Marcello Rufrano celebrated his first career SK Modified victory on Sept. 9 at Thompson Speedway
On Monday Marcello Rufrano celebrated a big day on the calendar.
The Stafford Speedway SK Light Modified driver and Thompson Speedway SK Modified driver turned 18 years old on Monday, but before cracking that milestone, he made sure to get all the work done he needed to grab a big award from NASCAR.
Rufrano, of North Haven, was named Friday as the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series UNOH Youth Achievement national champion.
Rufrano will be celebrated for his achievement as an honored guest at the NASCAR Awards in Charlotte on Dec. 7.
“To me winning it, I’ve never won something so prestigious in racing,” Rufrano said. “It’s cool to add that to my resume. Going down to North Carolina to go claim that award is going to be pretty special to me. This is actually the first time I’ve ever been in contention for a national title. … That’s pretty cool. Just to be able to do that means everything to me.”
The UNOH Youth Achievement Award is open to NASCAR drivers between the ages of 14-17. Drivers can accumulate points until their 18th birthday. The full final standings were not released Friday by NASCAR.
Rufrano used a second place finish in Friday’s 20-lap SK Light Modified feature at Stafford Speedway to clinch the title. Rufrano’s stiffest competition for the award was his same competition on the track each week at Stafford, Bryan Narducci.
Rufrano and Narducci sit tied atop the SK Light Modified point standings going into the final 20-lap feature for the division on Sept. 30 at the NAPA Fall Final at Stafford Speedway.
The points chase for the UNOH Achievement award ended with last weekend’s events, with Rufrano just making the cut get Friday night’s runner-up finish into the mix.
Narducci was named the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division III national champion based on his efforts this year in the SK Light Modified division at Stafford.
But Rufrano’s efforts in the SK Modified division at Thompson Speedway helped edge him by Narducci in the Youth Achievement standings. Rufrano scored his first career SK Modified feature on Sept. 9 at Thompson.
“The win itself, you couldn’t have scripted any better,” Rufrano said. “You put yourself in an element with Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat and Ryan Preece and all them, and you can win up against those guys, it really says something. It was just cool knowing that one over at Thompson really made the difference for the UNOH award. And to have that sense that you raced up against every kid in the nation and won, it’s a really neat deal.”
At Stafford Rufrano has six SK Light Modified victories this season with 11 top-five’s and 16 top-10’s in 20 starts.
Now that’s how you get the job done. Congratulation from everybody on the 66 sk team.
Marcello great job! it’s great to see the sport has a bright future.