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 2-time Wild
Thing Kart Senior Champ Champion (2010, 2011) Ron
Midford, Jr., who will be racing to help support The
Troy Russell Benefit Fund.
Troy Russell is Midford’s cousin, and in August 2012
he suffered a serious accident in Narragansett, RI.
Russell broke two vertebrae in his neck and lost the
mobility of his legs and hand. Russell has been
going through the rehabilitation process and the
Troy Russell Benefit Fund has been set up to help
Troy and his family pay for the cost of the rehab.
“All of Troy’s treatments are very expensive and
insurance only covers so much of it,” said Midford.
“The fund has helped pay for a lot of things with
Troy’s rehab. We’ve done several golf tournaments
for Troy and we did the bowling event last year as
part of Champions for Charities and every little bit
we can raise helps out with equipment and treatment.
For instance, Troy had to buy a new bed for himself
and the bed was something like $5,000. He’s still
going through rehab and he’s making progress every
day, but it takes time and he still has a long way
to go. He’s still in a wheelchair but he’s regained
a lot of movement and he has been walking with a
walker and some assistance from therapists. When he
first had his accident, he was bedridden and wearing
a halo so he’s made a lot of progress from then to
where he is now. The timing for this year’s
Champions for Charities event is perfect because
Troy is going to Project Walk out in Carlsbad, CA.
You have to apply to join that program and he was
accepted and I think it’s somewhere between a couple
weeks to a month long program. All the money we
raise with our bowling fundraiser is going towards
helping pay for that trip out to California for Troy
and his family.”
As part of Midford's fundraising efforts, he will
once again be hosting a Troy Russell Benefit Fund
Bowling Event on June 1st at the Hall of Fame Silver
Lanes in East Hartford. There will be two bowling
sessions available during this year’s Bowl For Troy
Russell fundraiser and bowlers can choose to
participate in either or both bowling sessions.
“The bowling event this year is at Hall of Fame
Silver Lanes in East Hartford on June 1,” said
Midford. “We’re going to have two sessions this
year. The first session will be from 1pm-3pm and the
second session will be from 3:30pm-5:30pm. Bowlers
can bowl in either session or if they want they can
bowl in both sessions. The cost is $20 per person
per session and our goal is to raise more money than
we did last year. I think we raised right around
$3,000 last year and this year we’re selling
advertising banners on the lanes this year, so
between that and the two bowling sessions, we’re
hoping we can raise more than $3,000. We’re also
going to have some pretty cool raffle prizes during
the bowling sessions including a Weber grill, Kindle
HDX, $100 Gift Card to Stop & Shop, Topstone GC for
a Foursome 18 holes with cart, Ryobi drill, Brinkman
Smoker, Callaway watch, and more. I also think there
will be some Red Sox tickets as part of the raffle.”
Being a two-time Wild Thing Kart Senior Champ
champion, Midford has more experience racing karts
around the Stafford mini-mile than most of his
fellow Champions for Charities drivers. Midford won
the Champions for Charities race two years ago and
after finishing a close second to Richie Pallai, Jr.
last year, Midford is looking forward to another
opportunity to shine in the 15-lap feature race.
“I drove Greg Hurlbert’s kart the last couple of
years and he ended up selling his Senior Outlaw
kart, so I’m not going to have that kart to drive
and I really liked that kart,” said Midford. “But
I’m sure whatever kart I hop into will be fine and
the race will be a lot of fun. Last year’s race was
really competitive and with guys like Teddy, Doug
Coby, Richie Pallai, and Ryan Preece in the race,
hopefully we can have a lot of fun again. Everyone
in the race is a race car driver so they figure
things out pretty quickly and I probably don’t
really have any advantage over anyone else. I do
want to say it’s an honor to be selected to
participate in this race especially with the roster
of talented drivers that are in the race.”
The starting lineups for the Champions For Charities
15-lap feature 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 Troy Russell Benefit Fund on
behalf of Ron Midford, Jr., and for more information
on the event, please refer to the Champions for
Charities donation page located at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |