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Stafford Motor Speedway

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Coordinates:41°57′19″N72°19′13″W/ 41.9553°N 72.3204°W/41.9553; -72.3204
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Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford
Start of the 2019 Fall Final 150
LocationStafford Springs, Connecticut
Time zoneEastern
Coordinates41°57′19″N72°19′13″W/ 41.9553°N 72.3204°W/41.9553; -72.3204
Capacity10,000
OperatorMark Arute
Broke ground1868
Opened1870
Former namesStafford Springs Agricultural Park (1870 - 1945)
Stafford Springs Speedway (1946 - 1958)
Stafford Springs Motor Speedway (1959 - 1978)
Stafford Motor Speedway (1979 - 2022)
Stafford Speedway (2023 - Present)
Major eventsSpring Sizzler
Fall Final
Camping World SRX Tour
Oval
SurfacePaved
Length0.500 miles (0.805 km)
Turns4
BankingTurns 1-2: 9°
Turns 3-4: 7.5°

Stafford Motor Speedwayis a 1/2 mile paved oval located inStafford Springs, Connecticut.Stafford Speedway holds weekly racing every Friday night May through September. This track is known as the home of the SK Modifieds and drivers such asRyan PreeceandTed Christopher.The track hosts weekly events throughout the season previously including 3 NASCARWhelen Modified Tourevents yearly. Stafford Motor Speedway is the track that had hosted the second most ever races in the modern era of theNASCAR Whelen Modified Tourwith 135 races from 1985 to 2021.

The speedway also had hosted 5NASCAR North Tourevents from 1979 until 1985 and 30NASCAR K&N Pro Series Eastraces, between 1987 and2016.

Stafford Motor Speedway was the site of the first everSuperstar Racing Experienceevent on June 12, 2021. The main event was won by track regularDoug Coby.

In December 2020, the track announced that it would end its 60-year affiliation withNASCAR,"due to a conflict regarding ownership of streaming and broadcast rights of weekly racing events".[1]Stafford began live streaming onFloRacingin 2021.[2]

History[edit]

Originally known as the Stafford Springs Agricultural Park,[3]the facility was used as a half-mile horse racing facility up to the end of World War II when it switched to automobile racing.[4]The facility became aNASCARtrack in 1959 as a dirt track, under the ownership of Rockville auto dealer Mal Barlow, Barlow paved the track in 1967. It was purchased by the Arute brothers, Chuck andJack Arutein 1970. Jack's son Mark Arute continues to own and manage the track.[5]

Notable drivers[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Running, Scott (21 December 2020)."Stafford Speedway Leaving NASCAR Weekly Racing Series in 2021; Track to Race Independently; Modified Tour Events Unaffected for 2020 season".Stafford Motor Speedway.Retrieved29 March2021.
  2. ^"Opening Night".Stafford Motor Speedway.April 24, 2021. Event occurs at 13:54.FloRacing.
  3. ^Wollschlager, Mike; Ofgang, Erik; Yuravich, Albie (18 May 2018)."Summer Fun 2018: Outdoor Family Entertainment".Connecticut Magazine.Retrieved10 July2019.
  4. ^Courchesne, Shawn (25 April 2003)."STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY".Hartford Courant.Retrieved10 July2019.
  5. ^"Whelen Modified Tour Stat Advance: Stafford - NASCAR Home Tracks".
  6. ^"Stafford Motor Speedway".
  7. ^"Geoff Bodine – a photo on Flickriver".
  8. ^ab"New England Antique Racers".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-02-09.Retrieved2010-06-30.
  9. ^"SMS Online: A Look Back in Time at the 1974 Stafford Speedway Season".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-01-08.Retrieved2013-01-14.
  10. ^"August 6: Dale Earnhardt Smokes the Competition in Stafford".Today in Connecticut History.6 August 2018.Retrieved10 July2019.
  11. ^Bourcier, Bones.RICHIE!: The Fast Life and Times of NASCAR's Greatest Modified Driver(1st ed., 2004). Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA: Coastal 181.ISBN0-9709854-6-0.
  12. ^"Driver Jimmy Spencer's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Results at Stafford Motor Speedway – Racing-Reference.info".

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toStafford Motor Speedway.
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