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 Stafford
Motor Speedway is hosting a field of accomplished
current and former championship drivers for this
year's 4th annual Champions for Charities event,
which will take place on Friday, June 27th. In the
up coming weeks before the event, Stafford Speedway
is providing a profile on each of the championship
drivers. This week, the spotlight is on both Richie
Pallai, Jr., the 2009 Spring Sizzler SK Modified®
Champion and 2013 Champions for Charities winner,
and David Arute, the 2011 Wild Thing Karts Senior
Outlaw Champion. Pallai will be racing for The
Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, and Arute
is racing for the Ben Was Here Foundation.
Both Arute and Pallai are competing in the 4th
Annual Bill Tamburro, Jr Memorial Golf Tournament to
benefit their charities. The Golf Tournament to
benefit both foundations, as well as the Lustgarten
foundation, will be held at Hawk's Landing Country
Club in Southington, CT on Monday, May 19, 2014
starting at 7:30 AM. For more information on the
golf tournament, contact Lisa Arute at (860)
684-2783 or
lisaarute@staffordspeedway.com.
Pallai's charity, The Catherine V. Hubbard Animal
Sanctuary, started as a collaborative labor of love
between the Hubbard Family and The Animal Center in
Newtown to recognize Catherine's dream. Catherine, a
first grader lost in the shooting at Sandy Hook
Elementary, had a passion for animals and insects
alike and often created special "homes" for the
animals she encountered each day. Possessing
strength and kindness beyond her years, at the end
of each day Catherine would send her special friends
off with a kiss and whispered request of, "Tell your
friends I am kind," in the hope that they would
return.
To carry on Catherine's legacy of providing homes
for animals in need, the Foundation is working with
the Animal Center in Newtown to build the CVH Animal
Sanctuary. The Sanctuary will provide a loving,
nurturing environment for all animals in need of a
home, featuring a dog and cat adoption area, a farm
animal rescue, and a wildlife rehabilitation center.
Visitors can also participate in humane education
programs through the learning center, spend time
surrounded by beautiful butterflies in the butterfly
garden, and tour a gallery featuring Catherine's
artwork.
Arute will be racing for the Ben Was Here
Foundation, in memory of his cousin, Ben Buckley,
who passed away as a result of a severe asthma
attack in January of this year. Ben was in the 2nd
grade and was an aspiring artist who enjoyed
baseball as well as building Lego's. The Buckley
family has established this educational scholarship
fund in his memory. To make a donation, visit
https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/gvv3/prayer-for-ben-buckley.
Both Arute and Pallai plan on trumping the
competition in their fundraising efforts once again
after Arute raised $7,205 for the Lustgarten
Foundation, earning him the pole position, and
Pallai raised $4,246 for the Catherine V. Hubbard
Animal Sanctuary. Both drivers have competed in the
Champions for Charities event since it started back
in 2011. Pallai is the reigning champion of last
year's event, and both he and Arute look forward to
being competitive on the mini-mile track.
Having had years of experience in the Wild Thing
Karts Program on Monday nights, as well as being the
2011 Senior Outlaw Champion, Arute is looking
forward to running in the 4th year of this event.
"After my little cousin passed away in January I
wanted to find a way to help his family in their
efforts to get word out about asthma," said Arute.
"So when the family established the Ben Was Here
Foundation I knew that racing in the Champions for
Charities race to raise funds for the Foundation
would be a perfect tribute to Ben. I'm looking
forward to the golf tournament on May 19th in which
the proceeds will be donated to Ben's Foundation and
the CVH Animal Sanctuary. The Champions for
Charities race will be held on Friday June 27th and
I'm hoping my car will be hooked up so that I can
make a good run in memory of Ben. I think champions
have gotten used to the karts and racing on the
mini-mile and it should be an exciting race again
this year with 3 and 4 wide racing."
After winning last year's race, Pallai is ready for
the chance to have a second consecutive victory. The
2009 Spring Sizzler SK Modified® Champion is eager
to get back into a Senior Outlaw kart and race with
fellow open-wheeled champions for the title.
"Outside of family and sports, animals are my next
love," said Pallai. "Raising as much money as we did
last year for the CVH Animal Sanctuary and then
winning the race was pretty cool. My relationship
with the Hubbard family has developed into a
friendship since I first met the Hubbard family. At
first, I wasn't really sure how to approach it with
all the family had been through, but I talk with
Jenny Hubbard at least once a week. It's turned into
a really great friendship. Their son Freddy is just
old enough to understand about racing and he is a
big fan of mine and I was able to find a go kart
over the winter that I got running and I'm going to
bring it up to him. I know it's only a charity race
but it was really nice to win the race last year for
Pete and Fran Lawlor, who let me use their Senior
Outlaw Kart. And being able to win the race when the
Hubbard family was there at the track watching me
was a huge bonus in addition to the money that we
raised."
The Champions for Charities event will take place
around the Stafford Mini-Mile track for a 15-lap
feature during the Friday June 27th race program.
For more information about the Champions for
Charities event, please call the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at 860-684-2783, or visit us
on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
