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07/25/2012 |
ERIC BERNDT
LOOKING TO PUT THINGS TOGETHER IN STAFFORD 150
AND TAKE HOME FIRST WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR VICTORY |
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With
the Whelen Modified Tour returning to Stafford next
Friday, August 3rd for the 22nd Annual Stafford 150,
Eric Berndt has a great opportunity to pick up his
very first WMT victory. Berndt nearly had his first
win two years ago in the May Stafford event,
building up a large lead that was erased by a
caution flag with 22 laps left in the race. Although
Berndt has finished 15th in the first two WMT races
at Stafford this season, he qualified third and
second and he says it’s just a matter of putting
things together to get a good finish.
“We’ve had great cars the past couple years at
Stafford,” said Berndt. “We’ve qualified really well
and we’ve run really well in the first half of
races. We’ve either shot ourselves in the foot or
our biggest thing is in the second half of the race
we need to come together and make the right
decisions. Whether it’s pitting or what we have to
do with the car, we need to follow through on the
beginning of the race. We’re running good in the
beginning but we’re not following through in the
second half. If we can do that, I think we stand a
real good chance at pulling off a win. Our finishes
at Stafford don’t show how good the car was when we
started the race. We’re looking to improve. That’s
kind of been our story all year, we’re 13th, 14,
15th in that area, but we’ve qualified really well,
we’ve ran good in practice, we need to definitely
improve our finishes. We’ve had little things that
we’ve been working on. Once we hit it right, I think
we’ll be in good shape. Everybody is 100% on, you
can’t miss a little bit or it will cost you.”
With 11 career wins in Stafford’s SK Modified®
division, Berndt has yet to win in 62 career WMT
starts. While Berndt chases his first career win,
several things point to Stafford as the potential
site of that first win. Berndt has his one and only
career pole position at Stafford, and his car chiefs
Bob Horn and Don Adams, along with his crew chief
Ricky Rotondo, both have a wealth of knowledge for
setting up a car for Stafford.
“This would be a huge win, especially because it
would be our first ever Tour victory,” said Berndt.
“It would be monumental in my career for sure. I
always look forward to coming to Stafford with the
Tour car because we have a good car when we come and
we run well. We just haven’t been able to capitalize
on it. One of these times for sure something is
going to work our way a little. It would be a first
win all the way around with myself and the #46 team.
Ricky and I have been together for 11 years and I
have 2 good car chiefs on the Tour. Our car is
prepared by Bob Horn, the Berkley Auto Racing cars
are prepared by Don Adams, and they’re both very
good with the setups.”
With the combination of Berndt’s and his car chief’s
knowledge of the track at Stafford, he has a good
idea of what it’s going to take to be sitting in the
winner’s circle next Friday night in the Stafford
150.
“You definitely have to qualify well,” said Berndt.
“You have to run good in the first half of the race
without abusing the car and you have to have a good
pitstop. You need to make a good call in the pits
and you need to come out of the pits in the top-5.
If we can do that and if the car stays consistent, I
think we have a good shot. We’re really looking
forward to a good finish. We feel like we have a
top-5 car or at worst a top-10 car. We need to
capitalize on that and get some momentum going our
way. Even if we have to salvage an seventh or an
eighth place finish, that would give us some
momentum going to Thompson and Bristol and tracks
that we run good at, so we’re looking for some solid
finishes.”
Another race that Berndt is looking forward to is
the CARQUEST SK 150 Twin 75’s this Friday night at
Stafford. Berndt likes the extra distance races and
he is excited about his chances in the biggest SK
Modified® features of the season.
“I feel like we have a really good car,” said
Berndt. “We finished 6th the last time out after
getting here from Loudon, so we had to start at the
tail end after missing the heat races. I think
handling wise, we had one of our best cars all year,
so we’re looking forward to the twin 75’s. We did a
few things differently and we’re going to see if it
works out to our benefit.
Some of the guys aren’t used to anything over 40
laps, so that kind of works to our benefit. The
longer the laps, it doesn’t matter to me, I like
it.”
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Stafford 150 are
available and on sale now at the Speedway Box
Office. 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 will be priced at $35.00 for all
ages. Tickets for the 9th Annual CARQUEST SK 150 are
priced at $27.50 for adult general admission, $5.00
for children ages 6-14 general admission, and Free
for Children ages 5 & under.
Reserved seating is available for $30.00 for all
ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission
Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
parking with overnight parking available. Stafford
Motor Speedway offers free parking, with overnight
parking available.
For more information, 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: July
25, 2012 |
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