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04/19/2012 |
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DEFENDING
WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR CHAMPION RONNIE SILK
LOOKS TO CARRY SEASON OPENING WIN MOMENTUM
INTO CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER |
 After
winning the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
championship, Ronnie Silk and the #6 T.S. Haulers,
Inc. began the defense of their title in grand style
by winning the season opening race at Thompson.
Stafford was a good track for Silk and crew last
season, as he scored a win, a third, and two seventh
place finishes in the four events held at the
Connecticut half-mile. With the momentum of a season
opening win on their side, Silk hopes to carry that
momentum with him to Stafford Speedway for next
weekend’s CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
“Winning the season opener was obviously great for
us,” said Silk. “Momentum means a lot in racing and
it felt great to be able to win the first race of
the season. I think we can win quite a few more
races this year and we hope the next win will be the
Sizzler. We feel really good about coming back to
Stafford, we ran well and we were able to win once
at Stafford last year. Everyone wants to win the
Sizzler, it’s a very prestigious race, and I would
love to be able to win the Sizzler. I feel pretty
good about our chances and we’re definitely going to
give it our best shot.”
In six career Sizzler starts, Silk’s third place
finish in last year’s Sizzler race represented a
career best finish. Had Silk not encountered an
engine issue, he might have finished a step or two
higher on the podium. “We were running second last
year, but we had a motor problem and we finished
third,” said Silk. “We’ve run well in the Sizzler
before, we just seem to have some things happen to
us that have kept us from winning the race. If we’re
having a good day next Sunday, hopefully we can
capitalize on it.”
With the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler being 200
laps in distance, the race is 50 laps longer than
most Whelen Modified Tour events. The longer
distance can sometimes lead to unusual strategies
playing out to put drivers in position to win the
race. While Silk says that they don’t have a
pre-race plan, the distance of the Sizzler opens up
a wide variety of options for himself and the rest
of the Whelen Modified Tour field. “We don’t really
come up with a strategy before the race,” said Silk.
“It seems like every time we do, something happens
during the race that throws that strategy out the
window. If the car is good, I think we’ll try to
stay out as long as we can before coming in to
change the tires. If the car isn’t good, the race is
long enough where you can come to pit road and make
a few adjustments without taking new tires. We’ll
probably see how the car is going and what the race
dictates as to what kind of strategy we’ll have for
the Sizzler.”
In addition to having a good handling car, another
key aspect will be to have a good qualifying effort
on Saturday to get a starting position towards the
front of the field on Sunday. A good starting
position for the Sizzler can allow a driver to drive
a little easier and save the car for the end of the
race as well as being in front of a potential mid
pack melee. But according to Silk, a driver can’t
afford to be too easy on the car in the beginning of
the race.
“In qualifying, you can’t afford to have too bad of
a lap,” said Silk. “I’ve never won a race starting
from outside the top-10, so it’s important to have a
good lap and start towards the front. The bottom
line is better than the top at Stafford and once we
get going, it’s hard to make up spots on track. If
you’re able to start up front, you can go a bit
easier on the car in the beginning of the race. The
problem there is when you go easy on the car, it
feels really good and when you come in and take
tires, you go back out and when you really start to
get on it, the car can be either tight or loose
because you didn’t make any adjustments since the
car felt good. So you have to go hard from the start
to be able to get a feel for the car so you can make
the right changes on your pit stop. I think we’ll
have a car that can win the race, we just have to be
there at the end to have a chance to win the race.”
The 2012 CARQUEST TECH-NET Spring Sizzler gets
underway Friday, April 27 with a practice session
for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The practice
session will be open to the public at no charge.
Action continues on Saturday, April 28 with Coors
Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour
cars, along with heat and consolation races for
Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday will wrap up
with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late
Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler
continues on Sunday, April 29 with the CARQUEST
Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford’s SK
Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen
Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of
Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.
Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 will be priced at $42.00 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 on the 41st Annual CARQUEST
TECH-NET Spring Sizzler®,
or to order tickets, 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: April
19, 2012 |
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