Ben Seitz Looks to Keep Momentum Going in CARQUEST Super Saturday After Winning in Canada
Stafford Springs, CT — ISMA Supermodified driver Ben Seitz will be looking to continue his strong 2013 season at CARQUEST Super Saturday at Stafford Motor Speedway. Seitz set a new track record last weekend at Autodrome Chaudiere in Quebec, Canada and had finishes of third and first in the doubleheader event. Seitz will hope to continue that positive momentum when he comes to Stafford Motor Speedway for CARQUEST Super Saturday this weekend.
“Last weekend was great, the car was awesome, everybody worked hard and things worked out for us,” said Seitz. “Winning definitely puts a spring in everyone’s step, but Stafford is a different track. We feel pretty good because we ran well at Oswego earlier this season, so we’re hoping we’ll have a good run. I feel comfortable at Stafford, we ran well last year, and I really enjoy the race track.”
Seitz enjoyed his best career Stafford finish of second in last year’s CARQUEST Super Saturday event, giving chase to eventual winner Mike Lichty for much of the race. With some new crew help this year, Seitz is feeling confident that this year’s CARQUEST Super Saturday could result in his first Stafford win.
“We were pretty close to the lead last year, but Mike Lichty won the race and we couldn’t quite catch him,” said Seitz. “I’ve won in a midget at Stafford, but we’re still looking for our first ISMA Supermodified win there. We’ve run pretty well this year. We have Brian Allegresso helping us out and we’ve run better these first few races than in the five years I’ve been running in ISMA. We finished first and third last week and fifth the week before that, so we’ve been pretty consistent and we want to continue that at Stafford with a good run. But it’s a real tough division and things can change pretty quickly.”
With his good finishes in the last three races, Seitz will be starting in the back for his heat race and getting a preferred qualifying spot could be tough to do when the green flag comes out Saturday night. Seitz will also use his heat race for a final tuneup session to dial his car setup in for the 50-lap feature later in the evening.
“We’re going to be pretty far back in our heat race, and they only take four cars out of each heat for a handicapped spot in the feature,” said Seitz. “Sometimes you have a lot of really strong cars in the heat race and you might not make it into the top-4. The heat race will be important for getting a setup for the feature because we’ll all put new tires on and those are the tires we’ll run for the feature. Track position at the end of the race is going to be important. You have to get up front quickly, but you have to save your car to have something left for the end of the race. It’s all about finding a balance between saving something at the start, but not saving too much because if you’re not up front towards the end your chances at winning the race are probably shot.”
Seitz will have no shortage of competition for the win, and with the level of competition in the ISMA Supermodified division this season, finding the perfect car setup will be paramount to getting a good finish.
“I would say obviously Chris Perley is going to be strong, Lou Cicconi, Mike Lichty, Jon McKennedy, and a bunch of other guys,” said Seitz. “I don’t like to single out any one driver because there’s about 12 to 15 cars that can legitimately win the race on Saturday night. The competition level is going to make finding that sweet spot with the car setup that much more important.”
Tickets for the June 29th CARQUEST Super Saturday event are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $33.00 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 will be priced at $35.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information, 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