For the fifth consecutive season, Call Before You Dig partnered with Stafford Speedway to present the CBYD 811 Challenge. The CBYD 811 Challenge is open to drivers in each of Stafford’s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions and awards five drivers an $811 bonus at the conclusion of the August 4th feature events utilizing a special points system. This year’s $4,055 in bonus money from CBYD brings the 5-year total for the program to over $20,000 distributed to Stafford drivers. The Challenge is a unique way to raise awareness about CBYD’s 811 service which is required by law in the State of Connecticut before beginning an excavation project. In the 5-year history of the CBYD 811 Challenge program, there have been 19 different winners with Robert Bloxsom, III the only repeat winner.

The CBYD 811 Challenge began with the NAPA Spring Sizzler® and concluded on Friday, August 4th. The five drivers that came closest to 811 points without going over were Chase Dowling from the SK Modified® division, Michael Bennett from the Late Model division, Robert Bloxsom, III and Bryan Narducci from the Limited Late Model division, and George Bessette, Jr. from the DARE Stock division.

“It was unexpected for us to be one of the winners of the CBYD 811 Challenge,” said Dowling. “It’s pretty cool that Call Before You Dig puts up a bonus for drivers like this. Something like this really gives you confidence and motivation going forward for the rest of the year. It’s a pretty big deal to win this and money is a part of racing so any extra money you can come into, it really helps. Whether it’s tires or fuel, or you get some damage on the track, this gives us some extra money to play with. This is a long stretch through the year so this will definitely give us a little more drive to finish out the year strong.”

“It’s always nice to win an extra bonus, especially when it’s unexpected,” said Bennett. “We’re getting into the second half of the season and things start going on your car that you need to replace, so to have some extra bonus money is great and thanks to Call Before You Dig for providing the bonus for us. It’s always nice to have a little extra money in reserve just in case you need it to bolt on some tires, or fix some damage or replace a part on the car. If we don’t use the money during the season, then we’ll find something to use the money on for the car during the winter when we’re preparing for the 2018 season.”

“It’s really cool to win this money from Call Before You Dig,” said Narducci. “At the beginning of the year, I said to myself that I really wanted to try to be one of the CBYD 811 Challenge winners this season but race wins come first. I knew going into last Friday night’s race that if I had a good finish, I had a good shot at being one of the winners. Going home from the track after bringing the car back to the shop at like 1:30 in the morning, I added up everyone’s totals and I knew I was going to be one of the winners, so that made my weekend for sure. It’s a big boost for us. We’ve been doing really well not having to spend money on wrecked equipment like I did last year. I had a pretty bad wreck with my SK Light at Waterford, so some of this money will be going towards the SK Light car, which we’re going to debut at the NAPA Fall Final Weekend and then race it full time next season.”

“It’s great to be one of the CBYD 811 Challenge winners again,” said Bloxsom. “Last year we didn’t have a fantastic season, but this year with a win and contending in the top-5 in the points standings, winning the 811 Challenge is a bonus to the whole year. We were actually thinking of buying some tires for this Friday night and I was starting to wonder where the money was going to come from. This bonus will definitely help us keep the car fast and in the top-5 in the points. It’s pretty cool to be a repeat winner of the 811 Challenge and with that luck on our side, maybe it’ll help us out in the championship race.”

“It’s awesome to win this bonus from CBYD,” said Bessette. “It was really unexpected and to have the opportunity to win something like this is great. This is going to help us out a lot getting spare parts ready or a set of tires or fuel for down the road. It’s nice to be able to have those things ready to go and it’s outrageous having Call Before You Dig helping us out. I’m a rookie driver in the DARE Stock division but I had a feeling that we were going to run well. It’s tough competition and I’m trying to beat everybody, but I think we’re pretty close to getting a win. My buddy Travis Hydar got a win earlier in the season and I was really happy for him, we just have to keep on working hard.”

This Friday, 8-11, the winning drivers will be presented with special trophies commemorating the CBYD 811 Challenge during pre-race activities. The date of 8-11 will also serve as a natural reminder for residents to call 811 prior to any digging project to have underground utility lines marked to avoid unintentionally hitting them.

Call Before You Dig is a non-profit organization comprised of all public utility companies and municipalities within Connecticut. CBYD is a free service that provides homeowners and professional excavators with a toll free call by dialing 8-1-1 for locating and marking underground facilities by its members. Calling CBYD before you dig is the law in Connecticut. Call Before You Dig, Inc. requires a call 2 full working days before the planned project start date.

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.


Scott Running