The Brit Andersen Motorsports Team had an exhausting week getting the car ready for this weeks race. The team brought the car back to the shop Friday night with extensive rear damage and also front damage.  The car was stripped by 1:30 am and loaded to go to the chassis shop to have the rear frame clip replaced. The car was back at the shop by 5:30 p.m. Monday. The crew worked feverishly and spent late nights through Thursday to get the car 100% race ready. It was a great tribute to the dedication that this team has.

It was apparent all the hard work paid off when Lauren was 2^nd quick in the first practice with a best time of 19.7 sec. and fastest in the second round of practice with a best time of 19.7 sec.

There would be no heat races due to the Whelen Modified Tour cars being on the race schedule for the evening.

The feature line up was decided by points and would have Lauren starting in 18^th position out of 25 cars. The green flag dropped and Lauren started busting a move toward the front making it up to the 14^th position by lap five while battling with the #84 of Joey Cipriano the whole way through. It was a pass on lap seven around the #54 of Harry Wheeler that Lauren would put the #70 on the high side off turn four and the #84 of Joey Cipriano went to the low side of Harry. They would go three wide and entering turn one it was Joey on the inside and Lauren on the outside with Harry behind. Joey had the preferred line off turn two and captured a spot on Lauren. It was lap thirteen that Lauren tried a pass on the outside of Joey to gain her spot back in turn three on the outside and the #28 of Zak Asklar and #00 of Tommy Membrino slipped by on the inside to drop Lauren back two spots. It was on lap sixteen that a two car spin in turns one and two would move Lauren up two spots to the 12^th position. Lauren fought Tommy hard for the remaining laps to bring the #70 car home with a 12^th place finish.  It was a good week after the hard crash from the week before and a long week of getting the car race ready for this week to bring the car home in great condition.

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The Brit Andersen Motorsports Team came off of week with their first top ten finish of the season. They were looking to again build momentum off the last two weeks finishes.

The first round of practice would find Lauren at the top of the speed chart setting fast time at 19.8 sec. The second round of practice would find Lauren sixth on the speed chart posting a time of 19.8 sec. The top six cars in this practice had times that were only separated by 6 / 100 sec.

The first heat race would find Lauren starting on the outside pole position with the #28 of Zak Aszklar on the pole. Lauren got a good jump on the start but Zak fought back hard to take the lead. Lauren and the #12 of Frank Cardile would battle side by side for several laps behind Zak. It was at lap seven that Lauren would plant the #70 down low under Zak off turn four and put her in the lead for good. Lauren would cross the finish line with Frankie in second and Zak in third. It was a hard fought battle with a lot of side by side very clean and exciting racing. It was the second consecutive heat win for the Brit Andersen Motorsports Team.

The feature would find Lauren starting in the third position with the #28 of Zak Aszklar on the pole and the #54 of Harry Wheeler on the outside pole. Lauren again got a good a good start at the drop of the green flag and quickly got by Harry and was in hard pursuit of Zak. Lauren and Zak raced hard for two laps till Lauren completed the pass off turn four down low under Zak to take the lead. Lauren would lead till lap ten with the #20 of Matt Galko and the #38 of Tommy Barrett in hard pursuit of the lead. The top three cars had a sizeable lead on the field. It was at lap ten that Matt got aggressive and tapped Lauren at the apex of turn three and four. Matt then decided to move Lauren in turn four with contact on her right rear corner. It turned the #70 car around in front of the on- coming field of cars at the exit of turn four. The #70 car was hit in the front by the #21 of  Erica Santos who dove low and then hit hard in the left rear by the #84 of Joey Cipriano. The car had substantial damage to the left rear and Lauren ended her night in the infield with a 21^st place finish. It’s a far cry from what this team deserves with all the momentum they have built over these last two weeks only to be taken out by rookie driver at lap ten.

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Nineteen-year-old Lauren Cooper of Southbury gets so revved up that sleep doesn’t come easily on Friday nights.

Cooper is a race car driver, and Fridays are race nights at Stafford Motor Speedway. Last Friday, she posted her first Top 10 finish of the season in the SK Lights division, and it overwhelmed her.

“It felt so awesome,” Cooper said. “I was the happiest person. … And that was only eighth place. I can’t imagine how I am going to feel if I get a top-five or top-three finish, or if I win. “

Cooper is only in her second season of racing in the SK Lights, but she has a really good feeling about this season because it is the first time she has raced for an organized, fully-equipped team.

In the past, she raced family-owned cars and tried to figure things out with the help of her parents, Debbie and John. While she had enough success to make racing fun, she’s ecstatic this season to have the equipment and expertise of Wallingford’s Britain Andersen and Stash Butova behind her.

With their backing and additional help from C.J. Sherman (Wallingford), Jeff Phaneuf (Wallingford) and Kristen Cortiagano (Cheshire), she has set her goals on winning at least one race and finishing in the top eight in the season point standings.

