Woody Pitkat In Hill Enterprises Whelen Modified Tour Ride Full-Time For 2013 Season

It’s said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Woody Pitkat

Though for Woody Pitkat, making a second impression turned out to be the most impressive one for the management team at the Hill Enterprises NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team.

During an appearance on Motor Racing Network’s Modified Madness on Wednesday, Pitkat revealed that Hill Enterprises team owner Sandra Hill offered him a full-time ride in the team’s car for the 2013 Whelen Modified Tour season.

Pitkat reunited with the Hill’s this year, racing the final three events of the season for the team. Pitkat ran 10 events for Hill Enterprises in 2007 before he was released in the offseason that year. It was his first ride in the series.

“I can’t thank them those guys enough for giving me a second chance,” Pitkat told Modified Madness show hosts Kyle Rickey and Buddy Long on Wednesday. “… I’m really looking forward to next year.”

Pitkat replaced driver Jon McKennedy in the Hill Enterprises ride before the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 22. He ran near the front of the pack most of the day in Loudon before getting caught up in a multi-car wreck late in the race.

In the next event, the CarQuest Fall Final 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway on Sept. 30, Pitkat led all but 22 laps of the event. He lost the lead with just six laps remaining to eventual race winner Bobby Santos III, settling for a second place finish.

He finished 10th in the season ending World Series of Speedway Racing 150 Sunday at Thompson International Speedway.

David Hill, the team’s crew chief and son of team owner Sandra Hill, told RaceDayCT on Wednesday that Pitkat: “Has matured in every way you could think of” since his first stint with the organization.

“That’s what we needed at the end of the season,” David Hill said. “All we did was change drivers and Woody gave us results.”

David Hill said he was happy to have the plans for 2013 in place just hours of the conclusion of the season finale.

“I just think it gives [Pitkat] more confidence making the decision now,” David Hill said. “It gives all the guys confidence. We all sat down after the race Sunday and that’s who everybody wanted for next year. Everybody was just happy. They enjoyed running good.”

The team will run in next month’s North-South Shootout Tour Type Modified event at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C. with Pitkat.

Hill said the team will go with Pitkat to the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February. He said he also expects the team to run at the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach for the Whelen Modified Tour at Daytona International Speedway Feb. 18-19, 2013.