Stafford
Motor Speedway is hosting a field of accomplished
current and former open wheel championship winning
drivers for this year’s 4th annual Champions for
Charities event, which will take place on Friday,
June 27th. This week, the spotlight is on both Ron
Silk, the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion,
and Rowan Pennink, the 2013 Valenti Modified Racing
Series Champion. Silk is racing for the Alzheimer’s
Association, and Pennink is racing for Connecticut
Children’s Medical Center.
The Alzheimer’s Association is a non-profit
organization that works to help enhance care and
support for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other
forms of dementia. The organization is the largest
contributor of funds to Alzheimer’s research, and
since 1980 has been the leader in charitable
contributions in order to find a cure for this
terrible disease.
Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is a
nationally recognized, 182-room, not-for-profit
children’s hospital. Connecticut Children’s is now
only one of two free-standing children’s hospitals
in New England – the only in the state. The hospital
functions with 2,200 employees and a medical staff
of 1,100, running entirely on the funds donated by
generous contributors.
Silk has previous experience fundraising for his
chosen charity and competing in the annual event.
Silk is raising money for the Alzheimer’s
Association for the second consecutive season. He
hopes to be competitive in both fundraising and in
the 15-lap Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Kart race
itself. Being familiar with many tracks around the
country while competing in the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour, racing Stafford’s mini-mile track
with a go kart that has no transmission or
suspension, which he is accustomed to being equipped
with, will undoubtedly a challenge for Silk.
Unlike Silk, this is Pennink’s very first year
competing in the Champions for Charities race.
Pennink is no stranger to Stafford’s half-mile
track, being competitive in the track’s weekly SK
Modified® division, the Valenti Modified Racing
Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Despite
the task of driving a go kart with comparatively 100
times less horsepower performance than what he’s
used to competing in, Pennink is up for the
charitable challenge.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it to Stafford
for the race,” said Pennink. “When Stafford first
called me to do the race, I didn’t realize that the
race is on the same date as our MRS race at Lee. But
I’d love to be able to get back into a go kart. I
ran go karts all the time growing up, that’s how I
got my start in racing. It would be a lot of fun to
get back in a kart and race against some of these
champion drivers, especially for charity. I think it
would be a really good time.”
Silk is amongst the drivers Pennink competes with on
a regular race schedule, as well as Woody Pitkat,
Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher, and Doug Coby, who are
all racing in the Champion’s for Charities event.
Both Pennink and Silk are ready to be strapped into
their Wild Thing Kart’s provided Senior Outlaw go
karts to compete in this year’s highly anticipated
race.
The Champions for Charities event will take place
around Stafford’s own mini-mile track for a 15-lap
feature during the Friday night race program. To
donate to a driver’s charity, visit
http://staffordmotorspeedway.com/2014-champions-for-charities/.
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
staffordmotorspeedway.com. |