|
 In
its fourth year of existence, Stafford Motor
Speedway’s Champions for Charities event was another
success. 10 open wheel champion drivers rallied to
raise over $32,000 for an assortment of charities.
Over the course of four years of the event the
Champions for Charities drivers have combined to
raise over $177,000 for 27 different charities.
The Champions for Charities Senior Outlaw go-kart
race was established in 2011 in a collaboration
between Lisa Arute, Mark Arute, and Rich Pallai. The
hope was to create an event in which drivers and
fans could race for a cause and give back to the
community. The format has remained unchanged over
the four year existence of the event. Open wheel
championship drivers are announced early in the year
and each driver raises money for their respective
charity with the driver raising the most money
starting in pole position for the 15-lap Wild Think
Kart Senior Outlaw go-kart feature race.
“Wade and Sandi Gagner have been very instrumental
in bringing the Champions for Charities Event to
fruition.” said Lisa Arute, Stafford Speedway
Executive VP / CFO. “When Stafford Management
presented the concept to them, in the winter of
2011, they embraced it. Without their hard work and
dedication to the Monday Night Wild Thing Kart
Series at Stafford the event would not be possible.
We look forward to continuing the event and want to
thank the Kart Owners that have participated
throughout the 4-years.”
The 2014 edition was won by Ron Midford, Jr., who
was racing to raise money for the Troy Russell
Benefit Fund. With his victory, Midford became the
first two-time winner of the charity event; Midford
has won the charity race twice while Keith Rocco and
Richie Pallai, Jr. have each won the race once. The
2014 champions that participated included, David
Arute, Ron Midford, Richie Pallai, Jr, Ryan Preece,
Ted Christopher, Woody Pitkat, Randy Cabral, Doug
Coby, Eric Berndt and Keith Rocco.
The 15-lap CARQUEST Champions for Charities event
featured plenty of action with three and four-wide
racing a common occurrence. The 2014 race came down
to a duel between Midford and Christopher.
Christopher took over the race lead midway through
the 15-lap feature and he looked like he had the
kart to beat. But Midford put on a furious charge
over the final laps and was able to wrestle the lead
away from Christopher on the second to last lap and
held off a final charge from Christopher to take the
checkered flag.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on
the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
