Stafford, CT — Woody Pitkat sets high standards for himself in his racing career and the young racer will not let anything get in his way of accomplishing every single one of those goals. That’s why if he wanted any chance at securing the prestigious NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship, he would have go win an eighth SK Modified feature race of the season at Stafford Motor Speedway to gain the most points possible, then wait for the final points to be tallied.
Pitkat took care of his end of the bargain by completing a daring three-wide pass for the lead early in the 50-lap SK Modified event on Sunday afternoon at Stafford’s “Fall Final” event and never looking back for win number-eight. As of Monday morning, NASCAR Officials were still going over the final points in their Daytona, FL, headquarters making sure every point was accounted for, but Pitkat was satisfied that he did all he could to give himself a shot at the title.
“We needed to do what we needed to do today,” said Pitkat after his eighth win Sunday. “We needed to come here and win it and that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to go out on top. We knew that we had to come here to win to win the Nationals. We will see what happens.”
With the victory, Pitkat secured the second position in Stafford SK Modified points, behind now six-time track champion Ted Christopher. Points from both Stafford and Thompson International Speedway (CT) are being re-checked by NASCAR Monday morning, but Pitkat’s win gained him the most possible points available in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series schematic.
No matter the outcome, whether it results in a National Title or not, Pitkat knows he did everything he could Sunday to get win number-eight and solidify his NASCAR Connecticut State Championship.
“I want to congratulate Teddy on his Championship,” said Pitkat. “It is kind of hard being as consistent as he is to gain any points on him. To beat him, he has got to be one of the top local in the northeast. To be able to beat him on all of those restarts and stay in front makes me really feel good.”
Pitkat did not have much time to celebrate the SK Modified win as he jumped right into the Hillbilly Racing #79 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour ride for the 150-lap “Fall Final” event Sunday afternoon. Pitkat started the Coors Light #79 from the 22nd spot and quickly started his march from the front, but contact from another competitor caused the handle of the car to fade away, but Pitkat was trying to soldier on before more contact ended Pitkat’s day with a 28th-place finish.
“In the Tour car, we struggled all weekend. They talked to us at the driver’s meeting about respect and when I got underneath one driver, who I thought would have respect, I do not know what he was doing when he came down on me. We tangled and we broke the steering rack. After that, I was just holding on for the rest of the race.
“Later, there was a wreck there when someone spun around and I went to go around and somebody ran into the side of me. With all the dirt and stuff, nobody could see anything.”
Pitkat’s day ended on a solid note, as he hopped right into the Pat and Marcie Kretschman-owned #48 TSI Harley-Davidson Late Model at Stafford and brought it home in fifth, despite having to work from the rear of the field after a black flag for an incident on the track.
“We had a good car. We got bounced around a bit. We started to go back up and then backed up a little bit. After that they blacked flag me, you just move on. I went forward and completed the race with a fifth-place finish.”
While the Stafford Motor Speedway racing schedule is wrapped up for the year, there’s still plenty of racing on Pitkat’s plate for the remainder of the 2007 season. Pitkat will compete in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event at Caraway Speedway on October 6th.
For more information on Woody Pitkat, contact Matt Kentfield at (704) 788-2134 and check out the official online home for the 2006 NASCAR Weekly Series Division IV Champion, www.woodypitkatracing.com.
Sources: Matt Kentfield/Woody Pitkat PR