(Stafford Springs, CT)---When big races come up on the schedule, top drivers usually raise their game to take home the honor and the glory that goes with winning a prestigious race.  With Stafford Speedway hosting the 9th Annual CARQUEST SK 150, SK Modified® drivers, including current points leader Ted Christopher, will be looking to step their game up in order to take home a piece of the over $25,000 in total posted awards in the biggest race of the season.

“I’m looking forward to it, it should be a pretty interesting format,” said Christopher.  “It’s different to what we’ve run before and 75-laps is definitely I think just the right amount.  We usually run 40-laps, so we’re talking almost twice the distance and then we have to do it again.  I’m looking forward to it and I’m glad they changed it around a bit.  I think it will be good with this format.”

Christopher is Stafford Speedway’s winningest driver with 117 overall feature victories.  Of those 117 wins, 97 have come in the SK Modified® division, far and away the most of any driver in Stafford’s history.  Christopher heads into the CARQUEST SK 150 fresh off of his 97th career SK modified win last Friday night and he is closing in on his personal goal of 100 wins in the SK Modified® division.

“I’d like to get a couple more wins this year, I’d like to be able to get to 100 wins with the SK this year,” said Christopher.  “It would be nice to do it this year.  That would be right up there in the top-3 for me.  That’s a lot of race wins when you think about it, it’s hard to do that in one division at one track.  I’m hoping that I can get there.  The SK Modified® is the division that I started in, it’s the division that I love, and I’ve made my bread and butter in that division.  I never imagined I’d ever win this many races.  When I first started, I was bad.  I built my own motors for 15 years and we built our own cars, cut them up and put them back together.  It’s a lot different now where you can go out and buy the best chassis and the best motor and you can be fast.”

The 2012 season has also seen Christopher and his familiar #13 Broadband Access team get back to their championship contending ways.  After winning the last of his 7 Stafford track championships in 2009, Christopher won a single race and finished 4th in the 2010 standings and he won twice and finished 8th in last year’s SK Modified® points standings.  While those are hardly poor results, they weren’t the kind of results that people have come to expect from Christopher.  With 3 wins to his credit this season and the SK Modified® points lead, Christopher credits his crew for his return to championship contention.

“I think we paid a little more attention to the car this year,” said Christopher.  “Between Mike O’Sullivan, who’s always been with me, and my friend Daren Bergenty, who came on board this year, we’re a lot more consistent and the car has been fast.  We’ve had a couple issues with the tires this year, but all in all, the car has been really good and consistent.  I think everybody is a bit more equal this year with the spec motor.  We just have to pretty much do the same thing we’ve been doing.  Keith [Rocco] is behind but he can make that up, Ryan [Preece] is there, Woody [Pitkat] is there, I would say it’s probably going to be between the four of us for the championship, we’re all pretty close.  It’s good for the racing and the fans.  As a driver, I’d love to be winning 10 races every year, but that’s not so good for everybody else.  But the game changes and it could change again.  I’ve been doing this for a long time, you just have to ride the wave while you can.  If we can have some good luck, I’d like to win another championship, that would be nice.”

The 9th Annual CARQUEST SK 150 is scheduled for July 20th.  Tickets are priced at $27.50 for adult general admission, $5.00 for children ages 6-14 general admission, and Free for Children ages 5 & under.  Reserved seating is available for $30.00 for all ages.  All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.  As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking available. 

For more information, or to order tickets to the 9th Annual CARQUEST SK 150, 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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