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ROWAN PENNINK
READY TO GO
FOR 2 IN A ROW AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY |
While
Rowan Pennink is certainly no stranger to NAPA
Victory Lane at Stafford Speedway with 12 feature
wins and 2 championships over the last 2 years in
the SK Modified® division, he was still looking for
a breakthrough win in a touring modified car. That
breakthrough finally came last May in the Valenti
Modified Racing Series 80 with Pennink behind the
wheel of Gary Cretty’s red #25 machine. Pennink is
looking forward to returning to Stafford next Friday
night and defending his win in the 4th Annual VRMS
80.
“Last year we had good cars in all the Stafford
races,” said Pennink. “I ran the MTS race at
Monadnock with the 25 team and we’re excited to come
back to Stafford. We had a couple of good runs there
last season with the 25 car and it’s always good to
get 2 races in one night with the 25 team and the 99
team in the SK Modified® division. We won the first
race in 2016 and we had a good run going but we
broke an axle in the second race and then we
finished second in the third race. If the car is as
good as it was last year hopefully we can be in
contention for the win.”
One area of expertise that will come in handy for
Pennink is his home track knowledge of Stafford. Of
the 17 VMRS races held to date at Stafford, 12 of
them have been won by drivers who are either
currently or formerly weekly racers. Pennink and Ted
Christopher were both winners in VMRS events last
season at Stafford while Jon McKennedy was the
winner of the third race.
“I think [racing weekly] definitely helps,” said
Pennink. “The more time you have at a specific track
you learn little places where you can get extra grip
or make a quick pass. There’s a lot of good cars
that show up to the Stafford races and it’s going to
be a really competitive race but there can be a
little extra to gain by running Stafford weekly.”
One of the main talking points for the race is sure
to be which drivers can conserve tires enough to
have enough left to go racing hard for the win at
the end of the race. Pennink says that while it can
be hard for a driver to conserve while also trying
to go fast to get to the front of the race, he
relies on his team and spotter for help in
determining their strategy during the 80-lap run.
“I have a great team and a great spotter in Brian
Crowley that are really good at figuring out how the
race is going to go and what will be the best
strategy,” said Pennink. “We usually don’t figure
that out until we get out there for the race and see
how things are playing out but I think we’ll be able
to figure it out pretty quick and hopefully be in
contention for the win at the end. You definitely
have to save your stuff for the end of the race but
at Stafford track position is also pretty big.
Ideally you want to be able to get to the front of
the field and set your own pace and I think that’s
what you’ll see a lot of the guys trying to do.
Hopefully we’ll have a car that will allow me to
manage the tires and we can be there in contention
for the win at the end.”
The Valenti Modified Racing Series will take to the
track next Friday, May 19th with qualifying
beginning at 6:15pm. Stafford’s five NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series divisions will also be in
action. Tickets for this event are on sale now and
are priced at $30.00 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 seat tickets are
$32.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10%
CT Admission Tax. Stafford Motor Speedway offers
plenty of free parking along with overnight parking
available for self contained Recreational Vehicles.
May is Youth Organization Month at Stafford, meaning
that any child age 14 or younger who wears a team
shirt or uniform to the track will be given a free
general admission ticket.
For more information, 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 Speedway
Posted:
May 11, 2017 |
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