(Press Release from Stafford Motor Speedway)
Only two races into the 2015 race season, Rowan Pennink and the #99 SK Modified® team have one win and they sit atop the SK Modified® championship points standings. But Pennink, winner of the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts SK 5k, has July 10th, the date of the 2015 NAPA SK 5k, circled on his calendar as the race he wants to win.
“Definitely,” Pennink responded when asked if he is looking forward to the 2015 NAPA SK 5k. “After winning the race last year, it’s a race that I’ve been looking forward to running, especially with the added bonus. I’m excited to be the first driver to enter the gambler’s challenge. There have been a bunch of people coming on board to make it a really big race and I can’t wait for it.”
Pennink is referring to the new addition to the 2015 race, the NAPA SK 5k bonus presented by Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair. Along with voting on race distance and qualifying format fan’s now also have the opportunity to vote on how a bonus of potentially $5,000+ will be distributed. The bonus will be funded by drivers paying $100 to enter the “Gambler’s Challenge”. All money collected from the drivers will be contributed directly to the NAPA SK 5k bonus and matched dollar for dollar by Doug Dunleavy of Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair.
“Hopefully the whole field throws into the bonus and hopefully it will be me who takes home the prize,” explains Pennink. “I’m hoping that this is a trend that will continue for the coming years and the race will continue to get bigger and bigger. It’s a great thing that Stafford has done with this race by creating a big race in the middle of the season. It’s already grown from what it was last year and hopefully in the years to come it will continue in that direction.”
With the addition of the NAPA SK 5k bonus presented by Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair the race once again becomes a unique event for the fans. Fans will have the opportunity beginning Friday, May 15th and continuing through SK 5k race day on July 10th to vote daily on the format of the race and how the bonus will be distributed. All voting will take place at staffordspeedway.com.
Defending NAPA SK 5k winner Rowan Pennink is confident in any format selected by the fans. “We definitely know that the car is capable of winning that race and we had the best car at last year’s race. I know people are going to be doing their homework for the race this year but I think we can go back to that race with what we had last year and be just as good and give it another go.”
“We’re going to approach the race the same as we would whether it’s 50, 75, or 100 laps,” explained Pennink. “The #99 car that Jimmy Fuller prepares is ready to go no matter what the laps are every week and we have a really good setup for going long distances. Whatever the distance ends up being, I know we’re going to have a really good car for that race.”
Stay tuned to StaffordSpeedway.com as well as the Stafford Speedway Facebook and Twitter pages in the coming week as drivers weigh in on what they would like to see for this years race. Voting will open next Friday, May 15th and will continue through the day of the NAPA SK 5k on July 10th.
Last years race was fantastic!