti Modified Racing Series, and the Modified Touring Series. Molleur has one top-10 finish in those 6 races and he led 37 laps in the June Open Modified 80 at Stafford.
“I think it’ll give us a little bit of an advantage having a feel for the racetrack,” said Molleur. “Last year I wasn’t as comfortable at Stafford as I am this season. I feel comfortable knowing the line and where I need to lift and get back on the gas. The practice sessions are going to be very important for us. We’ve run a Tour type car at Stafford before, but it’s my first Whelen Modified Tour race so I’m feeling a little pressure. We’ll need to have a good couple of practice sessions and make sure that we can qualify in a good spot. I’m preparing for this race just like any other race, getting my head in the right place and be focused for the race.”
With Whelen Modified Tour races counting caution laps while the other modified touring series that Molleur has participated in do not, Molleur and his pit crew will be in store for a totally different atmosphere making live pit stops.
“The one tire per stop rule is going to be different for me and my crew,” said Molleur. “When we’ve run the MRS, you don’t have to worry about going laps down on pit road so I’ll have to make sure I get in and out of the pit box right and I don’t speed on pit road. There’s a lot more strategy when coming to pit road so there will be a little extra pressure on me and the crew guys.”
As well as making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut, Molleur will be looking to close out his 2018 season on a high note in the SK Light division by shooting for what would be his fifth victory of the year. Molleur enters the NAPA Fall Final feature event in 5th place in the SK Light standings and he could potentially finish as high as third in the standings with another victory.
“Coming into the year our goal was to get one win and to have four wins is almost overwhelming,” said Molleur. “It’s pretty cool to have a fast racecar and be able to run up front with guys like Marcello Rufrano, Bryan Narducci, Teddy Hodgdon, and Mark Bakaj. Sadly we had a couple of DNF’s in the middle of the season but we’ve come back stronger and hopefully we can end the season on a high note. To get another win at Stafford would give us some bragging rights for the off season and it would put a nice cap on the season.”
Tickets for the 46th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend are priced at $40.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. All NAPA Fall Final tickets are good for admission on both Saturday and Sunday and ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Discount tickets are available at your local participating NAPA Auto Parts Store. The NAPA tickets include general admission for both days along with a luncheon buffet on Sunday, all for only $38 per person. For a list of participating NAPA Stores, please click the PARTICIPATING NAPA STORES link found at the top of the www.staffordspeedway.com homepage.
For more information on the 46th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend, 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.
What’s his age? Not the fake one he tells NASCAR, his real age.
ModFan,
Quite honestly, I can’t tell you the answer to that question. All I can say is that in the story linked below from Aug. 1, 2016 his father insisted, numerous times, that Andrew’s birthdate is March 15, 2001 and that he was 15 years old at the time of publication of that article. His father also insisted that NASCAR’s determination that he provided falsified documents was untrue. So based on those insistences from his father one would determine that Andrew Molleur is actually 17 years old right now. Again, I don’t know exactly, all I do know is that in Aug. 2016 that’s what his father insisted to be the truth.
New London-Waterford Speedbowl Driver Andrew Molleur Suspended Indefinitely By NASCAR
You might think he was the first and only person to lie about their age to go racing , get over it the kid has done well
Fool me once strike one. Fool me twice strike three. -Michael Scott. Who cares, as long as Nascar says ok. They know best. So is this an LFR rental basically? Same as Ray Parents deal?
15 is a little young to be racing on the tour in my opinion!!
Or his father is a liar and just wanted to produce the next Jeff Gordon at whatever cost to anyone else’s property or life.
18 and older should be racing the tour.
Scott I agree but remember when at 30 you were considered young for cup and now your over the hill at 30 , so who are we to say ,like someone else said nascar knows best or at least thinks so ,they dropped the age
Hahaha, I’m sorry, this is a joke right? Are they now admitting he wasn’t 15 2 yrs ago after insisting and denying he was or is he really 17 now? So if he’s 15 now he couldn’t possibly have been 15 then right? Or perhaps they bought the delorean off doc and hes… from the future… or is it the past?
