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(Stafford Springs, CT)—For second year Stafford Speedway Street Stock driver Jeff Asselin, the 2024 season has been a wild roller coaster of a season. Asselin and his #7 SAFCO Foam / Dryer Vent Cleaning Company team overcame unforeseen ignition issues at the start of the season to record back-to-back podium finishes before a 3-race stretch that saw them get caught up in wrecks and finish outside the top-10 each week. The most recent Street Stock race on June 21st saw Asselin return to the podium for the third time this season to maintain his fifth place in the Street Stock standings.
“It’s been an up and down season, from one extreme to the next,” said Asselin. “The season started off where the car wouldn’t start at the Spring Sizzler® so we missed qualifying. We ended up going from 19th to 8th in the race and we were happy with that knowing we had to start in the back. We continued to have ignition issues leading up to the second race and we had a bunch of guys in the pits help us with the car and we got it running and we finished on the podium that night. Then we got another podium the race after that, so we were riding pretty high. Then we had some back luck the next 3 weeks getting caught up in some crashes before we got another podium finish. When we’re not getting caught up in something, the car is really good. It’s only our second season so our goal was to get top-10 and top-5 finishes and we’re pretty happy with how things have gone so far. I have to thank Dryer Vent Cleaning Company, SAFCO Foam, Ebenezer’s Bar and Grill, Freedom Motorsports, Garrett’s Carpentry, Common Coatings, JP Tax & Accounting, D4 Graphics, my son Connor, he’s been with me every race since we started a few years back, Jess, Jeff Heath, BFR Chassis, North American Texturing, and Westling USA.”
With the three podium finishes this season after a best finish of fourth during his rookie campaign of 2023, Asselin seems to be headed towards his first Street Stock victory, but he knows that he will need a perfect night to capture that first win.
“We’re optimistic and the car is good and it’s getting faster,” said Asselin. “We’re getting better but it seems like there’s two or three cars out there that are almost impossible to beat unless you have everything absolutely perfect for yourself. I thought our last race might have been the one since we led some laps and we had a sizable lead, but after five laps, Travis Hydar was right there behind us. I know the car is fast and we can do it, but I also think that we have to have a lot of things fall into place for us for a win to happen but we’re going to keep on trying every week.”
The next opportunity for Asselin and crew to win their first race will be the Midstate Site Development 30 lap feature event set for June 28. Asselin finished 15th in last year’s MSD 30-lapper and his plan for this year’s edition is to save the car for the end of the race and then make moves towards the front. Asselin is hoping for a good finish so that he can maintain his top-5 position in the season long points standings.
“Our goal is to ride things out so we can be there at the end and see what happens,” said Asselin. “We’ve only run one 30-lap race before and that was last season and I thought that once you’re out there on the track, you don’t really notice the extra 10 laps. We’re looking at finishing in the top-5 in the points. Last year we finished 9th in our rookie season and we want to improve on that and we feel like a top-5 finish is a realistic goal. I’m not going to lie and say we haven’t looked at the standings, but we’re not really going to chase points, we’re going to run each race and let things work out in the end.”
Stafford’s SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, and Limited Late Model divisions will join the Street Stocks in feature action this Friday night with fireworks to follow the feature action at the end of the night. Tickets for the June 28 Midstate Site Development Firecracker Street Stock 30 are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets are $25.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. Reserved seating is priced at $30.00 for all ages and pit passes are $40.00 with a valid 2024 Stafford Competition License and $45.00 without a Stafford license. If you are unable to attend the event, tune into the live stream on FloRacing, the official streaming partner of Stafford Speedway.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
