Friday night, October 2nd at Stafford Motor Speedway will see the 2026 racing season come to a close and five new track champions crowned. Below we will introduce the championship contenders from each division and lay out the variations that each contender will need to realize in order to become champion.
Stafford’s premier racing division saw Keith Rocco wrap up his fifth career SK track title at Stafford last Friday night with the #22 Avery Construction team. Rocco’s 11th place finish, which was only his third finish of the season outside the top-10, left him with an insurmountable 94 point advantage over both Todd Owen and defending SK track champion Jon Puleo heading into the final race of the season. Rocco’s fifth career SK Modified® title ties him with Bob Potter for the second most championships in track history trailing only Ted Christopher, who recorded 9 SK titles. Rocco’s championship comes with his third different car owner in Dan Avery after previously winning championships for car owners Jean-Guy & Brigitte Poulin and John & Maina Rufrano.
Adam Gray and the #97 Meadow Motor Cars team leads the pursuit of the Late Model championship by 18 points over the #10 Springfield Thunderbirds team of Wayne Coury, Jr. and the #23 Lavigne Law team of Kevin Gambacorta. Gray can clinch what would be his fifth career championship at Stafford by placing 10th or better regardless of where the other contenders finish. For either Coury or Gambacorta to win the title, they would have to finish at least 11 positions in front of Gray while not finishing less than 5 positions behind Chris Meyer. Meyer and the #87 Casella Waste / Mayday Oil team are in championship contention but they are a longshot at 28 points behind Gray.
The race for the SK Light championship will come down to the #18 Pro Systems Integration team of Tyler Barry and the #10 UCONN team of Nick Anglace. Barry goes into the final race with a nearly insurmountable 46 point advantage over Anglace. Should Barry record a finish anywhere in the top-23, he will become a champion for the second time in his SK Light career at Stafford. Anglace will need to finish at least 23 positions in front of Barry to secure what would be his first career championship at Stafford.
The race for the Limited Late Model crown will come down to second-year driver Norm Root, III and the #80 Root’s Auto Repair team versus 3-time Limited Late Model champion Jeremy Lavoie and the #6 L&S Equipment team. Root can clinch the championship with a top-6 finish or finishing at least 5 positions in front of Lavoie. For Lavoie to claim a fourth career championship, he will need to outscore Root by at least 5 positions as he holds the advantage over Root should the two drivers end up tied in the championship standings.
The Street Stock division enters the final race of the season with Ryan Waterman and the #75 Waterman Racing team leading Brent Gleason and the #81 Northeast Truck and Offroad team by 32 points. With 10 wins on the season, Waterman and the #75 team all but have one hand already on the championship trophy and they can clinch the title by finishing anywhere in the top-17. For Gleason to steal the championship away from Waterman, he will need to place at least 17 positions in front of Waterman. A championship for Waterman would be his second Stafford Street Stock crown.