DAYTONA BEACH, FL :: Tyler Chadwick opens the 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl in a unique position: defending SK Modified track champion.
The .375-mile paved oval opens its 63rd season April 5-7 with the Budweiser Blastoff Weekend.
“We just scaled the car. It’s set up and ready for the open practice day this Saturday,” Chadwick said.
A week later the division has a 25-lap feature on April 6 and a 63-lap feature on April 7.
“We don’t feel any extra pressure from being defending champions,” Chadwick said. “I think we’re motivated to try to get another one.”
The series’ 2010 national champion Keith Rocco, a two-time Waterford track champion, is again expected to be a factor throughout the season. Over the past six years Rocco has finished no lower than fourth in the national point race. Ted Christopher, the series’ 2001 national champion, said recently he’d also be dropping in to race at Waterford occasionally this year.
“Racing with guys like that make you work harder to succeed,” Chadwick said. “They’re tough. You’ve got to be able to stay with them on the track and do your homework.”
Chadwick is a lifelong enthusiast of Waterford Speedbowl. By age four he and his dad Jeff were regulars in the grandstands. Since then they’ve spent almost every summertime Saturday night at the track. In 2012, Chadwick, 24, of Ledyard, Conn., became the youngest SK Modified division champion in the track’s history.
“When I was a kid we’d sit in the stands and watch Dennis Gada, Rob Janovic and Jeff Pearl race every week,” Chadwick said. “Being able to race against them and come out on top is like a dream. Winning the championship is a dream come true.
“Dad started helping Mike Gada in the late 1990s so I hung out with the Gada kids. When dad bought a Modified, Mike Gada drove for him until I turned 16 in 2004.”
Chadwick began his driving career at age seven in Quarter-Midgets at the “Little T” banked paved short track at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
“I took right to them,” he said of the smaller open wheel car. “I was pretty fearless. We did that from 1996-2003, and won the championship in 2002.”
He started racing an SK Light at the Speedbowl in 2004. He turned 16 at mid-season, and assumed the driver’s seat in his dad’s SK Modified for the last three races of the season.
“Driving an SK was harder than I expected it to be,” Chadwick said of his rookie experience. It took three and a half years to win our first feature. I was thinking I’d have done it sooner, but it was still a big deal.”
In recent years, Chadwick worked his way into the top five in track points.
“The last couple of years we had a good shot in track points, but we always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought in 2012, with a little luck, we could be really good.”
Good luck did not prevail early last season. His car was wrecked the second week.
“You want to have a good start to the season, and it hurts when you have to play catch-up from the beginning. It didn’t make things easy on us. I thought we were heading toward another tough year but we turned it around,” Chadwick said.
The team used their backup car the following week, and in its only appearance of the season it finished fourth. By comparison, Chadwick said the backup car was pressed into service eight times in 2011.
“We eliminated the bad luck and just missed some accidents. We were more consistent,” Chadwick said.
He won the 2012 track title by 39 points over Pearl. His record was five wins, 14 top fives and 18 top 10s in 22 starts.
Chadwick’s dad has been his car owner since he was seven years old.
“We really wanted this championship for dad because I know how much it means to him,” Chadwick said.
Warren Sipuleski is the crew chief. Team members include Jay Perkins, Jimmy DuPont, Donald Deane, and Wendy Deane Chadwick. The Chassis Dynamics-based race car is powered by a Pettit-built spec engine. Sponsors include Eastern CT Lawn Care, Michael V. Williams Builders and Advance Sewer and Drain.
Now in its 32nd season, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for weekly short track auto racing. More than 50 tracks throughout the United States and Canada participate.
In NASCAR Division I, a driver’s best 18 results through the Sept. 15 closing date count toward their state and national point totals and the champions are decided on overall point total. Once a driver reaches 18 starts, their point total increases incrementally as they replace some poorer runs with better results.
Under the point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, a race winner receives two points for every car in the event up to 20 cars. Second place receives two fewer points and so on through the field. Race winners receive an additional five points. For example, if 20 cars are in the field, the winner receives 45 points, second place 38 and third 36. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 35 points, second 28 and third, 26.
Track operators also designate support classes as NASCAR Divisions II-V and drivers in those divisions compete for points in the NASCAR Finalist program. The program brings added recognition to support division drivers. Points are kept separately for asphalt and dirt tracks.
Pavement Late Model driver Lee Pulliam, 24, of Semora, N.C., won the 2012 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship.
