Stafford Motor Speedway CARQUEST Champions for Charities Driver Spotlight: Randy Cabral
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 3-time NEMA Midget Champion (2008, 2008, 2011) Randy Cabral, who will be racing to help support The Spalding Foundation.
The Spalding Foundation provides monetary support for drivers, crewmen, and racing officials who have sustained injuries in a race related accident at a NASCAR, dirt or local licensed track in New York State and around the United States.
In 1988, Rod Spalding was seriously injured while racing at Rougemont Speedway in North Carolina. Spalding was a well-known and popular driver at the Shangri-La Speedway, Owego (Tioga Motorsports Park), as well as a member of the NASCAR Modified division. Immediately following Spalding’s accident in 1988, Betty Sherwood from Owego, NY organized an event that was held at Quinlan Park, Waverly where fans helped her raise more than $25,000. The following year Sherwood formed the Spalding Foundation and serves as president. Diane Crooker of Horseheads, NY and Pam Olenski of Maine, NY completes the three-member board. Since its formation in 1989, the Spalding Foundation has donated over $100,000 to more than 130 individuals and families.
“Being partnered with The Spalding Foundation is a good fit that really hits home for me,” said Cabral. “A few years ago at Thompson we lost Shane Hammond and he was one of my best friends, so it’s nice to be able to work with the Spalding Foundation to reach out and help those who have gone through similar circumstances. I was able to meet with them last year at Stafford and they’re great people to be associated with.”
Cabral joined the CARQUEST Champions For Charities field last year as a fill in as a substitute for Stuart Friesen. In only a short amount of time, Cabral was able to raise nearly $1,000 for The Spalding Foundation, which placed Cabral 11th in the starting lineup for the 15-lap feature. Cabral finished 10th in the race, but he says that he had a blast and is looking forward to getting back out on the Stafford Mini-Mile this year.
“Last year I got to race against some guys that I’ve never raced against before, which was a lot of fun,” said Cabral. “We’re working on some fund raising ideas right now, we’re thinking we might do a motorcycle ride, and I’ve got some stuff going on at Plymouth South High School where I teach. I was pretty happy with how much we were able to raise last year and if I could get just $1 from everyone I know this year, that would be a pretty good total and get us a nice starting position for the race.”
When it comes to CARQUEST Super Saturday, Cabral will be one of the busiest drivers at Stafford. In addition to racing in the 15-lap CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature, Cabral will race in the NEMA Midget feature and he has hopes of racing in the Pro-4 Modified feature as well. While Cabral does not have an ISMA Supermodified ride lined up, he says that he would jump at the chance to drive one of the open wheel behemoths.
“We’ll be racing the NEMA, Senior Outlaw Kart, and hopefully the Pro-4 Modified features,” said Cabral. “I’ll have to check with my car owner and see if it’s ok. The Pro-4 guys are a great bunch of guys to race with. I ran Jim Darlington’s car at Thompson last year and Jim got to the track a bit late, so I had other Pro-4 drivers helping me get the car ready to race. Norm Wrenn, who was in my heat race, was helping me change the tires and getting the stagger set. I’d love to try out a super someday. I’ve been looking around, but I haven’t really put myself out there yet. I’ve had a few calls here and there, but nothing has materialized yet. I don’t think I’ve ever turned down a ride yet, so if something were to come along, I would definitely jump at the opportunity to drive a super.”
While Cabral will be busy ride hopping during CARQUEST Super Saturday, his bread and butter remains his NEMA Midget ride with Tim Bertrand. Cabral won his third NEMA championship in the past four years, and after a great off-season, he and his team look to be on track to be a contender for their fourth NEMA Midget championship.
“I think this year we’re starting out better than we ever have,” said Cabral. “Everything we had on the car was 5 years old, so we went through the car and swapped everything out for new parts and pieces. Hopefully we’ll be as good this year as we’ve been the past couple of years. I have a great team behind me, we just have to make sure that the driver keeps his head and doesn’t make any mistakes on the track and I think we should be pretty good.”
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 Spalding Foundation on behalf of Randy Cabral, 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