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03/22/2012 |
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STAFFORD
MOTOR SPEEDWAY CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
WOODY PITKAT |
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 and this week’s CARQUEST
Champions For Charities spotlight falls on Woody
Pitkat, the 2006 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Division 4 Regional Champion, who will be racing to
help support The Victory Junction Gang Camp.
The Victory Junction Gang Camp was built in honor of
Adam Petty and they provide life-changing
experiences for children with chronic medical
conditions or serious illnesses. Victory Junction
has opened it’s doors to over 14,000 children from
all 50 states and 4 countries since opening in 2004.
Located in Randleman, NC, Victory Junction is
partnered with 30 different hospitals to deliver
health care to its campers, who are dealing with
such chronic medical conditions and serious
illnesses as Autism, Cancer, Craniofacial Anomalies,
Diabetes, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell and Spina Bifida.
The cost for a child to attend Victory Junction is
$2,500, but thanks to generous donations, no child
or family incurs that cost.
Last year Pitkat was a substitute for Davey
Hamilton, and in less than two weeks, he was able to
raise $2,728 for Victory Junction, which was good
enough to allow Pitkat to start the race in the 4th
position. With more time on his side this year,
Pitkat is looking forward to surpassing his donation
total from one year ago.
“Last year we only had about 10 days to raise money,
so it wasn’t a lot of time,” said Pitkat. “We have a
lot more time on our side this year, so hopefully we
can raise more than last year, I’m pretty excited
about what we can contribute this year. We’re
looking into some things that we can do raise some
money, I’ve asked around a bit but we haven’t really
got going just yet.”
Pitkat’s fund raising efforts will get a kick start
this weekend with proceeds from the Spring
Craft/Vendor Fair being held at the Fairgrounds
Banquet Hall at Stafford Speedway going to Victory
Junction Gang Camp. The Craft/Vendor Fair will run
from 9am-3pm and Admission is FREE! There will be
crafts and vendors ranging from jewelry, candles,
country crafts, local honey and more. For details,
please search for Craft/Vendor Fair on Facebook.
Last year’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature
event saw Pitkat finish 5th after leading several
laps and then fighting side by side with Todd
Szegedy for the fourth position in the closing laps.
After the CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature
event, Pitkat went on to race in several Monday
night Wild Thing Kart events as well as a race at
Pomfret Speedway towards the end of the season.
While Pitkat has the benefit of extra experience
behind the wheel of a Senior Outlaw kart, he isn’t
quite sure that will play out into an advantage come
feature time this season.
“I’m looking forward to doing this race again,” said
Pitkat. “Last year we ran up front some and we
swapped the lead with Richie Pallai a couple of
times, and then we had a great race with Todd
Szegedy at the end of the race. I ended up running
the same kart on a couple of Monday nights and I ran
a race at Pomfret at the end of the year, so I
developed a great relationship with the Forgette’s.
I think most of the guys in this race came up
through quarter midgets and things like that, so I
don’t know how much of an advantage I’ll have. The
key is to get the kart handling well and not
bouncing around the track. But this race isn’t about
winning, it’s about going out and raising money for
a good cause and having some fun on the track
without all the hype of racing for points and things
like that.”
In addition to racing in the CARQUEST Champions For
Charities feature event, Pitkat will have a full
plate of racing ahead of him in 2012. Pitkat will
run the full SK Modified® schedule for Bob Hitchcock
and Kelly Iverson in the SK Modified® division,
while also racing full-time in the Late Model
division for Billy Snow, Sr. Pitkat will also be
part of the Whelen Modified Tour fields at Stafford,
driving the #11 for car owner John Lukosavage that
was piloted last season by both Ryan Preece and
Donny Lia.
“I’m real excited about this season,” said Pitkat.
“We switched the SK over to the car I used to run at
Thompson, which I feel more comfortable in and I
think is a little bit better car than the one we ran
last year. We had a carburetor issue for most of the
year last year, but once Billy the Kid fixed that,
we won, finished second, and won again in our first
three races with the new carb. I’m excited to be
racing for Mr. Snow again in the Late Model. We’ve
been so close to the championship the last two
years, maybe the third time will be the charm for
us. We’ve had great results the past two years with
two cars so maybe now that we will be focusing on
one car instead of two we’ll be that much better
this year. On the Tour, John Lukosavage has a CD
car, which I’m familiar with, and he has a genius in
Bob Cuneo working on the car and Lloyd Agor is going
to be the crew chief. I’ve always raced against
Lloyd and I’m looking forward to working with him.
All in all, I’m excited about the season, this year
is the best start to a season that I’ve had, so I
think we’re going to have a good year. I’d like to
thank all my car owners, with how the economy is
right now, most drivers are lucky to have one ride,
and between Stafford, Thompson, and the Whelen
Modified Tour, I’ll have four rides, so I’m very
fortunate.”
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 Victory
Junction Gang Camp on behalf of Woody Pitkat, and
for more information on the event, please refer to
the CARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page
located at
www.staffordspeedway.com. 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 Extreme
Tuesday event, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway
track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
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Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted: March
22, 2012 |
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