Whelen Modified Tour Championship Winning Car Owner Bob Garbarino to Serve as Grand Marshal of CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that championship winning Whelen Modified Tour car owner Bob Garbarino will serve as the grand marshal of the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. Garbarino has fielded an entry for every Spring Sizzler except for the 1981 race, and he will send the Whelen Modified Tour field on its way for this year’s 41st annual edition of “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” with the most famous words in motorsports, “Drivers start your engines.”
“It’s a honor that Rich Pallai from CARQUEST Auto Parts and Mark and Lisa Arute asked me to do this,” said Garbarino. “Stafford is my home track and I’ve had a car racing at Stafford ever since they paved it in 1967. I’ve been through the good times, the bad times, and everything in between, and I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly at Stafford. It’s one of the old tried and true facilities, and anyone who can get a win at Stafford should feel pretty good about themselves. I’ve done a lot of things in racing, but this will be a first for me. I don’t know what I’ll feel like at that moment, but I’m sure it will be a special moment for me when I look back on it.”
While Garbarino has had such drivers as Leo Cleary, Bugsy Stevens, Ed Flemke, Sr., Ken Schrader, Geoff Bodine, Brian Ross, Satch Worley, Tim Connolly, Robbie Summers, Chuck Hossfeld, and Jerry Marquis behind the wheel of his #4 Mystic Missile throughout the years, it wasn’t until recently that Garbarino was able to collect a Sizzler trophy or a Whelen Modified Tour championship. Donny Lia gave Garbarino his first Sizzler victory in 2007 and Lia also gave Garbarino his first WMT championship that same season. Lia won the championship again in 2009 for Garbarino and Bobby Santos, III was the 2010 Whelen Modified Tour champion behind the wheel of Garbarino’s car. Santos is the defending champion of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, but Garbarino's car will once again have Lia as its pilot for the 41st edition of the Sizzler.
“We’re excited about having Donny back in the car,” said Garbarino. “Donny is a proven guy and he’s always up on the wheel, no matter if it’s the first lap or the last lap. Bobby did a great job for us, there’s no problems there. I think Bobby is the kind of driver that could really make it big if given the right opportunity. We have a pretty good notebook at Stafford that we’ve built up over the years, and the key is to not repeat any mistakes you made in the past. Every year I have a meeting with the guys in the back of our hauler and I tell them to look around the pits and that there’s no one that can stop us from achieving our goals. The only ones who can stop us are standing right here in this hauler. All the guys are pumped up this year and we have our sights set at the top. I don’t expect that we’ll fall short of our expectations and hopefully things will go our way this year and we can win the Sizzler again with Donny behind the wheel.”
The 2012 CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler® gets underway Friday, April 27 with a practice session for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The practice session will be open to the public at no charge. Action continues on Saturday, April 28 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday will wrap up with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler continues on Sunday, April 29 with the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford’s SK Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway 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