STAFFORD – At many short tracks across America, a racing card with two female feature winners in one night would likely be celebrated as historic.
At Stafford Speedway female competitors have not only been regulars for many years across numerous divisions, but they’ve also regularly been successful for more than a decade.
On Friday night it was the two most recently abundantly successful female drivers at Stafford celebrating victories on the same night.
Alexandra Fearn of East Longmeadow, Mass. scored her third victory of the season in the 15-lap Limited Late Model feature. Meghan Fuller of Auburn, Mass. got her second consecutive victory and fourth victory overall in the 20-lap Street Stock feature.
“I love when me and Meg win,” said Fearn, a recent graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “She has two in a row right now. She’s very consistent. She’s a great racer. I really admire her driving. I admire being able to race at such a nice facility that celebrates that kind of thing, but at the end of the day, I put on the helmet the same as everybody else.”
After winning on July 19 in the Limited Late Model feature, Fearn became the winningest female driver in track history with 11 career victories. She had been tied with Stacey Botticello, who had 10 Street Stock victories from 1999-2006. Fearn now has seven Street Stock wins and five Limited Late Model victories.
“I never really considered us to be like an anomaly,” Fearn said. “There’s so few females because the sample pool is smaller. Not many females are into racing. It’s not like females can’t drive. It’s not like females don’t have enough money or enough talent or whatever. I don’t care. It’s just because of a small sample and there’s not many of us who are interested and have the ability to go racing. It requires a lot of resources and a lot of support. I come here, I race, I do my thing. I’m not here to impress anyone or be special.”
Fuller is the daughter of former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Rick Fuller.
“It’s definitely pretty amazing to see,” Meghan Fuller said of the success of female drivers at Stafford. “… Definitely with Alexandra, we both wish each other luck this year and many wins to come. She’s succeeding a lot. She’s the winningest female driver here at Stafford, which is amazing to see that there are other girls other than me that can succeed in this male dominant sport.”
Fearn led every lap on the way to victory in the Limited Late Model feature Friday.
“It was really awesome to start first and finish first,” Fearn said. “Obviously that’s what everybody wants to do when they start on the front. This is something that means a lot to us. We’ve struggled the past couple weeks, but it feels good to be back in victory lane. Being on the podium is one thing, but being back in victory lane that’s even better. My dad and [car owner Amedeo Francesca], they do a lot for my racing and my family so I can’t them then enough. They’re the reason that I’m here and they keep this thing going and make it the fastest that it can be. So I really have to acknowledge them.”
Fearn also offered special thanks to Joe Hamm for his help away from the track on her car.
Duane Provost of Palmer, Mass. was second and Jeremy Lavoie of Windsor Locks third.
Fuller was dominant once again in getting her fourth victory.
“It feels so amazing,” Fuller said. “When I got two [wins] I was so excited because last year we kept digging for another one and couldn’t get it. Then this year we got two and I was so excited and last week I got another one after having a couple rough weeks. … It just feels so amazing. My uncle Jimmy [Fuller] and my dad work so hard and it just pays off in the end. I love to see the smiles on their face.”
Travis Hydar of Woodbury was second in the Street Stock feature and Zack Robinson of Putnam third.
Congrats to Megan and Alexandra for winning in your respective divisions. Girl power rules. Your performance may draw more women into the sport. Great job girls. Best of luck going forward.
OK when a driver is going to be talking Statiistics 101 with anomalies and sample pools maybe a minor suggestion is in order. It shouldn’t be “I love when me and Meg win,”.. Always reference the person you are referring to first. You do after all have an advanced edgycation.
We love the chicks at Stafford don’t we? It’s not as easy making women feel comfortable and welcome at local tracks but Stafford clearly has done a great job. Might have something to do with a woman being in a top management position and the Arute family happily changing with the times.
Congratulations to Shawn as well for not only reporting the race events but putting them in greater historical context and on the fly at the race event.
Lets not forget the Dad’s. Stuart and Rick who without their resources, knowledge and hard work these wins would not happen. Moreover teaching their daughters that despite being part of a “smaller sample pool” they are no less capable of competing on the highest level in the divisions they race in.
Finally congratulations to Amanda West as well. The SK Lights are a loaded, brutally competitive division and Amanda fought her way to a stellar 5th place finish conceding positions very reluctantly.
Congrats to the Winners, but how do you start on the pole after winning last week? I know there only are about 12 cars but starting up front with a fast car is clearly an advantage in this division.
She didn’t start on pole and your handicapped from the 3 previous weeks
Thanks Elect, I stand corrected and learned something.
If I could just add a little more.
Robinson and Hydar, first and third in points started in 4th and third so they were right there if they had the speed. Moreover there was a caution in the first 10 laps that erased a big Fuller lead and Robinson was on the outside pole for that restart.
My only point is all the heavy hitters were right there in front to take the win and Fuller was clearly faster and not by a little bit.
I’d also like to say how impressive Hydar has become. He was a hammer for a couple years and he’s just learned so much and the results show.
I appreciate your correction, Doug, about the “I love when me and Meg win,”. Yes, that is grating English. However, if you are going to note that, said in a live moment, don’t be writing “Dad’s” instead of “dads”! I’m busting your chops a little here, but c’mon. I like to read your ramblings, as a rule.
Well done getserious. A successful busting of chops for sure and doing it while folding in another blow on my ramblings using velvet gloves of false praise.
I guess my only criticism is you need to pretend you have an interest in the gal’s being talked about or at least some interest in the Streets.