The 2025 season at Stafford Speedway has kicked off with the Spring Sizzler and had alot of great winners for the start of 2025 Stafford Season.
Bert Ouellette started off with a win, along with Matt Clement winning his 3rd Spring Sizzler in a row, Nikolas Hovey winning the Duel 1, and Brian Sullivan winning the Duel 2 in SK lights, Paul Varricchio Jr winning the Late Model race, Jon Puleo winning the SK Modified race and Stephen Kopcik winning the Spring Sizzler Open Mod race.
Here are what the top 5 drivers in each division have to say about their Spring Sizzler weekend and how they feel about the weather.
Street Stocks:
Bert Ouellette
Bert Ouellette wins the Street Stock race on Spring Sizzler Weekend.He hasn’t won a race in 2023 and 2024 so, this spring sizzler win is huge for him, to build confidence for the 2025 season and more momentum for him to get more wins this year. Bert finished 6th in the points last year and had 0 wins, 9 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s. I asked Bert a few questions about winning the sizzler, having the whole spring sizzler be on one day and his goals for the 2025 season.
Question: How does it feel to win on Spring Sizzler Weekend?
Answer: “Stafford motor speedway is just an incredible track to win at regardless but to win 1 of there crown jews is just that much more special!! I won a sizzler as a traveling series with the trucks but it’s even more special to win it as a regular!!”
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day? How did you feel about it?
Answer: “It could have affected me if they pushed it to the following weekend but I’m grateful they didn’t! I liked the 1 day, yes I knew it was going to be a long day but I appreciate the track’s attempt to get it in and done!! And part of me thought it was cool that we got to be on the “main” day whether I knew we were going to be at the end or not. I was just happy to get the season underway and not need to wait longer!”
Question: How much momentum does it give you for the season to win the first race?
Answer: “Personally I think it gives you a ton of momentum!! Momentum I wanted to get right away as last year I stumbled outta the gate and it just kinda threw me off all in total! So to start with a win like that and all the positivity that comes with it is huge as I’m looking to run for the title!!”
Question: What are your goals and expectations for the season this year?
Answer: “My goal for the season is to contend for the title and win multiple races! Growing up around the corner from the speedway and basically growing up with my Friday nights being spent at Stafford speedway there’s nothing more that I want than I title at Stafford, to be able to say I’m a stafford motor speedway champion!! As well as I’ve only won 1 race in a season so it will be nice to get more than 1 this season and I knew I had a shot at the sizzler but I was far from expecting that especially after the heat where I found myself just way too tight! Made the right change and it was on!”
Tyler Trott
Tyler Trott had a great run the past couple of spring sizzlers.Last year he finished 3rd in the race. In the 2024 season, he also had 3 wins, 15 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s, he had a very good 2024 season, finishing 2nd in the point standings and looking forward to watching him be a key factor in the 2025 season and expecting him to add more wins to his resume.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day? How did you feel about it?
Answer: “It does it limits time to adjust car, but we prepare all week to have a fast car”
Question: Talk about your 2nd place finish at Spring Sizzler weekend?
Answer: “It was a great race are car was fast definitely had a shot to win the race”
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: “Goal this season are to get in the top 10 of all time in street stock and be the 2025 champion”
Jason Raymond
Jason Raymond had a great year last year, still looking for a win but had 8 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s. He finished 4th in the points for the 2024 season and finished 6th at the Spring Sizzler last year.
Question: Talk about your 4th place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Coming home 4th in the first race of the year is definitely a great way to start the year, the car was off all day long so to still end up top 5 with a car I wasn’t really happy with was a huge relief.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: I’d like to think that it being rained out and pushed to a one day show on Sunday didn’t affect me too much but I feel like it definitely did. With the super cold windy weather and the extra time between my time on track definitely played a factor mentally
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: Some of my main goals for this year is to win some races. I’ve been super close a few times last year so I definitely would love to get it done and win some. Other than that obviously be in the points picture at the end of the year and stay consistent throughout the season
Brent Gleason
Rookie of the Year contender Brent Gleason didn’t race at Stafford Speedway last year and is ready to show his competitors and fans at Stafford he’s ready to race and win some races.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day? How did you feel about it?
