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WOODY PITKAT
READY TO DEFEND VMRS 80 TITLE
AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY WITH NEW CAR AND TEAM |
 Last
season at Stafford Speedway, Woody Pitkat was the
man to beat when the Valenti Modified Racing Series
came to town, winning 2 of the 3 races and finishing
second in the third event. Pitkat’s stellar Stafford
record propelled him to the 2015 VMRS championship.
Fast forward a year later and Pitkat is with a new
team and car, taking the reigns of the #50 Patterson
Farms car owned by Dan Stebbins that last season was
the #05 driven by Todd Patnode. The new combination
ran well in the VMRS season opening race at
Monadnock Speedway and Pitkat is looking forward to
returning to his home track for the VMRS 80 on May
20th and defending his VMRS 80 title from last
season.
“A couple of guys came over from the 42 team with me
to Dan Stebbins’ team,” said Pitkat. “I think we
missed the setup a little bit at Monadnock but the
driving characteristics between the two cars are
pretty much the same. Danny’s guys all did an
incredible job putting the car together, the car
looked like it belonged at a Whelen Modified Tour
race. I was a little disappointed with our finish at
Monadnock but I’ll obviously be looking forward to
going back to my home track and trying to make up
for the finish. With all the laps I have at Stafford
and everything on Danny’s team being top-notch,
there’s really no reason why we shouldn’t be good at
Stafford again. We had a little different engine
combination in the car at Monadnock and we’re going
back to the combination I was familiar with last
season, so we should be able to pick up right where
we left off at Stafford and get a good top-3 or
top-5 finish and hopefully contend for the win.”
In preparation of making the move to a new car and
team, Pitkat and the #52 team came to the open
practice session at Stafford back on April 16 and
Pitkat says that the team was very happy with how
the car performed.
“We went to the open practice and everyone was
really happy with the car,” said Pitkat. “It’s a
SPAFCO car and it’s pretty much a carbon copy of the
#42 car from last year. The car wasn’t really set up
for Stafford but it was close and we were really
happy with everything. I think we should be in good
shape when we get to Stafford for the race. I’m sure
Rowan [Pennink] and Keith [Rocco] will be there and
I’m not sure if Teddy [Christopher] will be there or
not, so it should be some good competition.”
Pitkat will also be looking to drive into NAPA
Victory Lane in the SK Modified® ranks on the same
night. Pitkat’s SK car is the #42 car that he drove
last season to the VMRS title and ran 2nd in the SK
Modified race at the 2016 NAPA Spring Sizzler®. With
how well the car performed at the Sizzler® combined
with the VMRS success of last season, Pitkat is
hopeful of notching several wins this season.
“I think if the race had stayed green at the end, I
felt like I had found something that I was catching
Rowan [Pennink],” said Pitkat. “We were pretty equal
but catching Rowan is one thing and passing him
would have been another. To finish on the podium in
our first race with a new car and some new stuff
going on, it was really encouraging. We actually
found a couple of things that were slowing us down a
little, so I think we’ll be even better as the
season goes along and we figure out what the car
wants. It was great for the team and it was great to
be working with Steve Greer again, who helped me win
my SK Modified® championship in 2013. I haven’t had
the best of seasons the last couple of years at
Stafford and we’re all excited to get back at it. If
we can get the car as good as it was for the VMRS
races last year, we should be pretty good.”
The May 20th VMRS 80 will be the first of three
Valenti Modified Racing Series events to be held at
Stafford during the 2016 season. The VMRS returns to
Stafford June 24th and September 2nd. Tickets for
all three VMRS events are available and on sale now.
Tickets for the May 20 VMRS 80 are priced at $27.50
for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for
children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under
are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an
adult. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission
Tax. Reserved seating is $30.00 for all ages. For
the 26th consecutive season the month of May is
Youth Organization Month at Stafford Speedway. All
children 14 and under are admitted FREE when wearing
a youth organization team shirt or uniform and
accompanied by a paying adult.
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 5, 2016 |
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