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03/22/2013 |
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CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
RYAN PREECE
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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
2011 Stafford SK Modified® champion Ryan Preece, who
will be racing to support the Connecticut chapter of
the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
"Last year we had a lot of fun raising money for
Make-A-Wish and we were fortunate enough to hit our
goal of raising $5,000," said Preece. "This year
should be a lot of fun again and we'd like to raise
more money than we did last year, but hopefully we
can at least match what we raised last year. We're
working on some ideas right now for fund raising
opportunities and we only have three more months
before the race, so we have to get going."
Make-A-Wish® grants the wishes of children with
life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the
human experience with hope, strength and joy.
Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country
every 38 minutes.
Preece's $5,000 total last year was good enough to
give him 5th place on the starting grid and he
dueled with Ron Midford, Jr. for the win in the
closing laps, but he was unable to make a pass for
the win and settled for second place. After
experiencing for the first time what it was like to
sit behind the wheel of a Wild Thing Kart Senior
Outlaw machine, Preece is ready to finish one step
higher on the podium this year.
"Those karts are fun to drive, without shocks they
bounce around quite a bit, but any time you're in
something with 4 wheels and a motor, it's a good
time," said Preece. "Last year I was lucky enough to
be in a fast kart and we came really close to
winning. There was one moment last year where I
could have got by Ron, but I didn't want to end up
wrecking someone's kart so we settled for the second
place finish. You really have to manhandle those
karts around the track and hopefully we'll have
another fast kart to race this year that we can put
into the winner's circle when the checkered flag
falls. I think it's pretty cool that the race will
be on a Friday this year, it will give the normal
Friday crowd something different to see and we're
hoping to put on a good show for all the fans."
In addition to his fund raising efforts, Preece will
be getting ready to tackle Stafford's SK Modified®
division in the #40 J.G. Poulin Drywall / Sullivan &
Sons Pontiac as well as the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour season behind the wheel of the #16 Diversified
Metals Ford. Preece won two races and finished
fourth in the 2012 SK Modified® standings last year
after winning the championship in 2011, and he is
determined to get back to the top of the standings
this season.
"Everything is looking good, everything is the same
as it was last year, so we should be in good shape,"
said Preece. "Last year we had some bad luck, there
were a few nights where we had a dominant car and
things just didn't go our way. Mr. and Mrs. Poulin
are putting a lot into our motor and I'm sure that
Mike Pettit will have a good piece for us. One area
that we won't be lacking in this year will be
horsepower, that's for sure."
As Preece looks to better his points position in the
SK Modified® division, he will also be looking to
improve his Whelen Modified Tour finishes at SMS.
Preece was on pole for 2 of the 4 Stafford races
last year but his best finish was a second place
effort at the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
Preece will be looking to add to his 1 career
victory at SMS, which came back in 2009, and with
the newly announced $25,000 CARQUEST Triple Crown
bonus at Stafford, Preece has extra incentive to get
back to CARQUEST Victory Lane.
"We always seem to be consistent and fast at
Stafford with the Tour car, so I feel like our
chances of winning that bonus are pretty good," said
Preece. "It's pretty cool that CARQUEST and Stafford
have offered that bonus. If we can't win the three
CARQUEST races this year, we're going to try our
hardest to win as many of them as we can. We all
race hard every lap on the Tour, but I'm sure that
you're going to see some really hard racing at the
Sizzler this year and whoever wins the Sizzler will
obviously be in good shape. Whoever ends up winning
the Sizzler, I'm sure everyone will try their
hardest to keep him from winning either of the last
2 CARQUEST races. We always seem to qualify well at
Stafford and if we can figure out what we need for
the race, I think we'll be in good shape to win some
Stafford races 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
Connecticut chapter fo the Make-A-Wish Foundation on
behalf of Ryan Preece, 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
22, 2013 |
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