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TODD SZEGEDY CAPTURES 2015 OPENING RACE
AT MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY
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Having Fun and Winning is Szegedy’s
New Race Plan
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by Denise
DuPont |
 The
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) returned to
Monadnock Speedway for the 2015 season opening
event, “Spring Dash100” presented by Bond Auto
Parts. Todd Szegedy finished his heat race fourth,
and through the luck of the redraw started on the
pole. He took the field across the line at the green
flag then went forward with a plan to conserve the
equipment and win the race. Successfully completing
his plan, he crossed the finish line first to
capture a victory for car owner Kevin Stuart. The
driver from Ridgefield, CT made winning look like
fun as he captured the 2015 “Spring Dash “win. “I
love winning and we come here to race to win and to
have a good time.” Stated Szegedy in Victory Lane.
“I am coming into racing this year with a whole new
attitude of coming to have fun. And having fun is
going to get me wins.”
After sitting in second position for ten circuits,
Kirk Alexander made the decision to pass for the
lead on lap 11. He wheeled the #43 around Szegedy
and sat in the front position until just after
mid-race., ‘When he passed me I knew immediately
that he was driving his car too hard. So I just kept
my pace” Szegedy noted about the pass. “At first I
thought that maybe he knew something that I did not
know because he is one of the best drivers at this
track. My plan was just to keep him in sight and
just wait. Even if I had to wait until the end, I
was going to make my move on restarts and do
whatever I had to do to get the job done.”
 Szegedy
drove at a consistent pace back in third or fourth
waiting to make his move on lap 57. Alexander had
started to get loose about half-way and Szegedy knew
it was time to move. “I tried not to spin the wheels
whether it was on the restarts or just racing. I
also knew here that if you make a pass, you have to
make the pass quickly. You do not want to
procrastinate or stay alongside of somebody because
then you just use up your tires. So you have to make
it work or get back in line and just ride “ The
opportunity came just after a mid-race restart and
Szegedy took the chance to go for the top spot. “I
had to try a little harder when I had to pass him
(Kirk Alexander) back to regain the lead. But for
the most part I drove nice and easy and that is what
it takes. These tires are soft and you have to save
your equipment. “
After retaking the lead, Szegedy continued at his
own pace and took home the win for the #85 VMRS
team. “I definitely want to thank Kevin Stuart and
the whole team. The whole team worked hard. We put
this deal together late during the winter to we
decided to make it happen.” And make it happen the
Stuart Race Team did celebrating their victory in
the pits.
“I think that it is my third win here. And I want to
win every time I drive, so with the # 85 so were off
to a good start.” Expressed Szegedy. “We had a great
setup and we made some great changes during
practice. We worked as a team and this is the end
result. We will be back here with the tour car and
hopefully I can do a repeat.”
 Woody Pitkat of Stafford Springs, CT, started the
feature fifth and ran with the lead pack all 100
laps. “It was a good run. And it was a good finish
to start off the season with. Todd had a real good
car and he paced himself early on. I got by him and
they he got back by us on the restart when I was
behind Kirk (Alexander). Our car got real tight
towards the end and then it got tight in the center
and loose out. I just tried to battle and do the
best that I could. I want to thank these guys for
giving me the opportunity to ride this car. Hat’s
off to Todd (Szegedy) for the win. We will just work
on this to get it better for the next series race at
Stafford.”
A second place finish the first race in the VMRS
series season was a good start for the #42 VMRS team
“It was a good night for the team.” Stated Pitkat
after the race.” We started fifth on the bottom and
rolled up to third and then we were just cruising
and clicking the laps off. We were riding behind
Kirk (Alexander) and I thought that my car was a lot
better than him up to a point. I was kind of second
guessing thinking that I probably should have passed
him sooner but all in all the decisions we made were
good. Kirk got loose on a restart when he started
getting free while running second and I was in
fourth. We got shuffled back a little but came back
and started picking cars off. On a couple pf those
restarts I was fighting him hard on the outside and
I am sure that I beat him to the line a couple of
times when the caution came out."
Now with a second place finish in the books, the
team is looking forward to next series race at
Stafford Motor Speedway -- Pitkat’s home track.
“Tonight was a good way to start the season. We
learnt a lot and we can bring that to go to Stafford
which is even better. We are trying to do the best
that we can this year with this series so that going
to tracks week in and week out will definitely help
us. I am learning a lot. We also got some
 more seat
time here which will help us when we come with the
tour car here. “
Todd Patnode of Richmond, NH. Started the race
fourteenth, set his pace, drove clean and managed to
break into the lead pack with 20 laps to go. He
captured a podium finish after surviving his charge
to the front avoiding several spins and cautions.
“We started further back than we wanted to today but
the car was pretty good,” said Patnode from
post-race inspection. “We were maybe one adjustment
away but we are real happy with the car. I have to
congratulate Todd and Woody for their great runs. I
also want to thank all my sponsors and this entire
team. They do not know when to quit. We wanted a top
five in one piece in the end. We ended up in third
and in one piece so we are all happy.”
VMRS teams will return to racing on Friday, May 22nd
for 80 laps of green racing at Stafford Motor
Speedway.
If you cannot join us at the track, please join us
and follow the action on http://www.thechromehorn.com.
Notes from
Monadnock Speedway:
What was your plan going
into the first 2015 VMRS race?
Todd Szegedy
“Basically from the start we tried to save our
equipment. We run a soft tire with this series and
you definitely have to save your equipment – try not
to spin your wheels, while at the same time you
cannot let too many guys go by you.”
“I had a plan. I knew how hard I wanted to drive the
car along with how hard I needed to drive the car.
So when I reached a certain point I knew if I had to
let guys go by, I had to let them go. So I needed
what I had to do and I stuck with my plan. It does
not always work because you have restarts, you have
other competitors around you that could foil your
plan, and tonight I made all the right decisions in
the pits and on the track.”
Todd Patnode
“We had planned or holding back for a while and then
making our move. But we should have tightened up the
car just a whisker more.”
“We plan to run all of the VMRS races and also the
Tri-Track series this year.”
Your thoughts on several
cautions (nine) during the 100 lap race on the short
fast banks of Monadnock?
Todd Szegedy
“That is just normal. You have cautions, it is a
slippery track and when you combine that with guys
that are loose, free or not handling well and cannot
get to the throttle and you are going to get
cautions. Drivers in those conditions are going to
get into each other. But you know it happens, that
is just the way that it is no matter what series
that you are in. You are going to have cautions and
you hope that everyone can settle down so you run
green but that is difficult to do because you have
guys that want to go up through the pack that think
that they can get to the front and some make
contact. That is just racing. And the way that it
always will be at a track.”
Todd Patnode
“Cautions did not affect us because I had already
planned out the pace that I was going to run for the
entire race and that was what we did.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
May 3, 2015 |
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