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04/27/2012 |
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RICHIE
PALLAI, JR. HOPING FOR REPEAT OF SK MODIFIED®
SUCCESS IN THIS YEAR’S CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER |
The
41st Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler will
kick off the 2012 race season at Stafford Motor
Speedway and Richie Pallai, Jr., driver of the #39
CARQUEST Filters / Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet, is
hoping for a repeat of the 2009 Sizzler where he
collected his first SK Modified® feature victory.
Pallai finished 14th in the season opening event at
Thompson, and although he was caught up in a
multi-car wreck, he has confidence in his car and
team with how well they ran as they prepare for the
200-lap test that is the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring
Sizzler.
“We’re looking forward to the Sizzler more than we
have in the past,” said Pallai. “Stafford has kind
of been one of our worst tracks. You would think it
would be one of our better ones, but it just hasn’t
been. We ran really good at Thompson, we were eighth
when we pitted and we pitted with all the leaders.
We restarted 14th and we were up to 10th right
before we wrecked, so realistically we had about a
7th or 8th place car without a problem. We didn’t
qualify as good as we wanted to, which hurt us
because it’s tough to pass, but we’re looking
forward to Stafford. We had a lot of problems with
the car last year that we figured out during the
winter and we switched to Bruneau engines. We have
the best equipment that we’ve had in three years, so
it’s nice to know that going into the race.”
With the Whelen Modified Tour field being so close
together, Pallai knows that the first step to
repeating his SK Modified® victory will be a good
qualifying lap.
“You think it would be easy, but qualifying is a lot
harder than it looks,” said Pallai. “We’ll
definitely need to have a good lap because it’s so
hard to pass with the cars all being so close
together. At Thompson, Ryan [Preece] was dominant in
the first half of the race and he was having a hard
time getting back to the front after he pitted. We
were at Riverhead testing this week and the car is
very fast. Everyone on the team is having fun and
when everyone is having fun, good things usually
happen for us.” After qualifying, the next step is
to have the correct race strategy for the Sizzler.
With the race being 50-laps longer than most tour
races, Pallai knows that the correct strategy can
give him and his team’s chances a boost at victory.
“Stafford is so tough because the weather really
dictates what you’re going to do,” said Pallai.
“Every race at Stafford you have to start out tight
because it always loosens up. You have to save your
stuff early, but it’s such a long race that there’s
going to be a long green flag run and you don’t want
to go a lap down. You have keep a pace that you’ll
be fine at and then once the pit stop happens,
that’s when the race really picks up. You normally
break the race into two, the first half is just
surviving and the second half is where you go
racing. Usually if you lead the first 150 laps, you
probably aren’t going to lead the last 50 laps of
the Sizzler. You definitely drive the Sizzler
different from any other Tour race at Stafford.
Track position is going to be huge, some guys will
short pit, and other guys will pit late, but I think
that pitting late isn’t the advantage it used to be
with how hard it is to pass.”
Although Pallai came away from the first race of the
season with a disappointing 14th place finish, with
the Whelen Modified Tour switching to the Sprint Cup
Series points system, Pallai knows one race can put
him right into the thick of the championship fight.
“We destroyed the car at Thompson, but weirdly we
came out of there with our best points position to
start the season with,” said Pallai. “With the new
points system, if you have a good run, you can
capitalize on that. Right now, we’re only 12 points
out of second, which is 12 spots on the track. It’s
easy to figure out and if we can have a top-10
finish at Stafford and some guys in front of us have
a bad day, we can pick up 10 or 20 points in one
race, so it’s pretty cool the way it works now.”
With the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler being a
different race than most with it’s 200-lap distance,
Pallai remembers what it was like to win his first
SK Modified® race during Sizzler weekend and he is
hoping to repeat that success this Sunday at
Stafford and have a breakout season on the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour.
“It would be cool to win the Sizzler,” said Pallai.
“Anyone can win a race on any given day, but there’s
so much work and strategy involved with the Sizzler.
I think we’re in for a breakout year this season, we
have no excuses if we don’t run well. It all comes
down to me driving the car because everyone else on
the team is doing their jobs.”
The 2012 CARQUEST TECH-NET Spring Sizzler gets
underway this Friday, April 27 with a practice
session for Stafford’s weekly divisions. The
practice session will be open to the public at no
charge. Action continues on Saturday, April 28 with
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified
Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for
Stafford’s weekly divisions. Saturday will wrap up
with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late
Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler
continues on Sunday, April 29 with the CARQUEST
Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by Stafford’s SK
Modifieds® and Late Models joining the Whelen
Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of
Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.
Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 will be priced at $42.00 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 on the 41st Annual CARQUEST
TECH-NET Spring Sizzler®,
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: April
27, 2012 |
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