Kyle James (Photo: Tiesha DiMaggio/Vault Crew Productions)
Waterford Speedbowl fans will get the opportunity to see one of their own making his first Valenti Modified Racing Series start Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Speedbowl SK Modified division regular Kyle James of Ashaway, R.I. will make his Valenti Modified Racing Series debut in the division’s 100-lap feature Saturday, part of the Wings and Wheels program at Waterford.
It’s the first event for James in a new deal with Valenti Modified Racing Series team owner Gary Alender of Bristol.
“It’s very exciting,” James said. “This is my fifth year in [an SK Modified] and I’ve been looking for a seat [in a Touring Series car] for a couple years now,” James said. “One has finally opened up. They’re going in the right direction.”
Woody Pitkat of Stafford had been running part-time for the team, but Pitkat had to leave the team for a full-time opportunity. Alender has been fielding a car part-time on the series for the past few years. Last year Stafford Motor Speedway SK Modified division regular Danny Cates of Chaplin raced part-time for the team.
James said the team has committed to running four events with him this year. In addition to his debut this weekend, he is also scheduled to run at Stafford Motor Speedway (Aug. 29), Waterford (Oct. 5) and Thompson Speedway (Oct. 18).
“After we decided we were definitely doing Waterford [Saturday] they asked if I was interested in doing the Thompson and Stafford races and the Finale [at Waterford],” James said. “I of course said yes. So as long as everything goes well and we get out of [Waterford] clean and unscathed, then we’ll be going to the other shows as well.
“They’re a part-time team. They’re a fairly new team and they’re trying to get better with each race and keeping the car clean is obviously one of the most important things to keep racing.”
James is currently fifth in the SK Modified division standings at Waterford with two victories and eight top-fives in 16 events this year.
Have Rocco and Christopher entered Saturday ‘s VMRS race at the Sporedbowl?
Rafter,
The Valenti Modified Racing Series does not publish an entry list for their events. On Aug. 4 the series posted a list of teams that had requested tires for the event and teams for Ted Christopher and Keith Rocco were not on that list. That said, both do usually run the Valenti Modified Racing Series events at Waterford.
Best of luck to Kyle.I hope he runs the outside groove directly to victory lane.Kyle is a clean,competitive shoe.He will show up to win!
Happy for Kyle, Lets get the double and win both the SK and MRS race on Saturday Night…. Good luck Driver…