|
09/23/2011 |
RICHIE PALLAI
JR. LOOKS TO CARRY MOMENTUM OF CAREER BEST FINISH
TO STAFFORD FOR CARQUEST FALL FINAL WEEKEND |
|
It’s
often been seen in racing that if a driver and team
have momentum on their side, it can lead to a series
of good finishes. After posting only one top-10
finish in the first 9 races of the 2011 season,
Richie Pallai, Jr. and his #39 Bosch Spark Plugs
team sat out the Bristol, Canada, and Thompson races
before making their return to the Whelen Modified
Tour at the road course of Lime Rock. Pallai
qualified seventh and he finished a career best
fourth in the Lime Rock race, and he will look to
carry the momentum of that career best finish to
Stafford Motor Speedway for the CARQUEST Fall Final
Weekend on Oct. 1st and Oct. 2nd.
“We had a great weekend at Lime Rock, we were never
slower than 7th in any of the sessions,” said
Pallai. “We qualified seventh and we ran in the
top-5 all day long. It was a good race, but we were
a little disappointed because we felt like we had a
second place car, no one had anything for Todd
[Szegedy]. It was a blast in the race, Justin
[Bonsignore] and I passed each other like 8 times
during the race and we never touched. You have to be
aggressive at a road course and I think playing
hockey helped me with being aggressive on the track.
It was terrible to have to miss races, but we needed
to take a break and get regrouped. Now we’re looking
to keep the momentum going for Stafford and build
something for next season.”
Fresh off his career best finish, Pallai will return
to Stafford, which is the track that he has the most
racing experience at. Pallai began his weekly racing
career in the SK Light division in 2006, narrowly
missing out on winning the championship. Pallai
moved to the SK Modified® division in 2007 and he
picked up his first SK Modified® feature victory in
2009 in the Spring Sizzler. Pallai made his Whelen
Modified Tour debut at Stafford in the 2009 CARQUEST
Fall Final and in 7 career Stafford starts, Pallai
has a best finish of 11th in the 2010 Town Fair Tire
150. Pallai will be looking to capture his first
career top-10 finish at Stafford and he says it’s
all a matter of qualifying well and getting a handle
on the car for the race.
“You would think that Stafford would be our best
track and it’s probably been one of our worst
tracks” said Pallai. “Our best run at Stafford was
probably the Fall Final last year, we were in the
top-5 with 20 to go and we got caught up in that big
wreck in turn 3. If we can have a good car like we
had that day, we should be all right. For some
reason, it seems like we’ve never really been able
to hit it on the setup at Stafford. The car is good
on the short run, but not the long runs, and it
seems like every time we come to Stafford, there is
at least one long green flag run of like 60 laps
that just kills us. Most tracks you can expect an
early caution, but at Stafford, it seems like we go
50 or 60 laps into the race before the caution comes
out, so you have to wait to make adjustments on the
car.
Qualifying is crucial at Stafford because it’s hard
to pass. With this being a weekend event, we’ll be
able to practice in the same conditions that we’ll
be racing in, and we can put a qualifying setup on
the car for Saturday and then change back to a race
setup for Sunday where on the Friday shows you can’t
do that. And I think you’ll see some different
strategies going on for the Fall Final. With the
Sizzler being a 200-lap race, everyone usually tries
to pit right around halfway, but with the Fall Final
being 150 laps, you’ll see some guys pit early and
some guys pit late and try to come back through the
field on new tires. If we can qualify and finish the
race in the top-10, that would be a good way for us
to end the season.”
In addition to his on track activities, Pallai and
the #39 Bosch Spark Plugs team will have a special
tee-shirt offer going on at the their car during the
CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party on Sunday, Oct. 2nd
from 11am-12 noon. For a $5 donation to the Danbury
Animal Welfare Society, fans can receive a CARQUEST
Belts and Hose tee-shirt. All fans who make a
donation to D.A.W.S. will also receive a raffle
ticket for a chance to be the honorary starter for
the 40-lap SK Modified® feature that will take the
green flag at 1pm on Sunday, October 2nd.
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. |
|
Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted: September
23, 2011 |
|
|