Rookie of the Year Honors at Stafford Motor Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
After racing Legend Cars at Stafford Speedway in 2015, Springfield, MA native Michael Hopkins sold his car and decided to make the move into Stafford’s DARE Stock division for the 2016 season.  Hopkins showed that moving from a small lightweight car into a heavy and full-bodied stock car wasn’t too much of a challenge to overcome as he finished each of his 12 starts in the top-8 to go along with his first ever victory at Stafford on Aug. 26.

“Overall I’d give us an A+ for the season, it would be really hard to give ourselves a grade other than that,” said Hopkins.  “We learned a ton and we got a win and you can’t really ask for much more than that.  The car was in one piece every week, we raced pretty clean and I think we gained a lot of respect from our fellow competitors while raising some eyebrows also, which was pretty neat for us.  We were in the top-10 in all of our starts.  At the beginning of the year winning Rookie of the Year wasn’t our main focus and then once we got going I’m glad we had the opportunity to become Rookie of the Year.  I’m really proud of everyone on the team on this accomplishment.”

Not only did Hopkins have the challenge of moving from a Legend Car to a DARE Stock but with his intermittent schedule, he spent a lot of his starts having to race from the back of the pack, which he says was great for his learning experience this season.

“Starting in the back was a really good learning experience for us to see and understand how good the car was compared to everyone else’s car and I was able to learn patience,” said Hopkins.  “We learned every week how to get the car faster and I think the biggest challenge for us was what to do week to week to make the car faster.  Then once we got the win, it became how to stay consistent.  After we won, we said “we have to win again’ but we didn’t win another race. It was a real balance between realizing we had a good week by finishing fourth or fifth and not putting too much extra pressure on ourselves to win.”

For Hopkins, recording his first win at Stafford was an extra special experience for him as his father Chris was the longtime flagman and his mother had helped Richie Evans.

“Winning meant so much to me because I grew up at Stafford with my Dad being the starter and my Mom was a scorer for Richie Evans so with my family history at the track I never thought being in victory lane as a driver was something that I could accomplish,” said Hopkins.  “I had been to victory lane plenty of times as a crew member so winning that race was extra special.  To have Mark [Arute] congratulate me in victory lane and then to have my family coming out to victory lane and everyone was so excited, it was a really special moment.”

With R.A.D. Automachine Rookie of the Year honors behind him, Hopkins is ready to get back at it in 2017 and try to win more races in the DARE Stock division.  For winning the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine DARE Stock Rookie of the Year Award, Hopkins will take home a $500 bonus from R.A.D. Automachine.

“We have the car up on jack stands now and we’re going to go through it and have Bob Fill take a look at the chassis and we’re going to redo the body,” said Hopkins.  “We have a couple more sponsors that are looking to come on board with us and we’re going to put a wrap on the car, so it should look great on the track.  I really have to thank my crew chief Jay Lafayette, Hannah, Paige, Steve, Tudor House Liquores, O’Sullivan and Sons, and a big thanks to my family for their support.  And I have to give a big thanks to Donnie from R.A.D. Automachine for putting up the bonus, that’s awesome.”
)---After winning two consecutive track championships in Stafford’s DARE Stock division, Frank L’Etoile, Jr. made the move up to the Limited Late Model division for the 2016 with Jason Trott’s JET Motorsports team.  Driving the #11 car, L’Etoile exhibited the same level of consistency that he displayed during his championship efforts in the DARE Stock ranks.  L’Etoile finished all 17 races in the top-10 and he picked up his first Limited Late Model feature win on Aug. 26.

“Our goal for the season was to win Rookie of the Year and we accomplished that,” said L’Etoile.  “I’d have to give us a B+ this season.  We didn’t win a championship so I can’t give an A, but we had plenty of fun this season working with Jason’s guys at JET Motorsports.  You can’t really expect to win the championship and rookie of the year, that’s being a little greedy.  But we got rookie of the year and we finished fourth in the points so maybe we could go with an A- grade.  Rookie of the Year will have to be our version of a championship this year.”

Despite having won championships in the last 2 seasons, L’Etoile says that he struggled with the handling on his #11 machine while learning the nuances between a DARE Stock car and a Limited Late Model car.

“We knew what we had for a car and it was pretty much just learning how to drive with the better motor, better tire, and learning some new opponents,” said L’Etoile.  “I really couldn’t finish off races because the car would start fading away.  I think the drivers in the Limited Late Model division are a little better and no one in the division has a bad car.  I think the hardest thing was telling myself that I couldn’t go to the outside.  In the DARE Stocks, I could pass a lot of cars out there and in the Limited you have to be a bottom feeder.  Other than that, it was pretty much just like any other racecar.  I just trusted myself and my ability and the team’s ability.”

L’Etoile’s win came on Aug. 26^th after he had already recorded four podium finishes and he says that victory really helped boost the team for the final four races of the year and that his plans for the 2017 season are still to be determined.

“We had a goal to win a couple of races this season and we really struggled in the beginning of the year,” said L’Etoile.  “Once we got that figured out and we won a race, it really helped bring up everyone’s confidence on the team.  We’re all going to get together soon and figure out what we’re going to do next season.”

For winning the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine SK Light Rookie of the Year Award, L’Etoile will take home a $500 bonus from R.A.D. Automachine.

“Without great sponsors like Donny from R.A.D., we wouldn’t be able to do any of this.  It’s a great reward for us and a big thanks to Donny for putting up that bonus for us,” said L’Etoile.

L’Etoile will officially be crowned as the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year at the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor. 

