RPW Column: Frank L’Etoile Jr. Looking To Recapture Stafford’s Street Stock Crown

Column By: BRITTANY NUTILE / RPW – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – Frank L’Etoile Jr. won the Street Stock feature at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday evening.  This was the third race of the season and Frankie finally made his way to victory lane.

In the first two races, Frankie was a contender and probably should have won.  However, the way the cautions played out, things just didn’t work in his favor.

“It felt good to just get the first win off my back,” L’Etoile said.  “Now I can relax and just do what I do without the pressure of not having won yet.”

Frankie started racing when he was young. He began in go-karts on the mini track at Stafford before starting his racing career in actual cars at the 2012 Fall Final. Things began in the Dare Stock division (now known as the Street Stocks) where he captured two championships then went on to compete in Limited Late Model for two seasons.  During that time, he took home Rookie of the year honors in 2016.

Frankie ended up returning to the Street Stock division, however.  A our was developed that he wanted to follow.  Unfortunately, his team wasn’t able to do both and he’s been in the class ever since.

Including Friday night’s win, Frankie now has 11 career wins at Stafford and is hoping to continue to add on to that.

For a little background, Frankie’s family has been racing since his grandfather started in the 70s. Marcel L’Etoile raced in the SK Modified division.  Frankie’s dad, Frank Sr., ran Late Models at the old Riverside Park before racing Modifieds in the early 2010s.  To say racing’s in Frankie’s blood would be an understatement.

After only three races in the 2021 season at Stafford, the street stock division is already super competitive. Everyone is eager to add their names to the win column this season.  We’ve already almost seen surprise winners in the form of people like Nickolas Hovey and Jason Finkbien.  However, both came up just a little bit short. Frankie looked like he was locked into winning the first race as well, but caution after caution made all other drivers eager to take the top spot.

So far, Chris Meyers and Travis Hydar are the other winners and look to be some of Frankie’s competition for the track championship.

“The first race was frustrating because we led so many laps and got hosed on a green, white checkered,” he said.  “I may not have been able to hold off the 11 car for that win, but I shouldn’t have would up fifth.  Those are points on the table that I will get back before the season is over.”

Heading into this Friday, Frankie, Travis and Chris all have a win under their belt in the first three races. Its looking to be a fun season of racing with this division because its anyone’s guess as to who will win on any given evening, let alone the track championship.