![\"Stafford\"](\"http:\/\/maineracer.com\/images\/stafford.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Stafford Springs, CT)—As the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series nears
\nthe halfway point at Stafford Motor Speedway, the track\u2019s SK Modified\u00ae
\ndivision has it biggest race of the season on the horizon, the 8th Annual
\nCARQUEST SK 150. With the race distance of 150 laps and a purse of nearly
\n$25,000, it is by far the longest and richest race of the year at Stafford.
\nAfter a victory in Stafford\u2019s Coors Light SK Modified\u00ae 100 earlier this
\nyear, and a second in last year\u2019s CARQUEST SK 150, current SK Modified\u00ae
\npoints leader Ryan Preece is looking forward to the latest edition of the
\nextra distance event.
\n
\n\u201cThese races are the ones you really want to win since they pay the most to
\nwin,\u201d said Preece. \u201cWe have some great sponsors in Sullivan and Sons,
\nAmerican Lamp Recycling, J.G. Poulin Drywall, and Hitchcock Pool Water, but
\nevery extra bit really helps the team out. We\u2019re focused right now on
\nkeeping all four wheels straight on the car and when you can win these big
\nraces, it helps keep us going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preece and the #40 Sullivan and Sons team have enjoyed a great beginning to
\ntheir 2011 season with 6 top-5 finishes in the first 8 races, including 2
\nvictories. While the CARQUEST SK 150 is nearly 4 times as long as a normal
\nweekly 40-lap feature event, Preece says that he and his crew do almost
\nnothing extra in preparation for the longest race of the season and that
\nthey plan on taking the race as it comes to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put extra fuel in the car and that\u2019s about it,\u201d said Preece. \u201cWe had
\nthe car really going good in the 100-lapper and we had it going really good
\nthe last time we raced. The car is good on both the short and long runs,
\nyou just have to see how the race is going to play out and where you are
\nwith 50 laps to go. The race can either be a wreckfest or it can be a long
\ngreen flag run, so you just have to take things as they come. I think the
\nmost important thing is what happens at the start of the race. If the race
\nis crazy at the start, you can lay back a little and take it easy. But if
\neveryone is going at the start of the race, you really have to get going and
\nmake your way to the front as quick as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should Preece have a good finish in the CARQUEST SK 150, he can use that as
\na springboard to put himself into contention for the SK Modified\u00ae track
\nchampionship. In 7 previous editions of the CARQUEST SK 150, only once has
\nthe race winner finished lower than 4th in the final SK Modified\u00ae points
\nstandings, which was Frank Ruocco in 2003 when he finished 6th in the
\npoints. While Preece currently leads Keith Rocco in the SK Modified\u00ae
\nchampionship standings, he says it is too early in the season to worry about
\npoints, but he knows he has to finish ahead of Rocco.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s too early in the season to worry about points,\u201d said Preece. \u201cYou
\nstart to worry about points when there is 2 or 3 races left in the season
\nand we still have 10 races left to go. Our plan for now is to keep
\nfinishing races, be consistent with our finishes, try to win, and be a top
\nteam every week. I think that as long as we can stay out of wrecks and get
\nto the front, we have a car that can win every week. We\u2019ve been messing
\naround with the car and we seem to have hit on something. We have a great
\nPettit motor from Jean-Guy Poulin and everyone on the team is working well
\ntogether. We know we have to beat Keith, he\u2019s been really fast all year
\nlong, and if we can beat him, we\u2019ll be ok with points.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 8th annual CARQUEST SK 150 is scheduled for July 22nd. Tickets are
\npriced at $25.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14
\ngeneral admission, and Free for Children ages 5 & under. Reserved seating
\nis available for $28.00 for all ages. Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
\nparking, with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n
For more information, or to order tickets to the 8th Annual CARQUEST SK 150,
\ncontact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us
\non the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Stafford Springs, CT)—As the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series nears the halfway point at Stafford Motor Speedway, the track\u2019s SK Modified\u00ae division has it biggest race of the season on the horizon, the 8th Annual CARQUEST SK 150. With the race distance of 150 laps and a purse of nearly $25,000, it is by far […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,126,197],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-6243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6243","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=6243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}