{"id":4458,"date":"2011-02-25T08:15:25","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T13:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-02-19T08:16:25","modified_gmt":"2011-02-19T13:16:25","slug":"40th-annual-carquest-tech-net-spring-sizzler-kick-stafford-speedway%e2%80%99s-53rd-season-nascar-weekly-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/40th-annual-carquest-tech-net-spring-sizzler-kick-stafford-speedway%e2%80%99s-53rd-season-nascar-weekly-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"40TH ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER TO KICK OFF STAFFORD SPEEDWAY\u2019S 53RD SEASON OF NASCAR WEEKLY RACING"},"content":{"rendered":"

40TH ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER TO KICK OFF STAFFORD SPEEDWAY\u2019S 53RD SEASON OF NASCAR WEEKLY RACING<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Stafford Springs, CT)—With the spring season fast approaching, yet
\nanother season of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition is set to
\nkick off at Stafford Motor Speedway with the 40th annual Tech-Net Spring
\nSizzler Presented by CARQUEST on April 29-May 1. \u201cThe Greatest Race in the
\nHistory of Spring\u201d will officially begin Stafford\u2019s 53rd season of hosting
\nweekly NASCAR racing.
\n
\nThe race began its long and storied history as the brainchild of Dr. Dick
\nBerggren, Lew Boyd, and Bruce Cohen as a way to hold a prestigious race
\nduring the spring at a time when all the major races were held in the fall.
\nThe inaugural Sizzler in 1972 featured an overflow crowd of 11,500 race fans
\nwho saw Fred DeSarro take the checkered flag and $2,200 from a then modified
\nrecord purse of $15,000. Ed Flemke had taken the lead on lap-7 and he held
\nthe lead until a faulty water pump eliminated Flemke from the race on
\nlap-70, stripping him of a near certain victory and allowing DeSarro to win.
\nFollowing the success of that Inaugural Spring Sizzler, Jack Arute, Sr.
\npurchased the rights to the race from Berggren, Boyd, and Cohen, and it has
\nbeen the premier event at Stafford ever since. CARQUEST took title
\nsponsorship of the race in 1995 and the race became the Tech-Net Spring
\nSizzler prior to the 30th Annual edition of the race in 2001 to promote
\nCARQUEST\u2019s Tech-Net Professional Auto Service.<\/p>\n

Some of the greatest names in modified history have tasted the fruits of
\nvictory in Stafford\u2019s signature event. Since the inaugural Sizzler in 1972,
\nthere have been 22 different winners with 8 drivers winning the race
\nmultiple times. Of those 23 Spring Sizzler winners, 9 drivers have won a
\nWhelen Modified Tour championship. Ted Christopher, Stafford\u2019s all-time
\nwinningest driver with 110 career feature victories, leads all drivers with
\n6 career Sizzler wins. Mike Stefanik has won the Sizzler 4 times, while
\nMaynard Troyer, Richie Evans, and Rick Fuller each have 3 wins, and Greg
\nSacks, Reggie Ruggiero, and Mike Ewanitsko have each won twice. Those who
\nhave won the Sizzler once include: Fred DeSarro, Ed Flemke, Bugsy Stevens,
\nGeoff Bodine, Bob Polverari, Jimmy Spencer, Brian Ross, Jeff Fuller, Jan
\nLeaty, John Blewett, III, Jerry Marquis, Tony Hirschman, Doug Coby, and
\nDonny Lia.<\/p>\n

The CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler has also had a great deal of storied
\nfinishes. Richie Evans won the 1975 Sizzler using 10 inch Late Model
\nSportsman tires, Geoff Bodine returned to Stafford from North Carolina to
\nrecord his final Stafford victory in 1980, Greg Sacks won twice in a row
\nincluding pitting for tires and coming back through the field, Reggie
\nRuggiero pitted twice and won in 1987, the SK Modified\u00ae cars took center
\nstage in 1988 with Christopher winning the race, and Jerry Marquis returned
\nthe Len Boehler owned Ole Blue #3 to Spring Sizzler Victory Lane in 2004 for
\nthe first time since DeSarro won the inaugural Sizzler in 1972. But perhaps
\nthe greatest Sizzler story of all-time was the 1981 Spring Sizzler that came
\ndown to a side-by-side duel between Bob Polverari and Richie Evans.
\nEvans had set a new track record in qualifying and took the early lead until
\nhe had to pit for fresh tires, handing the lead over to Maynard Troyer.
\nTroyer stayed out front until lap-71, when a clutch issue allowed Polverari
\nto take the race lead. Evans had worked his way back through the field to
\nmove into second place behind Polverari when the caution came out with only
\nfour laps to go. Polverari and Evans dueled side by side for the final four
\nlaps of the race with Polverari taking victory by inches ahead of Evans in
\nwhat many will recall as the greatest Spring Sizzler finish in history.
\nThe 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler will see Ted Christopher
\nattempt to add another chapter to the pages of Sizzler lore. For 31 years,
\nTroyer had been the only driver to record three consecutive Spring Sizzler
\nvictories. Richie Evans (1975-1976), Greg Sacks (1982-1983), Mike Stefanik
\n(1989-1990, 1997-1998), Mike Ewanitsko (1994-1995), Rick Fuller (1999-2000),
\nand Christopher (2002-2003) have each won the Sizzler twice in a row, but
\nwere unable to win a third consecutive time. Christopher began another
\nCARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler winning streak with a win in 2008 and his
\nvictory in last year\u2019s Sizzler matched the Troyer mark of 3 wins in a row.
\nChristopher will attempt to become the first driver to win four consecutive
\nCARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzlers when the green flag falls on this year\u2019s
\n40th Annual edition of \u201cThe Greatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d.
\nThe 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler gets underway Friday, April
\n29 with a practice session for Stafford\u2019s weekly divisions. The practice
\nsession will be open to the public at no charge. The run for the Coors
\nLight Pole position gets underway on Saturday, April 30 with time trials for
\nthe Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for
\nStafford\u2019s weekly divisions. In the 31 Spring Sizzler events run since
\n1980, the fast qualifier has gone on to win the race only 7 times. Saturday
\nwill conclude with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, and
\nDARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler concludes on Sunday, May 1 with the
\nCARQUEST Belts and Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford\u2019s SK Modifieds\u00ae and
\nLate Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.
\nTickets for the \u201cGreatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d are on sale now at
\nthe Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general
\nadmission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and
\nunder are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
\nseating is priced at $38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
\nSpeedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n

For more information on the 40th annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler\u00ae,
\nor to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
\n860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

40TH ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER TO KICK OFF STAFFORD SPEEDWAY\u2019S 53RD SEASON OF NASCAR WEEKLY RACING (Stafford Springs, CT)—With the spring season fast approaching, yet another season of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition is set to kick off at Stafford Motor Speedway with the 40th annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Presented by CARQUEST on April […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,197],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-4458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}