CARQUEST Champions For Charities Driver Spotlight: Bobby Santos, III
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway has again lined up an impressive field of current and former open wheel champions for its CARQUEST Champions For Charities Event as part of CARQUEST Super Saturday on June 30th. During the coming weeks, SMS will offer a profile on each of its championship winning drivers and the charity they will be racing for. This week's CARQUEST Champions For Charities spotlight falls on 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Bobby Santos, III, who will be racing to help raise funds for the USAC Benevolent Fund to support Eric Saunders.
Eric Saunders, the son of Hoosier Tire’s Irish Saunders, was injured in a motocross crash while he was practicing for the Steel City National at his home track in 2010 and he is on the road to recovery. The money that Bobby Santos, III raises will go towards helping Eric's family purchase equipment for his rehabilitation.
“We’re good friends with the Saunders family and from what I understand, Eric is making some progress in his recovery,” said Santos. “I know he is promoting Plymouth Speedway in Indianapolis now, so that’s a good step for him to take and hopefully we can raise some money to aid his recovery from his accident.”
The USAC Benevolent Fund was established in 1959 as a way to help provide support for individuals such as drivers, officials, organizers, and mechanics who have ties to USAC and Indy Racing League competition. Since 1959, the USAC Benevolent Fund has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to assist members and their families in time of need.
Santos began his racing career in the quarter midget ranks and in 2000, at the age of 14, he moved into open wheeled competition by racing modifieds at New Smyrna Speedway and a 350 Supermodified at Star Speedway. In his first season of 350 Super competition at Star, Santos won a race and set a track record that still stands today. Santos continued his foray into the world of open wheels, racing ISMA Supermodifieds, USAC Sprints, USAC Midgets, and USAC Silver Crown cars. Santos is a Boston Louie NEMA winner and an ISMA Bud Nationals winner at Oswego. Santos led all drivers with 5 USAC Midget wins in 2006 and the 2006 season also saw Santos take home a $50,000 bonus from CARQUEST Auto Parts and Valvoline as he won the Midget and PRA Big Car races in the same night at Stafford. Santos won his first career Whelen Modified Tour event at Thompson in 2007 and the 2009 season saw him win races in USAC Sprints, Midgets, and Silver Crown cars. The 2010 season saw him move into the #4 Mystic Missile owned by Bob Garbarino and he won 3 of the first four races of the season on his way to his first career NASCAR championship. Last year’s CARQUEST Champions for Charities event was the first time that Santos had sat behind the wheel of a go kart for a while and he had a blast racing the kart.
“The race was a bit different than I expected, but it was a lot of fun,” said Santos. “I hadn’t driven a go kart in a long time, so it was a really good time racing with those guys. The first half of the race was pretty exciting for us, but the second half was a little disappointing as some of the guys with bigger motors blew us away. But it was a good time, a lot of fun, and we were able to raise some money for charity, which is always a good thing.”
The starting lineup for the CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event 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 USAC Benevolent Fund on behalf of Bobby Santos, III, and for more information on the event, please refer to theCARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page. Stay tuned to www.staffordspeedway.com for more driver spotlights and exciting information regarding the CARQUEST Champions for Charities event.
CARQUEST Super Saturday will take place on Saturday, June 30, 2012 and will feature the ISMA Super Modifieds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modifieds in addition to the Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Karts. Tickets for CARQUEST Super Saturday are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office and 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. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, or to order tickets to the 9th Annual CARQUEST Super Saturday event, 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