Answer: Yeah, it stinks when we get moved because being a “lower” division, I know I’m going to get the short end of the stick regardless. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it is what it is, I just have to embrace the misery sometimes. It made for a long, miserable day and took a lot of fun out of it, but there were a lot of other factors behind that more than just the schedule, so it is what it is.
Question: Talk about your 5th place finish at spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Finishing 5th wasn’t even on my radar to be honest. We weren’t that great in practice but I was just shaking the thing down, making sure a winter’s worth of prep was actually working. The heat race was awful, it was one of the worst cars I ever drove. My brother Jesse, Ernie LaRose and Dave Irish Jr came up with a plan, made a bunch of adjustments and to have what we had was surprising. I made a lot of aggressive moves and it all paid off, so it was a welcome surprise.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: My goals and expectations are actually pretty high this year, I want to win races and a title. I put every single resource I had into a brand new car, I had an amazing sponsor step up support with North East Truck and Offroad, and I want to be a top contender, plain and simple. I feel like if we can take that car with how many bandaids and temporary fixes and do that well with it right off the rip, just wait until we square it away.
Question: express how you feel about being a rookie in the street stocks at Stafford Speedway?
Answer: I actually don’t like being considered a “rookie” this year at Stafford. I’ve raced these cars for the better part of a decade at Thompson, I’ve won a handful of races, I’ve finished on the podium in points 5 times with two second place finishes, so to consider me a rookie kind of feels like an injustice to those who are actually rookies. I know it’s the track rule by definition that I qualify, but I would rather let the people who are “actual” rookie get the recognition they are due, although the gas card for highest finishing rookie are certainly nice
Street Stock Top 5 for Spring Sizzler:
- Bert Ouelette
- Tyler Trott
- Travis Downey
- Jason Raymond
- Brent Gleason-R
Limited Late Model:
Matt Clement
Matt Clement wins the Limited Late Model Race at Stafford Speedway on Spring Sizzler Weekend. This is Matt’s 3rd Spring Sizzler win in a row. He is the reigning champion of the Limited Late Model Series. Had a great 2024 season, with 3 wins, 13 top 5’s and 19 top 10’s.
Question: How does it feel to win on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Winning on sizzler weekend is always a goal of ours. It shows we put in the time preparing the car in the off season, and sets the tone for the season.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: The rain is always a huge factor, it ended up being a long day, but thankfully we were able to get the races in. The Open Modified rubber always make the track and line a bit trickier to find, but we were able to pick up speed in the feature.
Question: How much momentum does it give you for the season to win the 1st race?
Answer: I wouldn’t say that this gives us a ton of momentum as it did in years past, being the track champion and now winning the first race of the season lets us know we are still in a good spot competitively. So now we will look to leverage that into next week.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: As far as goals, win races, keep the car in one piece week after week, and hold up that championship trophy at the end of the year!
Jason Lafayatte
Rookie of the Year Contender Jason Lafyatte gets 2nd place on Sizzler Weekend. Last year he competed in the Street Stock division and had a great year. Finished 7th in the Spring Sizzler, 3rd in the point standings, and had 2 wins, 8 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s.
Question: Talk about your 2nd place finish on spring sizzler weekend? How does it feel to go into a new division and already see the podium finish in your first race?
Answer: We were really pleased with the car. It has shown great speed from the first time it has been on the track. It feels really good to finish second with a new car and division. We did have a couple starts last year and should go at a good speed with no luck.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: Yes, the rain made for a long day. We were all tired and could, but we are happy that the track got everything in.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: We hope for a good season! This obviously helps our expectations of how our season may go.
Jeremy Lavoie
Jeremy Lavoie gets a podium finish in 3rd place for the first race of the season. Jeremy had a good season last year finishing 3rd at the Spring sizzler, 3rd in the point standings, and got 1 win, 12 top 5’s, 18 top 10’s.
