One of the biggest surprises of the 2013 season at Stafford Motor Speedway was the immediate success of SK Light Modified division rookie Chase Dowling.
Chase Dowling celebrates an SK Light Modified win at Stafford Speedway (Photo: Stephanie Kimball/Stafford Speedway)
Dowling won in his first career start in the division and went to record seven victories and finish second in the points in the division in 2013.
So there will be no surprising the competition when Dowling hits the track in a new division in 2014. The teenager from Roxbury will make the jump next year to Stafford’s premier SK Modified division.
“I think my goals for this [2014] are the same as they were before last year,” Dowling said in a release. “We’d like to win one race and win the Rookie of the Year title. Obviously moving up the competition is a lot harder so I’m not going to get my hopes up too high but hopefully at least we can be the top rookie and I’ll be happy. Anything on the podium in the SK’s will be something to be proud of. Everyone wants to go out and win races but being a rookie I’m not expecting to win right away.”
“We’ll have the same car that we had last year, same crew, and same sponsors. The only thing that will be changing is the motor. It’s a lot more convenient for us than if we had a new chassis. We’re going to have a Billy the Kid engine in the car. I think it was the right time to move up. We have the people, the sponsors, and the money, so we have the whole package and there wasn’t a reason not to move up this year. It’s all pretty exciting for me. A lot of people either don’t have the money or the chance to ever move up to the SK’s. Moving up to the SK’s is an awesome opportunity for not only me and my crew, but for all my sponsors as well.”
Good luck kid, real good talent