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09/23/2011 |
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WHELEN
MODIFIED TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER TODD SZEGEDY
WILL HOPE TO CHANGE HIS LUCK AT STAFFORD IN CARQUEST FALL
FINAL |
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 TWhen
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visits Stafford
Motor Speedway, Todd Szegedy is normally among the
pre-race favorites to contend for victory. Szegedy
was a regular SK Modified® competitor at Stafford
before moving onto the Whelen Modified Tour and he
has 4 career WMT wins at Stafford. But the 2011
season has been unkind to Szegedy and the #2 Wisk
team in the three races held at Stafford this
season. A crash in the Spring Sizzler in April left
him with a 24th place finish and two spins in the
August race left him with a 14th place finish to go
along with a 6th place finish in the May event at
Stafford. Szegedy hopes to have his bad luck at
Stafford put behind him when the green flag falls
for the CARQUEST Fall Final 150.
“The last time we were [at Stafford], we should have
won the race,” said Szegedy. “We started 9th and we
got up to 3rd passing cars on the outside, and we
got spun out. We came out of the pits in 9th and we
got spun out again and bent the right front spindle
and the car was done. But what are you going to do,
that’s racing. We’ve had a good car everywhere we’ve
gone and Stafford is definitely one of my favorite
tracks, we know we always have the potential to run
good at Stafford.”
While his race finishes at Stafford this season
appear to be less than stellar on paper, Szegedy
feels confident that he will be a contender for the
checkered flag in the CARQUEST Fall Final 150.
“I definitely feel like we will be a contender at
Stafford,” said Szegedy. “Our car was extremely fast
the last time we were there. We made most of our
passes on the outside and whenever you can do that
at Stafford, you know you have an exceptional car.
If we can come back to Stafford with that type of
car again, we should be contenders once again. If we
can come out of Stafford with a good, strong finish
and be closer to the championship, that’s all we can
ask for.”
With two more races on the schedule before the Tour
comes to Stafford for the 39th Annual CARQUEST Fall
Final Weekend on Oct. 2nd, Szegedy currently sits
second in the championship standings, 60 points
behind Ronnie Silk. Szegedy knows that in order to
win the championship, he must not only finish ahead
of Silk, but he needs to have a good qualifying
effort to start closer to the front of the field and
avoid getting caught up in wrecks.
“I’ve qualified up front and in the rear at Stafford
and we’ve had good results from both,” said Szegedy.
“It’s always a good motivation for the team to know
you have a fast car when you qualify well. We’ve
used up our mulligans this year so if we want to win
this championship, we have to be flawless from here
on out. It’s going to be very important for us to
stay clean and start up front. If not for the
mishaps we’ve had this year, we would either be very
close to leading or we would be leading the points
right now.”
The 39th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend kicks
off on Friday, Sept. 30 with pit gates opening at
12:00pm with a practice session running from 2:00pm
to 6:30pm for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The
General Admission grandstands will be open to the
public at no charge for the practice session. The
G.A. Grandstands will open at 2pm.
Action continues on Saturday, Oct. 1 with Coors
Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour
cars at 2:15pm, followed by heat and consolation
races for Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday’s
events wrap up with feature events for Stafford’s SK
Light Modified, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock
divisions.
The CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend continues on Sunday,
Oct. 2 with the famous Stafford CARQUEST Belts &
Hose Pit Party kicking off the day’s activities from
11:00am to 12:00pm, with the final SK Modified® and
Late Model feature events of 2011 being accompanied
by the Whelen Modified Tour 150-lap CARQUEST Fall
Final.
Tickets for the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend are
available and on sale now at the Stafford Motor
Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00
for adult General Admission, $5.00 for children ages
6-14, and children ages 5 & under are free. Reserved
seating is $38.00 for all ages. All tickets cover
both Saturday and Sunday admission to the Fall
Final. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers
free parking with overnight parking available.
Tickets can be ordered by calling the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at 860-684-2783.
For more information, 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: September
23, 2011 |
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