Stafford Young Guns Tommy Barrett, Jr. & Matt Galko Separated by Only 6 Points in Chase for SK Light Championship
Stafford Springs, CT — With the 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend upon us this weekend, Stafford young guns Tommy Barrett, Jr. and Matt Galko are separated by only 6 points, or three positions on the racetrack, in the chase for the 2010 SK Light Modified track championship. Galko has been at the front of the points standings from June until the Final Friday Night-Shoot-Out on Sept. 17th, where a Barrett victory combined with Galko wrecking out of the race, put Barrett at the top of the standings heading into this weekend.
“It’s been really frustrating with three wrecks in the last four races for us,” said Galko. “But there’s nothing that we can do except to learn from what happened and move onto the next race. We do what we need to do at the shop during the week to have the car ready and we’re going to go for the win this weekend. The pressure is totally off of us now that we’re not leading the points. We’re having fun at the shop working on the car and it would be a pretty cool way to end the year by winning the CARQUEST Fall Final.”
While Galko has found misfortune towards the end of the 2010 season, Tommy Barrett has used a white hot streak to vault himself into the points lead. Barrett has won 8 of the last 9 SK Light Modified feature events at Stafford, and he has a total of 10 victories this season. Barrett has had to play catch up all year long after he missed the first race of the 2010 season as he didn’t turn 15 and become eligible to race this season until the second race of the year.
“After we missed the first race of the season, I’ll be a little disappointed if we don’t win the championship,” said Barrett. “But we’ve had a great year with 10 wins so far and we hope we can win the last race.”
While the SK Light championship hangs in the balance, Barrett has already clinched a championship this season. Barrett has earned the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division 3 Asphalt Championship on the strength of 10 wins and 14 top-5 finishes to outpoint Christopher Lambert of All-American Speedway in Roseville, California by 86 points.
“It feels good to be a NASCAR champion,” said Barrett. “We definitely didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the year being our first year in modifieds. The year couldn’t have gone much better for us, we won 10 races and we haven’t really bent the car up. It’s an awesome feeling and it’s great to have a shot at winning the SK Light championship at Stafford.”
With only one race left on the 2010 schedule and a 60 point margin over third place Erica Santos, Galko has little to lose and everything to gain this weekend in the race for the championship. Galko must finish at least 4 positions ahead of Barrett to win the championship as Barrett holds the tiebreaker advantage over Galko with 10 wins to Galko’s 3 wins.
“Our focus is on the last race,” said Galko. “My dad always gives me a good handling car and we are confident that we have a good enough car to win the race this weekend. We’re locked into at least second in the points, so we’re not points racing anymore and we’re going for broke this weekend. Our goal at the start of the season was to win the championship, but leading the points for most of the year was unexpected. It’s been a great year for us if we win the championship or not.”
Barrett will also be racing for victory this weekend, but he might be a little more on the conservative side of things than Galko will.
“We’re going to try to win the race, but not be as aggressive,” said Barrett. “If the win is there for us, we’re going to try to win the race. We have a good car and the guys at the shop try to have everything ready for me when we get to the track so that we don’t have to work on the car that much while we’re at the track. The car is always fast right off the truck, which is a big help for us. It’s going to be a great race and hopefully we can stay out of trouble and finish up front.”
Barrett and the rest of the SK Light Modified cars will qualify and then race for the final time in 2010 on Saturday, October 2nd during CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend. The SK Light field will also be part of the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party on Sunday, October 3rd from 11am-12pm.
Tickets for the 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final 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, October 2nd, and Sunday, October 3rd portions of the Fall Final. 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