Daily Grind: NAPA Auto Parts To Sponsor Stafford SK 5K; Josh Wood To Late Models At Stafford

Stafford Motor Speedway officials announced Friday that NAPA Auto Parts will be the presenting sponsor of the inaugural SK 5K event at the track on July 4.

The race will now be known as the SK 5K presented by NAPA Auto Parts.

NAPA Auto Parts is a supporter of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which serves United States military personnel wounded or injured in service to our nation, and their families.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund will be on hand during the event to raise awareness of their cause and to take donations.

Stafford will also host a Fourth of July style barbecue at the track during the night with a live band.

“We’re working on cooking up the perfect recipe for a Fourth of July race,” Stafford COO/GM Mark Arute said in a release. “We’ve already announced the biggest purse we’ve ever had for an SK Modified race, which is a benefit for our competitors, and we have the fan vote, which gets the fans involved in the race in a way that they’ve never been before. With NAPA coming on board to be the presenting sponsor of the race and bringing in the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, that is a perfect organization to be associated with for a Fourth of July event. With the BBQ and live band, we’re going to make the Fourth of July at Stafford a holiday to remember not only for our race fans but our drivers and teams as well.”

— Stafford Motor Speedway 2013 Limited Late Model division champion Josh Wood of Palmer, Mass. will make the jump to the track’s Late Model division for 2014.

Wood made his first start in the Late Model division in the final race of the 2013 season.

“I’ve been looking forward to this ever since last season ended,” Wood said. “The Fall Final race was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and even though we tagged the wall a bit in the feature, it was still a good learning experience for me. Tom Fearn really helped me out with how you enter the corner a little differently than with the Limited Late Model. The cars are really a lot different. It’s different going into the corners and how you want to get the weight and if you mess up it’s more of a consequence in the Late Model than it was in the Limited. I felt pretty comfortable in the car at the Fall Final. It’s pretty much the same line you have to drive it’s just with the Late Model you’re going faster and harder into the corners. No matter what happens, it’s going to be a fun year for us.”