![\"Stafford\"](\"http:\/\/maineracer.com\/images\/stafford.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway\u2019s SK Modified\u00ae division will
\nwelcome another new member for the 2012 season as Danny Cates will join the
\ndivision. Cates has several top-5 points finishes in the modified division
\nat Thompson Speedway, finishing as high in the points standings as second.
\nCates came to Stafford for the 2011 CARQUEST Fall Final in preparation for a
\nfull season of SK Modified\u00ae racing in 2012, where he intends to run for
\nRookie of the Year honors.
\n
\n \u201cThis is something new for us,\u201d said Cates. \u201cWe ran at the Fall Final and
\nwe had a lot of fun and we really liked the track. You\u2019ll find competition
\nis tough at any track you go to, but at Stafford, it seems like it\u2019s a bit
\ntougher. We had a few problems during the weekend, but we were pretty fast.
\nI had seen hundreds of races at Stafford but that was our very first time
\nout on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cates proved to be a fast study during the CARQUEST Fall Final, placing as
\nhigh as 4th in the practice sessions leading up to the feature event. In
\nthe feature, Cates started 22nd and he worked his way through traffic to
\ncome home in 7th place at the end of the race. Cates will look to build
\nupon this experience as he readies himself for the 2012 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to be behind the 8-ball a bit compared to the other
\nguys in the division, but we have the practice session the week before the
\nSizzler, so we should be able to get the hang of it and be pretty quick. We
\nrun with guys like Keith Rocco, Ryan Preece, and Woody Pitkat every week at
\nThompson, so there\u2019s no reason why we shouldn\u2019t be able to run with them at
\nStafford. I might be setting the bar too high for myself, but we expect to
\nbe a top-10 or a top-5 car right off the bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cates will have a brand new spec engine from T\/A Engines for his #26 Lindon
\nTree Service Chevrolet for his rookie season, and he has Steve McCarthy as
\nhis crew chief, so he has his sights set on running with the top dogs during
\nhis rookie season.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Thompson motor was getting worn out and it was going to cost a lot to
\nrefresh and the Stafford spec engine was pretty affordable, so we decided to
\ngo with that,\u201d said Cates. \u201cSteve McCarthy is my crew chief, he\u2019s been my
\ncrew chief for the past 6 or 7 years and he has a really good knowledge of
\nthe Stafford track, so we feel pretty confident that we won\u2019t have any
\nproblems getting the car up and running. I don\u2019t like to be cocky, but I
\nfeel like we\u2019ll have a fast car and be able to compete for wins and have a
\ngood season. Our goal is to finish in the top-10 or top-5 every week, and
\nif we can do that, we should be able to win Rookie of the Year. I\u2019d like to
\nthank Lindon Tree Service, he\u2019s been my biggest supporter the last 4 or 5
\nyears, and my dad\u2019s business, Made and Formed Foundation, he\u2019s been
\nsupporting me racing my whole life, I definitely wouldn\u2019t be racing without
\nhis help. And I have to thank my dedicated crew, Steve, Bob, Tony, my Dad,
\nKeith, and Darrell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cates will begin his rookie season with the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net
\nSpring Sizzler, scheduled for April 27-29, 2012. Tickets for the CARQUEST
\nTech-Net Spring Sizzler are available and on sale now through the SMS Box
\nOffice. Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general admission tickets,
\n$5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted
\nfree of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will be priced
\nat $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
\nparking with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway\u2019s SK Modified\u00ae division will welcome another new member for the 2012 season as Danny Cates will join the division. Cates has several top-5 points finishes in the modified division at Thompson Speedway, finishing as high in the points standings as second. Cates came to Stafford for the 2011 CARQUEST Fall Final […]<\/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":[8064,72],"class_list":["post-8869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-danny-cates","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869","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=8869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}