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CHASE DOWLING
LOOKING FOR HOME TRACK WIN
IN STAFFORD'S NAPA SPRING SIZZLER |
After
a 2015 season that saw him win Sunoco Rookie of the
Year on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, 18-year old
Chase Dowling is ready to challenge for his first
career victory. What better place for Dowling to
collect his first Tour win than at Stafford Speedway
in the 45th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler, where he
first sat behind the wheel of an open wheel modified
car.
“I’m really excited,” said Dowling. “I have a lot of
laps at Stafford thanks to my SK Modified® and SK
Light experience and it’s always nice to go back to
your home track. It’s really hard to win at the Tour
level and we don’t expect to win a ton of races, but
we’re going to try our best. What’s better than
winning at your home track? It would be an honor to
win a race especially at Stafford having grown up
there and coming through the SK Light and SK
Modified® divisions for both myself and the crew.
Everyone on this team deserves to be in victory
lane.”
After teaming with Jamie Tomaino Motorsports for his
rookie campaign, Dowling and the #9 S+S Asphalt
Paving / Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair / Hocon
Industrial Gas team have joined forces with long
time NWMT owner Bob Katon. While the car owner is
new from last season, Dowling says the crew remains
the same and they are looking to build upon the
experience that they logged during the 2015 season.
“We had a building year last year and I learned a
lot going from track to track and we built up a good
notebook for this season,” said Dowling. “We’re
teaming up with Bob Katon as our car owner this year
so it’s a new team but we’re going to have the same
group of guys working on the car. I think it should
be a pretty good year for us.”
Just as he had done in Stafford’s SK Light and SK
Modified® ranks, Dowling proved to be quick study
during his rookie NWMT season. Dowling’s season got
off to a very slow start with his best finish over
the first 6 races of the year a 12th place effort at
Stafford. But in the final 9 races of the season,
Dowling posted 8 top-10 finishes, including a career
best third place finish at Riverhead. With positive
momentum on his side, Dowling is looking to carry
that over into the 2016 season.
“I think that having a good notebook is key to
having good results,” said Dowling. “Our results
last year weren’t a result of myself or the team not
trying hard, we just didn’t have a notebook to work
with. I remember in the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 at
Stafford we were running right with Woody [Pitkat]
up front until we had to make our pit stop and we
had some issues there. Our first time at Riverhead
we finished 10th and second race there we were
running right up front and battling for the lead.
That just shows how much experience and time counts.
You’re never going to beat experience. If you look
at Doug Coby and Phil Moran, Phil’s been doing this
for a lot of years now and he knows the cars inside
and out. We’re trying to build so we can get to that
same level. I think we’ll be there one day, it’s
just going to take some time.”
For three consecutive seasons, Dowling has been a
rookie and he has won Rookie of the Year each time.
He was Stafford’s SK Light R.O.Y. in 2013 with 7
wins and SK Modified® R.O.Y. in 2014 with 1 win
before taking home the rookie award last year in the
Whelen Modified Tour. The rear bumper will be rookie
stripe free in 2016.
“I don’t think it will be any different this
season,” said Dowling. “If you respect the guys
around you, they’ll respect you on the track. I
think we were starting to get it at the end of the
2015 season. We qualified seventh and finished 6th
at the NAPA Fall Final and I think we have a lot to
look forward to. We’re hoping that we can get a
solid top-5 finish in the Spring Sizzler.”
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of
Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.
Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general
admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and
children ages 5 and under are admitted free of
charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always,
Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with
overnight parking available. All tickets are good
for both Saturday and Sunday admission. All ticket
prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Discount
Tickets will be available at all 57 participating
NAPA Auto Parts stores beginning on Monday April
4th. For a full list of the 57 locations throughout
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode
Island, call the speedway office or visit us on the
web at
www.staffordmotorspeedway.com/participating-napa-auto-parts-stores.
For more information on the 45th Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, 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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Source:
Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted:
March 18, 2016 |
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