Column By: STEPHEN DURHAM / RPW – PAWCATUCK, CT – For Jacob Perry, at 22 years old, has had a lot of seat time behind tour-type modifieds, dirt modifieds, even a little seat time with the ARCA tour series, and much more.
Heading into this week, Perry and other big names in the modified world will set their eyes on the prize at Stafford Speedway for the GAF Modified Masters.
Perry though, he will be teaming up with Eighty-Two Autosport and John-Michael Shenette, the team owner.
As Perry sat at Boston-Logan airport, heading down to North Carolina to help the Eighty-Two Autosport team get set for Stafford, he said its pretty special to get to team up with John-Michael and his team.
“it’s something we’ve been talking about since last year, then became a reality this season after Speedweeks where I went down to work with him,” Perry explains “he’s a great guy with a lot of really good connections and just loves racing the same way I do.”
The Eighty-Two Autosport team will be bringing their own car up to Stafford for next Wednesday, piloted by former NASCAR driver, Ryan Newman. For the Rhode Island native, Perry is excited to get to work with Newman at Stafford.
“I’ve gotten to stay in touch with Newman over the years seeing him at Millbridge when visiting North Carolina,” Perry says “I’m certainly excited to get the chance to build on my relationship with Ryan Newman, he’s always a contender and has a lot of race knowledge and race craft.”
Perry hopes to pick up a few tips and learn a few things working alongside Newman.
“He was always known for his time trials so maybe I can pick something up there at minimum, that’s one of my weaker points in racing,” Perry says “having a guy like Ryan to bounce things off of is going to be extremely helpful and having the honor of racing beside him will be a blast!”
Beyond Stafford, Perry says they will be picking and choosing what modified races they chase, but he is looking forward to Stafford.
“It’s a track that I recently have gotten quite comfortable at and feel that we have the equipment to run up front,” Perry explains “it’s going to be really tough to beat the top teams like Silk, Woody and Williams but I feel like we’re learning more and more about our program and building confidence for a big breakthrough.”
Perry is very grateful for his opportunities and is ever so grateful for his incredible sponsors and partners who help make it happen.
