Stafford Motor Speedway hosted the 54th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®, “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring,” on Sunday, April 26th with Open Modified cars.
Ronnie Williams methodically worked his way towards the front of the field and he had to hold off a furious 2-way challenge from both Tyler Chapman and Austin Beers over the final 5 laps of the race to win the 54th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®.
The race took the green flag with Tyler Chapman and Ron Silk leading the field to the green flag. Chapman and Silk ran wheel to wheel for a lap before Chapman cleared to the lead on lap-2. Silk held off a challenge from Michael Christopher, Jr. to get in line in second with Teddy Hodgdon fourth and George Bessette, Jr. fifth. Silk made a move to the inside of Chapman on lap-4 to move into the lead. With 10 laps complete it was Silk leading Chapman, Christopher, Hodgdon, and Bessette. Ryan Newman was sixth followed by Jake Johnson, Dylan Izzo, Eric Goodale, and Jon McKennedy.
Stafford Speedway kicked off the 54th NAPA Spring Sizzler® with NAPA Opening Day festivities that saw the Granite State ProStocks in the Casagrande Builders 75 along with Stafford’s weekly Late Models, Limited Late Models, and Street Stocks in feature action. The SK Lights were also in action with a pair of 20-lap qualifying duel races that set the starting grid for their 30-lap feature on Sunday as part of the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.
In the Casagrande Builders 75 Granite State ProStock feature, Jeremy Sorel took the lead at the drop of the green flag but Dan Winter got into the frontstretch wall and Joey Kendall spun on the frontstretch to bring the caution flag out with 1 lap complete. Sorel took the lead ahead of Cory Casagrande, Eddie MacDonald, Jimmy Hebert, and Casey Call. The caution came back out with 2 laps complete for a multicar spin in turn 2 involving Adam Gray, Kevin Folan, and Matt Beers. Sorel took the lead on the restart with MacDonald taking over second. Casagrande was third but he did a 360 spin coming out of turn 2 to bring the caution flag back out with 3 laps complete.
Schofield Springs will return as a contingency sponsor for the 2026 SK Modified® division at Stafford Speedway for a third consecutive season, offering $100 bonuses to all second-place finishers. The self-service spring water vendor will distribute $2,200 in total incentives during the 2026 campaign.
“We’re happy to be able to help the SK Modified® division again,” said Larry McKinney, co-owner of Schofield Springs. “The SK Modified® division at Stafford has some of the best weekly drivers and teams in the country and they always put on a great show. We’re looking forward to watching more thrilling Friday nights of racing and helping the teams put on that great show.”
The 2025 season saw 11 drivers earn Schofield Springs bonuses, with champion Jon Puleo leading with 4 second-place finishes. Keith Rocco (3), Mikey Flynn (2), and Steven Chapman, Tyler Chapman, Michael Christopher Jr., Dylan Izzo, Alexander Pearl, Marcello Rufrano, Troy Talman, and Max Zachem each recording single second-place finishes.
The 2026 contingency payouts will begin at the 54th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® on April 25-26. The event features Late Model, Limited Late Model, Street Stock, and Granite State ProStock divisions on Saturday, with the SK Modified® and SK Light Modified divisions headlining Sunday’s 30-lap feature race.
(Stafford Springs, CT) — After back-to-back Street Stock track championships at Stafford Speedway, Travis Downey is making the jump to the SK Light division for 2026, where he’ll compete for R.A.D. Auto Machine Rookie of the Year honors.
Downey, who ran the #42 in the Street Stock division for the past five seasons, will switch to the #41 for his rookie campaign. He purchased an SK Light car from Jeff and Alex Pearl and will carry sponsorship from P.J. Ladola and Sons Electrical Contractors along with associate sponsors including Sullivan Automotive, Mutch Nicer Enterprises, Sanger Family Properties, Canton Well Drilling LLC, Traditional Adventures TV, RD Logging & Firewood, Coderre Farms, Canton West Avon Oil, GP Fence, Squid Decals, Cindy Burdick Motorsports, Tidy Services, Installations Plus, and Fieldstone Masonry.
(Stafford Springs, CT) — After capturing the 2025 SK Light championship, second-generation driver Meg Fuller of Auburn, MA is moving up to Stafford Speedway’s premier SK Modified® division for 2026. Fuller will join forces with Dan Avery and Keith Rocco Racing, piloting an Avery Construction car carrying her familiar #2.
Sponsors returning with Fuller include Propane Plus, P.T. Watts, Wally and Jason Koza, Rob from TFR, Interstate Transmission, RaceChoice, Metro Door, Gary Rice Shop Equipment, Renee and Ed Bennett, Avery Construction, and VR Wraps, with P.J. Ladola and Sons coming aboard as a new partner for 2026.
STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT — Gary Rice Shop Equipment is returning to Stafford Speedway for a full season in 2026 after joining the track’s contingency program midway through 2025. The company will provide first-place bonuses to SK Modified® and SK Light feature winners throughout the season — $150 per win for SK Modified® drivers and $125 per win for SK Light competitors.
Combined, the bonuses represent a total contribution of $6,150 to Stafford’s open-wheel drivers in 2026, with the SK Modified® division carrying a prize pool of $3,150 and the SK Light division at $3,000.
“We love racing, especially the modifieds, and we really enjoy coming to the track to watch the races,” said Gary Rice, owner of Gary Rice Shop Equipment. “The business that I have and the line of equipment that we offer really caters to racers with shops. We do things like automotive lifts, air compressor systems, and tire machines and we offer a racer’s discount on shop equipment. I don’t think there’s any other company like ours that advertises with circle tracks like we do and we’ve found that it works pretty fast for us. It’s nice to have a big presence at a track like Stafford.”
