(Press Release from Stafford Motor Speedway)
Ronnie Williams
Last season in Stafford Speedway’s SK Modified® division, Ellington native Ronnie Williams tied Rowan Pennink for the most wins during the year grabbing an impressive 6. Fast forward to July 2016 and Williams has yet to drive his #59 Advice One / Tick Free Organic Tick Control machine to NAPA Victory Lane. Despite the lack of wins this season, Williams says that things are right where they should be and that he is more than happy with his results thus far.
“As far as people might be wondering why we haven’t been winning races, we’re actually doing what we set out to do this season,” said Williams. “I wanted to be consistent with our finishes. Last year during the month of June we didn’t finish a single race and this season we’ve completed every single lap so far. I don’t think we’re having a bad season at all. There’s a lot of season left to go and our car usually comes alive in July and August, so if anything I’d say we’re just getting started. I’m not concerned. Of course we want to win, that’s not a question, but I’d say we’re being consistent and now it’s time for us to get some wins.”
Williams’ statement is proved out by the numbers. Although at this time last year he had already won twice, he was 14th in the points standings and 188 points out of the lead. This season sees Williams in 5th place in the SK Modified® points standings and 74 points behind Rowan Pennink and Ted Christopher and only 2 points behind Eric Berndt for fourth place.
“We have 13 races left and we won 4 out of 5 races at the end of July and August last year,” said Williams. “I would rather win one or two races and the championship instead of winning 6 or 8 races and not winning the championship like we did last year. You just have to look back at last year. Ryan Preece didn’t win a race until the NAPA SK 5k race and he finished right behind Rowan in the points standings. We don’t come to the track to finish second or fifth, we come to the track every week to win just like everyone else does. We’re still trying to figure out what works with the tire change for this season. I know I have one of the best guys in the business with [crew chief] Stash [Butova] and our cars are very good cars so I’m looking forward to rest of the summer.”
One race that could jump start things for Williams and the #59 team is the $5,000 to win NAPA SK 5k set for Friday, July 8th. Williams’ crew chief Stash Butova has had a lot of extra distance race success while turning the wrenches on Frank Ruocco’s SK Modified® machines and Williams thinks that this race could be the perfect launching point for the #59 to get back into NAPA Victory Lane.
“I think we’ll have a good chance at it,” said Williams. “We had an incident towards the end of the race last year that knocked us out of contention. Stash really knows how to set the car up for a long run, everyone has seen that from when he worked with Frank Ruocco in the 100 and 150-lap races, so it’ll all be up to me. Of course I think everyone in the field wants to win the 5k, who wouldn’t want to win that race.”
One other thing that Williams says he could use is having just a little bit of racing luck on his side.
“I think we’ve just been involved in just about everything this year, we can’t seem to catch a break,” said Williams. “It seems like every week we’re breaking a tie rod or something like that. Even with that, we’ve still been able to finish races and if we can get a little luck, I think we can be right there and be a contender.”
Tickets for the July 8th NAPA SK 5K are available online at www.staffordspeedway.com or by calling the speedway office at 860-684-2783. Discount tickets are available at participating NAPA Auto Parts Stores. Tickets purchased through NAPA Auto Parts also include a barbeque dinner and a NAPA goodie bag. Tickets are priced at $27.50 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for kids ages 6-14, and kids 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will be priced at $30.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Stafford Speedway offers free parking with free overnight parking for self-contained RV’s available. Fans can log onto www.staffordspeedway.com to cast their vote for the NAPA SK 5K Gambler’s Challenge presented by Dunleavey Truck and Trailer Repair as well as lap count and invert.
For more information on the July 8th NAPA SK 5K, 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.
I’ve seen this kid running at Stafford and Thompson this year and he looks even stronger than last year. Just a matter of time before we see him running off wins at Both tracks. He is patient and aggressive. He never roughs anyone up. Very hard clean racer. My whole section loves watching this kid race. So go get em Ronnie. My prediction is he wins the 5k. Had the best car last year, got taken out as the leader and came back to finish 3rd. Good article.