“Digging Deep With Denise” is a semi-regular question and answer feature with local racers and racing personalities produced by RaceDayCT’s Denise DuPont
Dylan Kopec has been behind the wheel since he was 6 years old. He started his racing career in Go-Karts like many other drivers and worked his way up to a Modified where his passion lies. So far in 2023 Kopec has 12 starts in the family-owned No. 16 SK Modified at Stafford Speedway. Kopec has scored three top-five’s and six top-10’s in 2023 is ninth in the SK Modified division standings. In the past few races Kopec has been a part of the front of the field challenging the leader lap after lap.
Why do you race?
“It is something that the family has been doing for years. I enjoy it. I have fun with it. I am really competitive. And it is just family. Everybody here is family so it is fun.”
Why is your goal for the rest of 2023?
“Just stay consistent. Keep the tires on it. Checking off a couple more good finishes and just trying to win. It really hard to tell. It is really hard to set a solid goal for this year. Things have just been all over the place.”
Any thoughts or plans for 2024?
“I am not totally sure yet. I would like to say that I will come back with an SK Modified. I do not know what our plans are. It is a lot of work running weekly a modified.”
If you were not racing what would you be doing at the track?
“I probably would be spotting. I am a pretty good spotter. I have spotted for Spencer Davis at Dover [Motor Speedway] . I have done it at Gresham Motorsports Park and then Greenville Pickens with the ARCA car.”
If you had your choice to drive in any modified division or series what would you select?
“The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour of course. It is hard to compete with them. It is a nice professional background where the best of the best drivers race every week. It is cool to run at all those different tracks too.“
Which race track do you like to run on?
“I really had fun back in the day when we went to Oxford Plains. It is a fairly tricky track. I really like Seekonk [Speedway] now. And I do really enjoy Stafford [Speedway]. It is a really unique race track.”
What does Media not cover that you would like to see covered?
“The good stories [behind the scenes]. Also covering a driver and the hard parts in their day. Something like the ‘Day in a Life of a driver’. “
If you could change anything with a modified, what would you change?
“I think they are really awesome cars, I do not think that I would change anything.”
In July at Stafford Speedway, the No. 16 was more consistent and a front runner. Your thoughts?
“A lot of it is just building a notebook. Bringing the car home after a 15th place finish. Putting it on the scales and just working on it every week. A lot of it is not the car. A lot of it is me, the driver. It is getting use to the car. I went from a Tour Type Modified to an SK [Modified] with less horsepower. And an SK Light [Modified] to a Tour Type car. Just bouncing around on horsepower and momentum. It is all sorts of things. Everything just kind of adds up. This year we are finally putting all the puzzle pieces together. Just figuring the car out is the biggest thing.”
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