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tafford Springs, CT)—When Stafford Speedway created the SK Light division prior to the start of the 2006 season, the intent of the division was to provide not only a less expensive open wheel alternative to the track’s premier SK Modified® division, but to serve as a stepping stone to the premier division. Fast forward 18 years and one look at the 2024 SK Modified® standings will show that the stepping stone vision has been realized and then some. The top-5 drivers in the 2024 standings are all SK Light graduates, and going even further, 8 of the top-10 drivers in the standings got their open wheel starts in the SK Light division.
Andrew Molleur, driver of the #85 Petty Cash Motorsports car, currently leads the SK Modified® standings on the strength of his division leading 11 top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes this season in 15 races to go along with his win on September 6th. Molleur spent one season in the SK Light division, notching 4 wins, 11 top-5, and 17 top-10 finishes during the 2018 season to finish fourth in points.
“I think the SK Light division is great because you get to race a modified and you don’t have a spotter,” said Molleur. “You always hear people talk about that but I’ll tell you what, having no spotter really truly helped a lot because you have to really use your ears and know where everyone is around you. Also just being on the track with a lot of other cars was beneficial and with the handicapping, you have to start mid-pack and try to work your way back to the front. That really teaches you a lot and prepares you for the SK Modified® division. I’m very thankful that I got to be a part of that division because it really helped shape me into the driver that I am today.”
Cory DiMatteo, driver of the #11 Hummel Brothers Hot Dogs car is another driver who spent only one year in the SK Light division, but that one season resulted in a championship with DiMatteo posting 4 wins, 12 top-5, and 14 top-10 finishes.
“The SK Light division taught me how to drive a modified for sure,” said DiMatteo. “A lot of things have changed since then, but it definitely allowed me to learn the track and the cars and I learned a lot about things like working with the tires.”
Of the top-5 drivers in the SK Modified® standings, Michael Christopher, Jr., driver of the #82 New England Turf / Eastport Feeds/ P.T. Watts car, spent the least amount of time in the division with only 5 starts during the 2014 season after racing for the majority of that year in the Legend Cars division.
“I don’t really remember much at all,” said Christopher. “There’s nothing to prepare you for the SK Modified® division other than just jumping in it. You really need to be in the SK division for a while to understand just how difficult the division is both car-wise and driver-wise to be spot on.”
Michael Gervais, Jr., driver of the #33 Gervais Brothers Roofing car, took the same route that DiMatteo took by winning the SK Light championship in his only season of SK Light competition back in 2009. Gervais failed to win a race that season, but his consistency of 9 top-5 and 15 top-10 finishes that season was enough to propel him to the championship.
“The SK Light division was a help to me but I think I could have benefitted even more with a little more time in the division,” said Gervais. “I really learned a lot but I remember thinking during my first season of SK Modified® racing I could have maybe used a little more time in the SK Lights.”
Troy Talman, driver of the #3 Casella Waste Systems car, has enjoyed a breakout year during the 2024 season with 3 victories thus far, made the move from Thompson to Stafford for the 2013 season where he posted 1 victory to go along with 9 top-5 and 15 top-10 finishes to finish third in the points before moving into the SK Modified® division in 2014.
“The SK Lights gave me an opportunity to get my feet wet at Stafford and we weren’t planning on running a full season that year at Stafford,” said Talman. “We had a good finish in the Spring Sizzler® and then we won the second race of the season, so we figured why not just keep on going and see how we can do. That was a great year for us and it was a stacked field back then with drivers like Chase Dowling, Tony Membrino, Ronnie Williams, and Tyler Hines. It’s a great division to get your feet wet in and there’s no spotters, so that really teaches you how to be aware of the cars around you and to make decisions on your own rather than relying on someone in your ear telling you what to do.”
All five drivers will be chasing after not one, but two wins this Friday night with the running of the 7th Annual TC 13 Shootout in memory of Ted Christopher. Drivers who finish in the top-13 positions during the regularly scheduled 40-lap feature will advance to the 13-lap shootout that will pay the winner a total of $1,313 thanks to the generosity of Justin and Tabitha Manafort. The total posted awards for the TC 13 race is over $7000 which includes contributions from Dan Avery with Avery Construction, Big Haus USA, Speedway Meadows Driving Range, Dr. Sean Noel from LifeCare Family Chiropractic, John Holland from New England Racing Fuel, Ed and Renee Bennett, Wade and Sandi Gagner from Wild Thing Karts, Casella Waste Systems, Hoosier Tire East, and F & M Electric Supply.
“I think that we have a lot of positive momentum going into that race,” said Molleur. “The TC 13 race has been a bucket list race for me to win and I’d really like to win it in honor of Ted, someone who I watched growing up and was able to race with for a short time before he passed away. It would be a really cool race for us to win and we’d love to add that TC 13 trophy to our trophy case. Our main focus is going to be the 40-lap main event but hopefully we can win both races.”
“I think we should be pretty good,” said DiMatteo. “We’ve been good the last couple weeks but we’ve had to start so far back in the field. I think we’ll have a pretty good shot at it.”
“I think we’ve been the best car the last few races and that’s shown on the track,” said Christopher. “We’ve just got to show up with the same package we’ve been running and we should be able to get up front once again.”
“Last year we ran pretty good in that race,” said Gervais. “I’m pretty confident we’ll be pretty good in the race this year with how we’ve run the last couple weeks.”
“We’ll be approaching the TC 13 just like any other race,” said Talman. “I’m sure we’ll be starting towards the back with the handicapping and hopefully we can get ourselves into a position to win the 40-lap race and then we’ll see what we can do in the TC 13. It’s a prestigious race for sure and every driver out there would like to win a TC 13 trophy.”
In addition to the TC 13 Shootout, this Friday, September 13, will also be First Responders Night. Tickets for September 13th are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets are $20.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. First Responders can get a discounted general admission ticket for only $10 at the gate with proper I.D. Reserved seating is priced at $25.00 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.
