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04/05/2012 |
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STAFFORD
MOTOR SPEEDWAY CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
CHRIS PASTERYAK |
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 2-time
Modified Racing Series Champion (2008, 2011) Chris
Pasteryak, who will be racing to help support
David’s House.
David's House provides a home-away-from-home and
support for families with children receiving
treatment through Children's Hospital at
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.
David's House is the dream of a young boy named
David Cyr, who passed away from leukemia in 1984 at
the age of five. For three and a half years, David
was treated at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in
Hanover, NH. While visiting David during his
hospitalizations was easy for his parents, other
visitors ended up sleeping in their cars, in the
waiting room, or in a chair at bedside to be close
to David. Since there was no facility available for
family members, David’s father Dick decided that he
would start David’s House. The very first donation
was $300.87 of birthday money and loose change that
David had saved and David’s dream has now served
over 11,000 families from all around the world since
opening in 1986.
“David’s House has done a lot for the Modified
Racing Series the last couple of years, so I wanted
to do something to thank them for their support and
help get the word out about David’s House and
everything that they do,” said Pasteryak. “They
supported the Ricky’s Race for Kids last year at
Canaan with a $12,000 to win purse, and they were
able to raise $37,000 for David’s House. We’re going
to accept donations at our MRS events, but I think
the best way for people to donate would be through
the
David’s House website. We’re looking at
possibly doing an ice cream social and we’re working
on some other ideas about how we can best get the
word out about David’s house and raise some money
for them.”
While Pasteryak is a 2-time MRS champion, when it
comes to the Senior Outlaw kart that he will be
driving, Pasteryak is a rookie. But while the
CARQUEST Champions For Charities feature event will
be his first time behind the wheel of a Senior
Outlaw kart, Pasteryak does have quarter midget
experience and he has experience racing on
Stafford’s Mini-Mile, winning a Legends Car feature
during Spring Sizzler weekend in 2001.
“I have absolutely no experience in one of these
karts,” said Pasteryak. “The best show of the night
might be watching to see if I can actually fit into
the kart. I started out racing in quarter midgets,
but I have zero kart experience. I do have some
experience on the Mini Mile though, we won the
Sizzler Legends car race in 2001, so hopefully I’ll
remember that Legend car experience and can transfer
it over to racing in the Senior Outlaw kart.”
Pasteryak was the big winner the last time the MRS
visited Stafford, taking the checkered flag in the
Shark Cycle 80 last September. While an issue with
his spoiler cost him a possible top-5 finish in the
2012 MRS season opener, Pasteryak is looking forward
to returning to Stafford as well as defending his
title.
“I’m looking forward to doing our best this year to
try to defend our title,” said Pasteryak. “It’s
going to be tough to win the championship again,
there’s a lot of strong competitors this year. We
ran pretty good at Waterford, we were running second
or third with about 25 laps to go and the spoiler
broke. We had to come into the pits to fix the
spoiler and we were able to get back up to tenth,
but I think the spoiler cost us a top-5 finish. I
always look forward to coming to Stafford, it’s the
showplace of New England. I always enjoyed coming to
Stafford as a kid to watch my Dad and my Uncle race,
and hopefully we can repeat the success we had last
year at Stafford and win again.”
The Shark Cycle 80 victory last season was extra
special for Pasteryak, as it was the very first
modified victory for his family in 35 years of
racing modifieds at Stafford.
“Stafford has always been a special place for my
family,” said Pasteryak. “My Uncle started racing at
Stafford in 1976 and being that was the first win at
Stafford for our family, it was a night that I’ll
always remember. The trophy from that race stands
out from all the others we have in the shop and now
that I’m in the CARQUEST Champions For Charities
race, I’ll be able to race at Stafford for a third
time during the year. If I could, I would race at
Stafford every Friday night. A weekly car is a
little too much for me to take on, but if there was
a ride available, I would love to race weekly at
Stafford.”
The starting lineup for the CARQUEST Champions For
Charities feature event 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 David’s
House on behalf of Chris Pasteryak, 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: April
5, 2012 |
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