(Stafford Springs, CT) – Stafford Motor Speedway has again lined up an
impressive field of current and former open wheel champions for its CARQUEST
Champions For Charities Event as part of CARQUEST Super Saturday on June
30th. During the coming weeks, SMS will offer a profile on each of its
championship winning drivers and the charity they will be racing for and
this week’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities spotlight falls on Richie
Pallai, Jr., the 2009 Spring Sizzler SK Modified® Champion, who will be
racing to help support The Danbury Animal Welfare Society.
The Danbury Animal Welfare Society is a non-profit, volunteer-run
organization dedicated to improving the lives of animals in the community
and beyond. They promote responsible pet guardianship and the humane
treatment of animals, and work toward ending animal overpopulation through
education and a variety of programs. Danbury Animal Welfare Society gives
shelter and care for homeless companion animals while they wait for people
like you to give them a loving, forever home. DAWS recently held their 5th
Annual Making a Difference Ball, where Pallai got himself off to a good
start by raising a total of $1,800. Pallai’s fundraising total currently
has him out front in the race for pole position for the 15-lap CARQUEST
Champions for Charities feature event.
“We have a great relationship with DAWS and attending their annual Ball was
a pretty cool deal,” said Pallai. “We were able to raise $1,800, so that is
a great start for us. Last year we raised $3,000, so we’re already more
than halfway there to matching that total.”
In addition to his CARQUEST Champions For Charities duties, Pallai will be
taking part in his third season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as well
as driving selected SK Modified® races at Stafford for car owner Ted
Christopher. Pallai is also looking at running some events at Riverhead
Raceway as well as traveling to other area tracks for open modified shows
that will see him run between 25-30 events this year. Pallai is especially
looking forward to his third season of Whelen Modified Tour competition, as
his team has two cars and a new motor program with Bob Bruneau.
“We have two cars that are both ready to go,” said Pallai. “Last year our
biggest issues were the brakes and the motor. We found a lot of errors
during the season as we tried to sort out our brake issues, and we feel like
we found the problem and took care of it. We changed over to Bob Bruneau
engines in the off-season, and we’re taking our big track car to Thompson in
a couple of weeks to test, so we’re excited about the new season. With the
SK car for Teddy, we don’t have any set schedule yet, but if things go well,
we’ll probably do about 8 races in that car this year.”
Pallai is also looking forward to getting back onto the Stafford Mini-Mile
behind the wheel of a Wild Thing Kart Senior Outlaw machine. After
finishing 7th in last year’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities event, Pallai
is looking to be the driver who passes under the checkered flag first.
“Last year we finished 6th or 7th and I was really upset with that,” said
Pallai. “I know this race is for charity and it’s supposed to be a good
time, but I really want to win the race this year. Last year we got up to
the lead around lap-5, but we ended up falling too far back in the pack and
couldn’t get caught back up. It seemed that the guys who were leading early
last year ended up getting shuffled back late in the race, so I think this
year I’ll try to wait a little bit on getting to the front to better prepare
ourselves for the finish. Last year, I almost took out Randy Cabral, so we’
ve been joking back and forth that he owes me one for this year, so maybe we
’ll have to spin him out early and get that taken care of.”
The starting lineups for the CARQUEST Champions For Charities qualifying
races will be determined by how much money each driver raises for their
selected charity. The starting grid will be set with the drivers who have
raised the most money starting up front. Fans are encouraged to get
involved in the event by donating to their favorite driver or favorite
charity. To make a donation to the The Danbury Animal Welfare Society on
behalf of Richie Pallai, Jr., and for more information on the event, please
refer to the CARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page located at
www.staffordspeedway.com. Stay tuned to www.staffordspeedway.com for more
driver spotlights and exciting information regarding the CARQUEST Champions
for Charities event.
CARQUEST Super Saturday will take place on Saturday, June 30, 2012 and will
feature the ISMA Super Modifieds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modifieds in
addition to the Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Karts. Tickets for CARQUEST Super
Saturday are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office and are priced at $33.00
for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and
children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an
adult. Reserved seating is priced at $35.00 for all ages. All ticket
prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway
offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, or to order tickets to the 9th Annual CARQUEST Super
Saturday event, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office