Stafford Speedway’s SK Light division heads into their biggest race of the 2022 season this Friday night, July 8, with the Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night 40-lap event that will pay the winner over $2,000 in purse and contingency awards from total posted awards of over $10,000. Ellington, CT native Tyler Chapman, driver of the #41 Chapman Apartment Homes Chevrolet, currently leads the SK Light standings thanks to his co-division leading 4 top-5 and 7 top-10 finishes this season, including a win and 3 second place finishes thus far.
“The season has been great,” said Chapman. “We’ve had very good luck the last few weeks with the exception of last Friday where we got into a little scuffle but so far it’s been really good. With the amount of work we put in every week, we should be up front and it feels pretty good to be able to start in the back every week and work our way towards the front. Big thanks to all my sponsors, Chapman Apartment Homes, Arcari Motor Sales, NAPA of Tolland, Centurn Machine, Critical Signs, K + W Custom Auto, Baps, and J. Rego’s.”
Chapman heads into the Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night feature event looking to rebound from his lone subpar finish of the 2022 season, a 22nd place finish one week ago that he suffered after getting caught up in a wreck. The wreck saw Chapman’s point lead dwindle from 52 points all the way down to 12 points, or 6 positions on the track, but Chapman isn’t too focused on points just yet.
“Last week was pretty disappointing but we’re not really worrying about points right now,” said Chapman. “We could be a couple hundred points in the lead and then wreck the next 7 weeks and lose that lead so I won’t worry about points until the last couple of races of the season. I hope we can pull away a little but we’ll see what happens.”
Chapman likes taking part in extra distance races and based on his on track performance, he is looking forward to trying to take home his second checkered flag of the 2022 season before switching up his focus to the very next race on the schedule.
“I love any out of the ordinary races with more laps and more cars,” said Chapman. “Those types of races are a lot more fun with the fast cars getting to the front and having a good battle between themselves. A win this Friday would be really good for us, I like to win the big races. I won a few in go karts and I won a big race 2 years ago. If we can win this race it would boost everyone’s energy on the team and we would be very happy and then get ready to try to win the race next Friday night.”
SK Light drivers will have to navigate 40-laps of racing this Friday night for the Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night event, which is double the customary weekly 20-lap distance that SK Light drivers are accustomed to. Despite having to go twice as long as normal, Chapman says his approach will be the same as any other Friday night 20-lap event.
“We won’t really change anything on the car for this race,” said Chapman. “I have some adjustments I can make in the car and with my driving line, but it’s pretty similar to a regular Friday night race where I have to be as patient as I can while trying to win the race. If someone starts to pull away, I’ll just have to try to get to the front faster.”
The 6th Annual Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night is scheduled for this Friday, July 8. Stafford’s SK Modified®, Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock cars will join the SK Lights in feature action. Tickets for Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets for Dunleavy’s Modifiedz Night are $25.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. Reserved seating is priced at $30.00 for all ages and pit passes are $40.00 with a valid 2022 Stafford Competition License and $45.00 without a Stafford license.
For more information, visit www.staffordspeedway.com.
