Stafford Speedway Champions For Charities Driver Spotlight: Ron Silk & Rowan Pennink
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway is hosting a field of accomplished current and former open wheel championship winning drivers for this year’s 4th annual Champions for Charities event, which will take place on Friday, June 27th. This week, the spotlight is on both Ron Silk, the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion, and Rowan Pennink, the 2013 Valenti Modified Racing Series Champion. Silk is racing for the Alzheimer’s Association, and Pennink is racing for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a non-profit organization that works to help enhance care and support for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The organization is the largest contributor of funds to Alzheimer’s research, and since 1980 has been the leader in charitable contributions in order to find a cure for this terrible disease.
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is a nationally recognized, 182-room, not-for-profit children’s hospital. Connecticut Children’s is now only one of two free-standing children’s hospitals in New England – the only in the state. The hospital functions with 2,200 employees and a medical staff of 1,100, running entirely on the funds donated by generous contributors.
Silk has previous experience fundraising for his chosen charity and competing in the annual event. Silk is raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association for the second consecutive season. He hopes to be competitive in both fundraising and in the 15-lap Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Kart race itself. Being familiar with many tracks around the country while competing in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, racing Stafford’s mini-mile track with a go kart that has no transmission or suspension, which he is accustomed to being equipped with, will undoubtedly a challenge for Silk.
Unlike Silk, this is Pennink’s very first year competing in the Champions for Charities race. Pennink is no stranger to Stafford’s half-mile track, being competitive in the track’s weekly SK Modified® division, the Valenti Modified Racing Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Despite the task of driving a go kart with comparatively 100 times less horsepower performance than what he’s used to competing in, Pennink is up for the charitable challenge.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it to Stafford for the race,” said Pennink. “When Stafford first called me to do the race, I didn’t realize that the race is on the same date as our MRS race at Lee. But I’d love to be able to get back into a go kart. I ran go karts all the time growing up, that’s how I got my start in racing. It would be a lot of fun to get back in a kart and race against some of these champion drivers, especially for charity. I think it would be a really good time.”
Silk is amongst the drivers Pennink competes with on a regular race schedule, as well as Woody Pitkat, Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, and Doug Coby, who are all racing in the Champion’s for Charities event. Both Pennink and Silk are ready to be strapped into their Wild Thing Kart’s provided Senior Outlaw go karts to compete in this year’s highly anticipated race.
The Champions for Charities event will take place around Stafford’s own mini-mile track for a 15-lap feature during the Friday night race program. To donate to a driver’s charity, visit http://staffordmotorspeedway.com/2014-champions-for-charities/. For more information about the Champions for Charities event, please call the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783, or visit us on the web at staffordmotorspeedway.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