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(Stafford Springs, CT)—As the saying goes, the only two things in life that are certain are death and taxes. With a third consecutive NAPA Spring Sizzler victory to kick off the 2025 season, Matt Clement and the #59 Utility Services New England Limited Late Model team could be added to that cliché as perpetual winners of the season opening event. Clement’s third consecutive NAPA Spring Sizzler victory was his fourth overall Sizzler victory, meaning that nearly 25% of his 21 career feature wins have come in that event.
“A lot of our Sizzler success comes down to not messing up the setup we have in the car during the off-season,” said Clement. “The past several seasons we seem like we hit on the correct setup to start and we come into our own speed-wise to close out the year. In the off-season we clean up the bodywork, paint the car, and put all the geometry back to where it was and that really seems to agree with the track every spring.”
Clement followed up his third consecutive NAPA Spring Sizzler victory with a second consecutive victory of the 2025 season back on May 16. Clement and his team made sure that there wasn’t to be a repeat of the 2024 Limited Late Model campaign that saw 9 different winners in as many races before there was a repeat winner.
“I was just as surprised as anyone that we got that close to the lead,” said Clement. “Once I got settled in behind Matt [Winter] we got kind of lucky with getting to restart on the inside for a couple of restarts. This is the best way to start the season and we’ll continue to dot our I’s and cross our t’s and keep on doing what we’ve been doing. We’re not going to take too big of a swing on the car from week to week and if things go our way so be it and if not, we’ll still have a fast enough car to have some fun racing up there in the top-5 or top-10.”
Clement’s consecutive feature wins to start off the 2025 season has him sitting atop the Limited standings after two races. After winning the championship last season and being in the championship hunt for the past several seasons, Clement has a good idea of what he needs to do in order to continue his high level of success throughout the 2025 season and once again be a championship contender.
“I think you have to be patient,” said Clement. “If you display a little patience and wait for others around you to make mistakes, you’ll be right there at the end of the race and that’s going to put you in the best position for the end of the year to be fighting for the championship. A lot of it comes down to not getting into your own head looking at lap times every week. In our last race we were 9th fastest in practice and I thought ‘wow, we’re really off the pace this week’ and then we made one small adjustment on the car and we went from 9th to 4th in the second practice. In the feature we were either the fastest or 2nd fastest car on the track, so you just have to know that you’re not going to be the fastest car every week and you don’t need to be the fastest car to have the best position you can possibly have that week.”
In addition to his fellow competitors on the track, Clement has to contend with a Stafford race track that likes to throw teams a curveball when it comes down to hitting on a car setup that will be both quick as well as consistent.
“I think the track changes every year based on how the seasons are going,” said Clement. “It can be really hot for a couple months or there can be a ton of rain like we’ve had lately. The track can be very fickle year over year. Having a good notebook to work with gets us in the ballpark and then we just have to zero in on the correct adjustment we need on a particular night. The track changes so much through the year that we’re always looking to find that edge where we can be fast but reliably fast and in control of the car.”
With their hot start to the 2025 season, Clement and the #59 team are feeling confident and looking forward to once again being a championship favorite as the season progresses forward.
“We’re feeling super confident right now,” said Clement. “We’re the champions for a reason, we came out well prepared, and I think we should be one of the favorites again. We have to respond to the pressure that we put on ourselves and so far we’ve been able to perform admirably. We just have to keep our nose clean and don’t put ourselves in situations where we’re going to have a bad night. People will put us in those situations but we’ll try our best to maneuver through those and float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Thanks to Utility Service New England, Wayne’s Auto Body, Aquatic Wildlife, Natural Design Company, NAPA, RAD Auto Machine, Riley Generators, VooDoo Ranger, my Mom and Dad, my brothers, my family, everyone who helps us get to the track each week, and Ron’s Automotive.”
Clement will try to make it 3-for-3 at Stafford this Friday, May 30th in the AZ Roofing Kids Night program. Stafford’s SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, and Street Stock divisions will join the Limited Late Models in feature action and there will also be a kids big wheel race as part of the night’s festivities. Tickets are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and can also be purchased at the admission gates. General admission tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate for adults, while all kids 14 & under are free. Reserved seating is priced at $25 in advance and $30 at the gate for all ages. Pit passes are $40 with a valid 2025 Stafford Competition License and $45 without one. If you can’t attend in person, don’t miss the action—tune in to 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.
