It was the question many were asking around the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as the season came to an end Oct. 20 at Thompson Speedway.
Woody Pitkat
Would Woody Pitkat land another full-time ride with the series before next year? It didn’t take long for an answer to that question to arise.
Pitkat confirmed to RaceDayCT on Friday evening that he has been tabbed to replace Bryon Chew in the Buzz Chew Racing No. 88 ride on the Whelen Modified Tour for next year.
Pitkat, of Stafford, had been racing with the Hill Enterprises team since midway through the 2012 season. Team manager David Hill announced in September that the Hill Enterprises team would be shutting down for the 2014 season because of financial issues.
“Obviously I’m pretty grateful and pretty ecstatic,” Pitkat said. “To me, its like a dream come true. I’ve talked to those guys before and had a little bit of a relationship with them. I practiced Bryon’s [K&N Pro Series East] car back in the day at Thompson. So I kind of knew them.”
Pitkat finished ninth in the Whelen Modified Tour standings in 2013 with two top-five’s and nine top-10’s in 14 starts. Over 78 career starts in the series since 2007, Pitkat has six top-five finishes and 34 top-10’s.
“It’s hard to find a good ride and I feel like I’ve definitely paid my dues and I’m very appreciative of [team owner Buzz Chew] to give me a chance,” Pitkat said. “I’m up to the challenge.”
Bryon Chew announced Friday that he was retiring from full-time competition on the Whelen Modified Tour with his family owned team. Chew, of Mattituck, N.Y., began his career running at NASCAR’s touring level with the K&N Pro Series East in 1999. He made 129 starts over 10 seasons with the before moving into full-time competition on the Whelen Modified Tour in 2011.
In three seasons on the Whelen Modified Tour Chew made 42 starts with a career best finish of fourth, coming in the 2013 event at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. Chew finished 17th in the Modified Tour standings this past season.
Pitkat also competed last year full-time in the SK Modified divisions at Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway and in the Late Model division at Stafford. He won his first Stafford Motor Speedway SK Modified division championship in 2013. Pitkat confirmed Friday that he won’t be returning to the SK Modified team owned by Steve Greer which he won the championship with.
“It’s definitely a weird feeling to win a championship for a team and then not have a ride, but in this day and age, nothing is surprising,” Pitkat said. “I’m trying to work on something, but as of right now I don’t have an [SK Modified ride at Stafford]. It is what it is, I can’t complain, I just got this sweet [Whelen Modified Tour] ride.”
That was fast.
Awesome……..14 gonna be a breakout year for both sides
Congrats to both Buzz Chew Racing and Woody.
Who will drive 27 SK Championship car now that Woody is not driving ?
Sandy and Papa Wood,
Don’t think that that has been finalized yet.
We think it is finalized but not published yet.
Sandy and Papa Wood,
If that’s the case, that’s the case. I’ve spoken to the car owner and my understanding is nothing is final yet.
it’s great to hear you got a good ride congratulations buddy love watching you race get them in turn three
Buzz & Woody – hope they have a Toy Story sticker on the car!