Mike Scorzelli Ready To Challenge For Top Rookie Honors In Late Model Division At Stafford Speedway In 2013
Stafford Springs, CT — When the green flag drops on the 2013 Late Model season at Stafford Speedway, Michael Scorzelli of Feura Bush, NY, will begin his quest to win SPAFCO Rookie of the Year honors. Scorzelli has spent the past 5 seasons in the Late Model ranks at Thompson Speedway, and he finished 4th in the 2012 points standings with 2 victories. Scorzelli will look to take to the Stafford half-mile at full speed as he will have a brand new Bob Fill chassis and he looks forward to the challenge of taking on a new track for the first time.
“We looked at a few cars and they all seemed to be a bit hammered up, so we decided to go with a car that was new and fresh,” said Scorzelli. “I met up with Bob Fill when I started racing at Thompson. He had a chassis that wasn’t finished sitting around his shop, so that’s what we decided to go with. We’re real excited about it, Bob builds real good racecars, he knows how to set the car up to get around the track really fast, and he knows my driving style. I enjoy going to new tracks and learning the track, it’s a nice challenge. We’re putting the best of everything together so it’s going to be my fault if we don’t run well.”
The 2013 season will mark Scorzelli’s first foray into racing at Stafford. Although he has raced and won at Thompson, and he has raced on the dirt track of Albany-Saratoga and at Oswego Speedway, he knows he is in for a challenge at Stafford.
“This will be my first time racing at Stafford, and the track looks pretty technical,” said Scorzelli. “I’m sure there is going to be a learning curve, but I’m hoping that it won’t be too steep of a learning curve. With Bob Fill doing the initial setup on the car, that should hopefully help us out. I’m really looking forward to it, we came down to Stafford a couple of times and it looks like a great track, a great race program, they have a great car count, drivers I really respect, and it’s almost like a carnival atmosphere at Stafford where everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. It’s going to be real important to be at Stafford for that first practice so we can go into the first race with a good idea of what to expect.”
As Scorzelli and his Syracuse Utilities team get themselves prepared for their Stafford debut, he has modest goals set for himself.
“I think our biggest goal will be to come out of the box strong and be competitive,” said Scorzelli. “The main thing for us is to be consistent, the Late Model field at Stafford is full of good cars and there’s a lot of guys who have been racing at Stafford for a long time. I’d like to be able to gain the respect of the other competitors and have some fun out on the track. We’d love to win Rookie of the Year and if we can be in the top-10 in points at the end of the year, that would be great. My understanding is that it doesn’t take a lot for you to end up going backwards in a hurry at Stafford, so we have to learn the track, learn a good line around the track, and get used to racing with the other Late Model drivers.”
Scorzelli has a small crew, consisting of himself, his wife Michalina, his son Jeremy Houghtaling, and a few crew members from his Thompson Late Model team. While Scorzelli is the driver, his wife Michalina serves as both his car owner and his crew chief.
“My wife does it all,” said Scorzelli. “She changes tires, she sets up the sway bars, she learns as much about the car as I do, I’m just the guy who gets to drive it around the track. My son Jeremy helped out a lot last year off the track due to his work schedule. He is really looking forward to racing on Fridays so he can be there. He is a Master Tech and he helps us out tremendously. I also have some help from the Thompson team, so we're excited about getting started at Stafford this year."
Scorzelli will kick off his rookie campaign in the Late Model division with the 42nd Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 26-28, 2013. Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” may be ordered by calling 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 is $42.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 42nd 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