A LOOK BACK AT THE 2002
STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY SEASON

By: Scott Running

2002 was the 18th 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 Fall Final, as well as the CARQUEST 150 Busch North Series event. Thanks to CARQUEST Auto Parts, the Fall Final was split from a 300-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event into twin 150-lap events for the Whelen Modified Tour and Busch North Series cars, marking the first time the two divisions would share the spotlight at Stafford. CARQUEST also continued their support of Stafford's weekly divisions with a $150 bonus to each SK Modified® feature winner and a $125 bonus to each Late Model feature winner. Another innovation for the 2002 season was the institution of the Safety Reimbursement Program. From the 2001 off-season through the end of June 2002, Stafford competitors could purchase any safety item and submit the invoice to Stafford Motor Speedway to receive a $200 reimbursement for the safety item. Stafford Speedway also made its television network debut, airing its NASCAR New England program on the New England Sports Network (NESN), the TV home of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. Reliable Welding and Speed of Enfield signed on with Stafford Speedway to become the title sponsor of the track's Rookie of the Year program, a sponsorship that is still in existence today.

The Whelen Modified Tour made four stops to Stafford during the 2002 season with Ted Christopher nearly collecting a clean sweep. Christopher won the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, the May TSI Harley-Davidson 150, and the August Town Fair Tire 150. Only Mike Stefanik stopped Christopher from completing the sweep by winning the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final 150.

The Busch North Series made three visits to Stafford during the 200 season with Kelly Moore winning the CARQUEST 150 for the second consecutive season, Dale Shaw winning the NASCAR 150, and Mike Johnson winning the CARQUEST Fall Final 150 event.

The SK Modifieds® entered their 21st season of competition with Bo Gunning taking the track championship for the third time in his career. The championship gave Gunning an SK Modified® track title in parts of three different decades (1983, 1998, 2002). Gunning recorded three wins and he clinched the championship a week before the final race of the season. Ted Christopher led the division with 4 victories, while other multiple feature winners included Doug Coby and Gunning with 3 wins each, and Ronnie Silk, who won twice. Single event feature wins were taken down by Jeff Malave, Lloyd Agor, Eddy Spiers, Mike Christopher, Billy Anderson, Brad Hietala, and Jimmy Williams.

The 2002 season was the 16th season of Late Model competition at Stafford and it was Jim Peterson taking the track championship for the second consecutive season. Peterson was locked in a season long battle with both Ryan Posocco and Jay Stuart for the championship. While Peterson and Posocco only managed a single feature victory each, Stuart dominated the competition winning 6 times. But as is the case with most championship races, Stuart lacked the consistency of both Peterson and Posocco and wound up finishing third in the standings. Stuart's 6 wins led the division while John Leger was the only other multiple feature event winner with 3 victories. Single event feature wins were scored by John Yale, Jr., Carl Holmgren, Jr., Mike Quintiliano, Posocco, Charles Lewandoski, Woody Pitkat, Craig Collins, and Peterson.

The 2002 season was the 10th season of DARE Stock competition and leading the way was Bobby Leone, who took down three victories on the year, including the prestigious season ending Paradiso-Muska DARE Stock Shootout. Drivers who scored 2 wins included Eric Wesson, and John Hurley, while Dan King, Jeff Hubbell, Andrew Durand, Scott Hitchcock, Peter Bourque, Mike Como, Stacey Botticello, Norm Sears, Patrick Grady, and Michael Bennett each won once during the 2002 season.

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