KEITH ROCCO, RYAN POSOCCO, MATT GALKO, DAN FLANNERY,

KEITH ROCCO, RYAN POSOCCO, MATT GALKO, DAN FLANNERY,
AND TONY MEMBRINO, JR. HONORED AS 2010 STAFFORD SPEEDWAY TRACK CHAMPIONS

(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Motor Speedway welcomed a guest list of
nearly 500 people consisting of teams, drivers, sponsors, and employees this
past Friday night, November 19 at the La Renaissance Banquet Facility in
East Windsor to officially honor Keith Rocco, Ryan Posocco, Matt Galko, Dan
Flannery, and Tony Membrino, Jr. as the 2010 Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series track champions.
With Stafford Motor Speedway broadcasters Matt Buckler and Joe Coss serving
as the Masters of Ceremony, the 41st annual Stafford Motor Speedway NASCAR
Champions Awards Ceremony not only honored the five track champions, it also
honored the top-20 points finishers from the SK Modified®, Late Model, SK
Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. Other awards that were
presented during the evening’s festivities were Most Popular Driver Awards,
Most Improved Driver Awards, Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie of the Year
awards, and the Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award.
The race for the 2010 SK Modified® championship began and ended with Keith
Rocco in victory lane. In between his season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net
Spring Sizzler and CARQUEST Fall Final feature victories this season were 8
more feature wins to give Rocco a Stafford SK Modified® record 10 wins. In
20 starts this season, Rocco collected 16 top-5, and 19 top-10 finishes
along with his 10 wins for an amazing average finish of 3.4, which allowed
him to win the championship by a whopping 138-point margin over Woody
Pitkat. Rocco also finished in 7th place in the Late Model points standings
this season with one victory.
The 2010 Late Model championship chase saw Ryan Posocco complete the “Drive
for Five” as he collected his record fifth Late Model track championship at
Stafford. The points race was a tight race all season long between Posocco,
Woody Pitkat, and Dillon Moltz, which ended up coming down to the last race
with Posocco and Pitkat separated by only 6 points as Moltz faded from
contention. Pitkat ended up winning the CARQUEST Fall Final feature event
for his division leading 8th win of the season, but Posocco finished third,
which was enough to give him the championship by the smallest of margins, 2
points. In addition to locking down his fifth track championship, it was
also a season of milestones for Posocco at Stafford as he surpassed 40
career Late Model feature race and he reached 50 career victories at
Stafford with 43 Late Model wins and 7 DARE Stock wins. Posocco posted 4
wins, 13 top-5 and 19 top-10 finishes 20 starts this season.
In the SK Light Modified division, a rookie driver claimed the championship
for the second consecutive season. Matt Galko took over the points lead
midway through the season and looked to be heading comfortably towards the
championship. But Tommy Barrett, Jr. was in the middle of a white hot
winning streak, winning 8 of 9 races, while Galko finished 13th or worse 3
times in four races leading up to the CARQUEST Fall Final, putting Galko 6
points behind Barrett for the final race of the season. But Barrett
encountered trouble in the opening laps of the race while Galko went on to
win the race and the track championship. Galko posted 4 wins, 13 top-5, and
16 top-10 finishes in 21 starts to win the championship by 32 points over
Barrett.
One year after a flat tire eliminated him from championship contention, Dan
Flannery returned strong to the Limited Late Model division and took the
championship with a division leading 6 feature victories. Although Flannery
led the division in wins, he had to contend with Dave Yardley, III as well
as defending track champion Andrew Durand in the chase for the championship.
Heading into the final race of the year, Flannery and Yardley were separated
by only 6 points. But like Galko, Flannery won the final race to take the
championship in grand style by 12 points over Yardley. Along with his 6
wins, Flannery also led the division with 15 top-5 and 19 top-10 finishes.
Just as the SK Light Modified division had a rookie driver win the
championship for the second consecutive season, the DARE Stock division had
the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler feature winner win the championship for
the third consecutive season. Tony Membrino, Jr. matched the feat that was
turned by Norm Sears in 2008 and Don Wood last year. Membrino enjoyed a
remarkable season, finishing no lower than seventh place all year long and
he took the championship by a 42 point margin over Jeff Jolly. Membrino
posted 1 win, 16 top-5, and 21 top-10 finishes in 21 starts this sason.
Receiving awards for Most Improved Driver were Zach Sylvester in the SK
Modified® division, Adam Gray in the Late Model division, Erica Santos in
the SK Light division, and Michael Wray in the Limited Late Model division.
The Most Improved Driver award is given to a driver who exhibits the
greatest degree of improvement in on-track performance over the past season.
Nominees are selected and voted upon by a committee of select Stafford Motor
Speedway management and track officials.
The Reliable Welding & Speed Rookie of the Year awards were presented by
Brad and Linda Hietala of Reliable Welding and Speed to Josh Sylvester from
the SK Modified® division, Tim Fogg from the Late Model division, Matt Galko
from the SK Light division, and Duane Provost from the Limited Late Model
division. The awards will be worth a $700.00 bonus to Sylvester, and
$500.00 bonuses to Fogg, Galko, and Provost from Reliable Welding and Speed.
Each Rookie of the Year bonus will be paid out in $100.00 weekly increments
to each driver as they attend events during the 2011 season.
The winners of the Most Popular Driver Awards were Woody Pitkat in the SK
Modified® and Late Model divisions, Erica Santos from the SK Light division,
Andrew Durand from the Limited Late Model division, and Cory Casagrande from
the DARE Stock division. The Most Popular Driver Awards are voted on by the
fans who attend Stafford Motor Speedway race events and fill out the ballots
found weekly in the track’s PitStopper Magazine.
The Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award was awarded to Stephen Butova
Berardi. Butova prepared and maintained Frank Ruocco’s SK Modified® machine
that visited CARQUEST Victory Lane 4 times this season, including the
prestigious CARQUEST SK 150. The Craftsman Mechanic of the Year Award is
voted on by Stafford crew members who possess a valid 2010 NASCAR License.
For more information about the 2010 Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards
Ceremony, or to order a video of the night’s festivities, contact the
Stafford Motor Speedway’s track office at (860) 684-2783 or visit us on the
web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus Interview

