(Stafford Springs, CT)—When it comes to extra distance feature racing at
Stafford Speedway, SK Modified® and Late Model driver Woody Pitkat has
enjoyed a fair amount of success. Pitkat has won 100 and 150 lap races in
both the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions at Stafford, and he hopes to
become the first repeat winner in the SK Modified® division during the 2012
season with another victory in the 39th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100.
With a win and a second place finish in the last 3 races at Stafford, Pitkat
and his #89 Jimmy Paige Plumbing & Heating team have some momentum on their
side.
“The SK is pretty good,” said Pitkat. “We had it running real good a couple
weeks ago at the Tour race, and it got wrecked and we had to put a front
clip on it and start all over again. Luckily I have a guy like Jimmy Fuller
that’s been around racing and knows a little bit. Our plan is to run this
just like any other 100 lapper. We’ve had a couple of good runs the last
couple weeks, so we’re probably going to start outside the top-10 and my
mindset is to get up to around 5th or 7th with the top running cars and be
ahead of any wrecks that might happen. I like to be able to pace myself and
save the tires and not do anything stupid. I say that, but it seems like
the last couple of extra distance races Ryan [Preece] and me have gone right
to the front. But that works out too because you can get to the front and
start to pace yourself early, which isn’t a bad thing. You like to try to
save the car, but if you have a really good piece and if you’re not abusing
it too bad, you can drive right to the front and then set your own pace and
you only have one place to go and that’s backwards.”
Pitkat credits a trip to Finish Line Racing School way back in 1999 for the
success that he has had in extra distance feature events, as well as being
behind the wheel of good cars and having a bit of Lady Luck on his side.
“For the most part, it comes down to setting your own pace and just riding
and saving the car until the end,” said Pitkat. “I think a lot of that
comes from going to Finish Line Racing School in Florida in 1999. They
focus on being consistent every lap. Like last Friday, my fastest lap of
the race was on lap-40, so that’s a positive that you know your car is fast
at the end of the race. Knowing that you can be consistent every lap, hit
your marks every lap, and do the same thing every lap obviously makes you go
faster. I think setting your own pace and doing things differently than
other drivers is the key for the longer races, where in the 40-lappers
everyone want to get to the front as quick as they can. You also have to
have really good cars and I’ve been very fortunate to have really good cars
and really good equipment for those races. I’ve also had a lot of luck in
the longer races. One year where we came back from 2 laps down and then one
year in the 100 lapper we had a flat and Jimmy [Fuller] made a great call to
come in and take 3 tires with 19 laps to go because there was no rule on
tire changes then. I never thought in a million years we would have enough
time to get back to the front but we got three tires and we were able to win
the race.”
Pitkat enters the 39th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 sitting in fourth
place in the SK Modified® standings this season. That is thanks to his team
’s never give up attitude, as Pitkat has had issues that have brought him to
pit road in three of the five races thusfar. After finishing second in the
points standings in four of the last five years, including the last three in
a row, Pitkat and his team know what they need to do in order to move that
one final step up the podium at season’s end.
“I’ve been in the pits every race except two this year,” said Pitkat. “The
first race we broke the heim joint and came back to finish in the top-10,
the second race was the night we were racing for the lead with Keith and we
spun, and the night of the Tour race we wrecked and we came back out with 3
laps left and we picked up five spots. I’m confident that if we can bring
the car home in one piece and be able to work on it, that would be huge for
us. It just shows that our team never gives up. We’ve got the motor where
it needs to be, we just need to work on the car. When the car is tight,
there’s only one way to free the car up and that’s to run low and clip the
apron to free the car up. We’re a bit tight and we’re scrubbing speed off,
but we’re going to keep battling and working on the car and we’ve got to
take the blows as they come if we have a bad night.”
Tickets for the 39th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 are on sale now at
the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $20.00 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 $22.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
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