Stafford Speedway Champions For Charities Driver Spotlight: Ron Midford, Jr.
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway is hosting a field of accomplished current and former championship drivers for this year’s 4thannual Champions for Charities event, which will take place on Friday, June 27th. In the up coming weeks before the event, Stafford Speedway is providing a profile on each of the championship drivers. This week, the spotlight is on 2-time Wild Thing Kart Senior Champ Champion (2010, 2011) Ron Midford, Jr., who will be racing to help support The Troy Russell Benefit Fund.
Troy Russell is Midford’s cousin, and in August 2012 he suffered a serious accident in Narragansett, RI. Russell broke two vertebrae in his neck and lost the mobility of his legs and hand. Russell has been going through the rehabilitation process and the Troy Russell Benefit Fund has been set up to help Troy and his family pay for the cost of the rehab.
“All of Troy’s treatments are very expensive and insurance only covers so much of it,” said Midford. “The fund has helped pay for a lot of things with Troy’s rehab. We’ve done several golf tournaments for Troy and we did the bowling event last year as part of Champions for Charities and every little bit we can raise helps out with equipment and treatment. For instance, Troy had to buy a new bed for himself and the bed was something like $5,000. He’s still going through rehab and he’s making progress every day, but it takes time and he still has a long way to go. He’s still in a wheelchair but he’s regained a lot of movement and he has been walking with a walker and some assistance from therapists. When he first had his accident, he was bedridden and wearing a halo so he’s made a lot of progress from then to where he is now. The timing for this year’s Champions for Charities event is perfect because Troy is going to Project Walk out in Carlsbad, CA. You have to apply to join that program and he was accepted and I think it’s somewhere between a couple weeks to a month long program. All the money we raise with our bowling fundraiser is going towards helping pay for that trip out to California for Troy and his family.”
As part of Midford’s fundraising efforts, he will once again be hosting a Troy Russell Benefit Fund Bowling Event on June 1st at the Hall of Fame Silver Lanes in East Hartford. There will be two bowling sessions available during this year’s Bowl For Troy Russell fundraiser and bowlers can choose to participate in either or both bowling sessions.
“The bowling event this year is at Hall of Fame Silver Lanes in East Hartford on June 1,” said Midford. “We’re going to have two sessions this year. The first session will be from 1pm-3pm and the second session will be from 3:30pm-5:30pm. Bowlers can bowl in either session or if they want they can bowl in both sessions. The cost is $20 per person per session and our goal is to raise more money than we did last year. I think we raised right around $3,000 last year and this year we’re selling advertising banners on the lanes this year, so between that and the two bowling sessions, we’re hoping we can raise more than $3,000. We’re also going to have some pretty cool raffle prizes during the bowling sessions including a Weber grill, Kindle HDX, $100 Gift Card to Stop & Shop, Topstone GC for a Foursome 18 holes with cart, Ryobi drill, Brinkman Smoker, Callaway watch, and more. I also think there will be some Red Sox tickets as part of the raffle.”
Being a two-time Wild Thing Kart Senior Champ champion, Midford has more experience racing karts around the Stafford mini-mile than most of his fellow Champions for Charities drivers. Midford won the Champions for Charities race two years ago and after finishing a close second to Richie Pallai, Jr. last year, Midford is looking forward to another opportunity to shine in the 15-lap feature race.
“I drove Greg Hurlbert’s kart the last couple of years and he ended up selling his Senior Outlaw kart, so I’m not going to have that kart to drive and I really liked that kart,” said Midford. “But I’m sure whatever kart I hop into will be fine and the race will be a lot of fun. Last year’s race was really competitive and with guys like Teddy, Doug Coby, Richie Pallai, and Ryan Preece in the race, hopefully we can have a lot of fun again. Everyone in the race is a race car driver so they figure things out pretty quickly and I probably don’t really have any advantage over anyone else. I do want to say it’s an honor to be selected to participate in this race especially with the roster of talented drivers that are in the race.”
The starting lineups for the Champions For Charities 15-lap feature will be determined by how much money each driver raises for their selected charity. The starting grid will be set with the drivers who have raised the most money starting up front. Fans are encouraged to get involved in the event by donating to their favorite driver or favorite charity. To make a donation to The Troy Russell Benefit Fund on behalf of Ron Midford, Jr., and for more information on the event, please refer to the Champions for Charities donation page located at www.staffordspeedway.com.
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