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03/15/2012 |
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STAFFORD
MOTOR SPEEDWAY CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
RICHIE PALLAI JR |
 Stafford
Motor Speedway has again lined up an impressive
field of current and former open wheel champions for
its CARQUEST Champions For Charities Event as part
of CARQUEST Super Saturday on June 30th. During the
coming weeks, SMS will offer a profile on each of
its championship winning drivers and the charity
they will be racing for and this week’s CARQUEST
Champions For Charities spotlight falls on Richie
Pallai, Jr., the 2009 Spring Sizzler SK Modified®
Champion, who will be racing to help support The
Danbury Animal Welfare Society.
The Danbury Animal Welfare Society is a non-profit,
volunteer-run organization dedicated to improving
the lives of animals in the community and beyond.
They promote responsible pet guardianship and the
humane treatment of animals, and work toward ending
animal overpopulation through education and a
variety of programs. Danbury Animal Welfare Society
gives shelter and care for homeless companion
animals while they wait for people like you to give
them a loving, forever home. DAWS recently held
their 5th Annual Making a Difference Ball, where
Pallai got himself off to a good start by raising a
total of $1,800. Pallai’s fundraising total
currently has him out front in the race for pole
position for the 15-lap CARQUEST Champions for
Charities feature event.
“We have a great relationship with DAWS and
attending their annual Ball was a pretty cool deal,”
said Pallai. “We were able to raise $1,800, so that
is a great start for us. Last year we raised $3,000,
so we’re already more than halfway there to matching
that total.”
In addition to his CARQUEST Champions For Charities
duties, Pallai will be taking part in his third
season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as well as
driving selected SK Modified® races at Stafford for
car owner Ted Christopher. Pallai is also looking at
running some events at Riverhead Raceway as well as
traveling to other area tracks for open modified
shows that will see him run between 25-30 events
this year. Pallai is especially looking forward to
his third season of Whelen Modified Tour
competition, as his team has two cars and a new
motor program with Bob Bruneau.
“We have two cars that are both ready to go,” said
Pallai. “Last year our biggest issues were the
brakes and the motor. We found a lot of errors
during the season as we tried to sort out our brake
issues, and we feel like we found the problem and
took care of it. We changed over to Bob Bruneau
engines in the off-season, and we’re taking our big
track car to Thompson in a couple of weeks to test,
so we’re excited about the new season. With the SK
car for Teddy, we don’t have any set schedule yet,
but if things go well, we’ll probably do about 8
races in that car this year.”
Pallai is also looking forward to getting back onto
the Stafford Mini-Mile behind the wheel of a Wild
Thing Kart Senior Outlaw machine. After finishing
7th in last year’s CARQUEST Champions For Charities
event, Pallai is looking to be the driver who passes
under the checkered flag first.
“Last year we finished 6th or 7th and I was really
upset with that,” said Pallai. “I know this race is
for charity and it’s supposed to be a good time, but
I really want to win the race this year. Last year
we got up to the lead around lap-5, but we ended up
falling too far back in the pack and couldn’t get
caught back up. It seemed that the guys who were
leading early last year ended up getting shuffled
back late in the race, so I think this year I’ll try
to wait a little bit on getting to the front to
better prepare ourselves for the finish. Last year,
I almost took out Randy Cabral, so we’ve been joking
back and forth that he owes me one for this year, so
maybe we’ll have to spin him out early and get that
taken care of.”
The starting lineups for the CARQUEST Champions For
Charities qualifying races will be determined by how
much money each driver raises for their selected
charity. The starting grid will be set with the
drivers who have raised the most money starting up
front. Fans are encouraged to get involved in the
event by donating to their favorite driver or
favorite charity. To make a donation to the The
Danbury Animal Welfare Society on behalf of Richie
Pallai, Jr., and for more information on the event,
please refer to the CARQUEST Champions for Charities
donation page located at
www.staffordspeedway.com. Stay tuned to
www.staffordspeedway.com for more driver spotlights
and exciting information regarding the CARQUEST
Champions for Charities event.
CARQUEST Super Saturday will take place on Saturday,
June 30, 2012 and will feature the ISMA Super
Modifieds, NEMA Midgets, and Pro-4 Modifieds in
addition to the Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Karts.
Tickets for CARQUEST Super Saturday are on sale now
at the Speedway Box Office and are priced at $33.00
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 $35.00 for all
ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission
Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, or to order tickets to the 9th
Annual CARQUEST Extreme
Tuesday event, 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: March
15, 2012 |
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