STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. Staffords premier SK Modified division has added another contender for NAPA Rookie of the Year honors, with Alexander Pearl making the move up from the SK Light division for the upcoming season.

Pearl will be behind the wheel of the No. 71 car with sponsorship from USNE Power, helping to light the fuse on his rookie campaign.

Its a really big opportunity for us, said Pearl. Weve been looking at moving up to the SK division for some time, and we feel like now the time is right. USNE Power is going to help us out tremendously. We got together with USNE through a mutual connection, and thats pretty much how this deal came together. We went up and visited Dave Miller at his shop a couple of weeks ago, and hes been a great person to meet and talk with. The operation that USNE has and the reach they have across multiple states is pretty cool. Its exciting to be part of their team. There are a lot of people behind the scenes who helped put this deal together, and Im really thankful for that.

I have to thank my Dad and my grandfather, along with the rest of my crew, for coming back on board for next season.

Pearl has been a mainstay in the SK Light division since he began racing full-time in 2018. Since then, Pearl has recorded 12 career SK Light wins, placing him ninth on the SK Light all-time win list heading into the 2025 season.

Pearl has also finished in the top-four of the SK Light points standings every year from 2019-2024, after finishing seventh during his first full season. While Pearl has found success at the SK Light level, he is aware that finding success in the SK Modified division especially as a rookie driver can be a fleeting prospect.

Im sure well have some growing pains, but were shooting for some top-10s and maybe some top-fives, said Pearl. If the cards fall our way, maybe we can compete for a top-3 finish or even a win. We have solid expectations going into the season, and were just going to try to learn as much as we can in a new division and get comfortable racing with the best drivers in the country.

A successful year would be finishing as many races as possible because you have to run all 40 laps to learn. Its the toughest division in the country, but we can run really well if everything falls into place for us.

Just as Pearl will find the chase for success in the SK Modified division to be tough, the race for NAPA Rookie of the Year honors should also be a thrilling duel, with Pearl racing against defending SK Light champion Tyler Chapman for top rookie honors.

Pearl and Chapman have been racing together for over 10 years, dating back to their time spent in the Monday night Wild Thing Karts program at Stafford. Pearl is looking forward to the challenge of racing against Chapman for the 2025 NAPA Rookie of the Year title.

I think the Rookie of the Year battle is going to be really exciting between Tyler and me this season, said Pearl. We both have different driving styles, but over the course of a season, its going to be interesting to see how everything shakes out. I think were going to have a great race for Rookie of the Year. We actually started racing each other back in the Tiger B division in Wild Thing Karts over 10 years ago, so weve been racing against each other for a long time now, and Im excited to duel it out for Rookie of the Year.

There are some drivers you like to race with and some drivers you dont like to race with, and Tyler is definitely a driver that I like racing with.

As a preview for his full-time foray into the SK Modified division, Pearl made three starts in the SK Modified division last season, racing in the NAPA SK 5k, the TC 13 Shootout and the NAPA Champions Night feature.

Pearl was one of the 13 cars to qualify for the TC 13 Shootout on Sept. 13, finishing 11th in the 13-lap sprint. As a rookie part-time driver, he was forced to start at the back of the pack for each of his three SK starts, but he was able to work his way up to 12th in each race. Pearl will be looking to put his SK Modified experience to good use as he prepares for his first full season.

We ran a couple of races last year, and we ran the Fall Final the year before that, so we got our feet wet, and now were at the point where we feel like were ready to move up to the next level and be competitive, said Pearl. The experience will definitely help, but theres nothing like the SK Modified division at Stafford.

Its the toughest division in the country, and Im sure well have some growing pains, but were prepared and going to do the best we can. It was so cool to race against some drivers Ive been watching since I was a kid. Being part of the field in the best division in the country was eye-opening, and I think we did pretty well with what we had, and that helped us make the decision to go full-time this season.