{"id":4798,"date":"2011-04-13T20:43:45","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T01:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-04-09T20:45:29","modified_gmt":"2011-04-10T01:45:29","slug":"lou-austin-recalls-spring-sizzler-early-days-stafford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/lou-austin-recalls-spring-sizzler-early-days-stafford\/","title":{"rendered":"LOU AUSTIN RECALLS SPRING SIZZLER EARLY DAYS AT STAFFORD"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOU AUSTIN RECALLS SPRING SIZZLER EARLY DAYS AT STAFFORD<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Stafford Springs, CT)—With the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring
\nSizzler less than a month away, the excitement and anticipation of \u201cThe
\nGreatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d continues to build. As part of the
\ncelebration of the 40th edition of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler,
\nStafford Speedway is inviting drivers who were on hand to take part in the
\nearly days of the Sizzler to be honored during this year\u2019s CARQUEST Tech-Net
\nSpring Sizzler pre-race festivities.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s Sizzler spotlight falls on Lou Austin, who was a Spring Sizzler
\npioneer by racing in three out of the first four Sizzler events. Austin was
\na well-known modified driver during his career, taking the wheel for several
\ndifferent car owners as well as driving his own #73 car during his career.
\nIn addition to his modified exploits, he also drove in the NEMA Midget
\nranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a long time ago and I don\u2019t remember that much about the race,\u201d
\nsaid Austin. \u201cI think I was in the 29 car at the time, which was out of
\nDurham, NH and was owned by Butch True. I remember the race was an all-out
\nrace, you really had to go for it. It was an 80-lap race and it was all or
\nnothing. The grandstands were packed to a full house and the pits were full
\nof cars. There were so many cars, you really had to work to get qualified.
\nThere were cars from all over the northeast for that race. That race had
\nthe best drivers like Charlie Jarzombeck, Richie Evans, and Bugsy Stevens,
\nthey were all pretty good wherever they went and they were all really good
\nat Stafford. I was never able to get a win at Stafford, the closest I ever
\ncame was a photo finish one night with Bugsy [Stevens]. We came across the
\nline nose to nose and they said he was the winner. I do miss racing, I
\nreally loved it when I was racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler gets underway Friday, April
\n29 with a practice session for Stafford\u2019s weekly divisions. The practice
\nsession will be open to the public at no charge. The run for the Coors
\nLight Pole position gets underway on Saturday, April 30 with time trials for
\nthe Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for
\nStafford\u2019s weekly divisions. In the 31 Spring Sizzler events run since
\n1980, the fast qualifier has gone on to win the race 7 times. Saturday will
\nconclude with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE
\nStock divisions. The Sizzler concludes on Sunday, May 1 with the CARQUEST
\nBelts and Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford\u2019s SK Modifieds\u00ae and Late
\nModels joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the \u201cGreatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d are on sale now at
\nthe Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general
\nadmission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and
\nunder are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
\nseating is priced at $38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
\nSpeedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n

For more information on the 40th annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler\u00ae,
\nor to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
\n860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOU AUSTIN RECALLS SPRING SIZZLER EARLY DAYS AT STAFFORD (Stafford Springs, CT)—With the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler less than a month away, the excitement and anticipation of \u201cThe Greatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d continues to build. As part of the celebration of the 40th edition of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,126,197],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-4798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4798","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}