|
 Stafford
Motor Speedway is hosting a field of accomplished
current and former championship drivers for this
year's 4th annual Champions for Charities event,
which will take place on Friday, June 27th. In the
up coming weeks before the event, Stafford Speedway
is providing a profile on each of the championship
drivers. This week, the spotlight is on Ryan Preece,
the 2011 Stafford SK Modified® Champion, and the
2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion. Preece
will be racing for the Connecticut chapter of the
Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Preece is looking forward to competing again in this
year's 15-lap feature around the Stafford mini-mile.
After raising $2,130 for The Make-A-Wish Foundation
last year, Preece is looking forward to the prospect
of raising money to help make children with
life-threatening illnesses dreams come true.
"This race is a good concept because it helps out
different charities and raising money for them is
the biggest thing," said Preece. "We're going to try
raise as much money as we can and have some fun in
the go karts again. Although I think we should use
Legend Cars for the race this year since they look
like a bit more fun to drive around the mini mile.
I'm talking with some local places about possibly
doing some guest bartending like I did at Sophie's
in Southold, NY. If any local restaurants or bars
are looking for guest bartenders, they can get in
touch with me through my Facebook. I had a great
time at Sophie's and it would be a fun way to help
raise money for Make-A-Wish."
This year's Champions for Charities event will be
the third consecutive year that Preece has taken
part in the fundraising race. Preece finished a
close second to Ron Midford, Jr. in 2012 and after
fighting for the lead in the early laps in last
year's race, Preece finished 7th. With two years of
experience under his belt, Preece is ready to reach
NAPA Victory Lane this season.
"The go karts are a lot of fun and it's a great race
to be a part of because it's all for charity," said
Preece. "We'll see if we can have another fun show
like we've had in the past and put on a good show
for the fans."
Preece is the 2011 SK Modified® track champion, and
for the second consecutive season, Preece has won
the first two SK Modified® feature races of the
season to take the early championship lead. Preece
will be gunning for a third consecutive SK Modified®
feature win to begin the season, a feat that has yet
to be accomplished in the SK Modified® ranks since
the division's inception in 1982. Besides Preece,
only two other drivers have won the first two races
of an SK Modified® season, Ted Christopher in 2003
and 1988, and Willie Hardie in 2001.
"This is the same car I've been running for the past
couple of seasons and everything is pretty much the
same except that we combined what was the 40 team
with the 27 team," said Preece. "Combining the two
teams that won the championship and finished second
last year, we were are looking to be a strong
contender. I'm pretty happy to have accomplished
what we've done so far and hopefully we can keep it
going for the rest of the season."
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wish of a
child diagnosed with life-threatening medical
conditions through the non-profit organization.
Funds are received from the generous contributions
from individual donors, corporations and other
organizations. The National foundation grants a
child an experience considered a "wish", on average
every 38 minutes, granting over 14,000 wishes in
2012 alone. The Connecticut Chapter grants 140 to
150 wishes annually. The average cost of a single
wish is $8,141. All donations will help the
foundation grant more wishes to enrich the lives of
children with life-threatening medical conditions.
To donate to the Make-A-Wish foundation in support
of Ryan Preece, please visit
http://friends.wish.org/054-000/page/Ryan-Preece/Stafford-Champions-For-Charities.htm.
The Champions for Charities event will take place
around the Stafford Mini-Mile track for a 15-lap
feature in Wild Thing Kart Senior Outlaw Karts
during the Friday night race program. For more
information about the Champions for Charities event,
please call the Stafford Motor Speedway track office
at 860-684-2783, or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
