Story By: SCOTT RUNNING / STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – After debuting as a Stafford Speedway Contingency Program partner in 2022, American Sign, Inc. of New Haven, CT will return as a contingency sponsor for the 2023 season. American Sign will contribute weekly bonuses of $75 to each Street Stock feature winner as well as $75 to each third place SK Light finisher.
American Sign President and CEO Tony Lafo is a former Stafford weekly competitor who raced in both the Late Model and Street Stock divisions, so he is well aware of the costs of racing and he is happy to offer any assistance that he can.
“We enjoy being part of the race program and we like having our name out there,” said Lafo. “The SK Lights are an obviously fantastic division with the amount of cars that are signed up and the Street Stocks always put on a one heck of a show. We had a lot of fun last season being a contingency sponsor and we’re looking forward to having more fun this year. We know how expensive it can be to go racing so we’re glad to be able to help the drivers out in any way that we can.”
Last season saw 11 different SK Light drivers record a third place finish with Alexander Pearl leading all drivers with four third place finishes, followed by George Bessette, Jr. with three, and Nick Anglace, Bob Charland, and Chris Matthews all scoring two. Zach Aszklar, Jason Chapman, Cassandra Cole, Derek Debbis, Norm Sears, and Amanda West all notched a single third place effort and all 11 drivers will return to SK Light competition in 2023.
In the Street Stock division, 7 different drivers scored a feature win with Bobby Stirk, III leading all drivers with 6 victories. Defending track champion Travis Hydar was next with 5 wins, while Travis Downey and Adrien Paradis, III were the other multiple feature winners with Downey winning three races and Paradis two. Jason Finkbein, Nickolas Hovey, and Bert Ouellette each won a single race. The race to reach NAPA Victory Lane should be wide open in 2023 as Stirk has moved up to the Late Model division while Hovey is moving up to SK Lights and Paradis has moved to the Limited Late Model division.
American Sign, Inc. was established in New Haven, CT in 1934 and was purchased in 1979 by the Lafo Family. American Sign quickly grew into one of the largest sign manufacturers in Connecticut and has developed a reputation for not only manufacturing the highest quality signage but also for standing behind their products and always meeting or exceeding deadlines and client expectations. Tony Lafo took over as President and CEO in 2010 and American Sign has continued to stay on top of the industry with the most current equipment and products servicing customers for over 88 years.
“We cover all of New England, New York, New Jersey, and we do a lot of national retail sign work,” said Lafo. “Our bread and butter is channel letters, LED signs, shopping centers, malls, and things like that.”
The first American Sign, Inc. contingency bonuses of the 2023 season will be paid out on April 29 & 30 as part of NAPA Spring Sizzler Weekend. The NAPA Spring Sizzler® kicks off on Saturday, April 29, and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. The American Canadian Tour (ACT) will make its return to Stafford Speedway on April 29th with a 75-lap feature with over 40 cars expected for the race. Limited Late Model, Street Stock, and Vintage All-Star divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program.
Sunday, April 30th will play host to the $20,000 to win 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified®, SK Light Modified, and Late Model divisions along with last chance qualifiers for the Spring Sizzler®.