Woody Pitkat Looking to Make Stafford VMRS Debut in Steve Greer Owned Car with Shark Cycle Sponsorship
Stafford Springs, CT — When the Valenti Modified Racing Series takes the green flag for the Inaugural Valenti Modified Racing Series 80 at Stafford tomorrow night, hometown driver Woody Pitkat will hope to be among the starters in what would be his Stafford VMRS debut. Pitkat will be behind the wheel of the #29 car owned by his SK Modified® car owner Steve Greer and will carry sponsorship from Shark Cycle of Stafford Springs. Shark Cycle will also serve as the title sponsor of the Aug. 30 VMRS Shark Cycle 80 at Stafford.
“Our plan originally was to run 8-10 MRS races this year,” said Pitkat. “I ran the car at Thompson last year and we were going to run those races this year. But then I ended up switching SK teams and we were behind a bit on getting the SK car put together, so the MRS car got kind of put on the back burner. We have some help from Shark Cycle, so we’re going to try to have a good run for them since they’re sponsoring the August race at Stafford. I have to thank Bob Charland from Shark Cycle for helping us out. It’s a pretty cool deal for me growing up in Stafford to have Shark Cycle as our sponsor. Obviously we know the track pretty well and I think we’ll have a good chance at having a good run.”
Pitkat will have a fresh Billy the Kid engine in the #29 car, which should help him in his quest to make the starting grid and have a good finish in the race.
“We took the motor out of the car and Billy found some things wrong with it, so he freshened it up for us,” said Pitkat. “I can’t thank Steve [Greer] enough for upgrading the MRS car because I know how hard it is to maintain just one car with our SK effort. We have some extra crew guys coming to help us out, so that won’t take anything away from our SK effort. We might have some help from the Hillbilly guys, it’s going to be an all-around effort from everybody.”
One area where Pitkat should have an advantage over most of the VMRS field is when it comes to qualifying. While Pitkat has to time trial for Whelen Modified Tour events, the VMRS uses heat races to set its starting fields and Pitkat will be right at home as he qualifies through heat races every Friday night at Stafford in both the SK Modified® and Late Model divisions.
“That will be pretty cool to qualify through heats,” said Pitkat. “You have to try to get the best finish you can in the heat race and then there’s a redraw. I’m sure heat races will work more to my advantage than time trials do. I think we’ll have a good chance at the race. I think I know the track better than most of the guys with the exception of guys like Teddy [Christopher] and Keith [Rocco]. If we can make the tires last, I think we’ll have a good shot at getting a top-5. Obviously our goal is to win the race, but we’d be pretty happy if we could get a top-5 finish.”
Tickets for the Valenti Modified Racing Series 80 are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $27.50 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 $30.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the VMRS 80, 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