Gunsmoke Stables Front Runner Challenge Up to $500 at CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend
Stafford Springs, CT — During the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season at Stafford Motor Speedway, SK Light drivers have been racing for some extra cash thanks to Steve and Diana Greer of Gunsmoke Stables. Instituted at the beginning of the 2011 season, the Greer’s provided a $100 bonus for SK Light Modified feature winners. The catch was that the same driver couldn’t win the award more than once, so if a driver that had already won a feature won again, the bonus was carried over to the next week. That will all change at the CARQUEST Fall Final as the highest finishing SK Light Modified driver who has made at least 2 starts this season will take home a $500 bonus from Gunsmoke Stables.
“I’ve been running an SK Light now for a couple of seasons, and with the economy being what it is today and sponsors getting harder to come by, my wife and I thought this would be a nice way to be able to help some of the SK Light drivers out,” said Steve Greer. “It’s not a lot of money, but we figured it would help guys out with some of the small stuff like maybe buying fuel for a night or paying for an extra tire or two.”
Joey Cipriano and Matt Galko each took home a $100 bonus in the first two races of the season before the award went unclaimed for 5 weeks, resulting in a $600 bonus for Tommy Membrino, Jr. After Membrino’s win, the award again went unclaimed for 5 weeks, giving Kyle Spencer a $600 bonus when he won his first career race on August 19. After Spencer’s victory, rookie driver Bob Charland won the next Friday night for a $100 bonus and the award has gone unclaimed since Charland’s first career SK Light victory. Greer says the program has been a huge hit with the SK Light drivers.
“This program has been very positive,” said Greer. “You wouldn’t believe the level of appreciation I’ve gotten from the SK Light drivers in the pits. Whether it was Tommy Membrino or Kyle Spencer with the big bonus, or Joey Cipriano, Matt Galko, or Bob Charland with the smaller bonus, everyone has been very thankful for us putting this money up. I’ve had people I don’t’ even know come up to me and thank me when I was standing in line to get into the pits on Friday nights, so it’s definitely been above and beyond what we expected.”
Greer enters the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend with 2 top-5 and 11 top-10 finishes, which has him currently sitting in 7th place in the points standings. Should Greer be able to win his first career race this weekend, he will put an end to the playful abuse he’s received this year from his fellow SK Light competitors.
“The worst part about this program has been the ribbing I’ve been getting all year long about not being able to win my own bonus money,” said Greer. “It would be nice to be able to end the season with a win, but honestly, if we were to win, I wouldn’t take the bonus and I would pass it on to the next eligible driver.”
The 39th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend kicks off on Friday, Sept. 30 with pit gates opening at 12:00pm with a practice session running from 2:00pm to 6:30pm for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The General Admission grandstands will be open to the public at no charge for the practice session. The G.A. Grandstands will open at 2pm.
Action continues on Saturday, Oct. 1 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour cars at 2:15pm, followed by heat and consolation races for Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday’s events wrap up with feature events for Stafford’s SK Light Modified, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. Closing out the Saturday feature events will be the Paradiso-Muska DARE Stock Shoot-Out, a special 8-lap shoot-out all-star race for this season’s DARE Stock feature winners and several wild card entrants.
The CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend continues on Sunday, Oct. 2 with the famous Stafford CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party kicking off the day’s activities from 11:00am to 12:00pm, with the final SK Modified® and Late Model feature events of 2011 being accompanied by the Whelen Modified Tour 150-lap CARQUEST Fall Final.
Tickets for the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend are available and on sale now at the Stafford Motor Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult General Admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 & under are free. Reserved seating is $38.00 for all ages. All tickets cover both Saturday and Sunday admission to the Fall Final. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available. Tickets can be ordered by calling the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783.
For more information, 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