Hopkins will officially be crowned as the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine DARE Stock Rookie of the Year at the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor. 
)---For SK Light driver Joe Graf, Jr., the 2016 season at Stafford Speedway was a totally new experience for the Mahwah, NJ native.  Prior to the 2016 season, Graf raced Legend Cars and had never sat behind the wheel of an open wheeled modified.  Despite being a newcomer to the world of open wheeled modified racing, Graf proved to be a quick study behind the wheel of the #2 RH2Way Radio Communications Chevrolet and he took home R.A.D. Automachine Rookie of the Year honors.

“We had some challenges here and there during the year but Paul French always had the car perfect,” said Graf.  “The whole Horsepower Hill team always brought a great car to the track and we had a shot at winning the championship going into the last race.  Things had to go a little differently than they did for us to be able to win the championship but I’m still pretty happy with how things were this year for us.  We got a win and a couple second place finishes so it was a great season.  I really need to give a big thanks to the whole Horsepower Hill team, Alliance Shippers, RH2, Racecayct.com, Bakaj Construction, my parents, and Paul for putting me in his car.”

The 2016 season for Graf can be broken down into 2 distinct segments.  In the first 6 races of the season, Graf’s average finish was 9.0.  Graf won his first and only feature of the year in the seventh race and from that point until the end of the season, he never finished outside the top-10 and his average finish for the final 11 races was 4.8.

“At the start of the year my goal was to win a race and we were hoping to be able to run for the championship, but we weren’t really sure how the year was going to go,” said Graf.  “Winning that race showed us that we could actually do it and it gave everyone some extra confidence.  I really felt like that was the week where everything started to come together for me.  We had been good before that but that night is when I really started to be able to pass guys and get around cars and the racing part of it really came to me.”

Making the move from a Legend Car to an SK Light can be a difficult transition with the difference in size, weight, and performance of the 2 cars.  Graf says that was his biggest adjustment in making the move up in competition but once he got it figured out, it was clear sailing.

“We noticed pretty quickly that the car was fast, I just had to learn the car,” said Graf.  “Being my first year, I was used to the Legend Car so I learned a lot about how to use the extra grip from the SK Light car compared to the Legend Car.  The SK Lights are a momentum car and I think that was the biggest thing for me to learn.  The Legend cars you get on the brakes hard and almost park the car in the center of the corner and then get back to the gas pretty quick where with the SK Light you almost have to coast into the corner with a little brake and then see how quickly you can get back in the gas.  Another thing was passing cars.  With the Legend you almost had to move guys where with the SK Light you can make crossover moves and they work.  We would have liked to get some more wins but I was very happy with the team and the progress I made this season.”

With a full year of experience to build upon, Graf is excited about the prospects for 2017 at Stafford.

“We’re really excited for next season,” said Graf.  “I feel like with what I’ve learned this year we’ll be even better next year.  I hope we can come out and win a couple more races and be a contender for the championship.”

For winning the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine SK Light Rookie of the Year Award, Graf will take home an $500 bonus from R.A.D. Automachine.

“R.A.D. helped us out a lot this year and Donny is a great guy and his motors are fantastic and a big thanks to him for that bonus, it’ll really help us out for next year,” said Graf.

Graf will officially be crowned as the 2016 R.A.D. Automachine Rookie of the Year at the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor. 
After winning Rookie of the Year honors in the Super Stock division at Monadnock Speedway in 2015, Whately, MA native Joel Monahan came to Stafford Speedway’s Late Model division for the 2016 season with his sights set on winning another rookie of the year title. 

Monahan actually started his Stafford career with four starts at the end of the 2015 season to prepare himself for a full season of Late Model competition in 2016.  After 2 top-10 finishes in his 4 2015 starts, Monahan and the #03 Monahan Trucking team posted 4 top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes in 17 races to take home NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year honors.

“I think things went better than we expected,” said Monahan.  “We didn’t’ win a race but we got some podium finishes and we learned a lot about the car.  Stafford was a fun track to race and I think we had a pretty decent season finishing 5^th in the points.  We had some bad days and some good days, but that’s racing and I don’t think any of us can be disappointed in how we did.  One of our main goals was to win Rookie of the Year.  We won rookie of the year at Monadnock last season and it would was pretty cool to do it back to back.”

Although he didn’t win a race this season, Monahan came close with a pair of second place finishes during the second half of the 2016 season.  As to be expected, Monahan says that things started to turn around for the #03 team in the second half of the year once they had some experience under their belts.

“At first we were struggling with the car,” said Monahan.  “We had a hard time for most of the year but towards the end of the year we had most things fixed up.  There were still a couple things with the car that we never found but we definitely started going better towards the end of the year.  Stafford is flatter and faster than Monadnock but it was about what I expected it to be.  I kept my eyes open every week and tried to learn as much as I could.  Now we have a whole season of experience which helps because seat time is always a key.  We’ll definitely be more prepared for 2017 and know what to expect than we did this season.”

Monahan’s closest competitor for the NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year was a fellow Monadnock Super Stock driver in Tyler Leary.  The two drivers were neck and neck for much of the first half of the year but Monahan slowly began to pull away from Leary over the second half of the year.

“It was cool to be racing with Tyler,” said Monahan.  “We’ve had some run ins with each other no doubt but it was pretty cool to know someone at the track who we’ve raced against before and kind of know what to expect from them.”

For winning the 2016 NAPA Auto Parts Late Model Rookie of the Year Award, Monahan will take home $1,000 gift card from NAPA, which will be good for use at one of the 59 participating NAPA Auto Parts Stores partnered with Stafford.  Monahan will officially be crowned as the 2016 NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year at the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18 at Maneeley’s in South Windsor. 

Tickets to the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony are $48 per person and can be ordered by calling the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at (860) 684-2783, or by downloading an order form from www.staffordspeedway.com and returning the form to the track office. Source: Stafford Speedway Media Press Release: Scott Running