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05/17/2013 |
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CARQUEST
CHAMPIONS FOR CHARITIES DRIVER SPOTLIGHT:
RANDY CABRAL |
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
3-time NEMA Midget Champion (2008, 2008, 2011) Randy
Cabral, who will be racing to help support The
Spalding Foundation.
"We're working on some things for fundraising," said
Cabral. "We're working on some raffle items and
maybe we'll do some 50/50 stuff at the track and
then see who we can get to make online donations. I
was real good friends with Shane Hammond and this
year would have been his 5th year anniversary
racing, so it's been a bit of a tough start to the
season for me. He was a great friend and he is still
missed to his day, so it's nice to be able to work
with the Spalding Foundation to reach out and help
those who have gone through similar circumstances. I
was able to meet with them last year at Stafford and
they're great people to be associated with. It's an
awesome situation, I love doing the charity stuff,
and it's going to be a good time, I can't wait."
This year's edition of CARQUEST Champions For
Charities will be Cabral's third time behind the
wheel of a Senior Outlaw Wild Thing Kart. Cabral has
finished 10th and 11th in the first two races and he
is looking forward to putting his experience to good
use and come away with a good finish in this year's
race.
"I feel pretty good about my chances," said Cabral.
"I've had great times in the past and it's been a
lot of fun to work with. It'll be a lot easier for
me this year since the race is on a Friday night and
we'll be racing the NEMA car on Saturday, but I just
found out that that Friday will be my last day of
work because we've had so many snow days this year,
so I'll have to jump out of work and head right to
Stafford. I might have to miss practice, but I'll
definitely be there for everything else."
After Cabral takes part in the Champions For
Charities race on Friday night, he will be a busy
driver the following night for CARQUEST Super
Saturday as he will be racing the NEMA, NEMA Lite,
and Pro-4 Modified feature events.
"I'll be running the NEMA, NEMA Lite, and Pro-4
Modified feature, so I'll have a busy Saturday,"
said Cabral. "We blew the engine up last year the
car owner didn't have enough money to buy another
motor, so I'm buying the lower end and he's giving
me all the rest of the parts and pieces. I'd love to
be able to drive a Super, but those rides are few
and far between, but we'll be busy with the NEMA and
Pro-4."
While Cabral will be busy ride hopping during
CARQUEST Super Saturday, his bread and butter
remains his NEMA Midget ride with Tim Bertrand.
Cabral's teammate Todd Bertrand won the season
opening NEMA Midget feature at Waterford, while
Cabral came home in the third position. With two
podium finishes, Cabral is looking for a repeat
performance of the 2010 CARQUEST Super Saturday
feature, which Cabral won.
"I think this year we're looking pretty good," said
Cabral. "Between Todd and myself, we have good cars
and things are going good. We'll see how Todd does
in Indiana and hopefully we can keep going as good
as we did in the first race with a win and a third.
We've had good runs there in the past, but we seem
to have bad luck. Last year, we were the fastest car
in practice and then we crashed halfway through the
race. We learned a lot last year, and we have a lot
of new ideas, so I think we'll be in pretty good
shape for the race."
The Spalding Foundation provides monetary support
for drivers, crewmen, and racing officials who have
sustained injuries in a race related accident at a
NASCAR, dirt or local licensed track in New York
State and around the United States.
In 1988, Rod Spalding was seriously injured while
racing at Rougemont Speedway in North Carolina.
Spalding was a well-known and popular driver at the
Shangri-La Speedway, Owego (Tioga Motorsports Park),
as well as a member of the NASCAR Modified division.
Immediately following Spalding's accident in 1988,
Betty Sherwood from Owego, NY organized an event
that was held at Quinlan Park, Waverly where fans
helped her raise more than $25,000. The following
year Sherwood formed the Spalding Foundation and
serves as president. Diane Crooker of Horseheads, NY
and Pam Olenski of Maine, NY completes the
three-member board. Since its formation in 1989, the
Spalding Foundation has donated over $100,000 to
more than 130 individuals and families.
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 Spalding
Foundation on behalf of Randy Cabral, 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: May
17, 2013 |
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