A LOOK BACK AT THE 1996
STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY SEASON

By: Scott Running

1996 was the 12th season of the Stafford Motor Speedway / CARQUEST Auto Parts relationship. The 1996 season was a monumental season for Stafford Motor Speedway. ESPN2 came on board to offer nationwide television coverage of the Whelen Modified Tour CARQUEST 300 as part of Stafford's CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. But the coverage was not exclusive to the Whelen Modified Tour. ESPN2 also televised the SK Modifieds®, ProStocks, Late Models, DARE Stocks, and Legends cars from the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, the first time a New England short track was able to offer such exposure to its competitors. CARQUEST Auto Parts continued their support of the Busch North Series with the CARQUEST 150 and continued the CARQUEST Quest For Success Award for the fourth consecutive season.

The Whelen Modified Tour made four stops to Stafford during the 1996 season with Jan Leaty winning the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, Ed Flemke won the May TSI Harley-Davidson 150, Mike Stefanik was the winner of the August Town Fair Tire 150, and Tom Baldwin was the winner of the CARQUEST 300 that aired on ESPN2.

Andy Santerre was the winner of the CARQUEST 150 Busch North Series event.

The SK Modifieds® entered their 15th season of competition with Ted Christopher taking down his second career Stafford track championship. It was a season of dominance for Christopher as he won a total of 4 times during the year and clinched the track championship several weeks before the season ended. Christopher's 4 wins led the division, while Bo Gunning, Mike Ewanitsko, Lloyd Agor, and Mike Christopher each won twice and John Anderson, Steve Chowansky, Steve Park, Bob Potter, and Jimmy Broderick each won once.

The 1996 season was the 10th season of Late Model competition at Stafford and it was Chuck Docherty winning the championship driving Ron Paul's #3x. Docherty was only able to get to CARQUEST victory lane once during the year, but he was a model of consistency and that consistency enabled him to outpoint Chuck Zentarski at season's end for the championship. Dean Casagrande led the division with three victories, while George Greco, Dennis Botticello, Jim Peterson, Gerry Konopka, and Gary Pelletier each won twice. Single event feature wins were turned in by Zentarski, Docherty, Tom Butler, and Robert Palmer.

The ProStocks entered their 7th season of competition at Stafford Motor Speedway, with Willie Hardie winning the track championship. The championship fight came down to the final race of the year with only 4 points separating Mark Forino and Hardie. Ted Christopher led the division with 5 victories, including a stretch of 4 in a row, while Hardie won 3 times and J.R. Segar won twice. Single feature victories were turned in by Art Caruso, Dave Etheridge, Brad Boissonneault, Tom Fearn, Todd Anderson, and Wayne Bellefleur.

The 1996 season was the fourth season of DARE Stock competition and leading the way was Ryan Posocco with 3 victories. Nick Bazzano, Woody Pitkat, and Howard Payne each won twice with single event wins going to Mike Blansfield, John Yale, Jr., Mike Jasak, and Gary Spinnato.