SK Light Modified Champion Joe Allegro, Jr. Moving Up to SK Modifieds at Stafford for 2009
Stafford Springs, CT – The race for the 2009 SK Light Modified championship at Stafford Motor Speedway will be wide open as Joe Allegro, Jr., the defending track champion in that division, will make the move up the ladder to the SK Modified® division and run for 2009 Rookie of the Year honors.
Allegro enters the 2009 SK Modified® rookie fray fresh off a track championship that he earned in only his second season of open wheel modified racing at Stafford Speedway. Although Allegro and his team went winless during their championship-winning season, he is looking forward to the challenge that awaits him this coming season.
“I’m very excited about moving up to the SK’s,” said Allegro. “It’s been a dream of mine to race SK Modifieds® at Stafford ever since I was a kid in the grandstands and now I get the chance to do it. We feel pretty comfortable with my SK Light experience in moving up. It will be just like when I moved from go karts into the SK Light, I went from about 9 horsepower to almost 350 horsepower, so I think it will be the same type of transition.”
While Allegro and his team are currently in search of sponsorship for their rookie campaign in the SK Modified® division, the option of using the new Stafford Speedway spec motor has allowed the team to make the move up.
“We’re getting a spec motor from Tony at T/A Engines,” said Joe Allegro, Sr., Joe Jr.’s father and car owner. “We looked around at several different motors that people were selling and after purchasing a motor and then sending it out for a refresh, we would have spent just as much if not more than we did for the spec motor. This spec motor package has been a big factor in allowing us to make the move from SK Light to SK Modified®. We have plenty of room on the car for sponsors, so we’re hoping that we can find some sponsorship, even though sponsorship is hard to find at the moment.”
In any form of motorsports, any time a driver makes a move up the racing ladder and becomes a rookie driver in a new division, they may find that the road is a sometimes rocky and turbulent ride. But Allegro remains confident that he can find success at the next level and is looking forward to the challenge.
“We always try our hardest to win races, but our goal is to just finish every race, see how things play out, and hopefully we can win Rookie of the Year,” said Allegro. “We’re working on the car and we feel like with this spec motor package that we are going to be good. Talking with the engine builder, this is a good piece that we’re getting and it should make a lot of power, so we’re very excited about the 2009 season.”
Allegro will take to the track for the first time behind the wheel of an SK Modified® car during the 38th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Weekend, scheduled for April 24-26, 2009. Tickets for the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring,” are now on sale at the Stafford Motor Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, $38.00 for reserved seats, and free for children ages 5 & under. Tickets are good for admission to the Saturday April 25, and Sunday, April 26 portions of the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, with the Friday, April 24 practice session open the public free of charge. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free parking with overnight weekend parking available.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR