Glen Reen Celebrates victory in the special TC 13 Shootout for the SK Modified division Friday at Stafford Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor)
STAFFORD – Glen Reen pulled into victory lane with his front bumper crumpled and bent in.
It seemed an almost perfect illustration for the celebration he was beginning.
Reen won the inaugural TC 13 Shootout event for the SK Modified division Friday at Stafford Speedway.
Christopher, the all-time winningest driver at Stafford Motor Speedway, was killed in a plane crash on Sept. 16, 2017. Throughout his career at Stafford Christopher drove a No. 13 SK Modified.
The top-13 finishers in Friday’s regular 40-lap feature for the SK Modified division qualified to run in the special 13-lap shootout.
Christopher was known throughout his career for his aggressive style behind the wheel, something not lost on Reen when he looked at his bumper after the event.
“I’ve got the same front bumper he does, that’s for damn sure,” Reen said.
Reen, of Wilbraham, Mass., earned a $1,313 winner’s purse, plus a $113 bonus added just before the start of the feature.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Reen said. “I thought when I won my first race this year … it would be a lot more exciting. The vibe down there was the most unreal vibe. It was good, don’t get me wrong. It was sad and happy all at the same time and I’m still at a loss for words. I don’t think it will hit until a couple days from now, but it was very special. It was an honor to stand there.”
Reen’s Dan Avery owned No. 17R Modified was designed this year in tribute to Christopher’s old No. 13 SK Modified at Stafford.
“Dan Avery was my hero as a kid at [the former Riverside Park Speedway],” Reen said. “He gave me the job to drive this [car] this year and we did a tribute to [Ted Christopher] with this paint scheme. And it means a lot. Other than Dan, Ted was my idol. I learned a lot from him and he’s missed every single day and I think everyone here knows that. This one’s for him. This one’s not for me, this one’s for him for sure.”
Chase Dowling of Roxbury was second and Todd Owen of Somers third.
Reen went under Dowling for the lead on lap nine and never trailed again. Owen went past Dowling for second on lap 11.
On lap 12 Owen made a bid to get under Reen in turn three, but Reen fended off the challenge and left Owen sliding through the corner. Owen was able to save his car from spinning but not before Dowling moved back to second.
“He did what he had to do, we’re here to win it,” Reen said. “Fortunately I was able to save it and we came out with the win.”
Glen reen is a the biggest hack out there. Week in and week out.
Congratulations Glen. What happened to Rocco? Didn’t he know there was no pitting between races? He fought back to get in the race only to get black flagged before it started. Anyone have the official count of how many times they tried to restart the race on lap 31. it was at least 4 if not more. It was fun to watch and down to the end. I thought Todd Owen was going to win it until issue in the corner. Overall enjoyable race to watch. Well done Stafford and drivers in the event. The trophy was cool too.
Good job Glen. This shootout was to honor TC, and to win the first, of which I hope will become an annual event is special.
Great night of racing and easily worth the price. I don’t know about you but I’m all Ted Christophered out for this year anyway. What I’d like to know is if the Christopher estate gets a piece of the pie and this wall to wall Ted Christopher event. Seems like it should.
I’d also like to hear from anyone that attended their opinions on what looks like competing promotions in one race event. Open modifieds vs the Shootout. A good value in total or lessening the value of the Open race.
Yes – good night of racing at Stafford last night. But, I was a bit disappointed that neither Berndt nor Williams made a charge from the back in the TC Shootout. Given the amount of Prestige and cash on the line, would it make sense if the 13 qualifiers were allowed to pit and change one tire prior to the Shootout? The transition from the 40 lap feature to the Shootout seemed a bit rushed and the event was not as dramatic as I expected.
To be honest I thought the front runners would sand bag. Clearly they were pretty used up and under the best conditions 13 laps is not enough time. The most important thing is banking the points which they did.
The transition from race to shootout rushed? Yes. The picture session afterwords I found annoying but probably necessary when you’re passing out all that cash for a mere 13 laps. Overall I rate it a…….pritty, pritty, pritty cool deal. But I wish they’d make the Open the priority in the future if they continue it with more money for those guys. Or do what they did again that was great as well.
Doug, like you, I thought the shootout would play out differently and there would be more drama from the front runners coming from the back. Having the 13 and the 80 lap open on the same night probably put more butts in the seats but this Friday, we will see if that was the case. Also, with no rainouts this year plus that big wreck at the end of the Mod race, I’m betting we see less Modifieds in action next week. I’ll set the over/under at 18 1/2. Some teams count on the rainouts to be able run the whole season. Listening to the 50’s spotter during the 13 race, it sounded and looked like they were in conservation mode, not the normal take no prisoners march to the front we are used to seeing. He kept an eye on the front pack of cars constantly telling Ronnie to Check up and basically stay in a bubble. Found out later in Tech the teams cars still had to pass full tech including weight (fuel), which is why the Bulldogs team pulled out early. One interesting story is the Rocco team. His car was not good in the feature, spinning himself out early on the backstretch and had to effort his way thanks to 5-6 late cautions to get to finish 5th. He was running position 12-14 before all the lap 31+ cautions. He came late to the drivers meeting where they discussed the rules of the TC13, then defies the rule by pitting and subsequently gets black flagged and can’t run the TC 13. Bigger question is What is going on in the Rocco Camp? They seem like they are in a major disarray. Could the stress of that plus the fact that the 50 team seems like they just get stronger every week be adding undue pressure to the 88 team?
