by Jay | Apr 23, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
CARQUEST CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: RICHIE PALLAI, JR.
(Stafford Springs, CT)—The CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday Champions for
Charities Event at Stafford Motor Speedway scheduled for June 28th is
building in momentum and excitement as the drivers gear up to raise funds
for their respective charities. The impressive field of open wheeled
division champion drivers represents over 50 championships among 14 drivers.
This week’s driver 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.
(more…)
by Jay | Apr 23, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
SHARK CYCLE RETURNS AS TITLE SPONSOR OF SEPTEMBER MODIFIED RACING SERIES EVENT AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY
(Stafford Springs, CT)—For the second consecutive season, the Modified
Racing Series will make a September appearance at Stafford Motor Speedway
with race title sponsorship from Shark Cycle of Stafford Springs. Last year
’s Shark Cycle race was the first ever appearance by the Modified Racing
Series at Stafford and the race was won by Ted Christopher, who is Stafford’
s winningest driver in history with 110 feature victories.
(more…)
by Jay | Apr 19, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
ED FLEMKE, JR. RECALLS FIRST SPRING SIZZLER; READY TO MAKE 21ST CAREER START IN 40TH ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER
(Stafford Springs, CT)—In the 39 year history of the CARQUEST Tech-Net
Spring Sizzler, one driver who has been there to see it all is Ed Flemke,
Jr. From the very first Sizzler watching his father race to this year’s
40th edition where he will pilot his familiar #10 Ron Bouchard Auto Stores
machine, Flemke has a lifetime of Sizzler memories and experiences.
“I’ve been to pretty much every Sizzler,” said Flemke. “I think the only
race I missed was the SK Modified® Sizzler. When the race first started
out, it was something very different. Back then, tracks didn’t have “big”
shows, they usually just had normal weekly shows. That first Sizzler was a
novel idea. It was a short sprint race and there was a lot of hype behind
that race. I remember the poster for the first Sizzler had a dirt modified
on it. That first race, the rules were pretty loose and it was kind of a
run what you brought type of race. Some cars had fuel injection, some had
big carbs, there were big blocks, small blocks, some cars had spoilers, some
didn’t have a spoiler, and there were different types of body styles. It
was just the start of the Pinto Revolution and there were Pintos, Vegas,
Gremlins, Coupes, and Late Model body styles, so there was a lot more
variety with the cars than what fans see now. Also, there was some intrigue
for the fans with those first Sizzlers. What was Maynard Troyer going to
bring out, what was Richie Evans going to bring to the track? There were
new cars, new color schemes, a lot of things for the race fans to look
forward to. Those first two Sizzlers are the races that stick out for me.
Dad led a lot of that first race and almost won it and then he came back the
next year and won that race. It was pretty special to be a part of those
first Sizzler races.”
(more…)
by Jay | Apr 17, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
CARQUEST CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: BOB POTTER
(Stafford Springs, CT)—The CARQUEST Extreme Tuesday Champions for
Charities Event at Stafford Motor Speedway scheduled for June 28th is
building in momentum and excitement as the drivers gear up to raise funds
for their respective charities. The impressive field of open wheeled
division champion drivers represents over 50 championships among 14 drivers.
This week’s spotlight is on Bob Potter, the 5-time Stafford SK Modified®
Champion, and he will be racing to raise funds for Compassion for Cats of
New London County. (more…)
by Jay | Apr 17, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
RYAN PREECE HOPES FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS IN CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER WITH NEW TEAM
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Fresh off of a fourth place effort in the opening
race of the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, Ryan Preece comes to
Stafford with momentum on his side. Preece has driven the #3 Boehler Racing
Enterprises car for the past three WMT seasons, but the 2011 season finds
him behind the wheel of the #11 John Lukosavage owned #11 machine.
Preece has made three career starts in the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler,
and he has enjoyed an equal amount of success and hard luck in his brief
Sizzler career. His first start in 2008 saw him set fast time in both
practice and time trials and he was comfortably in the lead when his engine
expired just before the halfway point of the race. His 2009 Sizzler was his
best Sizzler finish of third, and last year Preece’s race ended early in the
wall and he finished 23rd. Preece looks to build on his team’s finish in
the first race and continue his good fortunes at Stafford for this year’s
40th edition of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
“Stafford is one of my favorite tracks,” said Preece. “I’ve been coming
there to watch races since I was a kid. Teddy [Christopher] has kind of had
victory lane all to himself the last couple of Sizzlers, so I’d like to be
the one who is in victory lane this year. We had a great finish at
Thompson, we didn’t luck into anything, our car is definitely fast.”
One factor Preece has in his favor is that although he is working with a new
team and car, they really aren’t all that new to Preece at all.
“It was a little weird after being with the same team and working with the
same guys for the last three years,” said Preece. “I’ve worked with these
guys last year on our SK car at Stafford and the car is the same CD chassis
that we ran at Stafford last year in the SK division, so we have some notes
to work with. We have the power and the car to win races and I think it
will be a matter of when and not if we win this year. I’m excited about the
rest of the season.”
As always, the Whelen Modified Tour teams will face the unusual challenge of
going around Stafford for 200 laps when most of the races on the schedule
are 150 laps. Under Modified Tour rules, a car cannot change tires and add
fuel during the same pit stop, so teams will have to figure out a strategy
that they hope will help propel them into victory lane. Last year’s Sizzler
saw Ted Christopher not pit for fuel, which helped him gain track position
and win the race.
“I think you’ll see everyone kind of do their own deal when it comes to the
strategy,” said Preece. “If you have a good car, it’s a good car. If the
car is off, then the car is going to be out to lunch. We know what we need
to make the car go fast, we just have to figure out what we want to do with
the fuel situation. Hopefully we can have a long green flag run because we
really didn’t have one at Thompson until after our pit stop and we can see
how the car is. We can make some adjustments during our pit stop and then
go try to win the race.”
In addition to the Spring Sizzler, Preece has his sights set on winning the
championship.
“I’m really hoping we can win a couple of times this year and win the
championship,” said Preece. “I was so close a couple of years ago, it
really makes you want to win it that much more. I’d really like to be able
to have a championship on my resume.”
The 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler gets underway Friday, April
29 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 30 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, May 1 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 $35.00 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 $38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 40th annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler®,
or to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
by Jay | Apr 17, 2011 | Connecticut, New England, Stafford
GEORGE SUMMERS RECALLS INAUGURAL SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD
(Stafford Springs, CT)—As Stafford Speedway gets ready to host its 40th
Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, we are taking a walk back in time
with some of the drivers who were on hand for the very first Sizzler in
1972. This week’s Sizzler spotlight of yesteryear falls on George Summers,
who drove the #31 Firebird for car owner Ken Curley. Summers ran well in
that Inaugural Sizzler before a failed piston ended his day early.
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