(Stafford Springs, CT)---After winning the DARE Stock track championship in 2010 at Stafford Motor Speedway, Tony Membrino, Jr. made the move into the SK Light division for the 2011 season. In his rookie season, Membrino drove to an 11th place finish in the points standings, missing out on a top-10 finish in the standings and the Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year title by only 10 points. With a year of experience under his belt, Membrino is looking towards bigger and better things in 2012 at Stafford as he has his sights set on capturing his first SK Light feature victory as well as making a run at the SK Light track championship.

"We're looking at making a run for the championship next season," said Membrino. "At this time last year, all we had was some money and we were looking for a car, so we're way ahead of where we were. We have a race ready car and I think that from where we started out this season, we picked up enough that we went from a team that could barely crack the top-10 to a team that was a contender every week for a podium finish or a win. We're real happy with how the season turned out for us and I think for the most part we exceeded our expectations for this year. I think we gained enough experience this year that we can try to make a run for the championship next season."

After getting a late start to the 2011 season, Membrino posted his first top-10 finish in his third race and he recorded his first top-5 finish in his fifth start. For the 2011 season, Membrino led all SK Light rookie competitors with 4 top-5 finishes. Membrino also posted 8 top-10 finishes during his rookie season with a best finish of third in the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend feature event. Membrino says his confidence grew during his rookie season and his third place finish in the final race of the season showed that Membrino and his team are ready for bigger things in 2012.

"I think the biggest thing for me was going from the DARE car to the SK Light car," said Membrino. "In the SK Light, when you step on the gas, the car goes, when you hit the brakes, the car stops, and you can almost drive the SK Light with two fingers on the wheel. It just feels like a race car where the DARE car felt like you were hanging on all the time. I feel like we learned a lot of things this year and we still have a lot to learn, but that will come with more seat time next year. One thing I can do is definitely restart better. I think I lost a couple of races this year on restarts, so I definitely have to buckle down on that. Ed Flemke and Ryan Preece are my driving coaches and they were busting on me all year about my restarts. We definitely want to improve our consistency. When we won the championship in the DARE car, we were a top-5 car every week and we need to get back to that level again. It seemed like we started up front a lot and faded to the back of the pack by the end of the race, so we need to change that if we want to win the championship."

With the 2011 season in the rearview and the 2012 season on the horizon, Membrino and his team are currently searching for sponsorship partners.

"We know what we needed for next season, so we got a head start and we've been busy putting proposals together and trying to call the right people," said Membrino. "If things fall right for us, we should be ok for 2012, we just have to get all of our ducks in a row. We had a lot of great support this year and I want to make sure I thank everyone for their support because we wouldn't have made it to the track without everyone's help. I have to thank Bay Crane, Embroidery Works, CWPM, Generis Catering, Richards Corporation, Raceworks with Reggie Ruggiero and Eddie Flemke, Eddie was always at the track helping us out with the car when he wasn't racing and you don't often see a Whelen Modified Tour driver helping out weekly competitors like that, and Steve Greer and Gunsmoke Stables. Steve was a big help with parts after our first big wreck and he helped us out with spare parts throughout the year. We also had some help from Larry Vassar, who used to race at Stafford, but he lives in Georgia now, so a big thanks to everyone for their support and help, we couldn't have done anything without them this year."

The quest for the 2012 SK Light Modified championship will kick off at the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 27-April 29, 2012 at Stafford. Stay tuned to www.staffordspeedway.com for the full 2012 schedule of events, which will be released in the coming weeks.

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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