STAFFORD – Frank L’Etoile and Chris Meyer have been the class of the field in 2021 in the Street Stock division at Stafford Speedway.
Friday night the division’s leading two drivers made sure that the show was on with their division in the spotlight.
The division went an extra 10 laps for the Midstate Site Development Firecracker 30 Friday and the extra circuits meant more laps for L’Etoile and Meyer to battle for the lead out front.
In the end it was L’Etoile, of Wethersfield, going to victory lane after the feisty battle for his third win in nine events.
Meyer, of North Franklin, was second. Nick Hovey of Chaplin was third.
L’Etoile and Meyer put on a door-leaning, lead swapping battle at the front of the field for much of the final 10 laps.
“It’s a fierce battle every time we battle with him,” L’Etoile said. “It is what is. Surviving the first half and just battling. I was just battling my buns off.”
Said Meyer: “We brought the fireworks tonight. It was our show. … That was an awesome race and I had a lot of fun racing with Frank. What a good time. I would have liked to win it. His car is a little better than mine. … I want to say thanks to Frank. That was some old school racing right there. Neither one of us went in the fence. Nobody hooked the other. That’s what people want to see when these cars run.”
What a night for full bodied racing. First the Late Model feature then this gem with L’Etoile and Myer going at it tooth and nail. No doubt L’Etoile is about as good a Street Stock driver as they come and he does consistently have the best car regardless of the tire situation. For my money Meyer is the better driver simply for making it a race and expertly taking L’Etoile off his game with some really nifty legal rough housing. I say legal a bit tongue in cheek. What was going on between the two could easily be considered serial rough riding and reason for penalties. When two evenly matched experts do it, it represents the epitome of circle track racing and the best any fan could expect.
Honorable mention to Nick Hovey for a nifty third place finish but more importantly the maturity to know to stay clear of what was going on in front of him. There will be a time to use a situation like that to your advantage but last night was not the time. The odds that they would spin each other out were good and that’s good decision making even when it doesn’t pan out. Otherwise what L’Etoile and Myer were doing was an AP class in racing that for a young driver was best to watch and learn from for future reference.