All joking aside, 13 15 17, he’s not even a front runner in sk’s or even light mods at stafford. He’ll be more traffic for the leaders to negotiate.
Not my money, not my kid, not my right to deny him the chance to compete regardless of how ridiculous that whole group appears to be. Good luck andrew.
I think he really is 15…now. Unfortunately, while he may be a good driver, how he and his parents deceived tracks, sponsors and the racing world in general two years ago will forever be a black mark on his accomplishments as it should be. I wonder how him running an LFR car sits with Kenny Barry and the fact that Barry owns the Spafco cars he runs weekly. Slap in the face if you ask me.
Full sized cars should have full sized people! Regardless of your racing experience, I think you should at least have a few months of over-the-road driving experience before getting in a full sized car on a race track. IMO a tour modified is a full sized car on LOTS of steroids!
Sorry i meant sks only didn’t mean the light mods. Blast away if you must.
I remember reading how Mario Andretti lied so he could race ,I know he didn’t amount to much but just saying plenty of people have lied to race ,I’m willing to bet that track promoters knew how old Andrew was 2 years ago and just looked the other way. Good luck Andrew you may be young but probably more mature than some people posting here
Elect,
I do understand your stance, and surely this wasn’t the first instance in the history of racing where someone was dishonest to skirt an age requirement rule. But I think there’s a lot more to this than just someone “lying” to track management or a sanctioning body or organization to get on the track. The situation was hardly that simple. If only it had been. This situation involved a parent, who first lied about a child’s age to multiple management entities in racing, then after being asked to produce documentation concerning that lie the parent then went so far as to provide falsified birth record documents to multiple entities. This also involves a parent who accused a number of media outlets and a number of reporters of publishing false information about his child that he knew was actually not false at all. A parent who publicly accused numerous media outlets of making up things that he actually had said and were easily provable to be on the record. This is also a situation where after being found guilty of providing falsified documentation this parent went so far as to accuse NASCAR themselves of lying, while continuing to insist that his son was two years older than all other evidence showed.
Shawn I’m not saying they did the right thing ,they were definitely wrong and they paid a price maybe not enough for some but how long do you keep punishing them ? I know this is supposed to be about racing , but lately we here lies every day and the media getting blamed I’m done, just my thoughts. Keep up the good work ,hope for a good race for all on sunday
How long will Trump keep bringing up Hillary and Obama?
How long will you keep bringing up Trump?
Howard Stern once said my fans listen to me to see what I do next. My enemies listen to me to see what I do next. What could be better than having everyone paying attention to you ? Sound like Moeller will be a sponsors dream. Good Luck Kid !
Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) rears its ugly head again!
Andrew Moeller competing with the NWMT drivers will do just fine. Aside from the age controversy I can’t recall any situations where he’s been accused of some obvious bonehead move causing someone positions and/or wrecked equipment. Seems like he gets what he can out of what he has in a given race and takes the win or 12th place finish with equal acceptance that it was the best the car could do that night.
Andrew is the name on the roof of the car but young Moeller is just a child and not the problem. After reading the RaceDayCt article once again from 8/1/16 the issue is following rules and parenting. If you’ve raised children you know whether for school, scouting, little league, doctors visits you’ve given your childs date a birth hundreds of times. But for Andrews father reading his obfuscating of age was like him trying to interpret some algebraic formula that only he was smart enough to understand.
I’ll admit it. Seeing Andrew as a child in victory lane at Waterford acting like a little racing robot making near perfect driver comments was alarming. He’s still near perfect with his victory lane comments and is driving great but thank goodness he has a little more size for the words to come out of.
So why bring this all up again? There’s a reason.
What happened two years ago was wrong. It’s not just about fudging the age. There’s insurance and liability issues at stake and a blatant disregard for others fiduciary responsibility to enforce the rules. If the kid had actually gotten hurt in a race there would have been hell to pay in the form of law suits.
Out there somewhere are parents perhaps contemplating the same sort of thing to prematurely advance their childs racing career. Bringing this mess up and ridiculing the selfish and short sighted behavior of the person’s that engaged in it may discourage that person from doing the same thing.
