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04/18/2014 |
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NEW ENGLAND
MODIFIED LEGEND BILLY GRECO TO SERVE AS
GRAND MARSHAL OF 43rd ANNUAL NAPA AUTO PARTS SPRING SIZZLER |
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 Stafford
Motor Speedway has announced that New England
modified racing legend Billy Greco will serve as the
Grand Marshal of the 43rd Annual NAPA Auto Parts
Spring Sizzler. Greco began his career in the early
1950's driving the #44 for Sharkey Gaudiosi and he
made a name for himself by teaming up with his
brother George and racing the #43. Greco recorded
over 300 feature wins in his career with wins at
West Haven, Riverside, Plainville Stadium,
Rhinebeck, Lonsdale, Menands, Stafford, Waterford,
Freeport, Eastern States, Islip, and the Pine Bowl.
Greco claimed track championships at West Haven,
Riverside, and Albany Saratoga.
"I had good times and bad times, but it was mostly
good times as far as racing went," said Greco. "My
big track was Riverside. I did a lot of racing at
Stafford too but I couldn't keep up with guys like
Troyer, Bodine, and Bugsy because I didn't have the
money and the equipment that they did. I wish I had
been able to do a little better at Stafford than I
did. It's a great honor for me to be the Grand
Marshal of the Spring Sizzler, I've never been asked
to do something like this before. I'll certainly
treasure the opportunity."
With all of Greco's racing accomplishments, he is
perhaps most known for his exploits at Riverside
Park Speedway, which include 7 Riverside 500 Team
Race victories. Greco teamed with names like Bob
Stefanik, Danny Galullo, and Jocco Maggiacamo for
his 500 team wins, but he says his victory with
Maggiacamo was one of his favorites.
"My favorite had to be the win with Jocco at
Riverside in the 500 team race," said Greco. "It was
an honor for me to be a partner with Jocco. He asked
me to be his partner when he was a champion and I
was just a little guy getting started and everyone
looked up to him."
In addition to racing at Stafford, Greco has another
connection to Stafford as a young Chuck Zentarski
was part of Greco's crew before he went on to win 2
Late Model championships at Stafford.
"I remember Chuck Zentarski was part of the crew,"
said Greco. "He was just a kid and he came up to my
brother George one day and asked if he could help
out and become part of the crew. We had Chuck's name
on the side of the car along with the rest of the
crew and my brother taught Chuck everything he knows
about cars."
The 2014 NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler gets
underway Friday, April 25 with a practice session
for Stafford's weekly divisions. The practice
session will be open to the public at no charge.
Action continues on Saturday, April 26 with Coors
Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour
cars, along with heat and consolation races for
Stafford's weekly divisions and the NorthEast Mini
Stock Tour. Saturday will wrap up with feature
events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, DARE
Stock, and NEMST divisions. The Sizzler continues on
Sunday, April 27 with the NAPA Auto Parts Pit Party
followed by Stafford's SK Modifieds® and Late Models
joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the "Greatest Race in the History of
Spring" are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.
Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 $42.00 for all ages. All
ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 43rd Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Spring Sizzler, 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:
April 18, 2014 |
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