STAFFORD – The late weeks of August usually means a cooling of the air on Friday evenings at Stafford Motor Speedway.
But there’s been zero cooling for Bryan Narducci as summer has neared fall.
On fire at Stafford Speedway has actually been the only to describe Narducci of late.
Narducci rolled to his third consecutive victory in the 20-lap SK Light Modified feature Friday at Stafford Speedway.
It was the eighth victory in 18 starts in the divison this year for the Colchester driver.
Chris Matthews of Stafford was second and Alexander Pearl of Salem third.
Narducci started 15thin the 26-car field and was actually worried early on that he would be stuck in a mess.
“It was crazy at the beginning,” Narducci said. “After three laps I was like ‘We’re not going anywhere.’ The car was pretty good but the way the traffic was you couldn’t move. And then once we picked a couple off I thought we were looking pretty good.”
By lap 11 Narducci had worked his way up to fourth place.
“As soon as we got into fifth I knew we had a shot,” Narducci said.
Matthews went by Teddy Hodgdon IV for the lead on lap 12, but Hodgdon fought back a lap later to retake the lead and it was Narducci following him to second place.
On lap 15 Narducci found the lane under Hodgdon to take over the lead.
“I didn’t think I had much for [Hodgdon] at first, then when I got in behind him we went into the corner and he just went straight, didn’t turn,” Narducci said. “Apparently he was tight. My car was a little bit snug, but it was real racy and I could still dive under somebody and keep it low.”
A lap later contact from Matthews sent Hodgdon out of second place. Matthews had nothing for Narducci in the closing laps.
“Chris was real fast,” Narducci said. “It’s always fun racing with him. We were grinding a little bit. Hard racing, clean and it was a lot of fun.”
Wonder if they checked his tires.his car is so much faster than the rest of the field, so either he’s cheating, or the Chassis Pro Chassis is to SKLites, as the LFR is to NWMT competition, and they’ve hit on the perfect setup. I’d like to think it’s the latter
Second trip to Stafford this year, same result. Rob P, that 01 car really handles on the straights. Both times I have been there you can see him pumping the brakes halfway down the backstretch because he has so much more power than anyone else he is driving over them on the straights. That is where his handling is, not at Chassis Pro. And Doug, don’t give me his lap times for the race. When you are in traffic you can only go as fast as the cars around you. It is only a 20 lap race. By the time he gets through the traffic there are only a few laps left. I am going to guess he has been told when you get to the lead only open up a few car length gap because there only a few laps left.
CHASSIS PRO P1 & P2
Maybe more correctly Chassis Pro one and Chassis Pro setup of CD two.
Point is made though. Are cars going to be beating down Owen’s door over the winter to grab them a little of the 01 magic?
One thing that may be making the 01 so fast could be cam timing. Don’t know if those motors allow for cam timing adjustment or not. Back in ’02 we ran a Mike Pettit motor and although we we’re very fast, and hooked up where we could get the car to stick, Mike decided to add some cam timing. Wow what a difference that made. That one small adjustment had our competitors crying foul. That may be what’s making the 01 so fast yet legal.
nope
Yes the rules allow for cam timing/indexing. Can not modify cam profile/lift/duration. Must be stock. Most the guys probably have that done atleast.
It’s the motor it sounds different many racers have said it but when racing for $300 who’s going to put up $500 or whatever it is now to tear motor down? Answer probably no one money used somewhere else. There’s GoPro footage from an SK lite on youtube you can see the 15 and 8 car being pushed on the outside by Narducci down the backstretch then Brian chops inside and is gone. It’s also funny for how fast car is he never hits rev limiter when other top 5 cars do at end of straights?? But I guess everyone has an opinion and until anything is proved,caught no one will know… maybe put him in an SK and let’s see how fast he is???
Thanks Ed J for the tip. Lap times indeed mean nothing when the car is in traffic. However that isn’t what I refer to. I generally refer to the fast lap comparison and while not guaranteed it is generally generated at some point in the race when the cars are not obstructed. Practice and heat times are instructive as well.
It’s all very frustrating with the 01. I’m not making any observation on things amiss with the car because I just don’t know. What I’m sure of is it’s a Stafford problem. Tom Fearn as well. Unless you are in the Narducci camp fans generally want to see competition. Not one car dominating. Fearn and Narducci are dominating and it’s boring in my view. You sit there hoping Fearn or Narducci get caught up in traffic or there are no cautions and time runs out for them letting someone else win. That’s no fun. Last year the SK Lights were the best division in my view with a few nail biters at the end..This year no so much.
I don’t know what you can do when a car is just so good it dominates. Just enforce the rules as best you can and hope the division gets back to an exciting one at some point I guess.