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03/14/2013 |
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CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
RICHIE PALLAI JR.
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 Stafford
Motor Speedway has lined up an impressive field of
current and former open wheel champions for its 3rd
Annual CARQUEST Champions For Charities Event, which
will take place on Friday, June 28th this season.
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 spotlights falls on
Richie Pallai, Jr., the 2009 Spring Sizzler SK
Modified® Champion, who will be racing to help
support the Animal Center of Newtown in memory of
Sandy Hook victim Catherine Violet Hubbard. The
Animal Center and the Hubbard Family have announced
that they plan to build the Catherine Violet Hubbard
Animal Sanctuary, which will be a place where all
creatures, great and small, can know the touch of a
kind hand and be safe from harm.
"For this year's CARQUEST Champions For Charities, I
wanted to do something for Sandy Hook as well as
doing something for animals," said Pallai. "I love
animals and Catherine was an animal lover, so racing
for the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary is
a win-win. It was obviously unfortunate
circumstances that this opportunity came about from,
but the money we raise will be going to a good cause
to take care of animals and most importantly it will
be in Catherine's memory."
The Animal Center of Newtown is an all-volunteer,
non-profit rescue organization dedicated to helping
animals through compassionate, no-kill programs.
Created in 2004, The Animal Center runs its rescue
programs entirely through a volunteer foster
network. Catherine Violet Hubbard was one of the
victims of the Sandy Hook tragedy last December, and
since Catherine had a love of animals, the Animal
Center and the Hubbard family announced plans to
build an animal sanctuary in Catherine's name.
Pallai is also an animal lover, and when searching
for a way to honor the memory of the Sandy Hook
victims while also helping animals, the Catherine
Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary was a perfect fit.
For his fund raising duties, Pallai has several
items that he will be giving away for a donation to
the Catherine Hubbard Animal Sanctuary. Pallai has
Sandy Hook memorial decal that he will be giving
away throughout the season for a minimum $5 donation
and he will carry the decal on his #39 CARQUEST
Filters Whelen Modified Tour car all season long. In
addition to the decals, Pallai has custom CARQUEST
Filters hats that he will be giving away, and fans
can stop by Pallai's #39 car and make a donation in
person at the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party during
CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on April 28.
"We'll be giving out the Sandy Hook decals along
with some custom CARQUEST Belts and Hose hats and
tee-shirts at the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party
and all of the proceeds will go to the Catherine
Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary," said Pallai. "I've
had a lot of help with the decals and I have to
thank Lisa Morgillo, Lianna Berndt, Michael Tiberio,
and Lisa Arute for their help in getting the decals
printed and Tom Abele of 32 Signs for printing the
stickers. Every hat and tee-shirt that we sell will
be lettered with CARQUEST Belts and Hose and I have
to thank them for making it possible for us to have
hats and tee-shirts to sell at the Pit Party this
year, we're hoping we can raise a lot of money. The
Animal Center hopes to have the Catherine Violet
Hubbard Animal Sanctuary up and running within 5
years and hopefully the money we raise this year
will help them get a good start to building the
sanctuary."
After finishes of 7th and 9th in the first two
CARQUEST Champions For Charities race, Pallai has
his sights set on a better finish this year on
Stafford's Mini-Mile behind the wheel of a Wild
Thing Kart Senior Outlaw machine.
"We all want to win this race for our charities and
we give it our all, but if there's one race that we
can't win, this would be it," said Pallai. "This
race is all about raising money for a lot of good
causes and us drivers going out there on the track
and having a good time. There's no pressure, we
don't have to get out of the car and debrief with
the crew, and everyone is smiling and having fun.
Just like any other kind of racing, it definitely
helps to have a good kart and a good setup because
the karts are really bumpy going around the mini
mile. Hopefully we raise the most money this year
and we'll be able to get a good starting spot for
the race."
In addition to his CARQUEST Champions For Charities
duties, Pallai will be taking part in his fourth
season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. After
recording three top-10 finishes in four races with a
new chassis last year, Pallai is eager to get his
2013 season started.
"We're all really excited about the 2013 season,"
said Pallai. "We bought a new chassis towards the
end of last year and we had 3 top-10 finishes in the
4 races we ran with the new car. I feel like we're
stable in the motor and chassis department and this
is the first off-season that we haven't had to do
anything major to the car. We have the confidence
that we can run with the big boys this year and
we're planning on running the full schedule this
year."
The starting lineups for the CARQUEST Champions For
Charities 15-lap feature 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
Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary on behalf
of Richie Pallai, 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, which will take place
on Friday, June 28.
For more information, 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
14, 2013 |
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