Question: Talk about your 3rd place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Our spring sizzler went very well, we were excited after showing good speed on practice day. With only one round of practice on Sunday we really had to get the tires scuffed in for the heats and feature
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: It doesn’t really affect us that it was all in one day, we just had to adjust to what the track was giving us for conditions after it had rained all day Saturday, but I don’t think anybody anticipated such a long day and when we went out for our feature the car was good, was able to capitalize on some spots right at the green to get down to the bottom and felt like I had something for Matt before the yellow came out but then when I restarted on the outside I overheated the tires and settled in for 3rd.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: The goal this year is to get another championship and set the bar high but also we need to finish all the laps and get the best finishes we can, with as many cars in the division this year I expect to see a lot of different winners but my goal is to definitely stay consistent
Adrien Paradis III
Adrien Paradis III had a good spring sizzler weekend with a 4th place finish. Last year Adrien was proving to be one of the one’s to compete with and watch. Adrien was 2nd at the spring sizzler in 2024, had 1 win, 8 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s and ended the season 9th in the point standings.
Question: Talk about your 4th place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: The team and I are happy with the 4th place finish. I feel we had a good enough car to be up front with the 59, but we kept getting stuck in the outside lane on the restarts. We would pass cars and then lose the progress we made on the restarts.
Question:Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: I don’t feel that everything being one day affected us at all. We were fast in open practice, fast sizzler weekend and we expect to be fast the next time out, if it ever stops raining on Fridays.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: Are goal is to finish in the top five every week, win some races and hopefully contend for a championship, but there is some stout competition in the LLM, we already had 11 drivers win last year and now have two more that can win any week. We need to stay out of trouble and finish up front every week, but that is easier said than done.
Limited Late Model Top 5 for Spring Sizzler:
- Matt Clement
- Jason Lafayette- R
- Jeremy Lavoie
- Adrien Paradis III
- Rich Hammann
Sk Light Modifieds:
Dean Lambros
Rookie of the Year Contender Dean Lambros had a great 3rd place finish as a rookie and has been turning a lot of heads and looking forward to the 2025 season as a rookie.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day? How did you feel about it?
Answer: Having everything pushed into one day doesn’t really bother me too much racing wise, the only thing I get worried about is thinking everyone else is trying to rush out to get home early enough to be at work in the morning without feeling tired. Makes me think everyone is going to drive a little more aggressively on track.
Question: Talk about your 3rd place finish at spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Finishing 3rd for the spring sizzler duel was a great feeling, I’m so proud of all the guys that worked to help me dial in that car, that’s what really got me there. Makes me eager to run more modifieds in the future, they’re addicting in every way. There’s nothing that I’ve driven to compare what a modified feel’s like!
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: I don’t really have too many expectations this year other than having fun with family and friends, running my competitors clean, and having the car roll back into the trailer the way I found it. My one big goal I have in mind is to get Joey Ferrigno his first car owner win. He asked me to make it happen this year, gonna give it a shot to make that happen.
Question: Express how you feel about being a rookie in the sk lights at Stafford Speedway?
Answer: Being a rookie at Stafford motor speedway makes me feel great in a way of getting my feet wet with modifieds and oval track racing. I haven’t raced ovals in a long time from legend cars, so being back to a track like Stafford is exciting for me. I feel like there’s a lot to learn this season!
Sk Light Modified Top 6 for Spring Sizzler:
- Nickolas Hovey
- Brian Sullivan
- Amanda West
- Zach Aszklar
- Paul Arute
- Dean Lambros-R
Late Model:
Kevin Gambacorta
Kevin Gambacorta’s 3rd place finish was very good; he had the same finish last Spring Sizzler weekend. Last year he won 3 times, had 15 top 5’s and 17 top 10’s. He’s looking forward to having more wins and have a good time racing.
Question: Talk about your 3rd place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: Third place is a great way to start the season. I was a little frustrated because I feel like we had the best car, but I got stuck on the outside at the start and fell back to like 7th or 8th. But we were able to pass a bunch of cars without the aid of a caution and start the season off with a podium.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: Other than the rainout making it one real long day, it really doesn’t make a difference to me whether it is a one or two day show.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: My goal for 2025 is to win races and try to win my 3rd consecutive championship
Adam Gray
Adam Gray had a great 4th place finish this year, last year’s spring sizzler didn’t go as good as he hoped with a 18th place finish. He won 6 times last year, with 8 top 5’s and 13 top 10’s. He’s hoping to have more wins and continue to work hard racing this year.
