Danny Cates Ready to Tackle Challenge of First Coors Light SK Modified® 100 at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT — For SK Modified® driver Danny Cates, the 2012 season has been a successful transition from Thompson Speedway to Stafford Speedway as the Chaplin, CT native has two top-5 and three top-10 finishes in the first five races of the season. The next challenge for Cates will be the 39th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 this Friday night at Stafford. The 100-lap distance is an unknown to Cates and his team, but Cates is confident that his team can get a good finish despite their lack of experience in longer distance events.
“We ran a 100 lapper at the Turkey Derby a couple years ago, but other than that this is new for us,” said Cates. “I’m pretty excited about the race, I think we’ll have a good car and I’m excited to give it a shot. I trust my crew chief Steve McCarthy and whatever he says is what we’re going to go with. I don’t like taking advice from too many different people because you end up getting too many different answers and you get all messed up. We used to run a lot of long races in go karts and I liked doing that. Not that I was ever really great at it, but we’re excited because you can get yourself into a groove and start picking cars off. It seems like the last couple weeks we get back to the front after wrecking and then the checkered flag comes out, so we’re excited to see how we can make out.”
While Cates is a newcomer to the SK Modified® division at Stafford this season, his performance thusfar would lead one to believe that Cates is a seasoned veteran at Stafford. Cates has recorded two fourth place finishes and a seventh place finish in the first 5 races of the season and he is currently fifth in the points standings. But Cates says that he and his team haven’t been satisfied with their finishes and that their #26 Lindon Tree Service car has more potential to be unlocked as the 2012 season progresses through the summer.
“We haven’t had the finishes we’ve been looking for quite yet,” said Cates. “The top-5’s we’ve been happy with, one of them we kind of lucked into, we’re running good, but we’re not finishing as good as we want. I think there’s more potential in the car, it’s been fast, we just need to have some luck. I don’t think we’ve had one race yet where we’ve been able to run the whole race without pitting or having to fix something. It’s a good thing I have a good pit crew because they get me back out and the car is still good. We’re having fun. I think we’d be behind the 8-ball quite a bit if I didn’t have my crew chief Steve McCarthy. He’s not new to Stafford, he knows what is going on there, so we’re glad to have him with us.”
While Cates and his crew might not be happy with their finishes thusfar this season, he is happy with his car and he feels like that the team can reach victory lane before the conclusion of the 2012 season.
“I think there’s a lot of good competition at Stafford and we’re learning a lot, so I definitely think we have a win in us before the end of the season,” said Cates. “There’s already been a few weeks that I thought we were really close and then something happens. We’re always fast right out of the box when we get to the track, we just need a little luck, I think we’re pretty close.”
Tickets for the 39th Annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100 are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $20.00 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 $22.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information on the 39th annual Coors Light SK Modified® 100, 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