Glen Reen Looks to Build Upon Success of 2011 to Challenge for SK Modified® Championship In 2012 at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — After several years away from weekly competition at Stafford Motor Speedway, Glen Reen returned to Stafford’s SK Modified® division in 2011 driving the #21 owned by Don Silberman. Josh Sylvester drove Silberman’s #21 to Rookie of the Year honors in 2010 and Reen took the car’s performance to an even higher level in 2011, finishing 6th in the points standings with 6 top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes in 18 starts. As good as the 2011 season was for Reen and the Silberman crew, Reen says that the season could have been even better than it was.
“I had a feeling that we were going to run well last year,” said Reen. “I had ran a couple of seasons on the Whelen Modified Tour and I could take what I learned over there and apply it to Don’s SK car, which really helped pick up our performance. I think that we could have been even better if we didn’t have a motor go bad on us halfway through the season. Mike Sweeney let us borrow an engine and I really have to thank him for letting us borrow that engine. It was an older motor and it was set up for Waterford, so we fell from third to tenth in the points, but we were able to work our way back up to sixth at the end of the year. With the cards we were dealt, we had a great year and we’re looking to do even better this season and our goal is to be among the challengers for the championship.”
Reen finished the 2011 season on a high note with second place finishes in each of the final two races of the season. Combined with his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory in the season ending race at Thompson, Reen has all the momentum in the world on his side as he prepares for the 2012 season.
“Momentum is everything and we’re hoping to carry that momentum over to the 2012 season,” said Reen. “Don Silberman gave me the opportunity of a lifetime last year to drive his car and I can’t thank him enough. We grew as a team last year and we learned a lot. I think that we have a championship run in us, Brian Ross is a great crew chief, everything he touches runs fast. Brian and me work really well together, we’re like peas in a pod. And I have great crew guys with Cullen Gardner, Rob Walendy, and Mike Barberi, so we’re excited about the season. I know everyone says that the championship is their goal at the beginning of the season, but I think we can be among the contenders. Right now we’re rebuilding the entire car from scratch, we’re not using anything from last year that we don’t have to use. The car is going to be another caliber this year and we’re focused on being consistent week by week and we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”
While Reen will carry sponsorship from Silberman Heating and Cooling, Alloy Wheel Repair, Reen Motorsports and Reen Orthodontics for his SK Modified® effort, Reen is still searching for sponsorship in order to continue his Whelen Modified Tour efforts.
“Right now we’re trying to put something together for the Sizzler,” said Reen. “The win at Thompson was huge for us and with how many things were wrong on the car, we probably shouldn’t have won that race. The brakes didn’t work, I had to pump the brakes on the straights about 3 or 4 times every lap, our motor had about 2,000 laps on it and Bob Bruneau told us we shouldn’t use that motor for the race, and then the clutch broke on lap-107. Thank god they only have three green white checkered restarts because I don’t think the car would have made a fourth, and the clutch issue is why we had to get pushed to victory lane. But we’re looking for potential sponsors and hopefully we can find something because we’d love to be racing at the Sizzler in both the SK and Tour cars.”
The 2012 season kicks off at Stafford Motor Speedway with the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 27-29. Tickets for the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler are available and on sale now through the SMS Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 will be priced at $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 41st 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