JIMMIE JOHNSON, CHAD KNAUS, AND RICK HENDRICK, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET

FIVE-TIME STRAIGHT NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES CHAMPION – TRANSCRIPT:

KERRY THARP: Joining us up front is our 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship team, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, driver Jimmie Johnson, team owner Rick Hendrick and Chad Knaus is on his way. For Jimmie, it’s his fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, and it puts him in sole possession of third place on the all time list, only two behind two Hall of Famers, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.
He is also the first driver in the Chase here to overcome a points deficit going into the season finale. And only two other drivers have overcome a points deficit since the inception of the current points system, Richard Petty and Alan Kulwicki in ’92. For Rick Hendrick, it’s his tenth series others championship, breaking a tie for most all time and overall across the three national series of NASCAR, his 13th owners championship. (more…)

Sixteen 2011 races for PASS North super late models

Sixteen 2011 races for PASS North super late models

Two Oxford Plains Speedway events, Star Speedway and L’Autodrome Chaudière dates added

Naples ME (11/19) Pro All Stars Series (PASS) President Tom Mayberry has released a sixteen race 2011 schedule for the popular touring super late models.
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Interview with Kevin Harvick

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL/PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 3RD IN RACE AND 3RD IN FINAL POINT STANDINGS:

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

KERRY THARP: Joining us is our third place finisher in points and also third place finisher in today’s Ford 400 and that is Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

KERRY THARP: Kevin Harvick, certainly a gutsy effort, gamey effort out there, had a super season, as did the 11 car. Your thoughts about today.

KEVIN HARVICK: Well, we just had a good car today and we did almost everything that we needed to do. We put ourselves in position to run up front, and we ran up front and you know, in the end, we just got beat there on that last restart and they just out ran us.

All in all, we went downswing and that’s all you can ask for. They did a great job.

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NSCS Race Recap: Johnson Wins Fifth Straight Title As Edwards Dominates Homestead

NSCS Race Recap: Johnson Wins Fifth Straight Title As Edwards Dominates Homestead

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 21) — NASCAR has a rock star — and perhaps after a fifth straight championship for unsinkable Jimmie Johnson, the sport will realize it.

Johnson ran second to Carl Edwards in Sunday’s season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure the first come-from-behind title in his skein of five championships.
Edwards’ victory was perfection. He led 190 of 267 laps in winning his second straight Sprint Cup race and the 18th of his career.

“Why didn’t you set the cars up like this before, Bob?” Edwards joked with crew chief Bob Osborne after the race. “That was the best performance down the straightaway I’ve had in a long time.”
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