photo from Stafford Speedway
(Stafford Springs, CT)—As Darrell Keane and the #79 Jarmoc Farms / Botticello, Inc. Late Modelteam prepare for the 2024 Late Model season at Stafford Speedway, Keane is keen to get his #79 back to NAPA Victory Lane after going winless in 2023. Keane’s career has been a bit of a statistical oddity in that he has won races in each of the even year seasons he’s participated in while he has gone winless in odd numbered years. After failing to add to his win total last season, Keane is looking for some racing luck to help him get back to winning races.
“Last season we had glimpses of greatness at moments and then there were times of misery,” said Keane. “We ran strong and we were fast every week, sometimes we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s part of racing. There’s going to be seasons like that and I wish that we did better, but with how we ran and how everyone on the crew worked, I’m not upset about anything. I thought we ran really well for the luck and some of the other issues that we ended up having. We’re preparing for this season just like we did last season and hopefully we’ll have a four leaf clover on our side and have some better luck than we did last season.”
Despite not reaching NAPA Victory Lane last season and having to deal with some bad luck and mechanical issues last season, Keane’s bright spot was finishing second in the Paradiso Insurance 50-lap feature event, a race that Keane had yet to finish in his previous season.
“We did have a bright side finishing second in the 50 lapper,” said Keane. “I hadn’t finished that race in 4 years. We had a couple of podium finishes but that race I had a missed a shift at the beginning of the race and had to go to the back. We managed to get ourselves back up to second at the end of the race and it would have been nice to win, but having to come back through the field after the first lap was a great result for us.”
Keane’s best season came back in 2018 when he was able to win 2 races. Keane has since won a single race in both the 2020 and 2022 seasons to give himself 4 career victories at Stafford going into the 2024 season. After going winless this past season, adding to his career win total is a top priority for Keane in 2024.
“Getting ourselves back into victory lane is our #1 goal, and we’re extremely hungry to get there,” said Keane. “Where that puts us at the end of the year is to be seen, but we want to get back to victory lane. I’ll never say no to winning a race but I’ve only won two races in a season at Stafford once, so I’d like to be able to win more that 2 races but it’s going to be tough. There’s a lot of new guys and guys coming back into the Late Model division so I think there’s going to be a lot more parity and competition.”
Keane and his crew have been busy this winter putting together a brand new car that he hopes will be one of the keys to returning the #79 machine back to NAPA Victory Lane”
“We’re doing a lot of work at the shop putting a new car together,” said Keane. “Bob Fill has been a great help, he’s never steered us wrong. We’re really looking forward to getting back on the track with our new car. We talked with Bob at the end of last season and he thought this was the best opportunity to better our team. I have no worries about bringing a new car to the track since we have a practice day to work out any bugs. I have to give thanks to my whole crew, especially my wife Nina, she puts up with a lot. For my sponsors thanks to Botticello, Inc., Jarmoc Farms, Valhome Productions, all our sponsors who make it possible for us to be at the track and all the contingency sponsors that help the Late Model division every year. They make it more enticing to get the car on the podium to help support their causes that help us out.”
Keane’s first opportunity to drive his #79 car into NAPA Victory Lane be the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®, set for April 27-28. The NAPA Spring Sizzler® kicks off on Saturday, April 27th 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®. Stafford’s Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program with qualifying and featur
Sunday, April 28th will play host to the $20,000 to win 52nd NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified® and SK Light Modified divisions along with last chance qualifiers for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
#
Author
Discover more from The Racing Times Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
