A LOOK BACK AT THE 1995
STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY SEASON

By: Scott Running

1995 was the 11th season of the Stafford Motor Speedway / CARQUEST Auto Parts relationship. The 1995 season represented a shift in CARQUEST's sponsorship at the Connecticut half-mile. CARQUEST had sponsored the CARQUEST 150 Whelen Modified Event from 1989-1994 and also was the title sponsor of the CARQUEST 150 Busch North Series event. For the 1995 season, CARQUEST Auto Parts continued their support of the Busch North Series, but they shifted their Whelen Modified Tour sponsorship to the season opening Spring Sizzler as well as the season ending Fall Final, associating themselves with Stafford's two biggest events of the racing season. The 1995 season was also the third season of the CARQUEST Quest For Success Award. During the 1993 and 1994 seasons, over $3,000 was paid out to Stafford competitors through the program.

The Whelen Modified Tour made four stops to Stafford during the 1995 season with Mike Ewanitsko taking a second consecutive win in the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, Mike Stefanik won the May TSI Harley-Davidson 150 and the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final 150, and Steve Park was the winner of the August Town Fair Tire 150.

The K&N Pro East Series, known as the Busch North Series in 1995, made a single visit to Stafford for the CARQUEST 150 and it was Tom Bolles using his home track knowledge to take the victory.

The SK Modifieds® entered their 14th season of competition with Bob Potter taking down his second consecutive and fifth overall career Stafford track championship. The race for the championship came down to Potter and Ted Christopher. Just as he had done in his previous championship seasons at Stafford, Potter didn't win big, but he was a model of consistency. Potter only won a single feature event, but he never placed lower than 7th in the first 14 events of the season and even though he ended the year with finishes of 17th, 20th, and 19th, he had more than enough of a margin to take the track championship ahead of Christopher. Jimmy Broderick, Steve Chowansky, and Bo Gunning tied for the division lead with 3 wins each, while Steve Park, Tony Sylvester, and John Anderson were the only other multiple feature winners of the year with 2 wins each. Single feature event wins were scored by Mike Christopher, Ted Christopher, Lloyd Agor, and Potter.

The 1995 season was the 9th season of Late Model competition at Stafford and it was C.J. Frye outlasting Tom Fox to nail down the track championship. Frye and Fox each won 3 races and each driver had 11 top-5 finishes during the year. But Fox missed a race late in the year, while Frye started every race and he narrowly took the championship at season's end after Fox finished second and Frye placed 23rd at the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final. Fox and Frye's 3 wins each led the division, while George Greco, Scott Foster, and Cliff Stakey each scored 2 victories. Gary Pelletier, Tom Butler, Dennis Botticello, Dean Casagrande, Jim Peterson, and Jay Stuart each took home a single feature victory, giving the Late Model division 11 different winners in 18 races.

The ProStocks entered their 6th season of competition at Stafford Motor Speedway, with Tom Fearn taking his second career track championship ahead of Bill Lauridson. Fearn's three wins were too much for Lauridson to overcome as he didn't reach victory lane at all during the year. Fearn's three wins led the division, while Jason Manafort, Mark Forino, Jim Mavlouganes, and Todd Anderson each won twice. Single event feature wins were scored by Dave Etheridge, Eric Kearns, J.R. Segar, Ted Christopher, and Larry Vassar.

The 1995 season was the third season of DARE Stock competition and leading the way was Homer Webb with 3 victories. John Yale, Jr., Chet Burdick, and Howard Payne each won twice with single event wins going to Tony Corona, Mike Jasak, Mark Wendolowski, Justin Manafort, Dave Randell, and Mike Blansfield.

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