To have a noteworthy encore to the success of last season - winning the SK Light championship at Stafford Speedway in Stafford Springs - Newtown race car drive Stephen Kopcik and the #31 Hocon Industrial Gas team had their work cut out in their first season racing at a higher level, in the SK Modified Division.staffordspeedway.com.

Mr Kopcik and company made their presence felt by clinching the 2016 NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year honors for the division, which includes a $1,000 store credit bonus from NAPA Auto Parts.

Mr Kopcik raced off to a fast start with a pair of top-five finishes among the first six races back when the season began in the spring. Some tinkering with the car prevented Mr Kopcik from having more success as the summer weekly series unfolded, but the racing team still had an overall successful season, which concluded this fall.

Consistency was the key to his success this season, said Mr Kopcik, 18, who noted that the field of 25 to 30 drivers at each weekly race was very strong, resulting in several race winners throughout the campaign.

Mr Kopcik also raced at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson and experienced success on that track as well. He raced about two times each week from the middle of April until mid-October.

"As a car owner I couldn't be happier," said David Smith, a major sponsor of Mr Kopcik.

Mr Kopcik thanks his sponsors: Hocon Industrial Gas, Newtown Pools, NJK. Automotive, David Smith Racing, and Pettit Racing Engines, Butcher's Best, Dunleavy's Road Service, and Donnelly's Heating.

"We couldn't have done any of this without our sponsors," said Mr Kopcik, whose crew includes Shawn Donnelly, Archie Paloian, Nick Danizar, Dave Selleck, John Bello, and Hoosier Mike. "It just adds up to what we accomplished."

The race team also had help from Mike Paquette from Chassis Dynamics, engine builder Mike Pettit, and Hocon's Duke Lewellen.

"He kept us on fresh rubber all year long," Mr Smith said of Mr Lewellen's sponsorship covering the tires used throughout the racing season.

Mr Kopcik hits 110 to 120 miles per hour on straightaways, averaging around 98 miles an hour during the races, which are generally 40 laps, but he does not get caught up in the exhilaration of going so fast behind the wheel.

"You're thinking about the competition - how you can be leading the pack, really. I never find myself thinking about the speed of it," Mr Kopcik said.

Between races there was a lot that went on to make sure the car was ready to take on the track and the competition - reaching triple digit speeds - during the course of the season.

"I honestly don't think I could have made it to the track if I didn't have a crew," Mr Kopcik said.

"We ran consistently all year long. We did a lot of testing and ran in the top five throughout the first third of the season - which is amazing for a rookie. We tried some different things in the second part of the season and found out what wasn't going to work and then went back to our early setup and moved back into the top five again."

That temporary setback could help the racing team make greater strides in future racing campaigns.

"I think we can do really well. I'm excited," Mr Kopcik said about getting going again this coming spring. "We learned so much this year. I can't wait to apply it."

"Ultimately we built a solid foundation for next year's season and the entire team is looking forward to 2017," Mr Smith added.

Mr Kopcik will officially be crowned as the Rookie of the Year at the 47th Annual Stafford Motor Speedway Champions Awards Ceremony on Friday, November 18, at Maneeley's Banquet Facility in South Windsor.

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit