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STAFFORD – After a season that saw him collect five victories and a second place in the SK Light Modified standings at Stafford Motor Speedway in 2018, it’s fair to say Bryan Narducci is the odds on favorite this season in the division.
Being the target, whether by his competitors on the track or the boo birds in the stands, is something the Colchester teenager is fully prepared for in 2019.
It’s actually something he’s looking forward to.
“I really enjoy it,” said Narducci, who finished two points behind 2018 SK Light Modified champion Marcello Rufrano, who has moved to the SK Modified division. “I love when people start saying something about me. The best thing to do is just go out there and win and try to prove them wrong. I personally love all the people hating on me and putting a target on me. I think it’s great.”
Narducci gave the naysayers more ammunition Saturday by holding on through a rash of late restarts in the drizzle to win the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature on opening day at Stafford Speedway.
“It was raining pretty good the last two restarts,” Narducci said. “I could barely see. You’d get in the corner and go straight. I was like ‘Good thing I’m clear because it’s not turning.’”
Teddy Hodgdon of Danbury was second and Noah Korner of Canton third.
In April 2018 at Stafford Narducci opened his rookie season in the SK Light Modified division at Stafford by letting victory slip away.
“Last year I lost this race because I missed a shift,” Narducci said. “We had a bunch of restarts [over the closing laps] and I didn’t miss one this time. That was good.”
It was the second season opening SK Light Modified victory for Narducci, who also won the division’s feature at the Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway on April 6.
Narducci, how predictable. And perhaps not that popular only because he wins too much which is really unfair.
It’s early race fans. It’s a long season and things can happen. Bakaj is a grizzled veteran that will grind it out. My money is on Hodgdon with a huge learning curve upside and great equipment. Korner I don’t know much about but looks sharp. Chapman another Stafford karts grad may be another one with a huge upside.
You may think you know how this will play out but I’m betting you don’t.
Hang onto your seats. This may be the best division with the best finishes and the most surprises Stafford offers.
My money is on Narducci. He’s a good guy and a great wheel man good luck Bryan!!!
33 SK Lights showed up and Stafford only pays out what?? The SK field wasn’t to shabby either but when a division supports the back gate like that, Stafford better sharpen their pencils on payouts. The last time SK’s had a field that big was years ago.
here’s a link to the 2018 purses.
https://www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/2018-stafford-speedway-weekly-purses/?fbclid=IwAR28uFNXVeYeYrULtwR4iDIarmJ1jxwc8EEBP56FZdJtMAp2Mqh5M-WR_QM
not sure if they are still accurate
So who does talk about purses? Maybe perennial front runners used to being on the podium. Over the course of the season they can rake in a significant amounts to offset what they’re losing. But they aren’t typical.
For the majority that race do they think much of anything about what they can win? I doubt it. My only point of reference is when I raced and the payout was never a factor at all on where and when we raced.
Fact is the amount of money you spend to field a car now is such an astronomical number a few hundred bucks more here or there makes little difference. Most don’t win and those that run in the 10th to 25th spots that make up good fields aren’t loading up and heading to the track for another $50. What they race for is fun. We see it more and more with fewer cars racing a full schedule. People pick their spots mostly and race when they’re ready mentally and financially. For fun.
That SK Light payout proves my point. Compared to the level of competition and the fields they generate as well as fan interest the payouts are a joke. That division could be the premier division at many tracks and yet they receive virtually nothing to race. And yet they continue to grow and thrive with new blooding coming and going every year.
The demographic in racers has changed as well. Mostly gone is the scrappy, cleaver average Joe’s that could put together a car on a shoe string and muster a respectable finish on Friday night. More and more it’s families with money and/or successful businesses that treat racing like it’s their boat or summer cabin. Their recreational dollars go to racing and they are willing to pay guys that know the sport to help them field the cars for their youngsters. Then family and friends congregate at the track to share a common experience and recreate.Each car has it’s own budget and goals like families with difference size summer cabins and they try to maximize their enjoyment within their budget.
I’ll tell you what is more important then payouts, it’s respect. The people that race now are not grease monkeys you can treat shabbily, they’re people of substance in many cases. Giving teams good accommodations, keeping promises, making tech tough but fair, being courteous and respectful of the fact they are the show not the track.Not doing it for just the front runners but everyone that brings a car in the back gate. From the feedback we see here Stafford lead by Mark Arute seems to be accomplishing that goal fairly well. It didn’t always used to be that way.
Purses may be important to guys like Hirschman and others but to weekly racers nope, taint so. The special races with bigger payout, the bonuses and the like are more like carrots to make events more fun and promotional tools then meaningful offsets to the cost of racing.
Purses are merely score cards for most that race
How do you win a little money? By spending a whole lot of money.
This view might not be 100% correct for 100% of those that race but I’ll bet it’s at least 51% right for 51% of the participants.