CARQUEST Champions for Charities Driver Spotlight: Todd Szegedy
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. This week's CARQUEST Champions For Charities spotlight falls on 2003 NASCAR Whelen Modified Series Champion Todd Szegedy, who will be racing to help support The Foundation For Life.
The Foundation For Life is an organization that provides funding in Connecticut for underprivileged children. Their motto is to make children’s dreams come true by providing scholarships, bikes, school clothes and supplies, various playgrounds in CT, and provide volunteers to teach Junior Achievement in CT elementary schools. They have also assisted in the ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition in Bridgeport, CT by paying off the owner’s mortgage. Since 2006, the Foundation for Life has distributed over $350,000 to organizations in Connecticut who are working to better the lives of those in need throughout the community.
“The Foundation for Life is a great organization which gives back to communities who are in need of giving throughout the state of Connecticut,” said Szegedy. “We didn’t raise as much money last year as we would have liked, so hopefully we can get some more people to come on board with us this year. I know the economy is tough, but the money all goes to a very good cause. We have a lot of people around us who like to support The Foundation For Life, so we’re hoping we can pick up some more donations and have a larger total than we did last year.”
After having never driven a Wild Thing Kart Senior Outlaw before, Szegedy put in a fine showing in last year’s 15-lap CARQUEST Champions For Charities event. Szegedy started 8th and he worked his way through the field to take 4th place at the checkered flag after not being able to make it to the track in time for practice.
“Last year’s race was awesome,” said Szegedy. “I couldn’t get out of work early enough to make it for practice and those karts are very line sensitive. It was a lot of fun to drive and it was fun watching the guys struggle to drive the karts around the mini mile. After the race was over, there wasn’t one driver who didn’t have a smile on their face, we were all swapping spots like crazy. I hope I can make it for practice this year to get a better idea of how the kart will drive and I’m sure we’ll all have as much fun as we did last year.”
In addition to preparing for his CARQUEST Champions For Charities duties, Szegedy is also busy preparing for the 41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler next weekend. After a crash left him with a 27th place finish in the season opening Whelen Modified Tour event, Szegedy will look to get his 2012 season back on track with a strong effort at Stafford.
"I’m looking forward to the Sizzler,” said Szegedy. “I’ve been close to winning that race before and the Sizzler is definitely on my list of races that I want to win. We didn’t qualify as well as we would have liked at Thompson, but we knew the car was going to race well. We pitted for tires and it seemed like all heck broke loose and we got caught up in a wreck. It seems lately like it’s a 50/50 deal if you’re going to get caught up in something after pit stops and we’re starting the season out behind again like we did last year. But the team is phenomenally strong and we have good equipment, so we have what it takes to overcome our Thompson finish. If you look at last year, we wrecked in the first two races and we ended up getting into the points lead later in the season, so it can be done. With the short schedule this year, we’ve used our one mulligan, but we feel pretty confident going to Stafford. Phil Moran, my crew chief, has been around a while, we have good cars, and I’m very comfortable at Stafford. Generally I’ve been able to make passes on the bottom and on the outside, so we just have to hang around in the top-5, stay out of trouble, and be there at the end to have a chance to fight for the win.”
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 Foundation For Life on behalf of Todd Szegedy, and for more information on the event, please refer to the CARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page by CLICKING HERE. 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