Defending Whelen Modified Tour Champion Ronnie Silk Looks to Carry Season Opening Win Momentum into CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler
Stafford Springs, CT — After winning the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, Ronnie Silk and the #6 T.S. Haulers, Inc. began the defense of their title in grand style by winning the season opening race at Thompson. Stafford was a good track for Silk and crew last season, as he scored a win, a third, and two seventh place finishes in the four events held at the Connecticut half-mile. With the momentum of a season opening win on their side, Silk hopes to carry that momentum with him to Stafford Speedway for next weekend’s CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
“Winning the season opener was obviously great for us,” said Silk. “Momentum means a lot in racing and it felt great to be able to win the first race of the season. I think we can win quite a few more races this year and we hope the next win will be the Sizzler. We feel really good about coming back to Stafford, we ran well and we were able to win once at Stafford last year. Everyone wants to win the Sizzler, it’s a very prestigious race, and I would love to be able to win the Sizzler. I feel pretty good about our chances and we’re definitely going to give it our best shot.”
In six career Sizzler starts, Silk’s third place finish in last year’s Sizzler race represented a career best finish. Had Silk not encountered an engine issue, he might have finished a step or two higher on the podium.
“We were running second last year, but we had a motor problem and we finished third,” said Silk. “We’ve run well in the Sizzler before, we just seem to have some things happen to us that have kept us from winning the race. If we’re having a good day next Sunday, hopefully we can capitalize on it.”
With the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler being 200 laps in distance, the race is 50 laps longer than most Whelen Modified Tour events. The longer distance can sometimes lead to unusual strategies playing out to put drivers in position to win the race. While Silk says that they don’t have a pre-race plan, the distance of the Sizzler opens up a wide variety of options for himself and the rest of the Whelen Modified Tour field.
“We don’t really come up with a strategy before the race,” said Silk. “It seems like every time we do, something happens during the race that throws that strategy out the window. If the car is good, I think we’ll try to stay out as long as we can before coming in to change the tires. If the car isn’t good, the race is long enough where you can come to pit road and make a few adjustments without taking new tires. We’ll probably see how the car is going and what the race dictates as to what kind of strategy we’ll have for the Sizzler.”
In addition to having a good handling car, another key aspect will be to have a good qualifying effort on Saturday to get a starting position towards the front of the field on Sunday. A good starting position for the Sizzler can allow a driver to drive a little easier and save the car for the end of the race as well as being in front of a potential mid pack melee. But according to Silk, a driver can’t afford to be too easy on the car in the beginning of the race.
“In qualifying, you can’t afford to have too bad of a lap,” said Silk. “I’ve never won a race starting from outside the top-10, so it’s important to have a good lap and start towards the front. The bottom line is better than the top at Stafford and once we get going, it’s hard to make up spots on track. If you’re able to start up front, you can go a bit easier on the car in the beginning of the race. The problem there is when you go easy on the car, it feels really good and when you come in and take tires, you go back out and when you really start to get on it, the car can be either tight or loose because you didn’t make any adjustments since the car felt good. So you have to go hard from the start to be able to get a feel for the car so you can make the right changes on your pit stop. I think we’ll have a car that can win the race, we just have to be there at the end to have a chance to win the race.”
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