Georgia Native Spencer Davis Returning To Stafford Motor Speedway For Friday’s Open Mod 80
Story By: SCOTT RUNNING / STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY – STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT – After last racing at Stafford Speedway in a K & N East Series race in 2016, Dawsonville, GA native Spencer Davis will be part of the Open Modified brigade for the Lincoln Tech 80, set for Friday, August 19.
The 23 year old Davis has driven a wide range of vehicles in different touring series during his career such as the Truck Series, ARCA, K & N Pro Series, CARS Late Models, and the Whelen Modified Tour.
Davis finished third in his lone Stafford K & N Series start back in 2016 but he wasn’t quite as fortunate in his two Whelen Modified Tour starts in 2015, with mechanical issues leaving him with finishes of 30th and 31st. Davis is hoping to get his #29 Inox Supreme Lubricants / Casagrande Builders / Kopec’s Truck and Auto machine into the top-5, but would like a victory.
“Stafford is a fun track and it has a unique layout,” said Davis. “We’re hoping to have a little more luck on the modified side than I’ve had before. I had a really good run with the K & N East Series back in 2016 so I’m looking forward to coming back to Stafford. I have to give a big thanks to Casagrande Builders and Kopec’s Tire and Auto for making it possible for us to be able to come up to Stafford and race. If we could get a top-5 finish, that would be a respectable night for us, but we come to the track to win races.”
Davis originally had planned to make his Stafford return back in April for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®, but his #29 car wasn’t quite ready.
“Since we’ve been back short track racing, we’ve wanted to go to race at tracks that I’ve liked,” said Davis. “We were planning on running the Spring Sizzler® back in April but we just didn’t have everything put together in time since this is the first time we’re running a modified out of our own shop. We’ve finally got everything worked out between work schedules and racing schedules to make it back to Stafford.”
Davis will be coming to Stafford with some positive momentum on his side after competing in the two modified events that were held 2 weeks ago at the North Wilkesboro revival.
“We had a good showing at North Wilkesboro a couple weeks ago with a second and sixth place finish, so we’re hoping we can come to Stafford and take the win back down south with the momentum we have,” said Davis. “Every time we hit the track our goal is to win.”
With only 3 career starts at Stafford, Davis will be at a distinct experience disadvantage when compared with the drivers that he will be racing against in the Lincoln Tech 80, but his goal is still to go out and win the race.
“I think we’ll be pretty good,” said Davis. “My whole career I’ve raced against guys that have raced weekly at tracks and we come in with whatever touring series I was with and we’ve had good runs. It showed with the K & N car at Stafford while things didn’t work out so well for me on the modified side of things. Obviously not running at Stafford every week like some of the guys will be a little bit of a disadvantage, but we’re going to do our best and see if we can make the most out of it.”
In order to help prepare for the Lincoln Tech 80, Davis has gone back and rewatched the previous four open modified races that have been held at Stafford this season on FloRacing replays. While Davis says he can’t pick up much from watching older races, he has a general idea of what he can expect when he hits the Connecticut half-mile pavement this Friday night.
“The key to this race is going to be about being smart and saving tires,” said Davis. “From watching some of the other open 80 races this year on FloRacing, it’s going to take having a clean race and being there at the end. You really can’t pick up too much, but you can at least see how the races trend and there’s some little differences from race to race that you can pick up on. I’ve run against a bunch of these guys at other tracks so I know their driving styles and it’s all going to be about racing the track and seeing how things unfold.”
The 3rd Annual Lincoln Tech 80 is scheduled for this Friday, August 19th. Stafford’s SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will join the Open Modifieds in feature action. Tickets for the Lincoln Tech 80 are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets for the Lincoln Tech 80 are $30.00 for adults, $10.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. Reserved seating is priced at $35.00 for all ages and pit passes are $45.00 with a valid 2022 Stafford Competition License and $50.00 without a Stafford license.
