![\"Stafford\"](\"http:\/\/maineracer.com\/images\/stafford.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Stafford Springs, CT)—After several seasons and two victories in Stafford
\n\u2019s SK Light division, Granby, MA native Heather DesRochers made the move up
\nthe Stafford ladder into the SK Modified\u00ae division for the 2011 season.
\nDesRochers and her #24 Gunsmoke Stables team qualified for every race during
\nthe 2011 season, and she posted two top-10 finishes this year to finish in
\n16th place in the SK Modified\u00ae standings and win the Reliable Welding and
\nSpeed Rookie of the Year award.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the season started, we were thinking about our goals and our focus
\nwas to get better each week,\u201d said DesRochers. \u201cWe knew it was going to be
\nlike starting all over again with moving up to the SK Modified\u00ae division,
\nbut we couldn\u2019t be happier about winning the Rookie of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2011 season began on a bit of an ominous note for DesRochers, as a
\nmechanical problem eliminated her from the season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net
\nSpring Sizzler feature event before she completed a lap. But throughout the
\n2011 season, the #24 continued to get closer and closer towards a top-10
\nfinish, and DesRochers was able to post both of her top-10 finishes in the
\nfinal six races of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe season wasn\u2019t what we expected, but we were really happy with how the
\nseason turned out for us,\u201d said DesRochers. \u201cWe seemed to be plagued by
\nsome mechanical issues throughout the year, but in the races that we didn\u2019t
\nhave any mechanical issues, we finished every race except for one where we
\ncrashed. I think that by the end of the year we had a pretty good setup on
\nthe car, it still needs some tweaking, but we have a lot of knowledge of the
\ncar for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n
While DesRochers was making the move from the SK Light to SK Modified\u00ae
\ndivision this season, she says that her biggest challenge came from
\nlogistical issues rather than the difference in how the cars drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our biggest issue this year was having higher demands with things
\nlike infield pitting and other things you need to be successful in the SK
\nModified\u00ae division rather than getting used to the car,\u201d said DesRochers.
\n\u201cWe had infield pitting for the first time this year, so we had to make sure
\neveryone had NASCAR Licenses and we had to be sure that everyone was here on
\nFriday nights, which was tough sometimes. There wasn\u2019t much difference in
\nthe car, I think by the second or third time I drove the SK car it felt the
\nsame to me as the SK Light car. I would like to thank my parents, Don and
\nBetsy DesRochers, my crew members Conrad and Cecilia DesRochers, Pat Howe,
\nRyan Spaulding, Jim Banas, and my spotter Roger for all their dedication,
\nsupport, and hard work. I would also like to thank my sponsors: Harvey
\nMorris, Western Mass Collision, Capa Di Roma, Don DesRochers Excavating,
\nFrasco Fuel Oil, Valley Wines and Liquor Square, A. Crane Construction,
\nVictory Motorsports Marketing, and especially Gunsmoke Stables for giving me
\nthe opportunity to race an SK Modified this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
DesRochers will officially be crowned the 2011 Reliable Welding and Speed SK
\nModified\u00ae Rookie of the Year at the 42nd Annual Stafford Motor Speedway
\nChampions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18 at the La Renaissance
\nBanquet Facility in East Windsor.<\/p>\n
Tickets to the 42nd Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony (Stafford Springs, CT)—After several seasons and two victories in Stafford \u2019s SK Light division, Granby, MA native Heather DesRochers made the move up the Stafford ladder into the SK Modified\u00ae division for the 2011 season. DesRochers and her #24 Gunsmoke Stables team qualified for every race during the 2011 season, and she posted two top-10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","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":[72],"class_list":["post-8285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8285","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=8285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nare $45 per person and can be ordered by calling the Stafford Motor Speedway
\ntrack office at (860) 684-2783, or by downloading an order form from
\nwww.staffordspeedway.com
\nform to the track office.<\/http:><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"