Driver: Chris Conroy
Hometown: Newport, N.H.
Date of Birth: 10/22/84
Family: Wife – Tracy; Children – Jayden, Kirsten, Carter
Favorite Food: Steak
Hobbies: Hunting and Fishing
Started Racing: 2012
Accomplishments: Legion Speedway Outlaw Mini Stock Champion (2013)
Division: Mini Stock
Car No.: 78
Car: Ford Focus
Car Owners: Chris Conroy & Wilbur Martin
Crew Chief: Shawn Martin
Team Members: Aaron Quimby, Eric Castiglioni
Sponsors: A&G Logging (Newport, NH), Martin Motorsports (Newport, NH), Titan’s Painting (Newport, NH)
Chris Conroy in victory lane at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on July 30, 2017. (Barry Snelling/Devil’s Bowl Speedway photo)
“I worked from 1997 to 2004 with the speedy-dry truck at Claremont Speedway. And then in 2005, I actually started announcing at Claremont and did that for two seasons. I started driving in 2012 – I did six races on the asphalt at Claremont and four races on the dirt at Legion. A motor builder around where I live said, “Hey, you drive asphalt like you ought to be on dirt,” and told me to try Legion. I didn’t want to race dirt so he finally said he’d pay for the whole trip. So I thought about it and we finally went one night. In the heat race I started up front and went straight to the back and thought that wasn’t much fun, but then in the feature I got the hang of it. I started dead last but I passed a few cars here and there and by the end I had won the feature in my first time ever on dirt.”
Did you have a favorite driver before you started racing?
“I loved to watch Guy Caron and Aaron Fellows. I used to love those battles back in the day in the Late Models at Claremont. Artie Heino in the Modifieds, too. He got me into racing and he’s still my big sponsor with A&G Logging. And then actually Regan Smith, too. The story behind that is that when I worked for Speedway Safety Services, I worked in his pit box during a Cup race at Loudon, back when he drove the Furniture Row #78 car. We talked for over an hour one day during the weekend, and he challenged me to paint my first race car like his and said it would make me faster, so that’s what I did.”
What is your favorite moment of your racing career?
“That would definitely be winning the track championship at Legion Speedway in 2013.”
What is your most embarrassing moment?
“Hearing Mike Bruno say ‘Number 02 and number 78 Mini Stock to the tower,’ over the radio was no fun. It was the first time I’d ever been called to the tower. I’ll tell you there is nothing more humiliating than having a good race with someone and then you dump them on the last lap. It was unintentional, and I hate guys who race dirty. I still think about that moment.”
Chris Conroy and team in victory lane at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on August 27, 2017. (Barry Snelling/Devil’s Bowl Speedway photo)
“Back at Legion it was Rob Gioia with his big power and big motor. Every week I had his red paint on my car and he had some of my black paint on his. At Devil’s Bowl, I’d say he’s not really a rival, but he’s hard to beat – Jason Porter. He’s a helluva good guy, but he’s wicked fast.”
If you couldn’t drive your car, who would you want to be your substitute?
“Probably Artie Heino. I know he would respect the car and we wouldn’t come home all torn up.”
Are you looking forward to the new ½-mile dirt track at Devil’s Bowl?
“I can not wait. I’m hoping we have the right gearing for it, but I don’t care – we’ll figure it out. As much time and effort and money that’s been spent on Devil’s Bowl, it’s the only track I want to race at. I’m looking forward to running on a big track – I only ran the Devil’s Bowl asphalt once and the old Canaan asphalt once or maybe twice, so the speed is going to be pretty new for me.”
What are your racing goals for 2018?
“We want to make every race, finish every race, and run for the championship. Finish, finish, finish!”