(Stafford Springs, CT)---In Stafford’s Limited Late Model division this season, Stafford Springs native Cory Casagrande was the model of consistency on his path to his very first track championship.  In 18 races, Casagrande finished lower than third only once, and that was a 10th place finish on August 3rd.  But as good as Casagrande was this season, the championship race still came down to a nail biting finish at the CARQUEST Fall Final that saw Casagrande and his chief championship rival, Josh Wood, separated by only 6 points.

Wood stormed out of the gate, winning 6 of the first 8 races of the season to establish himself as the favorite to win the championship.  While it took Casagrande until the second half of the season to pick up his first win of the year, he finished the season with a flourish, winning 5 of the final 7 races to leapfrog Wood in the standings and take the championship by a scant 12-point margin.

“I have to thank all my crew members who stuck by me all year long,” said Casagrande.  “I have to thank my family, my girlfriend, my aunt, my mom and dad, Shark Cycle for sponsoring me this year, BMR, Andresen Overhead Door, BFR Chassis, RAD Automachine, B.A. Muzio and Casagrande Builders.  I can’t believe it, we finally got a championship.”

While Casagrande was extremely consistent during the 2012 season, he says it took him and his team until the second half of the season to find a setup combination that could take them to victory lane.

“We were struggling all year with the car keeping it good on a long run,” said Casagrande.  “Once we got it, we kind of worked on that setup and it worked out for us.  It was a matter of getting the car comfortable for me and keeping the tires in good shape.  We had a good car every race.  We didn’t have a great car or a bad car all year long.  We had a decent car and if you take the fast five cars, a decent car will usually finish somewhere in the middle.”

For the season, Casagrande posted 5 wins, 17 top-5, and 18 top-10 finishes for an average finish of 2.6 for the 18 race Limited Late Model schedule.  While Wood had one more victory and the same number of top-5 finishes as Casagrande, Casagrande finished all but one race this season in the top-3.

Casagrande will officially be crowned the 2012 Ltd. Late Model track champion at the 43rd Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 16, 2012 at the La Renaissance Banquet Facility in East Windsor. 

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.

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