(Press release from Stafford Speedway)
The 2025 Stafford Speedway racing schedule has been set. The 24-race schedule kicks off April 26th and 27th with the 53rd annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler® weekend and ends with NAPA Auto Parts Champions Night Friday, October 3rd.
2025 Stafford Speedway Schedule
“Coming off a great 2024 season for all of our weekly divisions, we are continuing to keep our focus on showcasing our teams and drivers,” explained Stafford Speedway CEO Mark Arute. “With a mix of special events and strong weekly racing program our 2025 schedule puts our 5 weekly divisions in the spotlight every Friday night. Our goal is to make sure every event on the calendar is important and we believe our 2025 schedule does just that.”
NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler Weekend April 26th & 27th
The 2025 NAPA Spring Sizzler® Weekend will once again be one of the biggest short track events of the year and will feature two separate days of racing. New for 2025, Saturday will feature two 20-lap Duels for the SK Light Modified division with the top finishers advancing to the 30-lap feature Sunday, April 27th. The Street Stock, Limited Late Model, and Late Model divisions will also compete on Saturday, April 26th.
Sunday, April 27th will be highlighted by the 53rd running of the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. The Open Modifieds will practice, qualify, and run their features on Sunday. The afternoon will also feature the SK Modifieds®, SK Light Modified, and the NAPA Pit Party.
“We took a look at Spring Sizzler® weekend and made some adjustments to cut costs for the Open Modified teams while also giving the SK Light teams a big event to start their season. The result is a great weekend of racing highlighted by the 53rd running of the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler.”
SK Modified® Events
After the most competitive season in its history featuring 12 different winners in 20 events, the SK Modifieds® will have 3 extra distance races in 2025. Extra distance events include:
Casella Waste SK Modified® 80 – Friday, June 6th
Call Before You Dig Senators Cup 50 – Friday, June 20th
12th Annual NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K 112 – Friday, August 1st
“Not much better than SK Modified racing. An additional special event will give the stars of our SK Modified division another night to shine. We’re working on some fun and unique twists for these three events, stay tuned for more info.”
Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series
The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series will make two stops at Stafford Speedway in 2025 including their 4th consecutive season as the headline division at the NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final. New for 2025, the Monaco Modifieds Series will visit the Stafford half-mile for a Wednesday night 100-lapper July 16th with the 2nd Annual GAF Modified Masters.
GAF Roofing Modified Masters 100 – Wednesday, July 16th
NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final 80 – Saturday, September 27th
“The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series has done a great job with their series the last few seasons. We think they will bring our GAF Modified Masters event to the next level and help us develop that event into a marquee event on the Modified racing calendar.”
Special Events
Each of Stafford’s 5 weekly divisions will have at least one special event night in 2025. Limited Late Models will go an extra 10 laps on June 13th, Street Stocks will run an extra 10 laps on June 27th for the annual Midstate Site Development Firecracker 30, and Paradiso Insurance returns as the presenting sponsor for the Late Model 50 on September 5th.
The SK Light Modified division will have 3 extra distance events including preliminary races and a 30-lap feature on NAPA Spring Sizzler® weekend, Monaco Ford SK Light Double Down on May 23rd, and the King of the Create event on Wednesday, July 16th.
The traditional Lincoln Tech Open Modified 80 returns to the calendar Friday, August 15th.
AZ Roofing and Maybury Material Handling return to host Kids Night events on May 30th and August 29th. Utility Services of New England has partnered with Stafford to host First Responders Night and the annual TC 13 SK Modified shootout.
Season Tickets
Season tickets for the 2025 season are now on sale online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets. Early discount pricing is available through December 15th. Season ticket holders in 2024 saved 50% when compared to purchasing tickets each week. Contact the track office with any questions.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
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I assume Cletus returns on July 18/19. But, why no weekly racing on 9/19? A planned night off, or a makeup date?
CTRL + C
CTRL + V
as for the 9/19 date. that’s loudons race weekend now. Probably dont want to compete with it at a time of year when the crowds are already starting to falloff a bit.
Zig13,
You think the restaurant that has sold the most pizza in town for the last decade changes the recipe for their dough and sauce every 12 months?
I’m only seeing 2 open modified events- the Spring Sizzler and Lincoln Tech Open 80 plus the 2 Tri Track events, so I guess it’s 4 “open” events. It looks like they shifted one open event to a 80-lap SK race because there were 5 in 2024. Car counts for the 3 non Sizzler/Fall Final races weren’t terrible but maybe 2024 was oversaturated with open mod races after all?
Would have liked to see something different one time but I guess you stick with what works
Did they not just change the dough a little bit last year, Shawn? Seemed to work pretty well.
I’m not saying do wholesale changes. But from a fans perspective, the only real change that stands out to me is a very minimal one of shifting an open 80 into a sk 80. And cutting (?) the duels for the sizzler. Both relatively small, and more about benefiting open teams.
