(Stafford Springs, CT)—This Friday night, September 30th, will serve as NAPA Championship Night at Stafford Motor Speedway, with the track crowning its 2022 track champions. The SK Light and Limited Late Model titles will be decided this Friday night while three championships have already been decided with Todd Owen clinching his second consecutive SK Modified® championship, Adam Gray locking up his fourth career Late Model title, and Travis Hydar claiming the Street Stock crown.
The race for the SK Light title comes down to a 3-driver shoot out with Tyler Barry leading Tyler Chapman by 10 points, or 5 positions on the track, and Alexander Pearl by 30 points, or 15 positions on the track. The 2022 season has been a season long duel between Barry and Chapman with the two drivers swapping the point lead for almost the entire season.
Chapman took control of the championship race following the second race of the season on May 13 and he held the lead through July 1st when Barry moved to the head of the standings. Barry then led the standings through August 12 when Chapman retook the point lead. Barry took the lead back from Chapman the following Friday night, August 19, and he has held the lead since then. Chapman’s largest lead of the season was 52 points following the June 24 race while Barry’s largest lead of the season was 26 points following the July 15 race. Pearl got his 2022 season off to a dreadful start with finishes of 27th and 24th in the first two races of the season that put him in a 92 point hole that he has been digging out of for the entire season to where he sits now, 30 points out of the lead.
Should Barry notch a top-5 finish this Friday night, he will clinch the championship no matter where Chapman or Pearl finishes. Otherwise Barry must not finish any more than 4 positions behind Chapman or no more than 14 positions behind Pearl. Chapman will need to finish at least 5 positions in front of Barry and no more than 9 positions behind Pearl if Pearl wins or 10 positions behind if Pearl does not win. Pearl is the long shot in the equation, needing to be at least 15 positions in front of Barry and at least 9 positions in front of Chapman if he doesn’t win the race and 10 positions if he does win the race.
The race for the Limited Late Model crown sees 2-time Limited champion Jeremy Lavoie leading the standings by 16 points, or 8 positions on the track, over Rich Hammann and 38 points, or 16 positions on the track, over defending Limited Late Model champion Alexandra Fearn.
The race for the championship has been dominated for most of the season by Hammann, who used back to back wins on May 13 and May 20 to take the lead in the standings. Hammann led the standings every week from May 20 throughout the summer until a 13th place finish on September 2 allowed Lavoie to take the lead in the standings for the first time this season. Lavoie has increased his lead from 10 points following the September 2 race to 16 points heading into this Friday’s NAPA Championship Night.
Should Lavoie place 8th or higher this Friday night, he will become a 3-time champion no matter where Hammann or Fearn finishes. Otherwise, he has to finish no more than 8 positions behind Hammann if Hammann wins or 9 positions behind if Hammann doesn’t win and less than 19 positions behind Fearn. Hammann has to finish at least 8 positions in front of Lavoie and no more than 11 positions behind Fearn in order to win the championship. Fearn has a mathematical chance at the championship but she has to finish at least 20 positions in front of Lavoie and at least 12 positions in front of Hamman to claim a second consecutive championship.
NAPA Championship Night is set for this Friday, September 30 and tickets are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets for the NAPA Championship Night are priced at $20.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult, and reserved seating is priced at $25.00 for all ages. Pit passes are $35.00 with a valid 2022 Stafford Competition License and $40.00 without a Stafford license. If you are unable to attend the event, tune into the live stream on FloRacing, the official streaming partner of Stafford Speedway.
For more information, visit www.staffordspeedway.com, checkout Stafford Speedway on Facebook or Twitter, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
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