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(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Motor Speedway will host NAPA Champions Night this Friday, Oct. 4 with the track crowning its 2024 champions. Steven Chapman locked up the SK Light track championship with two wins last Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 & 28, including the 40-lap King of the Crate event. With Chapman already knowing he is the 2024 SK Light champion, there are still 4 track titles to be decided in the SK Modified®, Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions.
The race for the SK Modified® championship will be decided between the #85 Petty Cash Motorsports team with Andrew Molleur and the #82 New England Turf / Eastport Feeds / P.T. Watts team of Michael Christopher, Jr. Molleur heads into NAPA Champions Night holding a 32-point advantage over Christopher. Molleur helped extend his lead over Christopher with a 9th place finish on Friday, Sept. 27 and a win in the Sat. Sept. 28 NAPA Fall Final feature events. Should Molleur record a top-16 finish this Friday night, he will clinch the championship regardless of where Christopher finishes. Otherwise, Molleur must finish no less than 15 positions behind Christopher to win the championship as Christopher holds the tiebreaker advantage over Molleur by virtue of his 3 wins to Molleur’s two. For Christopher to win the championship, he must finish at least 16 positions in front of Molleur.
The Late Model championship is set to be decided between the #23 Lavigne Law team of Kevin Gambacorta and the #39 Tavern on the Trax team of Paul Varricchio, Jr. Gambacorta and Varricchio have fought neck and neck throughout the season for the Late Model points lead with Varricchio able to slash 12 points off of Gambacorta’s lead over the last 2 races. Despite Varricchio’s gains over the last 2 races, Gambacorta heads into NAPA Champions Night enjoying the same 32-point advantage over Varricchio that Andrew Molleur enjoys over Michael Christopher, Jr. in the SK Modified® division. For Gambacorta to become Late Model champion for the second consecutive season, a finish anywhere in the top-16 will turn that scenario into reality. Otherwise, Gambacorta must finish no more than 15 positions behind Varricchio if Varricchio wins and no more than 16 positions behind Varricchio if he doesn’t win. Varricchio is in the same boat as Christopher in the SK Modified® division in that he needs to finish at least 16 positions in front of Gambacorta if he wins the race and 17 positions ahead if he doesn’t win the race.
Steven Chapman wrapped up the SK Light championship with two wins last Friday and Saturday, but he still has motivation to collect another victory. Chapman’s two victories last week enabled him to tie Tommy Barrett, Jr. for the most SK Light feature victories in a single season with 10. An 11th victory for Chapman would set a new all-time mark for a single season in the SK Light division.
The race for the Limited Late Model championship has been the tightest race all season long of Stafford’s five weekly divisions and it remains the tightest race going into NAPA Champions Night. Matt Clement and the #59 Utility Services New England team currently hold a scant 6-point advantage over both Devon Jencik and the #23 Jenco Construction team and the #6 L & S Equipment team of Jeremy Lavoie. Rich Hammann and the #28 NAPA Tolland team are also still mathematically eligible to win the championship, but they are in long shot territory being 34 points behind Clement. Should Clement record a top-3 finish this Friday night, he will become champion no matter where the other 3 contenders finish. If Clement doesn’t finish in the top-3, then he must be no more than 2 positions behind Jencik, no more than 2 positions behind Lavoie if Lavoie wins and no more than 3 behind Lavoie if he doesn’t win, and no more than 17 positions behind Hammann. For Jencik to win the title, he has to be at least 3 positions in front of Clement and he has to finish in front of Lavoie. For Lavoie to lay claim to a 4th Limited Late Model title, he needs to finish at least 3 positions in front of Clement if he wins the race and at least 4 positions in front of Clement if he doesn’t win. Lavoie also needs to finish in front of Jencik and no more than 13 positions behind Hammann. For Hammann to complete a Hail Mary and take home his second track championship, he will need to outscore Clement by at least 17 positions and finish at least 14 positions in front of both Jencik and Lavoie.
The race for the Street Stock championship will be decided between the #80 JHS Restoration team of Tyler Trott and the #42 P.J. Lodola & Sons, Inc. Electrical Contractors team of Travis Downey. Both Trott and Downey had to contend with Travis Hydar, who has 10 wins this season, for the majority of the summer, but Hydar’s six finishes of 15th or worse have eliminated him from championship contention. Trott heads into NAPA Champions Night with a 20-point advantage over Downey. Should Trott finish anywhere in the top-10 this Friday night, he will win the championship regardless of where Downey finishes the race. Otherwise Trott must finish no more than 9 positions behind Downey to claim the championship. Downey holds a tie breaking advantage over Trott so he needs to finish at least 10 positions in front of Trott to become champion.
Tickets for this Friday’s NAPA Champions Night 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. 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.
