Dunleavy’s Gamblers Challenge Rolls On for the NAPA SK 5K
Stafford Springs, CT — For the 4th consecutive season, Doug Dunleavy of Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer repair will present the Dunleavy’s Gamblers Challenge at the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K. What has become one of the marquee events on the Stafford Speedway schedule, the 2018 running of the 100-lap SK Modified® event will be the 5th annual. The Dunleavy’s Gamblers Challenge bonus has been posted for 3 of the 4 NAPA SK 5K events and has increased the base purse by over $15,000 in 3 years.
“I love the modifieds, but there’s something about that race that gets everyone excited,” explained Doug Dunleavy. “The SK Modified® racing at Stafford is the best weekly racing in the country and the NAPA SK 5K is the event everyone wants to win. The Gamblers Challenge is fun because you won’t know who wins the bonus until the end of the race when the winner pulls the lucky chip. Chase [Dowling] dominated last year and won nearly $6,000, a few years ago Ryan Preece won over $12,000. This is a heck of a race, I hope all the fans and drivers are pumped up.”
The Gamblers Challenge bonus is unique in many aspects. Drivers enter the challenge prior to the race by posting $100 which is then matched by Dunleavy. The more drivers that enter, the higher the bonus. Last season’s NAPA SK 5K saw all 27 starters entered in the challenge for a bonus of $5,400. At the conclusion of the race, the winning driver draws one of four chips designating the bonus payout. Based on last year’s $5,400 pot, the draw included:
$5,400 Bonus to the Winner
$1,080 to each of the top 5 finishers
$1,080 to each of the 6th through 10th finishers
$540 to each of the 11th through 20th finishers
The result of the 2017 Dunleavy’s Gamblers Challenge draw was $1,080 to the 6th through 10th place finishers, which boosted the 5th through 10th place payout to over $2,200 each. Cam McDermott, the 10th place finisher, earned $2,260 on the night.
“The NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K has taken on a life of its own since the first running in 2014,” explained Stafford General Manager Mark Arute. “We wanted to give the SK Modified® division a first class event, something that teams circle on their calendar each year and say, ‘that’s a bucket list win, that’s a show we need to be at’. With great partners like NAPA Auto Parts and Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair, we’ve been able to do that. I can’t thank them and all our track partners enough.”
With a posted race purse of $27,100 before bonuses, the NAPA Auto Parts SK 5K is the richest SK Modified® event in the country. The winner is guaranteed $5,000 to win but historically the winning share has been boosted by bonuses including a record pay day of $12,825 for Ryan Preece in 2015 and $11,175 for Ted Christopher in 2016. The wealth is shared throughout the field with $450 guaranteed to start with the potential of the Gamblers Challenge bonus payout reaching all of the top-20 finishers.
“What I like about the bonus is that it could go to pretty much anyone, it all depends on the luck of the draw,” continued Dunleavy. “The 20th place guy could go home with almost $1,000, last year the 10th place finisher took home over $2,000.”
The NAPA Auto Parts S[fb_embed_post href=”null/” width=”null”/]K 5K returns to Stafford on Friday, June 29th for the 100-lap race.
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