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06/19/2014 |
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FORMER SK
MODIFIED®
REGULAR TODD SZEGEDY LEADS POINTS
STANDINGS AS VMRS HEADS TO STAFFORD FOR TOWN FAIR TIRE 80 |
 With
the Valenti Modified Racing Series descending upon
Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday, June 20th for the
Town Fair Tire 80, former Stafford SK Modified®
regular and 2003 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Champion Todd Szegedy finds himself at the top of
the points standings. After parting ways with the #2
Mike Smeriglio owned team at the conclusion of the
2013 season, Szegedy was unsure where and how much
he would be racing in 2014. But after a call to
Kevin Stuart, an arrangement was made for Szegedy to
take over the driving duties of the #85 car and
Szegedy holds the point lead after recording top-10
finishes in each of the first 5 races.
“It’s tough to say [if the season has been a
surprise],” said Szegedy. “I knew Kevin Stuart has
good equipment and I know Bear [Calicchio] is a
great crew chief, so the core was there it was just
a matter of me getting used to the language between
Bear and myself. We haven’t won yet, but we’ve been
very consistent and consistency is what wins
championships. I think it’s just a matter of time
before we get our first win. We’re heading to some
tracks that I’m familiar with and run well at. I’m
really looking forward to Stafford because it’s a
track that I’ve won at before, it’s a track that I
like, and I think we’ll have a pretty good car for
Stafford.”
Szegedy has four career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
wins at Stafford, and he is the only SK Modified®
driver to have won the 21 Means 21 qualifying
feature and the main feature in the same night. His
previous experience shows Szegedy knows his way to
NAPA Victory Lane and he is confident that his first
win of the 2014 season may come in the Town Fair
Tire 80.
“I’m very confident we can go to Stafford and win
the race,” said Szegedy. “I feel confident that we
can win at any track and Thompson and Stafford are
definitely two tracks that I run better at. I felt
very confident at Thompson and we led that race
until the last lap and I feel the same way coming to
Stafford.”
Should Szegedy capture the checkered flag in the
Town Fair Tire 80, he would become the sixth
different winner in the first 6 VMRS races held this
season.
“That tells me that we have a lot of good teams and
a lot of good cars that can win races in the
Modified Racing Series,” said Szegedy. “No one car
is dominating, which is a good thing. Guys use a lot
of patience and there’s a lot of give and take
during the races so cars aren’t getting wrecked and
there’s a lot of cars that end up finishing the
races, which I think is one reason why there are so
many different winners.”
Before Szegedy can challenge for the checkered flag
in the Town Fair Tire 80, he first must qualify
through a heat race. The VMRS heat races are
carrying extra importance this season as bonus
points are awarded to the top-5 finishers from each
heat race. In a season that has seen 5 different
winners in the first 5 races, any extra bonus points
gained during the year could go a long way in
determining who wins the championship at the end of
the season. Szegedy has already won 2 heat races in
2014 and he has accumulated 23 bonus points thusfar
in 2014 for his heat race finishes and leading the
most laps at Thompson.
“Our ultimate goal is maintain the point lead,” said
Szegedy. “We go to the track to win races and if you
can win races, the points will fall where they fall.
We just have to stay out of trouble and finish in
front of the guys who I’m battling with and I feel
like our chances at winning at Stafford are very
high. We’ve won a few heat races this year and every
point counts. Heat races in the past were just
survive and finish in the top-5 or top-6, wherever
you needed to finish. Now, there’s an incentive to
winning heat races because at the end of the year,
if you’re separated by 19 points and you’ve won 4
heat races, that would be the difference between
winning and losing the championship. So basically
the strategy is you want to go out and win
everything, win the heat race and then win the
feature race.”
With 4 career NWMT wins at Stafford, Szegedy
definitely knows what he needs to be the first
driver to see the checkered flag. But with bonus
points available in the heat races, drivers have to
strike a balance between going for victory in the
heat and saving their cars for the 80-lap Town Fair
Tire feature event later in the evening. Szegedy
shares what he thinks it will take to be the race
winner.
“I think you want to start towards the front, no
question,” said Szegedy. “Ultimately track position
is good. I think the majority of the MRS guys
conserve a decent amount and if someone is going
hard early on, you let them go. I like being up
front because if there is a long green run, which
we’ve had a lot of this year, you really have to use
your car up if you start towards the back, which is
what happened to me at Seekonk when I started 18th.
If I had my choice, I’d start up front and stay up
front. You need to adapt to your surrounding
environment and go with the flow. You usually know
within 10 to 15 laps what kind of car you have. If
you’re able to stay up front without using your car
up too much, you stay up front. But if you’re
struggling to keep up with the pace, you might want
to pit early to make some changes and hope for some
cautions to go your way. The main thing is to keep
yourself out of trouble and keep yourself in a
position where you can go for the win.”
Tickets for the June 20th Town Fair Tire Valenti
Modified Racing Series 80 are available and on sale
now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced
at $27.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00
for kids ages 6-14, and kids 5 and under are
admitted free of charge when accompanied by an
adult. Reserved seating will be priced at $30.00 for
all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission
Tax. Stafford Speedway offers free parking with free
overnight parking for self-contained RV’s available.
For more information on the Town Fair Tire VMRS 80,
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:
June 19, 2014 |
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