Valenti Making The Most Of Lucky Break That Kept Him On Track
Former Sprint Car Owner-Driver Finds Home In Limaland Thunderstocks
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 31, 2012) — Shawn Valenti readily admits he’s lucky to be racing at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio.
The veteran in many divisions of dirt track racing sold his Sprint Car and equipment and was seemingly out of racing a year ago.
“I lucked out when I got a ride with Jeff Babcock in the Thunderstock division,” Valenti said. “He was looking for a driver because his son Jeffrey moved to Late Models and Modifieds. I was just out of a ride at the time.”
After seven consecutive rain-outs to start the 2011 season, Valenti went on to produce a record of three wins, eight top-fives and 10 top-10s in 10 starts. He finished second to Tony Anderson for the 2011 track championship by just eight points.
With a 2012 record to date of three wins and five top-fives in five starts, Valenti currently leads Limaland’s Thunderstock point standings by 12 over Anderson. In addition, he advanced to sixth in the NASCAR Finalist Division II dirt track standings, currently led by Chuck Schutz Jr. who races at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa.
Married to wife Alysha last year and now with young son Regan, Valenti relinquished his role as a Sprint Car owner-driver in favor of his young family.
“Driving for an owner like Jeff takes the financial burden of car ownership off of me, Valenti said. “His cars are always competitive so it didn’t take any time to get the car right for me. We just didn’t know when we started out last year that we’d be that close to the track championship.”
Valenti, 26, of Fostoria, Ohio, has won more than a hundred races and plenty of dirt track championships across Ohio and Indiana. After spending his youth in go kart racing, he started out in car racing at Limaland in the Stock Car division in 2004. He moved through dirt Trucks to Sprint Cars starting in 2009. With Babcock’s help, Valenti transitioned to full-time Thunderstock racing last year.
Valenti says his experience in Sprint Car racing at Limaland gives him added confidence in broad-sliding a Thunderstock around the track.
“The premier stock car drivers are at Limaland on Fridays,” he said. “They are one of the toughest groups of racers around. The fast groove at Limaland is out against the wall. Maybe my confidence in doing that, riding the cushion in a Sprint Car, has helped me. The track is a tight quarter-mile bullring. The fast way around is on top.”
The track is owned and operated by NASCAR sponsor University of Northwestern Ohio. Students of the university’s High Performance Motorsports Degree program drive, crew and maintain several “classroom” race cars that compete at the track as part of their curriculum.
The NASCAR Finalist Division program recognizes drivers who compete in support divisions at NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks. With “Division I” being each track’s top division, the NASCAR Finalist Division line-up at each track highlights drivers competing in their second, third, fourth and fifth tier divisions. A NASCAR-licensed driver’s best 14 finishes are counted toward their final point total for the year. Points are kept separately for dirt and asphalt tracks.
Other NASCAR Finalist Division leaders on dirt tracks this week include Division III Craig Whitmoyer, Grandview; Division IV Jeffrey Jones, I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., and Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa; and Division V Jeremy Auten, Adams County.
Paved track NASCAR Finalist Division leaders this week include Division II Shane Lee, Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway; Division III Chris Meyer, Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl; Division IV Ken Cassidy Jr., Waterford; and Division V David Rader, Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C.
At season’s end the top three drivers in the four asphalt and four dirt NASCAR Finalist Divisions will be recognized at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series awards banquet.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series information is available at
http://hometracks.nascar.com.
For additional information, contact
Jason Christley, Integrated Marketing Communications, (386) 310-6094, jchristley@nascar.com, or
Tim Southers, Integrated Marketing Communications, (386) 235-3634, tsouthers@nascar.com
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