TC 13 Shoot Out Set for Sept. 11 at Stafford Speedway with $4,400+ Purse
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Stafford Speedway will host the 3rd Annual TC 13 Shootout on Friday, September 11 with the support of multiple partners as part of the NASCAR Weekly Racing program that night. The 13-lap race is a tribute to Ted Christopher, Stafford’s all-time winningest driver with 109 career SK Modified® wins, 131 overall feature wins, and 9 SK Modified® track championships, who tragically lost his life in a plane crash in 2017. This year’s TC 13 Shootout already boasts a purse of over $4,400 thanks to contributions from Justin & Tabitha Manafort, Greg and Venetta Narducci of the Florida Connection, Big Haus USA Racing Products, Gaston Racing Enterprises, LifeCare Family Chiropractic with Dr. Sean Noel, the Tri-Track Modified Series, and anonymous donors. Stafford Speedway is still accepting contributions for the TC 13 Shootout so the purse could be even higher when the cars take to the track on Sept. 11.
“When Teddy passed away we wanted to incorporate a race into our schedule that would pay tribute to him and how dominant he was here at Stafford,” said Stafford Speedway VP/CFO Lisa Arute. “A race with short laps for big money is exactly the type of race that Teddy would be hyped up for and thanks to all of our amazing partners, we’re able to once again pay tribute to Teddy, who was the king of Stafford. It should be another exciting night of open-wheel racing and we can’t wait to see who will win the race this year.”
The TC 13 Shootout debuted in 2018 with Glen Reen winning the race in a Dan Avery owned car that carried the same black and gold paint scheme that Christopher made famous on his #13 car. Last year’s race was won by Keith Rocco, who broke into racing as a crew member for Christopher’s #13 team before setting out on his own career. Rocco just recorded his 60th career SK Modified® victory, which was his 71st overall win at Stafford. Rocco leads all SK Modified® drivers in 2020 with 3 wins to his credit thus far and he sits atop the 2020 SK Modified® points standings.
“It was pretty prestigious to win that race since it has Ted’s name on it,” said Rocco. “With only 13 laps there’s not a lot of time to make things happen and that is definitely Ted’s kind of race. It was very enjoyable to win that race and it was a lot of fun because you run your 40-lap race and then put everything aside and go racing for fun. It would be great to win it again. We definitely wanted to win that race at least once and we’ve done that so we’ll see how the cards fall this year.”
The 2020 TC 13 Shootout starting field will once again be set by the top-13 finishers in the regularly scheduled 40-lap SK Modified® feature on Sept. 11. The race winner will draw a number from 1 to 13 to determine how many drivers will be inverted from the feature finish for the TC 13 starting lineup. If 13 is drawn, the 13th place finisher will start on the pole of the shootout.
“If we’re not in the top-13 then something probably drastically went wrong but we’ll just do what we do,” said Rocco.
Any individual or business interested in supporting the TC 13 Shootout event may contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
The TC 13 SK Modified® Shootout and 40-lap SK Modified® feature will be paired with Stafford’s Late Models, SK Lights, Limited Late Models, and Street Stocks for a full night of NASCAR Weekly Racing. Tickets for the NASCAR Weekly Racing / TC 13 SK Shootout are priced at $20.00 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Paddock passes will be available for $40 and all tickets for this event will go on sale starting Saturday, September 5th at 8am on 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