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05/17/2012 |
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STAFFORD
MOTOR SPEEDWAY CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
BOBBY SANTOS III |
 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. This week's CARQUEST
Champions For Charities spotlight falls on 2010
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Bobby Santos,
III, who will be racing to help raise funds for the
USAC Benevolent Fund to support Eric Saunders.
Eric Saunders, the son of Hoosier Tire’s Irish
Saunders, was injured in a motocross crash while he
was practicing for the Steel City National at his
home track in 2010 and he is on the road to
recovery. The money that Bobby Santos, III raises
will go towards helping Eric's family purchase
equipment for his rehabilitation.
“We’re good friends with the Saunders family and
from what I understand, Eric is making some progress
in his recovery,” said Santos. “I know he is
promoting Plymouth Speedway in Indianapolis now, so
that’s a good step for him to take and hopefully we
can raise some money to aid his recovery from his
accident.”
The USAC Benevolent Fund was established in 1959 as
a way to help provide support for individuals such
as drivers, officials, organizers, and mechanics who
have ties to USAC and Indy Racing League
competition. Since 1959, the USAC Benevolent Fund
has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to
assist members and their families in time of need.
Santos began his racing career in the quarter midget
ranks and in 2000, at the age of 14, he moved into
open wheeled competition by racing modifieds at New
Smyrna Speedway and a 350 Supermodified at Star
Speedway. In his first season of 350 Super
competition at Star, Santos won a race and set a
track record that still stands today. Santos
continued his foray into the world of open wheels,
racing ISMA Supermodifieds, USAC Sprints, USAC
Midgets, and USAC Silver Crown cars. Santos is a
Boston Louie NEMA winner and an ISMA Bud Nationals
winner at Oswego. Santos led all drivers with 5 USAC
Midget wins in 2006 and the 2006 season also saw
Santos take home a $50,000 bonus from CARQUEST Auto
Parts and Valvoline as he won the Midget and PRA Big
Car races in the same night at Stafford. Santos won
his first career Whelen Modified Tour event at
Thompson in 2007 and the 2009 season saw him win
races in USAC Sprints, Midgets, and Silver Crown
cars. The 2010 season saw him move into the #4
Mystic Missile owned by Bob Garbarino and he won 3
of the first four races of the season on his way to
his first career NASCAR championship. Last year’s
CARQUEST Champions for Charities event was the first
time that Santos had sat behind the wheel of a go
kart for a while and he had a blast racing the kart.
“The race was a bit different than I expected, but
it was a lot of fun,” said Santos. “I hadn’t driven
a go kart in a long time, so it was a really good
time racing with those guys. The first half of the
race was pretty exciting for us, but the second half
was a little disappointing as some of the guys with
bigger motors blew us away. But it was a good time,
a lot of fun, and we were able to raise some money
for charity, which is always a good thing.”
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 The USAC
Benevolent Fund on behalf of Bobby Santos, III, and
for more information on the event, please refer to
the
CARQUEST Champions for Charities donation page.
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: May
17, 2012 |
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