“I go into every race wanting to win like everyone else, but I also set other goals for myself. Last race, it was to finish in the top eight. This week, it will be to finish in the top five and then the week after that to finish in the top three. People have told me that it normally takes three years of racing to get your first win, but I think I can get it this year.”

Cooper started racing go-karts on a dirt track in Shelton when she was 10 after watching her older brother, Jon, and her uncle, Bill Cooper, race them. She took to the sport immediately and now wants to make it her career.

“My goal is to race for the rest of my life,” Cooper said. “I hope that I do really well in the SK Lights this year, and then maybe get an offer to race a full-blown SK Modified next year. I hope to race some Whelen Tour races and get some publicity from that and then go from there. Any offers that come to me I will take, but ultimately my goal would be to race (NASCAR’s) Sprint Cup.”

Like most racers, she is always looking for that big break in terms of sponsorship, but she feels fortunate right now to have the team she does around her.

The candy company You Ought to be on Chocolate is the main sponsor for the car, but Cooper is also receiving sponsorship help from A&L Eastern Hydraulic, Zappo Studio, Ultimate Auto Center, Riverview Restaurant, Total Fence LLC, Newtown Car Care and Kenny’s Oil.

Besides her racing, the 2009 Pomperaug High graduate is also majoring in marketing at Western Connecticut.

“If I don’t end up racing for a living, I definitely still want to work in the racing industry somewhere,” Cooper said.

“If I don’t end up racing for a living, I definitely still want to work in the racing industry somewhere,” Cooper said.

By Roger Cleaveland Republican-American

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The Brit Andersen Motorsports team was coming off an upbeat week after finishing 12^th and no damage to the car. That made for an easy week of preparation for the crew.

This week the team decided to put new tires on after running on much older left side tires than rights due to losing a left side tire in each of the first two races of the season.

The practice rounds found Lauren posting times at 11^th quick on the speed charts.  

The heat race found Lauren starting on the pole position. Lauren took the green and fought off the challenge of Harry Wheeler and Heather DesRochers going through turns one and two. Lauren would lose the lead briefly through three and four when Harry and Heather got by her on the high side but then they slipped up high. Lauren planted the #70 car down low and regained the lead off turn four and never looked back. It would be Lauren’s first heat win at Stafford Motor Speedway.

The feature would find Lauren starting in the 13^th position. Lauren didn’t get a good start at the drop of the green flag. There was a lot of bumping in anticipation of the start and Lauren’s feet were knocked off the pedals. Lauren lost a couple of positions on the start but composed herself and made her way up to 11^th by lap nine. It was a multi car wreck at lap ten that Lauren was able to wheel the #70 car through and put her in the 6^th position. It was at lap eleven that the #21 car of Erica Santos got by Lauren and then the two would do battle for a few laps. Lauren ran in the 7^th position until the last lap when the #31 of Ted Cain made a move on the inside of Lauren going into turn three. There was contact made and Ted gained a position on Lauren.

It was the teams first top ten of the year.

Lauren and the team are pleased with the progress they have made over the last 2 weeks and hope it will continue in the weeks ahead.

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The Brit Andersen Motorsports Team unloaded this week only to find out that the radiator had developed a leak while waiting to go out for the first warm up session. It was quick work by the crew that got the radiator changed out before the second round of practice. Lauren paced the second warm up session at 9^th quick on the speed charts.

The heat race would find Lauren starting on the pole position. Lauren got a great start with the #59 of Rick Williams on the outside of her. Lauren quickly jumped to the lead going into turn one. It was going into turn three that the #54 of Harry Wheeler made a move to the inside of Lauren and the two made contact. Lauren was forced up high and lost several spots. Lauren would finish in the 7^th position.

The feature would find Lauren starting in the 9^th position. Lauren was able to dodge a few  bullets to bring the car home with a 12th place finish. It wasn’t a stellar run, but it was a finish with all four tires still round and inflated the finish.

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The Brit Andersen Motorsports Team unloaded a very fast race car for this weeks race. Lauren went out in round one of practice and posted fast time out of a field of 24 cars. The next two rounds found Lauren posting times of third quick on the speed charts.

The heat race would find Lauren starting on the outside pole. It was at lap one that Lauren was on the outside lane going into turn one and came in contact with Dave Webb. Lauren ended up spinning into the infield and lost a lot of ground to the rest of the field. Lauren was unable to catch the field and ended up finishing last.

The feature would find Lauren in her #70 car starting 25^th. At the drop of the green flag it was obvious to Lauren who was on the outside lane going into turn one that the inside lane was much quicker. Just as Lauren made her move to the inside lane the #59 of Rick Williams checked up for slower cars in front of him. Lauren made hard contact with Rick Williams and both ended their night in the infield with out completing a lap.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for B.A.M. team but hopefully our luck will turn around.

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