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02/12/2011 |
BOBBY SANTOS
III LOOKING FOR FIRST CAREER CARQUEST TECH-NET
SPRING SIZZLER VICTORY AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY |
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After
finishing second in last year’s CARQUEST Tech-Net
Spring Sizzler, Bobby Santos, III is looking to
capture his first Sizzler victory and give car owner
Bob Garbarino his second victory in the longest
continuous running event on the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour schedule. Santos made his debut
Sizzler effort in the #4 Mystic Missile Santos
memorable, as he set a track record in Coors Light
Pole Qualifying, becoming the first Whelen Modified
Tour driver to break the 18-second barrier at
Stafford. Santos then continued his good luck streak
by redrawing the pole position. When the green flag
came out, Santos led the first 54 laps of the race
before spinning in turn 3 on lap-55 while navigating
lapped traffic. Santos fell deep in the field, but
he worked his way back through traffic to finish
second behind Christopher in a green-white-checkered
finish.
“At the time it was disappointing, but looking back
now, the end result was a great second place
finish,” said Santos. “It was a great weekend for
the team. We set a track record and won the pole and
we led the race for a while before we had the
problem with the lap car. The spin with the lap car
messed up the rear end of the car a little bit, so
it didn’t handle as good in the second half of the
race as it did in the first half. I think that Teddy
[Christopher] had the stronger car at the end of the
race, but who’s to say what would have happened.
After the race was over and we saw the rear end of
the car, we were happy to have finished second.”
After his second place finish in last year’s
CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, Santos knows what
it will take for another good finish in this year ’s
version of “The Greatest Race in the History of
Spring.”
“I think the big thing is the pit strategy,” said
Santos. “We run the car pretty much the same way for
the Sizzler as the other Stafford races and see how
the race plays out. We got thrown off of our pit
strategy last year, but then we ended up pitting
with all the lead cars anyways, so we didn’t get
hurt that bad.”
The CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler wasn’t the only
Stafford race that Santos was successful in. Santos
practically made Stafford his playground during the
2010 season, scoring 2 pole positions, 2 wins, and a
second place finish in four Whelen Modified Tour
stops. The only thing that slowed Santos at Stafford
last season was a blown engine in the August Town
Fair Tire 150 that relegated him to a 23rd place
finish. Santos also has 2 NEMA Midget wins at
Stafford and in 2006, he walked away from Stafford
with a $50,000 bonus from CARQUEST and Valvoline by
winning the Midget and PRA Big Car races as part of
CARQUEST Presents The Big One. Santos is looking for
more of the same when the Tour makes its four stops
to Stafford in 2011.
“Stafford is a track that I love going to, it’s
close to home for me, and I’ve had a lot of fun
times at Stafford,” said Santos. “I think that
Stafford is a unique track and having experience at
Stafford definitely helps out at the end of the
race. But there are a lot of guys on Tour who have
experience at Stafford like Teddy [Christopher] and
[Mike] Stefanik.”
Santos will return to Stafford with the same car and
crew that helped carry him to three wins in the
first four races of the 2010 season and ultimately
the 2010 Whelen Modified Tour championship. With a
year of working together, Santos feels confident
that the Mystic Missile team can be every bit as
good as they were last season and better.
“I’m pretty excited that everyone from last year is
coming back this year,” said Santos. “They’re all
awesome guys and I think that with a year together,
we are only going to grow as a team and be even
better this year than we were last year. It is a
great team and they had won races and championships
before, so I don’t think it was surprising that we
ran so well, but I think it was surprising how hot
we were at the beginning of the season. We would
like to be able to compete again for the
championship this season, and I’d like to win more
races this year than I did last year. We won 4 races
last year, but with the talent on the tour this
year, that’s going to be hard to do. Once you win
the championship once, you don’t want anything else
than to win the championship again.”
Santos and the Whelen Modified Tour teams hit the
track for the first time on Saturday, April 30 with
practice and Time Trials and the 200-lap race will
be on Sunday, May 1st. Joining the Whelen Modified
Tour as part of the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net
Spring Sizzler will be Stafford's five NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series divisions. Tickets for the
"Greatest Race in the History of Spring" are on sale
now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced
at $35.00 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 seating is priced at $38.00
for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway
offers free parking with overnight parking
available.
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
Motor Speedway
Posted: February
12, 2011 |
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