Todd Owen Looking to Get Back to Carquest Victory Lane In SK Modified® Division at Stafford with His Own Team
Stafford Springs, CT — Todd Owen has been a mainstay of consistency in Stafford Speedway’s SK Modified® division, finishing in the top-9 of the points standings every year since his rookie season in 2003. Owen was twice a runner-up in the SK Modified® standings in 2004 and 2005, and he finished third in 2009. The 2012 season will present a new challenge for Owen as he will be an owner/driver for the first time in his SK Modified® career after driving for Brad and Linda Hietala in each of his 9 SK Modified® seasons at Stafford. With his last SK Modified® feature win coming in the 2006 Coors Light SK Modified® 100, Owen is ready to tackle the challenge of returning to victory lane this year while driving his own car.
“I’m excited about the season,” said Owen. “Brad and Linda started working with Chris Matthews last year and I was kind of doing my own deal last year, and working with Chris was the direction they were looking to go in for this season. I had a great time with Brad and Linda, we had a great relationship and they would do anything for me, I think it was just time to try something different after 9 years together. I have the same car and engine as last year, we just have a lot of different ideas and some new parts and pieces.”
As Owen makes his first foray into the driver/owner ranks in the SK Modified® division, he may have an ace up his sleeve as he prepares for the season. Owen will reunite with Butch Shea, who Owen worked with in the ProStock division and nearly won the track championship together during the 2000 season.
“I’ve had a lot of luck with Butch in the ProStocks, and he actually started helping me out at the end of last season,” said Owen. “Butch has taught me a lot about racing, so when he offered to help me out, it was a no-brainer. Butch made a couple of minor changes at the end of last season, and with just those few minor changes we made a lot of progress with the car, so I think we should be pretty good this year. It seemed like there was a hurdle last year that we just couldn’t quite get over with what to do to the car. I have confidence we can be better this year, but we’ll see what happens when we get out onto the track.”
As the 2012 season draws closer and closer to taking the green flag, Owen seems to have everything in place that he needs to go out and win races this season. Owen will also have a familiar number on his car this season as he switches from 90 back to his old number 81, which was his number when he drove in the ProStock ranks at Stafford.
“The goal for this season is to get back to the success we had in the ProStock days, so I’m going back to my original number 81,” said Owen. “I think we can win races this year. I feel like we were at the level we were at in 2005 and 2006, but since then you’ve had guys like Keith Rocco and Ryan Preece come into the division and those are the guys you have to beat if you want to win races. We were good last year, we just needed a little bit more to be a championship contender, and that is going to be a huge step for us to try to take this year. Every year the goal is to run for the championship, we just need to get the car to a point that I can be good every Friday night. Hopefully we can be close right out of the box, and if we’re not close, we have time to get the car right before the Sizzler. I’m too cheap to buy tires for practice, so we’ll use the practice to shake the car down and make sure there are no problems and get ready to race at the Sizzler. I have great support from Cooker Construction, Austin Auto Body, Barnes Pools, and a host of other sponsors that I couldn’t go racing without, and I have a great crew, so we’re looking forward to the season.”
The 2012 SK Modified® season gets underway 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, 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