Question: Talk about your 4th place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: We were very happy with our 4th place finish. The new cars were a super nice piece and started off with good speed on a very green track.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: I actually liked the one day event. I wish the weather cooperated a bit better throughout the day but all in all stafford did a great job getting everything in. In years passed we qualified on Saturday and raced Sunday. I absolutely prefer the one day shows. It’s even better when you have a full card of racing.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: Our goals are to win races and have fun I don’t tend to focus on the points if your running good and winning races the rest will fall how it falls but I have nothing but confidence in our new BFR chassis race car to bring home hardware several times throughout the season
Late Model Top 5 for Spring Sizzler:
- Paul Varricchio Jr.
- Michael Wray
- Kevin Gambacorta
- Adam Gray
- Tom Fearn
Sk Modifieds:
Mikey Flynn
Mikey Flynn had an awesome 2nd place finish in the SK Mod race. In the 2024 Sk Mod race he was in 8th place. In the 2024 season he won a race, got 2 top 5’s and 12 top 10’s. He has been accomplishing a lot in the last few years and continues to grow and win and compete with the best of the best.
Question: Talk about your 2nd place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: The second place finish was awesome! It’s always great to start the season off strong bc if you don’t you can find yourself in an early hole which can be hard to get out of. 2nd is always tough because you are one spot short but overall happy with the finish.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: Yes absolutely it affects almost everything to be honest, what time you get to the track, what time you race which affects the car, the track changes when you put more cars on it so many things. Plus with the open car it makes it even harder on our team.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: My goal is to win as many times as possible this year and have as much fun as I can.
SK Modified Top 5 for Spring Sizzler:
- Jon Puleo
- Mikey Flynn
- Andrew Molleur
- Michael Christopher Jr.
- Teddy Hodgdon
Spring Sizzler Open Mod:
Stephen Kopcik
Stephen Kopcik had a great Spring Sizzler race with winning the race and with Stephen racing more and more different races and not racing full time at Stafford. Hoping to have more wins in the 2025 season.
Question: How does it feel to win the spring sizzler?
Answer: It’s unbelievable to be able to pull off that win racing with some of the best guys in modified racing it’s really special to win that race in particular
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: No we’re still there to do the best we can do regardless of circumstances
Question: How much momentum does it give you for the season to win the 1st race?
Answer: That win creates huge momentum for our team I feel like we have great people and have grown incredibly well together
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: Just race as much as we can and contend for wins
Woody Pitkat
Woody Pitkat had a great 2nd place finish. His race was kind of up and down but ended on the up side. Woody has been having good races in the open division and looking for some wins in the 2025 season.
Question: talk about your 2nd place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: It was definitely an up and down day. Another cold raw rainy day just tried to make the best of it even when I got sent to the rear a few times just tried to keep the right mind set and never give up.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: The one day wasn’t to big of a deal cause it was planned for this years sizzler but when it does happen and they pack the schedule like that just try to be the most prepared we can be cause we no it’s gonna be a quick turn around for all divisions so definitely have to be on are toes.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: Goals are pretty much the same as the past few obviously to try and win as many races as we can. Would like to win on some different tracks that I haven’t yet on tri track like seekonk, white mountain. Content for the tri-track championship and keep building better runs on the WMT with the 82 team.
Joey Cipriano
Joey Cipriano had a top 5 finish for the Spring Sizzler race. With him not racing full time at Stafford Speedway, he’s been trying to race other divisions and get some more wins in 2025.
Question: Talk about your 5th place finish on spring sizzler weekend?
Answer: I’m super happy to come away from the sizzler with a top 5. There’s so much history behind the race, so to start on the front row and finish in the top 5 was a really a cool deal. We didn’t fire off great at the start, but my guys worked really hard through the race to get the car better and give us a shot at the end.
Question: Does it affect you when it rains and pushes everything to one day?
Answer: Our race was going to all be in one day anyway so it didn’t really change what we prepared for. But when it’s on and off rain through the day, you just have to keep up on adjustments made and do your best to keep up with the racetrack as it changes.
Question: What are your goals or expectations for the season this year?
Answer: I’m honestly going into this season with no expectations. I know what our Fueled Up Motorsports team is capable of and how much time is put in in the shop to prepare for these races, so we’ll just go do the best we can everywhere and try to have a good time doing it
Open Modified Top 5 for Spring Sizzler:
- Stephen Kopcik
- Woody Pitkat
- Anthony Nocella
- Matt Galko
- Joey Cipriano
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