The tri track sanction of the masters wont really be noticeable IMO.
It’s a fine schedule. But i also enjoy new things being tried.
and another note, another open 80 disappears, and the sizzler loses a day of tour mod racing.
but people will continue to insist only the tour has a problem.
(this is not a shot a Stafford. if anything they are being smart)
Makes no sense making the underfunded SK light teams stuck there for two days ?
Super fan- not many underfunded skl teams in the pits these days. Double stacker trailers, rented cars… crazy
Stafford post pandemic premium show history
(Sanctioning group and cars counts in parenthesis)
2021
GSPSS (24)
Sizzler (NWMT) (28)
CBYD (26)
Twisted Tea (27)
GAF (NWMT) (23)
Bud Light (26)
Lincoln Tech (25)
Fall Final (NWMT) 26
1 Super Late Model
3 NWMT
4 Stafford brand opens
Notes: last year with the Tour, Stafford expands their own open brand to 4 events.
_______________
2022
PASS (20)
Duels (41)
Sizzler 33)
CBYD 23
Bud (27)
GAF (29)
Lincoln Tech (31)
Fall Final (MMTTS) (33)
6 Stafford brand opens
1 Super Late Model
1 MMTTS
Notes:Stafford expands their own brand of open to 6, first regularly scheduled (non pandemic) event for the MMTTS
_________________
2023
ACT (30)
Duels (38)
Sizzler (32)
CBYD (21)
Casella (22)
GAF (17)
Lincoln (24)
Fall Final (MMTTS) (30)
6 Stafford brand opens
1 Super Late Model
1 MMTTS
Notes: same basic line-up as prior year but the mid season open shows see erosion in the car counts
________________
2024
Duels (31)
Sizzler (30)
CBYD/Casella (22)
GAF (26)
Lincoln Tech (22)
Fall Final (MMTTS) (30)
5 Stafford brand opens
1 MMTTS
Notes: Super Late Model race dropped plus one Stafford brand mid season open.
____________________
2025
Sizzler
Casella
GAF (MMTTS)
Lincoln Tech
Fall Final (MMTTS)
3 Stafford brand opens
2 MMTTS
Notes: Duels are dropped plus one mid season open moves from the Stafford to MMTTS brand. Total of three less tour type premium events then 2021 as Stafford puts greater emphasis on it’s house divisions especially the the two modified divisions.
doug the 2025 casella race is an SK modified 80 this year. so only 2 Stafford brand open shows.
Nice save on the Casella.
What I didn’t show was the ascendancy of opens at Stafford prior to the pandemic something that was quite remarkable the way it happened. Outside sanctioning groups would come in for special events. In 2017 it included the then VMRS, Modified Touring Series and ISMA. 2018 they still had the VMRS in for a couple events but introduced their own branded opens sponsored by Twisted Tea and Bud Light. 2019 the VMRS had one event while Stafford expanded their opens to three. 2020 disrupted by the pandemic when racing got going the VMRS was out and they packed in 4 of their own opens in the abbreviated season. 2020 also the first appearance by the MMTTS in the season finale memorable for an off the charts turnout of cars and fan interest.
All the while that was happening the NWMT still on the schedule in some form but the hand writing on the wall. By 2022 the only outsider was the MMTTS Stafford having taken over every other tour mod open event on the schedule with their own product.
The schedule does reflect a decreased emphasis on tour mod opens but the way I look at the ebb and flow of schedule building it makes perfect sense. Stafford like every other promoter of tour mod events was making hay while the sun shined on opens in 2021 & 22. As we saw everyone got too greedy, too many opens were being scheduled, what was special at the start became mundane with fields of cars and fan interest eroding. From a macro perspective tour mod racing in a general contraction mode highlighted by Stafford and ACT/PASS at Thompson and that’s a good thing. It’s not the result of less teams there’s more of them then ever they just can’t support a bloated landscape of too many tour mod opens.
Has anything really changed at Stafford? Not really, they are doing the usual, making improvements which for now includes improving the infield ground water drainage system. 2025 a place holding year in my view. Support by house division teams so strong even the once given up for dead Limited Late Models are getting good fields of cars. When you design a feeder division like the SK Lights you hope it’s a stepping stone from entry level to the SK’s but no one could have imagined it would work out as good as it has. They keep the SK’s stocked with new blood while maintaining fields of cars every week reminiscent of stock car racing in it’s hay day. Taking it up a notch in 2025 simply common sense.
2025 a trimming the fat year, taking fewer risks including expanding their relationship with the MMTTS. A lot of meat and potatoes on the schedule in the way of the 5 weekly division with more bells and whistles. Fewer marquee events but arguably more success in the ones that have been scheduled.
Still unknown, Cleetus McFarland. Gotta have that one the next arc up on the Stafford learning curve and a low risk big pay day. They cashed in on tour mod opens for a while and now I can’t help but wonder if a Stafford produced show like Cleetus McFarland will pop up in the years to come.