5-Time SK MODIFIED® Champion Bob Potter to Serve as Grand Marshal of 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that 5-time SK Modified® track champion Bob Potter will serve as the grand marshal of the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. 40 years after Potter took the green flag in the very first Spring Sizzler and finished 9th, he will send the Whelen Modified Tour field on its way this year with the most famous words in motorsports, “Drivers start your engines.”
“I really appreciate Mark & Lisa [Arute] asking me to do this, it’s a great honor for me,” said Potter. “I’ve done this once before at Waterford and it really makes you feel great to be asked to be the grand marshal. I used to love sitting in the race car and hear those words, it gave me goose bumps when I heard those words and started the car up. I’m sure this will be a little bit different than sitting in the car, but I’m sure that I’ll have goose bumps again when I give the command. The Spring Sizzler is always the best race and I’m sure that this year is going to be one heck of a race.”
Potter is one of the most successful drivers in Stafford’s SK Modified® history. He ranks 4th on Stafford’s all-time SK Modified® winners list with 24 career victories, and he has won 5 SK Modified® track championships. Potter enjoyed one of the most dominant runs in the division’s history at Stafford, with four of his five championships coming in a five-year span from 1991-1995. Only Mike Christopher, who won the championship in 1993, broke up Potter’s stranglehold on the SK Modified® championship. Potter’s five Stafford SK Modified® track championships was a division record that stood until Ted Christopher won his sixth track championship in 2007.
“To me, Stafford was always a driver’s track,” said Potter. “I saw a lot of guys try Stafford who didn’t make it. It takes a special driver to be able to win at Stafford. The turns are different from each other and sometimes you have to remember what turn you’re in. I always said that if you can win a race at Stafford, then you could win a race anywhere. As a driver, you really had to be dialed in to win at Stafford. Three things I always tried to focus on was concentration, dedication, and the will to win, and we usually did pretty well when we came to Stafford to race.”
For his career, Potter made a total of 7 starts in the Spring Sizzler, including the very first Sizzler in 1972 where he drove the #110 for car owner Roger Bonville. In his 7 Spring Sizzler starts, his best finish was second in 1988, the year that the SK Modified® division was the headline division at the Spring Sizzler. In that 1988 Spring Sizzler, Potter finished runner-up to Ted Christopher and just in front of Bo Gunning, making a podium that combined for 15 Stafford SK Modified® track championships and 163 Stafford SK Modified® feature victories.
The 2011 CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler gets underway Friday, April 29 with a practice session for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The practice session will be open to the public at no charge. Action continues on Saturday, April 30 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday will conclude with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler continues on Sunday, May 1 with the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford’s SK Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at $38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 40th annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler®, or to order 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