Parker Motorsports Teaming Willie Hardie with Brett Gonyaw for 2009 SK Modified® Campaign at SMS
Stafford Springs, CT — There is an old adage that says “out with the old and in with the new”, but in the case of Bob Parker Motorsports, they will have both the old and the new as they prepare for the 2009 season of SK Modified® racing at Stafford Motor Speedway. Parker will team rookie Brett Gonyaw with veteran Willie Hardie in a full-time two-car effort with Darin Renihan driving a third car on a limited basis. Hardie will pilot the #48 and Gonyaw will be behind the wheel of the #84, with both cars carrying sponsorship from United Roll Off Services.
“I’ve always wanted to have a veteran/rookie combination for my team,” said Parker. “Adding Willie to the team for this year is a great bonus. He has a lot of experience at Stafford, and he is willing to help teach Brett what he knows about getting around Stafford. I think we can do some really good things this year.”
Hardie has a won a total of 20 feature events at Stafford, 13 in the SK Modified® division and 7 in the old ProStock division. Hardie also was the 1996 ProStock track champion at Stafford.
“This is a whole new deal for me,” said Hardie. “It’s a new car, a new team, and a new role for me. Brett is a young kid and he’s looking to go places, so hopefully I can be a mentor to him and help him out this year. We have the new guy/old guy thing going for us this year. From the couple times we’ve met at the shop we already have good chemistry and I’m looking forward to working with Brett and the entire crew this season. Bob has some really good guys on his crew. Billy Mordenti is the team manager, and I have Billy Wolcott as my crew chief and George Petruny is Brett’s crew chief. They’re all good guys and they bring a lot of knowledge to the team.”
“I’m really excited about this year,” said Gonyaw. “I’ve already learned some things from Willie from just talking with him in the shop, and I think that I can definitely learn a lot more from Willie once we get to the track.”
Gonyaw ran four races with the Parker team last season with a best finish of 8th at the season ending CARQUEST Fall Final. Gonyaw also raced a True Value type modified at All-Star Speedway the past two seasons, which got him the ride in Parker’s modified.
“I ran the last couple years in a True Value type car at All Star Speedway, and raced against the Modified Tour drivers in the big money shows. We did pretty well and that’s how Bob learned about me and put me in his car. We ran a couple of races last year at Stafford, and we didn’t have too much luck,” said Gonyaw. “We pretty much couldn’t get the car to get out of its own way. But at the end of the year, we put a new motor in the car and we got a top-10 finish at the Fall Final, so I think we can really have a good season this year with the experience we gained last year and the experience that Willie brings to the team.”
Gonyaw carries the nickname of “Brett the Jet” and how he acquired that moniker is quite a story in itself.
“I was about 6 or 7 years old racing go karts at the Woodstock Fair,” said Gonyaw. “Ted Christopher and his brother Mike were there watching the races. At the time, I had no idea who Teddy was. There was one race where I started in the back and drove to the front only to get taken out by the leader. I came from the back to the front two more times and got taken out by the leader and after the race was over, Teddy came up to me and gave me some pointers and asked me if anyone had ever called me Brett the Jet. The name stuck ever since then and it was pretty cool to have a guy like Ted Christopher giving me pointers.”
Hardie has campaigned his own car in the SK Modified® division since the 1998 season and was a championship contender for much of that time. The past several seasons have seen Hardie not reach the level of success that he was used to and he is looking forward to a change of pace.
“If everything works out for us this year, I think we can be a contender for the championship,” said Hardie. “Bob’s guys build their own cars and motors, and we have one regular engine and we’re putting together a spec engine, so we’ll have a car with the old motor and a car with the spec motor. This will be a big relief for me this year, there’s no pressure on me to bring anything. I can just focus on the car and what we need to do to get both cars running better. Hopefully a change in cars and a change in number will change my luck.”
The Parker Motorsports team kicks off their 2009 season along with the rest of the SK Modified® field at the 38th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 24th through April 26th. Tickets for “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 to the public free of charge.
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