Woody Pitkat Going For Season Sweep in VMRS 80 at Stafford Speedway

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Photos by Wayne G. Barber

(Stafford Springs, CT)---Throughout his racing career, Woody Pitkat has amassed an impressive resume at Stafford Speedway.  His 73 career feature wins at the Connecticut half-mile facility rank second to only Ted Christopher and he has an SK Modified® track championship along with 2 Late Model track titles to his name.  When the Valenti Modified Racing Series takes the green flag for the VMRS 80 on Sept. 4, Pitkat will be looking to add his name to another chapter in the Stafford record book by becoming the first driver to record a season sweep in a modified touring division. 

Mike Stefanik (’90, ’97, ’98), Ted Christopher (’02), Tony Hirschman (’05), and Doug Coby (’12) have all won 3 out of 4 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events in a single season at Stafford while Pitkat is the first driver to win multiple VMRS races in a single season.

“It would be cool to be able to accomplish that and obviously our plan will be to win the race,” said Pitkat.  “We’re going to miss the Oxford race this weekend and I’m sure we’ll lose some points so we’ll be looking to win and get max points.  I think we should be capable of doing that but it’s going to be tough and a lot of guys have had some misfortune at Stafford this year.  Teddy [Christopher] blew a motor and didn’t even get to race the last race, I think Keith [Rocco] had some problems and he’s always good at Stafford, and Ryan [Preece] has been off a little bit with his car and he’s always tough at Stafford, Todd [Szegedy] is tough everywhere we go, and Chris [Pasteryak] is always tough at Stafford.  I think there’s probably 8-10 cars that could win that race.  We’ve struggled a little the last couple of races so hopefully we can get back on form and get going in the right direction at Stafford and get the sweep.”

One of the main reasons for Pitkat’s success in the first two VMRS races of 2015 at Stafford would be his hometrack knowledge from nearly 20 years of weekly competition.  Pitkat is also quick to recognize his crew and the great racecars that the #42 Kulessa Farms team provides him.

“Being my home track and racing there for 19 years helps and telling the guys what I need when I come off the track,” said Pitkat.  “A lot of credit has to go to the crew that gives me top notch equipment to go racing with.  Greg Felton, Pete Kulessa, and all the guys on the team have been around for a long time and they know what it takes week in and week out.  The way we’ve been going the last couple of races, it would be a good confidence booster for us for the last couple of races of the season after Stafford.  I have to give a big thanks to all our sponsors, Kulessa Farms, Cliff Nelson Motorsports, Steve Greer and Gunsmoke Stables, Billy the Kid, Magnus Transmissions, SPAFCO Race Cars, Patterson Farm, and Monahan Trucking, we couldn’t do this without their support.”

Tickets for the VMRS 80 are on sale now and 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.  Reserved seat tickets are $30.00 for all ages.  All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.  Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free parking along with overnight parking for self contained Recreational Vehicles.

For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783