Stafford Motor Speedway CARQUEST Champions for Charities Driver Spotlight: Woody Pitkat
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway has again lined up an impressive field of current and former open wheel champions for its CARQUEST Champions For Charities Event as part of CARQUEST Super Saturday on June 30th. During the coming weeks, SMS will offer a profile on each of its championship winning drivers and the charity they will be racing for and this week’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities spotlight falls on Woody Pitkat, the 2006 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division 4 Regional Champion, who will be racing to help support The Victory Junction Gang Camp.
The Victory Junction Gang Camp was built in honor of Adam Petty and they provide life-changing experiences for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Victory Junction has opened it’s doors to over 14,000 children from all 50 states and 4 countries since opening in 2004. Located in Randleman, NC, Victory Junction is partnered with 30 different hospitals to deliver health care to its campers, who are dealing with such chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses as Autism, Cancer, Craniofacial Anomalies, Diabetes, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell and Spina Bifida. The cost for a child to attend Victory Junction is $2,500, but thanks to generous donations, no child or family incurs that cost.
Last year Pitkat was a substitute for Davey Hamilton, and in less than two weeks, he was able to raise $2,728 for Victory Junction, which was good enough to allow Pitkat to start the race in the 4th position. With more time on his side this year, Pitkat is looking forward to surpassing his donation total from one year ago.
“Last year we only had about 10 days to raise money, so it wasn’t a lot of time,” said Pitkat. “We have a lot more time on our side this year, so hopefully we can raise more than last year, I’m pretty excited about what we can contribute this year. We’re looking into some things that we can do raise some money, I’ve asked around a bit but we haven’t really got going just yet.”
Pitkat’s fund raising efforts will get a kick start this weekend with proceeds from the Spring Craft/Vendor Fair being held at the Fairgrounds Banquet Hall at Stafford Speedway going to Victory Junction Gang Camp. The Craft/Vendor Fair will run from 9am-3pm and Admission is FREE! There will be crafts and vendors ranging from jewelry, candles, country crafts, local honey and more. For details, visit the event's Facebook page by CLICKING HERE.
Last year’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event saw Pitkat finish 5th after leading several laps and then fighting side by side with Todd Szegedy for the fourth position in the closing laps. After the CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event, Pitkat went on to race in several Monday night Wild Thing Kart events as well as a race at Pomfret Speedway towards the end of the season. While Pitkat has the benefit of extra experience behind the wheel of a Senior Outlaw kart, he isn’t quite sure that will play out into an advantage come feature time this season.
“I’m looking forward to doing this race again,” said Pitkat. “Last year we ran up front some and we swapped the lead with Richie Pallai a couple of times, and then we had a great race with Todd Szegedy at the end of the race. I ended up running the same kart on a couple of Monday nights and I ran a race at Pomfret at the end of the year, so I developed a great relationship with the Forgette’s. I think most of the guys in this race came up through quarter midgets and things like that, so I don’t know how much of an advantage I’ll have. The key is to get the kart handling well and not bouncing around the track. But this race isn’t about winning, it’s about going out and raising money for a good cause and having some fun on the track without all the hype of racing for points and things like that.”
In addition to racing in the CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event, Pitkat will have a full plate of racing ahead of him in 2012. Pitkat will run the full SK Modified® schedule for Bob Hitchcock and Kelly Iverson in the SK Modified® division, while also racing full-time in the Late Model division for Billy Snow, Sr. Pitkat will also be part of the Whelen Modified Tour fields at Stafford, driving the #11 for car owner John Lukosavage that was piloted last season by both Ryan Preece and Donny Lia.
“I’m real excited about this season,” said Pitkat. “We switched the SK over to the car I used to run at Thompson, which I feel more comfortable in and I think is a little bit better car than the one we ran last year. We had a carburetor issue for most of the year last year, but once Billy the Kid fixed that, we won, finished second, and won again in our first three races with the new carb. I’m excited to be racing for Mr. Snow again in the Late Model. We’ve been so close to the championship the last two years, maybe the third time will be the charm for us. We’ve had great results the past two years with two cars so maybe now that we will be focusing on one car instead of two we’ll be that much better this year. On the Tour, John Lukosavage has a CD car, which I’m familiar with, and he has a genius in Bob Cuneo working on the car and Lloyd Agor is going to be the crew chief. I’ve always raced against Lloyd and I’m looking forward to working with him. All in all, I’m excited about the season, this year is the best start to a season that I’ve had, so I think we’re going to have a good year. I’d like to thank all my car owners, with how the economy is right now, most drivers are lucky to have one ride, and between Stafford, Thompson, and the Whelen Modified Tour, I’ll have four rides, so I’m very fortunate.”
The starting lineup for the CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event will be determined by how much money each driver raises for their selected charity. The starting grid will be set with the drivers who have raised the most money starting up front. Fans are encouraged to get involved in the event by donating to their favorite driver or favorite charity. To make a donation to The Victory Junction Gang Camp on behalf of Woody Pitkat, and for more information on the event, please refer to the CARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page located at www.staffordspeedway.com. Stay tuned to www.staffordspeedway.com for more driver spotlights and exciting information regarding the CARQUEST Champions for Charities event.
CARQUEST Super Saturday will take place on Saturday, June 30, 2012 and will feature the ISMA Super Modifieds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modifieds in addition to the Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Karts. Tickets for CARQUEST Super Saturday are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office and are priced at $33.00 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 $35.00 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, or to order tickets to the 9th Annual CARQUEST Super Saturday event, 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