{"id":18574,"date":"2015-04-18T06:30:23","date_gmt":"2015-04-18T10:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=18574"},"modified":"2015-04-18T03:55:36","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T07:55:36","slug":"jamie-tomaino-ready-to-add-to-record-number-of-career-starts-in-napa-auto-parts-spring-sizzler-at-stafford-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/jamie-tomaino-ready-to-add-to-record-number-of-career-starts-in-napa-auto-parts-spring-sizzler-at-stafford-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Tomaino Ready to Add to Record Number of Career Starts in NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ertdgdf\"<\/a>(Stafford Springs, CT)—When the green flag falls on the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, Sunday, April 26, Howell, NJ native and 1990 Whelen Modified Tour Champion Jamie Tomaino will extend his record for career Sizzler starts to 32. Tomaino made his first Sizzler start in 1980 and he has since appeared in the Sizzler starting field every year since 1984 with the exception of 1985, when he failed to advance through a qualifying race, and 1988, when the SK Modifieds\u00ae were the featured division. Tomaino says that he sees no immediate end to his longevity in the Sizzler or behind the wheel of a modified.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cNo this won\u2019t be my last Sizzler,\u201d said Tomaino. \u201cI have 2 grandsons, one is five and one is six, and whoever says first that they want to race, that\u2019s when I\u2019ll step away. Back in 1985 we ran heat races to qualify and I was leading the points heading into the Sizzler and got a flat in the heat race. We had 40 cars in the consi and I needed to finish second to make the show and I finished third. But I\u2019ve been in every Sizzler since then and I\u2019ve had a lot of good people behind me helping out. It takes a lot of help to go racing and just like this year, I wasn\u2019t sure what I was going to be doing. Chase Dowling and his father Mark approached me about teaming up and things are working out super. Just when it seems like I think I don\u2019t have anything going on, something good happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with teaming up with Chase Dowling, Tomaino acquired some new sponsorship from Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair, which Tomaino says came about from a chance meeting in Daytona.
\n\u201cI met Doug Dunleavy in Daytona back in 2014 by pure accident, he\u2019s been a man of his word and he\u2019s helped me out 100%,\u201d said Tomaino. \u201cNot only does he help me but he helps so many other drivers and tracks, so hats off to him. We\u2019ve only had one race but everything has been great. I never thought it would work out as well as it has so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the new addition of Dowling to what is now a 2-car stable, Tomaino has a fresh outlook on his prospects for what will be his 32nd career NAPA Spring Sizzler start.
\n\u201cI\u2019m real excited, but racing in 2015 isn\u2019t\u2019 like it was back in the 1980\u2019s,\u201d said Tomaino. \u201cBack then, you had 50 cars and 10 were A cars, 10 were B cars, 10 were C cars, etc… At Thompson this year, we had 35 cars and of those I\u2019d say probably 33 of them were A cars. These days if I can crack into the top-10, I\u2019m real happy. You have to be realistic with yourself about where you\u2019re going to finish. Back in the old days, I\u2019d tell you every week that I was going to win. On any given day, the car could be the best car you\u2019ve ever had. It\u2019s not impossible and I\u2019m sure Vegas would have me listed as a longshot, but sometimes the longshots come in. I haven\u2019t won a Tour race in 21 years but there\u2019s a lot of guys who race who have never won a race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tomaino has plenty of experience to lean on when it comes to devising a winning strategy for the NAPA Spring Sizzler. Although he still wishes the race was 80 laps instead of 200, he knows what it will take to be the first car under the checkered flag on April 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still wish the race was still 80 laps,\u201d said Tomaino. \u201cYou have to stay out of trouble early, make your pit stop for new tires, and hope your tires are better than everyone else at the end of the race. It\u2019s a lot different now than it used to be when we had different tires and different compounds. The strategy now is to basically keep the car on one piece until you pit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Stafford Springs, CT)—When the green flag falls on the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler, Sunday, April 26, Howell, NJ native and 1990 Whelen Modified Tour Champion Jamie Tomaino will extend his record for career Sizzler starts to 32. Tomaino made his first Sizzler start in 1980 and he has since appeared in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,197],"tags":[15677],"class_list":["post-18574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford-springs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18575,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18574\/revisions\/18575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}