Anthony Flannery Looking To Put Bad Luck Behind Him
For Anthony Flannery and the #25ct Fowler’s Auto Wrecking / Belltown Recycling team, good luck has been hard to find in 2022 when racing Open Modifieds at Stafford Motor Speedway. With 50 cars on hand for the NAPA Spring Sizzler® in April, Flannery was able to earn a starting position but a wreck not of his own doing ended his run. Flannery is hoping to not only get a top-10 finish this Friday night, August 19, in the Lincoln Tech Open 80, but also make it to the checkered flag.
“I’d be very happy with a top-10 finish and just finishing the race would be big for us since we haven’t had a lot of luck with the open car at Stafford this season,” said Flannery. “We qualified for the Sizzler out of 50 cars and we only lasted for a lap and a half before we got caught up in someone else’s wreck and we were done for the day. We missed the next race but came back for the third race. We were running in the top-10 and made it through the pit cycle but unfortunately only lasted a few more laps before the car blew up on me. We had a good car up to that point and any time we can get into the top-10 in one of these open races at Stafford, that’s a pretty big deal for a small team like ours. If we can stop the DNF’s from coming through, we’ll be very happy. I’m feeling pretty good about the race and hopefully we’ll have a little bit of lady luck on our side and we can finish.”
Prior to the start of the 2022 season, Flannery had less than 20 career starts at Stafford driving SK Modified®, Open Modified, or Modified Racing Series cars. In order to help himself get a little more acclimated with the Connecticut half-mile layout, Flannery has been racing a Todd Owen prepared SK Modified® car that he has piloted to 4 top-10 finishes in only 5 races.
“I’ve been running the SK Modified® for Todd and it’s always good to have more laps at a track,” said Flannery. “The cars drive totally different with the horsepower difference, but laps are laps and getting more laps definitely helps to get more comfortable. Those extra laps in the SK have given me a confidence boost in knowing how to get around the track a little better.”
Coming into the 2022 season, Flannery had only made 3 career SK Modified® starts without recording a top-10 finish. Now that he has four top-10 finishes in 5 races, Flannery knows what it takes to run in the top-10 at Stafford as well as learning patience that he can apply during the Lincoln Tech 80.
“I knew Todd had great stuff and he continues to give me a great car every week, the only thing is showing up halfway through the year we have no handicap and we have to start in the back,” said Flannery. “I go out to get laps and try not to affect anything with guys who are racing for points. If I make a crazy move, it might look good on FloRacing, but it only takes one or two bad nights for someone to get taken out of the points race so I’m trying to always be smart with my moves and that helps with keeping the car in one piece. In the open races, you can apply that patience from the SK races even a little further with the extra laps and extra power to work with.”
Even though Flannery will be pulling double duty this Friday night at Stafford, he will be able to put the majority of his focus on racing, as his Open Modified teammate and car owner Dave Etheridge (driver of #34 Open Mod) will miss the race, allowing the crew for the #25ct and #34 cars to give their full attention to Flannery’s car.
“It’ll be my first time doing double duty at Stafford,” said Flannery. “It’s going to be bittersweet that Dave won’t be racing, but that will just mean that I have extra crew guys for my Open car and there will be a lot less things that I have to worry about. Todd’s guys are all amazing and they take care of the SK for me so I can focus mostly on just driving the car. Whenever I try to do something on the SK the guys just push me out of the way and tell me that they’ve got it.”
Flannery heads into the Lincoln Tech 80 knowing what he will need in order to be among the contending cars when the race comes down to the final few laps.
“You’ll need to have a car with no damage on it so you have to be smart throughout the race, and you’ll need to have a good pit stop,” said Flannery. “You see a lot of guys either gain or lose a bunch of spots on pit road and it’s tough to make up spots on the track if you have a bad pit stop.”
The 3rd Annual Lincoln Tech 80 is scheduled for this Friday, August 19th. Stafford’s SK Modified®, Late Model, SK Light, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will join the Open Modifieds in feature action. Tickets for the Lincoln Tech 80 are available now online at StaffordSpeedway.com/tickets and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. Tickets for the Lincoln Tech 80 are $30.00 for adults, $10.00 for kids 6-14, and free for kids 5 & under. Reserved seating is priced at $35.00 for all ages and pit passes are $45.00 with a valid 2022 Stafford Competition License and $50.00 without a Stafford license.
