(Press Release from Stafford Speedway)
Joey Cipriano
With the Bud Light Open Modified 80 set to take the green flag on July 13 at Stafford Speedway, SK Modified® driver Joey Cipriano is looking forward to the race.
Cipriano has already made 2 starts at Stafford this season with the #27 Gunsmoke Stables car owned by Steve Greer in the VMRS 80 in May and the Twisted Tea Open 80 in June.
Cipriano was caught in a wreck in the VMRS 80 and finished 24th but with a solid 7th place finish in the June Twisted Tea 80, Cipriano is looking forward to the Bud Light Open 80 and thinks he could potentially have a winning car.
“I’m excited for the race,” said Cipriano. “We’ve had a good car both times at Stafford with the MRS and the Open show. While we finished 7th last time out, everyone who finished ahead of us has won races at that level, whether it’s MRS, Modified Tour, or Open shows, so to be able to run with guys like that was encouraging for us running a limited schedule with the #27 car. I think we can win. The car is fast and it’s run really well. We got caught up in a wreck in the MRS race and then in June we got stuck behind a car that broke and lost a bunch of spots and I used the tires up trying to get back to the front. We’ll see how things are when we show up to the track but I think we’re going to be pretty good.”
With two races already under his belt with the #27 car added to his weekly racing experience in the SK Modified® division, Cipriano feels like he has a good baseline to work with on car setup and his confidence is growing behind the wheel of the higher powered open modified car.
“Seat time is everything,” said Cipriano. “Obviously I don’t have a ton of time in that style of car and I feel like in the MRS race I had a tough time with the difference in speed between that car and the SK car and how to back the corners up and how to run that car versus an SK. Last time out in the Open 80 I felt like I was a lot more comfortable with the two cars. I’m still learning how to run these longer races and what we need to do to have the best strategy to be able to win the race. You go with the same baseline and tune on it from there. The biggest thing will be keeping up with track conditions throughout the day. Running weekly definitely helps but at the same time the guys who win races are going to be up front no matter what. I think guys like Richard Savary and Ronnie Silk who don’t race here every week are going to be contenders and it’s going to be a good race for sure.”
In addition to the Bud Light Open Modified 80, Cipriano will be looking to log triple duty on July 13. Cipriano will take part in the 40-lap SK Modified® feature with his #78 J.G. Poulin Drywall machine and he will be hoping for a top-13 finish to be able to take part in the TC 13 Shoot-Out, which will invert the top-13 cars for a 13 lap race that will pay the winner $1,313 in memory of Ted Christopher. With Cipriano coming off his first career SK Modified® feature win on June 22, he has high hopes for the taking down another win.
“It’s really cool that Stafford is putting together a race in Teddy’s memory. Running Teddy’s car for a couple races last year and getting to know him it’s pretty cool to try to win some money in his memory. The guys who just ran 40 laps getting flipped around with a bunch of money on the line and not many laps, it’s going to be exciting for sure. Hopefully we can have a good run in the 40-lap race and we’ll see how things play out if we can be in the 13 car invert. It was great to not have to answer that question any more about when are you going to win. The first win is always the hardest to get. It’s an accomplishment to have our name on the SK winners list and now we want to go do it again and this would be the perfect night to get it done.”
With 1 week left to go until the Bud Light Open Modified 80 and TC 13 Shootout take the green flag, teams are encouraged to contact the speedway office to register for the Mod Open 80-lap event or complete the online form. Tickets for the Bud Light Open Modified 80 are priced at $30.00 for adult general admission, $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 $32.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free parking along with overnight parking available for self contained Recreational Vehicles.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
OK I’m behind the curve. Dowling in the 25 at the TTOMS Tuesday and no 99 last night at Stafford. What’s up with that?
Looks like both Stafford and Lee have a chance to come out as winners next Friday even though the VMRS loyalties are split. Stafford should get the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th place drivers in the VMRS top 10 and Lee will get the rest including the top two Nocella and Willis. Aside from the VMRS split the Open field once again looks to be strong with our favorite SK drivers plus a VMRS series top 10ers. Etheridge was strong in the first open, Barrett’s back hopefully, NWMT Fall Final winner Goodale should be there once again and recent TTOMS winner and popular Ron Silk is a new addition. Dana DiMitteo was an interesting sign up as well.
So who’s your daddy? The Open race, SK Shootout, $3 Bud Light happy hour or all of the above.