A LOOK BACK AT THE 2000
STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY SEASON

By: Scott Running

2000 was the 16th season of the Stafford Motor Speedway / CARQUEST Auto Parts relationship. CARQUEST Auto Parts was once again the title sponsor of the Whelen Modified Tour Spring Sizzler and the CARQUEST 300 as part of the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. CARQUEST also continued their support of the Busch North Series with the CARQUEST 150. On the weekly racing front, CARQUEST continued their support of Stafford's SK Modified® and Late Model divisions with a $150 bonus to each SK Modified® feature winner and a $125 bonus to each Late Model feature winner. CARQUEST Auto Parts also brought a night of twin SK Modified® features to the schedule in August with Ted Christopher winning both races.

The Whelen Modified Tour made four stops to Stafford during the 2000 season with 4 different event winners. Rick Fuller was the winner of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler for the second consecutive year, Ed Flemke, Jr. was the winner of the May TSI Harley-Davidson 150, John Blewett, III was the winner of the August Town Fair Tire 150, and Jerry Marquis was the winner of the season ending CARQUEST 300.

The Busch North Series made two visits to Stafford during the 2000 season with Ted Christopher winning the CARQUEST 150 and Mike Johnson winning the NASCAR 150 event.

The SK Modifieds® entered their 19th season of competition with Ted Christopher taking the track championship with an incredible season that saw him win 9 times. Christopher's magical season was also good enough to make him the New England Regional champion of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Christopher's 9 wins led the division by far, while other multiple feature winners included Curt Brainard and Willie Hardie with two wins each. Single event feature wins were taken down by Mike Christopher, Zach Sylvester, Kerry Malone, Jerry Marquis, Jimmy Williams, Lloyd Agor, and Eric Berndt.

The 2000 season was the 14th season of Late Model competition at Stafford and it was Mike Quintiliano taking down his first career Late Model championship at Stafford. Quintiliano used an early season victory in the Late Model 100 to vault himself to the front of the points standings and he remained there for the rest of the season. Quintiliano won three times to tie for the division lead with Ryan Posocco, with Jim Peterson, Chuck Zentarski, Woody Pitkat, and John Yale, Jr. each winning twice. Single event feature wins were scored by Bill Davis, Larry Vassar, Scott Garrity, and Bob Botticello.

The ProStocks entered their 11th and final season of competition at Stafford Motor Speedway with Doug Coby winning the track championship. Coby only won twice during the season, but his weekly consistency was enough to keep him ahead of Todd Owen and Tom Fearn at season's end. Owen led the division with 4 wins, with Coby and Mike O'Sullivan each winning twice. Scott Bouley, Tom Fearn, John Leger, Jim Mavlouganes, J.R. Segar, Jay Miller, Rich Vasseur, Wayne Bellefleur, Gary Pelletier, and John Sandberg each scored one win during the 2000 season.

The 2000 season was the 8th season of DARE Stock competition and leading the way was Carl Holmgren, Jr. who scored 3 victories. Tommy McNamee, Gerry Durand, Steve McQuillan, Randy Rameau, Mike Gigantino, and Scott Nordman each won twice during the 2000 season.