I Agree. He drives way over his abilities and causes a lot of jingles out there. Even in his interview he admitted, without knowing it,that he should not have even been there. He caused 4 cautions and there is a 3 strike rule in place at Stafford. He is a time bomb just waiting to go off which is not good for race teams. For fans, they must love watching the mindless cannonball coming through the field. Fast car, no brains and minimal talent is good for wrecks, which is why the casual fan comes anyway. He’s a poor mans Kenny Horton/Chris Jones. Don’t miss those guys either. For the record, not a big fan.
I am just glad that they black flagged Rocco for the TC event for the rule violation rather than creating some bogus excuse and allowing him to run.
On Thursday I suggested that sand bagging would be afoot because 13 laps is not enough time to get to the front and points were more valuable then the money but thought it would be Rocco and Williams doing the slow walk.
There a history in the SK’s of wild drivers most notably John Anderson, Bo Gunning and Ted Christopher early on. Most improved and TC became……….well kind of an icon. I like Reen a lot and think he’s got a huge upside. Would I try to convince anyone that he is a finished product………no way. But I don’t see any need to dig deep into a bag of contempt to insult not only him but his fans as well.
The 50 is without question at the top of their game. While Rocco is having issues I sincerely doubt with all the season left to race he is concerned with anything other then solving the issues that have cropped up. He once again ran up front at Thompson only to be beat buy a crackerjack driver named Preece so I’m thinking Kieth will be fine.
While I’m at it how about we give a shout out to Troy Talman. Turning in stellar forth place finishes in both the race and shootout. No accident at all as he turned in the second best fast lap speed to Williams and proved he could run up front in tight conditions and not get rattled by the constant restarts.
Honorable mention to the crowd that was very engaged in the SK feature with plenty of hooting and hollering for their favorites. Including an enthusiastic Talman contingent near me. Nice logo on those jackets by the way you guys.
SkModFan, thanks for the info on Rocco. I was wondering. I have never seen him miss a pit stall either. It’s no wonder he didn’t know not to pit if he was late for the meeting. I agree with Humphrey glad they didn’t make a NASCAR excuse to let him run the race. Good call Stafford for not showing him favoritism. I was surprised too the sk winners didn’t go through the field too. I am glad Eric won. He has had the worst luck all season despite being fast. I had a good time, but hate to watch parade races. The last 10 laps of the sk light race is what I like and even two weeks ago for the 100 lap race there was two cars fighting for the lead until the last 15 or so laps. I realize not every race can be tight but these LLM and LM parade races are beyond boring. As always Shawn great job on your coverage!!
At stafford you can only buy 2 tires a week after 10 the first week. Rocco obviously burned through all of his tires in the first 5 weeks. Others did not. Week to week, different guys have new tires when others dont. Thats why there is such swings in speed. Points runners like Williams bank tires early in the season for run down the stretch. I doubt williams was even trying in the 13 lap shootout because he needs those tires for next week. (they’ll be good as new with a little problend). All Rocco cares about is wins for nascar national points. when he has enough tires, im sure he will be fast again.
I Still cant believe no one that comments on this site has any idea how the racing works week to week…
SK Lights get 1 tire a week by the way….Handicap those races without knowing who has tires….
Thanks clueless. All this time I thought attention to detail, car maintenance, setup, starting position, luck, ability of the driver and all the rest was important. Turns out it’s just tire management. Go figure.
Stat!! someone tell Pennink to bring his backup car back and bolt new tires on. Apparently that’s all that’s needed.
Doug all that helps, but if you don’t know that all the guys are on different tires week to week, then you have no idea what’s going on. Welcome to stafford, if you ever attend a race go check the tire credits each team has.
So if i get you correctly Sk racer a few thousand fans need to check out the tire credits status of each team in order to truly know what’s going on. Or how about this observation.
Tire management has been an issue since racing started seriously post WWII. A very low percentage of teams across every local racing series and venue have ever had the resources to bolt on new tires every week. Using limited resources and making chassis adjustments, tires pressure and stagger changes depending on wear and track conditions has always been a part of the equation.
Now tire rationing and attempts to equalize it across the field of cars is part of the rules. I defy anyone to say that is not a good thing. What is there to argue about? Knowing who has fresh tires vs who does not? How far do we need to reach to play tug of war?
Accusing Rocco of cheating when he was winning all those races was a frequent theme. Now he is being accused of foolishly using up his tire credits. Well clearly he wasn’t cheating and if he used up his tires I don’t know that’s true but who cares if it is?