The closing weeks of summer have been quiet for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series. But Saturday’s 49th NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway will be well worth the wait.
For the first time in Fall Final history, the Monaco Modifieds will be the main event of Stafford’s signature end-of-year showdown. And with over 50 cars vying for a piece of the $15,000 winner’s purse, every lap from the opening round of heats to the final circuit of the feature will be a must-see.
Saturday’s Fall Final is the penultimate race for the 2022 Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series season, and the second time ever that the series has raced at Stafford. The popular Connecticut track has rolled out the red carpet for the best Modified racers in the region, with the largest purse in MMTTS’s history.
Leading the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series to Stafford is Matt Hirschman, who sits atop the point standings as he chases his seventh series championship. The half-mile speedplant is not atop the list of Hirschman’s usual bullring haunts, but the Northampton, PA. ace held off all challengers to win Stafford’s Spring Sizzler in April, taking home over $26,000 in total winnings and punching his ticket to July’s Superstar Racing Experience feature. “Big Money Matt” can never be counted out when dollar signs are on the line, and a Fall Final win would bookend his 2022 Stafford experience nicely.
Chase Dowling, Hirschman’s closest competition in the year-long points race, won the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series’ event at Stafford in 2020 and has spent a few more evenings in victory lane at the oval. Ronnie Williams, Matt Swanson and the “Sultan of Stafford” Woody Pitkat are all in the thick of the points race as it crosses through a very familiar venue.
Star Speedway SBM 125 winner Jake Johnson, Brian Robie, Chris Pasteryak and Max Zachem are just a handful of the Tri-Track regulars hoping to steal a piece of the glory Saturday evening.
But the 53-car entry list features plenty of local expertise looking to keep the prizes and purse money closer to home. Mike Christopher, Jr., Stephen Kopcik, Todd Owen and Keith “Kid Roc” Rocco are among those who have a shot to duplicate Dana DiMatteo’s home cooking at New London-Waterford Speedbowl in August.
With New England’s top Modified talent on the track and tens of thousands of reasons to battle for every position, Saturday’s Fall Final is the perfect way to tie a bow on Stafford’s 2022 season as well as set the stage for the final round of the Tri-Track Series schedule, October’s Haunted Hundred at Seekonk Speedway.
A full entry list for the race is posted online on the Series’s website at MonacoModifieds.com/race-central, where fans can check in on race day for real-time content updates from the track including streaming info, practice speeds, and heat, consi, B-Main and feature lineups and results.
Grandstand gates open at 11:00am Saturday for Stafford Motor Speedway’s 49th NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final, featuring the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series, SK Modifieds, SK Lights and Vintage All-Stars. Heat racing starts at 1:30pm with the Fall Final taking the green around 6:00pm. Reserved seating is $35.00; adult general admission tickets are $30.00, kids 6-14 are $10.00 and children under 5 are free.
For more information on Stafford Motor Speedway, visit staffordspeedway.com.