The 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
will kick off the 2012 race season at Stafford Motor Speedway and Richie
Pallai, Jr., driver of the #39 CARQUEST Filters / Bosch Spark Plugs
Chevrolet, is hoping for a repeat of the 2009 Sizzler where he collected his
first SK Modified® feature victory. Pallai finished 14th in the season
opening event at Thompson, and although he was caught up in a multi-car
wreck, he has confidence in his car and team with how well they ran as they
prepare for the 200-lap test that is the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
“We’re looking forward to the Sizzler more than we have in the past,” said
Pallai. “Stafford has kind of been one of our worst tracks. You would
think it would be one of our better ones, but it just hasn’t been. We ran
really good at Thompson, we were eighth when we pitted and we pitted with
all the leaders. We restarted 14th and we were up to 10th right before we
wrecked, so realistically we had about a 7th or 8th place car without a
problem. We didn’t qualify as good as we wanted to, which hurt us because
it’s tough to pass, but we’re looking forward to Stafford. We had a lot of
problems with the car last year that we figured out during the winter and we
switched to Bruneau engines. We have the best equipment that we’ve had in
three years, so it’s nice to know that going into the race.”
With the Whelen Modified Tour field being so close together, Pallai knows
that the first step to repeating his SK Modified® victory will be a good
qualifying lap.
“You think it would be easy, but qualifying is a lot harder than it looks,”
said Pallai. “We’ll definitely need to have a good lap because it’s so hard
to pass with the cars all being so close together. At Thompson, Ryan
[Preece] was dominant in the first half of the race and he was having a hard
time getting back to the front after he pitted. We were at Riverhead
testing this week and the car is very fast. Everyone on the team is having
fun and when everyone is having fun, good things usually happen for us.”
After qualifying, the next step is to have the correct race strategy for the
Sizzler. With the race being 50-laps longer than most tour races, Pallai
knows that the correct strategy can give him and his team’s chances a boost
at victory.
“Stafford is so tough because the weather really dictates what you’re going
to do,” said Pallai. “Every race at Stafford you have to start out tight
because it always loosens up. You have to save your stuff early, but it’s
such a long race that there’s going to be a long green flag run and you don’
t want to go a lap down. You have keep a pace that you’ll be fine at and
then once the pit stop happens, that’s when the race really picks up. You
normally break the race into two, the first half is just surviving and the
second half is where you go racing. Usually if you lead the first 150 laps,
you probably aren’t going to lead the last 50 laps of the Sizzler. You
definitely drive the Sizzler different from any other Tour race at Stafford.
Track position is going to be huge, some guys will short pit, and other guys
will pit late, but I think that pitting late isn’t the advantage it used to
be with how hard it is to pass.”
Although Pallai came away from the first race of the season with a
disappointing 14th place finish, with the Whelen Modified Tour switching to
the Sprint Cup Series points system, Pallai knows one race can put him right
into the thick of the championship fight.
“We destroyed the car at Thompson, but weirdly we came out of there with our
best points position to start the season with,” said Pallai. “With the new
points system, if you have a good run, you can capitalize on that. Right
now, we’re only 12 points out of second, which is 12 spots on the track. It
’s easy to figure out and if we can have a top-10 finish at Stafford and
some guys in front of us have a bad day, we can pick up 10 or 20 points in
one race, so it’s pretty cool the way it works now.”
With the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler being a different race than most
with it’s 200-lap distance, Pallai remembers what it was like to win his
first SK Modified® race during Sizzler weekend and he is hoping to repeat
that success this Sunday at Stafford and have a breakout season on the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
“It would be cool to win the Sizzler,” said Pallai. “Anyone can win a race
on any given day, but there’s so much work and strategy involved with the
Sizzler. I think we’re in for a breakout year this season, we have no
excuses if we don’t run well. It all comes down to me driving the car
because everyone else on the team is doing their jobs.”
The 2012 CARQUEST TECH-NET Spring Sizzler gets underway this Friday, April
27 with a practice session for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The practice
session will be open to the public at no charge. Action continues on
Saturday, April 28 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified
Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for Stafford’s weekly
divisions. Saturday will wrap up with feature events for the SK Light,
Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler continues on
Sunday, April 29 with the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by
Stafford’s SK Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in
feature action.
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at
the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 will be priced at $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include
10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
parking with overnight parking available.
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