Carla Botticello Looking for Consistency to Carry Her into Championship Contention at Stafford Speedway in 2010
Stafford Springs, CT — After a career best finish of fourth place in the Limited Late Model point standings at Stafford Motor Speedway last season, Carla Botticello is geared up to once again contend for the track championship in 2010. Botticello and her Botticello, Inc. team are busy at work preparing her car for the upcoming season, and she says that she knows what she needs to do this season to be a championship contender.
“We’re usually pretty late putting things together, but we’re working on the car now,” said Botticello. “Every season I have high expectations for myself. If a driver tells you at the beginning of the season that they’re not thinking about the championship, they’re probably lying. We are always looking to win when we come to the racetrack and we want to win the championship this year, but I’m more concerned this year with consistency. In years past it seems like we win or run good one week and then the next week we’re running in the back or something happens to us. If I can be more consistent this year, I feel like we can definitely be championship contenders this year. I just have to figure out a combination that is going to work out best for us this year. It’s going to take a lot of work, but everyone on the team is ready for the challenge this year.”
Botticello was the Limited Late Model Rookie of the Year in 2008 and she has one victory in each of the last 2 seasons to her credit. Her 2009 season started off strong, with 7 top-5 finishes in the first 8 races. But in the second 8 races of the 2009 season, she cracked the top-5 only three times, and three times posted finishes of 14th or worse.
“It seems like we are always able to start off strong,” said Botticello. “As the year goes on, the other competitors get stronger while we seem to already have reached our plateau. The Limited Late Model division has good cars and it’s a tough field. I feel like we can get off to a strong start again, we just have to be able to maintain that throughout the entire season. I’ve learned that you can’t stress over the what-ifs in racing, it will end up driving you nuts. I try to leave what happened at the track behind and learn from it to make myself a better driver.”
Botticello will carry sponsorship from Botticello, inc, Casagrande Builders, Bosco’s Automotive, Manchester Transport, and Enfield Transit Mix for the 2010 season. Botticello will pilot a BFR chassis with power from Billy the Kid.
“I know we have the best equipment that you can buy, it’s all up to me to be able to let the guys know what’s going on with the car so we can make the right decisions and keep the car fast all year long,” said Botticello.
The chase for the 2010 Limited Late Model track championship begins April 23-25 with the 39th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Weekend. Tickets for the 39th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Weekend 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 24, and Sunday, April 25 portions of the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, with the Friday, April 23 practice session open to the public free of charge.
For more information, or to order Tech-Net Spring Sizzler tickets, please 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