(Stafford Springs, CT)---For Schenectady, NY native Joe Williams, the 2013 season will be the realization of a dream as he challenges for SPAFCO Rookie of the Year honors in Stafford Motor Speedway’s SK Modified® division.  Williams is a 12-year veteran of the dirt modified ranks, and for the past three seasons he has been racing his dirt modified on asphalt tracks.  Williams prefers racing on asphalt and he is excited about getting the opportunity to live out his dream in 2013.

“I’ve always wanted to drive a NASCAR modified like Richie Evans,” said Williams.  “Richie was a small town guy who did his own work on his cars, and that’s exactly who I am.  I’m the third generation of my family at our auto recycling yard in Schenectedy, and we build a lot of our own parts and pieces.  It’s going to be surreal to race at Stafford.  I think that I’ve always been an asphalt racer that got stuck racing on dirt and thanks to my car owner Mike Wright and Hometown Lawn Care, I’m going to get the opportunity to live out my dream.”

Williams has enjoyed a fair amount of success in the dirt modified ranks.  Williams was a winner in 2006 at Oswego Speedway, and in 2007 Williams won the Super Dirt Sportsman Modified national championship with 12 wins.  Williams won 8 races in 2010 on asphalt, and in half of a season this year at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Williams just missed finishing in the top-10 in points.  Williams knows he faces a tall task in repeating that success in Stafford’s SK Modified® ranks, but he is confident that he can be a front runner in the 2013 season.

“When I raced sportsman modifieds, I always seemed to adapt to new tracks pretty well,” said Williams.  “It should be an exciting year and I think we have an opportunity to do really well at Stafford this season.   I think being somewhat naïve to the learning curve that I am facing might help me out a little bit.  I’m going to spend the winter working on my physical conditioning and learning as much about the car as I can so that when we show up in April, the only thing I’ll need to learn about is how to drive the car around the track.  Seeing my name on the Stafford website as an SK Modified® driver was awesome and I think it won’t really set in until we come through the pit gates and I see my name on the roof of the car.  It was very humbling to see the driver roster from the 2012 season at Stafford.  Those drivers are definitely the best in the business and if we can do well at Stafford this season, we can do well anywhere.  It’s definitely going to be tough racing against guys like Ted Christopher.”

While Williams will be brand new to the SK Modified® experience at Stafford, he had a small taste of what it takes to get around Stafford in August, when he ran in the 602 Sportsman Dirt Modified race as part of the PASS show.  Williams wheeled the #55L that was owned by Matt Sargen to a sixth place finish in the 40-lap feature.

“I’ve been coming to Stafford since I was a kid, but that PASS race in August was the first time that I was in the pits as part of the show,” said Williams.  “It was a bit overwhelming to come to Stafford from some of our local short tracks.  The pits are great, the track is great, and the lighting at Stafford is great, I can’t put into words just how awesome it is to be racing at Stafford.  The straightaways are so much longer than what I’m used to, I almost had time to think before going into the corners.”

Williams and the rest of the SK Modified® field will kick off their season in earnest with the 42nd Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 26-28, 2013.  Tickets for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” may be ordered by calling the Speedway Box Office.  Tickets are priced at $38.50 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 seating is $42.00 for all ages.  All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. 

For more information on the 42nd Annual CARQUEST TECH-NET Spring Sizzler®, or to order tickets, 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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