Former Late Model Champion Mike Quintiliano Looks to Pick Up from 2012 with New Car for 2013 Season at Stafford Speedway
Stafford Springs, CT)—For former Late Model champion Mike Quintiliano, the 2012 season at Stafford was a successful return to full-time racing. Quintiliano last ran a full season in 2007, and he posted 1 win along with 9 top-5 and 15 top-10 finishes to finish second in the points behind Woody Pitkat. Quintiliano accomplished this with a 13-year old car, which he sold in the off-season in order to purchase a more up to date car for the 2013 season. With his new car, Quintiliano is looking to pick up where he left off last year and once again be a championship contender in 2013 at Stafford.
“Last year, the car we were running was built in 1999, and we were looking for a car that was a little more up to date,” said Quintiliano. “We bought a new car and we had a few hurdles to overcome with the new car, so we took it to Joe Hamm and he straightened it out and put new bumpers and a clip on the car. We’re just about finished with the car, we have to install the brakes, put the body on the car, and get it lettered and we’ll be ready to go.”
As good as the 2012 season was for Quintiliano and his #44 team, it was almost a season that didn’t happen. Originally, Quintiliano had plans to run only a handful of races, but the team worked its way into championship contention with several second place finishes in the first six races of the year. This spurred the team on to finish out the year and now that the team is armed with a new car, Quintiliano is hopeful that the new car will be just as good or better than his old car.
“Last year with the car being so old, everyone on the team worked really hard and we got the car going really good,” said Quintiliano. “We’re hopeful that we can get this new car going as good or better than last year’s car, and if we can’t then the question becomes how long will it take for us to get it going. The new car is pretty similar to the old car, so we have a good starting point with the chassis setup. Being that it’s a new car, I’m sure that there will be a few small tweaks that we’ll have to make here and there, but we shouldn’t be out in left field when the season gets started. One thing is for sure, I have the best team in the paddock area. Scott Ritter is the crew chief, and we have Joe Gaglio, Tommy Demshak, David Adams, Joe Tobin, Adam Patrick, Ruck Sura, and we can’t forget my wife Michelle, who allows me to keep on racing, and Scott’s wife Tracy, who helps us out with sponsorship from her business, Destin Designers. With these guys helping me out this year, I think we should be in good shape, but you never know until you get out on the track.”
Although Quintiliano was only able to manage one feature victory last year, he finished second five different times, accounting for over half of his top-5 finishes for the year. Quintiliano’s ultimate goal for the 2013 season at Stafford will be to turn those second place finishes into victories and reaching that goal will begin with the open practice session on Saturday, April 20th.
“That open practice session will be the perfect time for us to break the car in and work on getting the chassis setup close for the Sizzler weekend,” said Quintiliano. “Between the open practice and the Friday practice for the Sizzler, those are two good opportunities to identify any problems or issues we might have with the new car. Our plan is to come to the track to win races this year and let the points fall wherever they may fall. Last year we had too many second place finishes and the most frustrating thing about that is we would finish second one week and we wouldn’t be able to catch the winner. The next week, we would go by the same car with no problems and I would always ask myself, why couldn’t it have been like that last week, we would have had a few more wins last year. But things are good and everyone on the team is really excited to get started this year.”
Quintiliano will be carrying sponsorship from TSI Harley-Davidson this season, and he says that his team is still in search of additional sponsorship for the 2013 season.
“Right now, we’re working on some sponsors, but we have TSI Harley-Davidson coming on board with us this year,” said Quintiliano. “We have a meeting with a potential sponsor this week, which could be big for us and we have a few smaller sponsors, but we’re always looking for more sponsors to come on board with us.”
Quintiliano will have his first opportunity to drive into CARQUEST Victory Lane during the 42nd Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 26-28. 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