CHESLEY, ON – Eager to shake off an up-and-down outing in APC United Late Model Series competition at Sunset Speedway on May 23rd, second-generation standout Josh Stade is set to get back racing with the tour this weekend – as Flamboro Speedway plays host to the inaugural ‘Meineke 100’.
‘Prime Time’ showed promise in his tour debut, running within the top-10 until a late-race incident left his McColl Racing Enterprises chassis with heavy damage. The team persevered as best they could, eventually settling for a 13th place finish.
“We had a really good car at Sunset. The results don’t really tell the whole story,” says Stade. “It was one of those days where we had to work twice as hard for every spot we picked up. Nothing seemed to fall our way and, by the time it was all said and done, we got caught up in someone else’s mess and had to settle for a top-15.”
With Round 1 behind him, Stade is more than ready to return to competition with the upstart Pro Late Model tour.
“I can’t explain how excited I am to get back on track,” smiles the Sauble Speedway regular. “When you’re racing against this level of competition, it’s tough to be mad at a top-15 finish – but I know we’re better than that.”
“We’ve got a great car, and Brian MacDonald has given us a great setup for Flamboro,” continues Stade. “We seemed to get better on long runs at Sunset, so if we can get rolling and find our rhythm this Saturday, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”
With close to 30-teams expected to make a qualifying attempt, Stade knows a strong run in time trials will be paramount.
“We have to make it into the redraw after qualifying,” explains Stade matter-of-factly. “Starting inside of the top-10 is going to be a huge advantage this weekend. If we can start in the front half of the field, we’ll do what we can to cruise through the first half and save our tires and brakes for the last 50-laps.”
“Flamboro is a track that has quite a few unknowns for our team. We’re going to do what we can to adjust to the track through practice and see what we have for the feature. If we can load up at the end of the night with all four corners on the car, I’ll be a happy man.”
With 6 events remaining after Flamboro, Stade opines that a conservative strategy could work best in the long run.
“This season is going to be a grind on the tour. We want to get faster with every race – and it’s hard to do that if you spend your hours in the shop putting your car back together again.”
“I don’t have any expectations for this race. We’re going to keep our composure all night, take care of our equipment and hope to be there when the laps start to count.”
Details for Saturday’s event, including gate times and ticket prices, can be found at www.FlamboroSpeedway.ca.
Marketing support for Stade’s 2015 season is provided by Upper Canada Title, FLO Enterprises, Nicol Insurance, Barclay Wholesale, Jim Cavil Fuels, MEI Paving, Bruce Service Sales and Rentals, APC and Kunkel Bus Lines.
Fans can stay up to date with Josh and team by visiting the official Stade Motorsports page on Facebook, or by following on Twitter @PrimeTimeStade.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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