They print rules for a reason. If you can’t follow the most basic age restrictions there’s no chance you’ll ever be trusted to follow any other rule in the book.
As long as Trump keeps blaming Obama for anything and taking credit for Obama’s strong and robust economy, and just keeps bringing up Hillary for whatever. Nike has gained over $6 billion in value since it endorsed Kaepernick, Trump’s target. The New York Times is massively profitable and successful, contrary to what Trump says.
Sorry, but not sorry that you have voter’s remorse. If a racer is willing to lie about age, imagine what other cheating he is willing to do. And that this was perpetrated by PARENTS!!!! No sponsor will touch that. Look at what has happened to Fox News talking heads after sponsors fled once the scandals were exposed. So many are gone, fired!
I don’t listen to Howard Stern or Fox. I just laugh at them, and their followers.
Da-Real-Liberal-Fella,
Could you please stick to racing on here? You really need to accept the fact that Trump’s our elected president and do your duty as am American and respect that. This site is not a “Safe Zone” and Shawn is going to buy you a sympothy “Pony!”
SUCK IT UP BUTTER CUP!!!!!!!
DRLF,
Have you ever thought about seeking professional help??? Seriously… Drop the politics please!!!
I tell you what… I have a wager for you… Put your money where your mouth is and take a knee right in front of us all durring the National Anthem Sunday at the Fall Final. If your Mommy won’t drive you I’ll pay for an Uber to come get you.
If you do this I promise I will never bust your balls again. If you don’t do it you promise to stop your comments and just go back to playing your video games in your parents basement..
Do we have a wager??
Under driver profile on stafford web site birthday is listed as 03 which is likely his actual birth year. Kid seems to handle himself well, his father seems little more voliatle and definetly has had personal run ins with owner of this web site. Kid seems to have risen above issues and races and conducts himself in respectful manner.
Paul and Al you just need to give it up and talk about politics full time. You keep lecturing on not doing it but get your jabs in and you don’t address the topic. Like at all. I’d suggest you all go to Fox News or Newsmax and mix it up exchanging inane nonsense that will change no ones mind like I do. But if you have to do it here don’t pretend you’re not doing it.
Dareal has been doing it for literally years. This from 8/1/16
“Now the dad is making out like he and his kid are the victims. Sounds like Donald Trump. Gets himself in trouble and cries “it’s not fair” when he gets caught. He’s his own victim.”
Seriously two plus years. Nothings changed. You think you’re going to change anything with that dumb kneeling thing you say over and over and over and over again.
LOL!!!!! Like when Trump said he wasn’t going to call Kim Jong Un fat. Al & Paul, don’t worry, I won’t call you stupid.
Don’t do it, then make like you didn’t do it when you get a response to it. Trump makes himself look like a foolish idiot when he does it. Do you think that doesn’t happen to you? LOL!!!
Watching Doug lecture you on this is pretty funny. Doug, the one that has promised to leave and never post again. But yet he came back, again, and again and again… Doug, otherwise known as Insipid Sybil for all his alternate screen names. And accusing others of having numerous screen names. Insipid Sybil is probably Al & Paul.
Hey, did anybody else see that Ryan Gilbert/his website lost the media credentials at Thompson Speedway? Wonder what that is all about? 🤔
Watch this: https://youtu.be/JcYf7Jp5YPo Pay close attention at the 1:05 mark, and the discussion of a brain.
Good luck to this Andrew kid, and let’s see when he starts shaving and his voice drops.
I deserve that. For breaking the first rule of the comment section. Never ever suggest a fellow contributor to this forum behave in a certain way.
Just like dareal and Jeffrey are one in the same.
Paul, don’t waste your time calling him out, he will never give you an answer and he has not got the testicular fortitude to take a knee.
Thank you sir!!!
Thank you Humphry… Your the most sane person on this site…
Humphry sane? Mostly but maybe not completely and is that bad? But a pretty cool dude and one of the best folks to read in this forum.