Brit Andersen Looking to Take Home Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year Honors in Stafford’s SK Modified® Division
Stafford Springs, CT — After 13 victories in three seasons of SK Light Modified competition at Stafford Motor Speedway, Brit Andersen will make the jump up to the SK Modified® division for the 2010 season where he will vie for Reliable Welding and Speed Rookie of the Year honors. Andersen made his Stafford SK Modified® debut at last year’s CARQUEST Fall Final driving for the DiPisa brothers and he will once again campaign the DiPisa owned car with his familiar number 70 on the doors and roof in place of the number 66 he ran at the 2009 CARQUEST Fall Final.
“I’m looking forward to the season, there is a really good rookie class this year,” said Andersen. “We’re looking to win Rookie of the Year, win a couple of races this year and hopefully finish the season in the top-5 in points. I know I have experience working against me this year, but I think I can hang and we definitely think we can win this season. I don’t ever get into the car without thinking I can win. We brought the engine to Mike Pettit for some updates and we redid everything on the car. We’re trying to cover all our bases so that we have no excuses if we’re not fast this year. If we’re not fast, it will be because of the driver and not our equipment.”
Andersen made his SK Modified® debut at last year’s CARQUEST Fall Final a memorable one. Andersen started 28th out of 30 cars and he worked his way through the field to take home a strong third place finish after dueling for the lead and the race win in the closing stages of the feature.
“I went into the Fall Final race last year thinking that if I could just miss the wrecks and bring the car home in one piece in the top-10 that it would be a good day for me,” said Andersen. “That race last year was all about getting me seat time. It wasn’t until near the end of the race on a restart I realized where we were on the track and how few laps there was remaining and it hit me that we had a chance to win. I called the guys on the radio before we went back to green and I told them I was going to go for the win and they told me to go for it. The car got real tight after that restart and I couldn’t keep up with Keith [Rocco]. I got under him once, but it was too tight to do anything. If the car wasn’t tight, I think that Keith and I would have put on one heck of a show for the win.”
Andersen and the DiPisa team are looking for more of the same during the 2010 season with all the information that Andersen learned from his Fall Final experience.
“I definitely learned a lot,” said Andersen. “I was racing up front with guys like Keith Rocco, Doug Coby, Todd Owen, and Woody Pitkat and I was able to see where those guys were good on the track and where they weren’t good and I really think that is going to help me be ready for competition this season. I didn’t expect to run that well so it was a humbling experience for me, but I learned a lot and I’m looking forward to the season.”
Andersen’s SK Modified® exploits won’t be his only modified duties at Stafford this season. He will also serve as a driver coach and car owner to Lauren Cooper, who will pilot the #70 Brit Andersen Motorsports car in Stafford’s SK Light Modified division.
“I’m also going to be working with Lauren Cooper this year,” said Andersen. “She is going to be driving our Brit Andersen Motorsports car and I think she can win some races this year. I really enjoy helping other drivers out, it’s an uplifting experience when you see a driver improving because of advice that you give to them. I think that Lauren has a lot of talent and I’m looking forward to helping her out this year and getting a couple wins.”
The 2010 SK Modified® season kicks off with the 39th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 23-25, 2010. 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 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 CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler tickets, 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