Stafford Motor Speedway Announces Second Annual CARQUEST Champions For Charities Champion Drivers
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Speedway has begun the process of sending out special invitations to past and present open wheel championship winning drivers to make up the starting field for the 2nd Annual CARQUEST Champions For Charities race. The CARQUEST Champions For Charities race will be part of the CARQUEST Super Saturday program, which will feature the ISMA Supermodifieds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modifieds. The special invitation only field of open wheel champions will sit behind the wheel of Wild Thing Kart Senior Outlaw karts and participate in a special 15-lap race while raising money for a charity of their choosing.
Stafford Speedway thusfar has a starting field of 12 championship-winning drivers, some of which were part of the Champions For Charities festivities last season, and some of the drivers are new to the Champions For Charities experience. Those drivers who will be making their CARQUEST Champions For Charities debut include 2011 Riverhead Raceway Modified champion Justin Bonsignore, 2-time Modified Racing Series champion Chris Pasteryak, and 2011 Stafford SK Modified® champion Ryan Preece.
"I watched the race last year and it looked like all the guys were having a lot of fun out there," said Preece. "It's nice to finally be a champion and I'm really looking forward to being able to raise some money for the Connecticut chapter of the Make-A-Wish foundation and try to help make a difference in someone's life. I've driven champ karts and flat karts before, but the Wild Thing Kart will be a new experience for me. But it looked like there was a lot of bump drafting going on last year, so it should be a lot of fun to be part of that race this year."
Among the returning drivers are 3-time NEMA Midget champion Randy Cabral, 2-time Pro-4 Modified Limited Champion Stan Mertz, Spring Sizzler SK Modified® champion Richie Pallai, Jr., 2006 Whelen All-American Series Division 4 Regional Champion Woody Pitkat, 5-time Stafford SK Modified® champion Bob Potter, 2006 Stafford SK Modified® Champion Frank Ruocco, 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Bobby Santos, III, 2003 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Todd Szegedy, and 8-time ISMA Supermodified champion Russ Wood. For Szegedy, the Champions For Charities experience will take him back to the early days of his racing career, where he raced WKA Karts against members of Justin Bonsignore's family.
"I raced against the Bonsignore's for years and they were one of my toughest competitors in WKA Karts," said Szegedy. "They were the top engine builders at the time and Justin came from the WKA Karts like I did, so it's ironic that we'll be racing against each other now in the Wild Thing Karts. The race is going to be a lot of fun, each driver knows how to drive a kart and it should be some great competition for the fans."
CARQUEST Champions For Charities will not only see racing on the track, but there will be a race off the track as well to see which driver can raise the most money for their charity. The amount of money that each driver raises will determine their starting position in the 15-lap feature event, as the driver who raises the most money will start the race from pole and the driver who raises the least amount of money will have to start at the rear of the field. The remainder of the starting grid will be set according to money raised, with higher totals starting ahead of lower totals. Each open wheel champion will get a kick-start to their fund raising efforts with CARQUEST and Stafford Motor Speedway contributing $200 to each driver's charity. Stafford Motor Speedway will set up a donation page on their website where fans can go to make donations to their favorite drivers and charities and help their favorite driver start close to the front of the pack. Fans can check the Champions For Charities page on SMS Online for upcoming fundraising events that fans can participate in to help raise funds for their favorite driver or charity.
CARQUEST Super Saturday will take place on Saturday, June 30 and tickets are available and on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. CARQUEST Super Saturday 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 is priced at $35.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information about CARQUEST Super Saturday and the CARQUEST Champions For Charities event, please call 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