Stafford Motor Speedway

Stafford Motor Speedway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile paved oval located in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. Stafford Speedway is a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series sanctioned track with NASCAR weekly racing every Friday night May through September. This track is known as the home of the SK Modifieds and drivers such as Ryan Preece and Ted Christopher. The track hosts weekly events throughout the season including 3 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events yearly. Stafford Motor Speedway is the track that had hosted the second most ever races in the modern era of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with 131 races from 1985 to 2019.

Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford
Start of the 2019 Fall Final 150
LocationStafford Springs, Connecticut
Time zoneEastern
Coordinates41.9553°N 72.3204°W / 41.9553; -72.3204
Capacity10,000
OperatorMark Arute
Broke ground1868
Opened1870
Former namesStafford Springs Agricultural Park (1870 - 1945), Stafford Speedway (1946 - 1986)
Major eventsNASCAR K&N Pro Series East:
Stafford 150
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour:
Spring Sizzler 200
Fall Final 150
Whelen All-American Series
Oval
SurfacePaved
Length0.5 mi (0.805 km)
Turns4
Bankingsemi-banked

The speedway also had hosted 5 NASCAR North Tour events from 1979 until 1985 and 30 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races, between 1987 and 2016.

History

Originally known as the Stafford Springs Agricultural Park,[1] 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.[2] The facility became a NASCAR track 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 and Jack Arute in 1970. Jack's son Mark Arute continues to own and manage the track.[3]

Notable drivers

References
  1. Wollschlager, Mike; Ofgang, Erik; Yuravich, Albie (18 May 2018). "Summer Fun 2018: Outdoor Family Entertainment". Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. Courchesne, Shawn (25 April 2003). "STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. "Whelen Modified Tour Stat Advance: Stafford - NASCAR Home Tracks".
  4. "Stafford Motor Speedway".
  5. "Geoff Bodine – a photo on Flickriver".
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2010-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2013-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "August 6: Dale Earnhardt Smokes the Competition in Stafford". Today in Connecticut History. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  9. Bourcier, Bones. RICHIE!: The Fast Life and Times of NASCAR's Greatest Modified Driver (1st ed., 2004). Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA: Coastal 181. ISBN 0-9709854-6-0.
  10. "Driver Jimmy Spencer's NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Results at Stafford Motor Speedway – Racing-Reference.info".
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