STAFFORD – The reigning champion was back doing some Spring Sizzler reigning for the day Saturday at Stafford Speedway.
At the 2023 NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford it was Ron Silk celebrating a $35,000 plus payday for victory in “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”.
Saturday Silk just kept the Spring Sizzler weekend winning ways rolling.
Silk was victorious in the second 40-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler Duel qualifying event Saturday at Stafford Speedway.
Silk also topped his eight lap heat race earlier in the day.
“It’s a good way to start,” Silk said. “Kind of like how our weekend went last year too, winning the second duel. I have a wonderful race car under me. It’s driving really good. I’m just looking forward to tomorrow.”
Teddy Hodgdon IV topped the field in the first 40-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler Duel qualifying event.
Silk and Hodgdon each earned $3,500 for their respective victories Saturday. The duel qualifiers set the starting field for Sunday’s 52nd NAPA Spring Sizzler 100.
Hodgdon passed Matt Swanson for the lead on lap 15 and never trailed again.
“It’s such a big deal to win here at Stafford,” Hodgdon said. “It’s been since 2019 since we’ve been in victory lane. Even it is just the NAPA Auto Parts Duel race, it is the NAPA Auto Parts duel race. I’m just super thankful for Stafford for what they put on for this Sizzler. This is a huge deal for our crew. … What an unbelievable day. The car was a rocket ship right from practice.”
Swanson held on for second and Jon McKennedy was third.
“We all had good cars,” Swanson said. “I’m just really happy to be running good at Stafford again. We’ve had a monkey on our backs here for the last couple years and my guys, they bust their butts every time we come here. They’re willing to try anything to make this thing go good. I’m just really thankful for all the guys behind me.”
NAPA Spring Sizzler Duel One
NAPA Spring Sizzler Duel Two
Only 31 cars – kinda disappointing, glad I stayed home and watched it on Flo. Not sure how many will start tomorrow- Kopcik and Perry dropped out of the duels. I don’t get how the bigger paying shows don’t attract cars??? Hopefully they scratch the last chance race and move the start time earlier because once 5:00 came today it got cold today.
It’s the economy stupid. I mean what else could it be? It’s the greatest race in the history of spring at the greatest track in the history of the world.
Where was the #88 car that Woody Pitkat has been so successful in the past few years? I can’t think of any other front runners from the past few years that were not there today.
I don’t understand, but it is “weird” that SK and to a lesser degree SK light Stafford weekly top dogs can’t pat their own ass cheeks using both hands in the open shows at the same track? The erogenous zone for short and long term speed in an open mod there at Stafford must be minuscule and elusive. Tomorrow will be a new day but barring the “big one” I doubt more than 4 or 5 cars have a chance to win the greatest race in the history of spring.
Steve,
We own an open car and it’s on jackstands. We cannot race against engines like the 16 car has at 70k and the other 60k engines out there at Stafford or Thompson. We race the smaller tracks where engine is not as important. This series will continue to struggle until they get a handle on the engine disaster.
The duel format is great for the fans when there’s a big field. Not so much when you aren’t sending anyone home. Both the duels and heats seemed rather procedural today.
At the end of the day, the duels add a set of tires to the equation. at a $1,000 a set these days, no one outside the top 5 in a duel is breaking even on that arrangement. The duels are probably negative value to most of the competitors.
its a 14 tire race. $3,500 in that alone. Again, no one outside the top 5 is breaking even. This is more than a Stafford issue.
And when the duels do matter, they risk becoming carnage filled. 3 chances to wreck your car.
This and Loudon are also the only events that have 2 track days this year AFAIK (in the area at least).
But on the other hand, I get it from Stafford POV. Gets the tour mod fans there on Saturday with minimal purse outside the duels. Especially with ACT and PASS being shown the door after one try each.
41 cars took the green in the duels two years ago. 38 last year in a rain re-scheduled event on a Friday. 31 today.
31 is more than fine. But the shine has kinda worn off of the Stafford open shows a bit, hasn’t it? Maybe it’s not as easy to have big fields all the time as some think.
Once the novelty wears off, it really boils down to just a numbers game. And modifieds are pretty expensive these days.
IMO. The renting of the track for weekday testing before this event really hurts the small/medium teams. One thing the tour does right is not allowing that.
Snoozefest on the one groove Stafford speedway.
Silk showing there are NASCAR Mod tour Modifieds and then there is the rest.
and the Tour goes on and on … (I mean Shane wink, wink),
I feel like you’re trying to throw an insult to anything that is not the Whelen Modified Tour but you’ve basically generally insulted every team on the Whelen Modified Tour that isn’t Haydt-Yannone Racing. You’re basically saying Saturday there was Ron Silk and nobody else competitive with him so because Ron Silk is the best there is on the Whelen Modified Tour right now and he beat up on everybody Saturday than everybody else that races anything else besides the Whelen Modified Tour is worlds behind the Whelen Modified Tour. Problem with that viewpoint though.. Well, the guy I think most people consider to be the closest to being equal to Silk right now on the Whelen Modified Tour – Justin Bonsignore – was sixth out of nine cars in his heat race and seventh out of 16 cars in a qualifying duel. Bonsignore, a three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion, was driving for the 2022 Whelen Modified Tour owner’s champion. So your statement putting the Whelen Modified Tour above all else because of the performance of Silk against what was there today, also essentially was saying that Silk is the entirety of top tier talent that the Whelen Modified Tour has if you considered that the second best guy on the tour got beat up by what you’re essentially describing as a bunch of schlubs that don’t have talent comparable to the Whelen Modified Tour. Be careful when sneaky insults don’t ultimately make what you’re trying to make look great just look awful.
Tires prices are ridiculous now . Prices are insane and the quality is Garbage lately . Dried up card board after 20 laps .. and you have sizes the vary from 83 “- 85” Right sides but are the same 85 1/4 chalk and yes … they are aired up all the same way by teams for consistency. Obviously tire chalk is bunch of BS as well as the materials and chemicals in the tires now. 70 for engine … wow that’s crazy. Not sure how that is possible … unless the engine guy is just adding on 20 thousand because knows he can 👀 last I checked a bad ass built engine is around 50 brand new.
Stafford and Thompsen have always been motor tracks! Show up and see what luck brings for you. This is a hobby, isn’t it? ( Old-school ) get the car off the jackstands and go out and have a good time with your Comadre’s and family. Be the best you can be and stop whinnying. Obviously, you never observed an old Thompsen 300 where 80% of the field didn’t stand a chance in winning the race.
Rumors are the fact that it’s a pill draw for heat lineups might be keeping some away. So it’s a pill draw for heats then straight up into the duels. No plus/minus system from heats to set duels or using practice times to set heats. So because of randomness you have the 16 start 3rd and only have to pass two cars all day. The 60 and 79 start last in their heats and have to continuously make up ground race to race.
I also have open car on jak stands
14 tires,2 day pitt passes,150 entry you are upside down 3500 after you collect purse. Then Stafford had teams renting the track all week and that was another 4 tires and the track aint cheap, just cant compete with that kind of money being spent.
Super fan. So you want me to spend 5 grand to go to a race I have no chance of winning? Thanks but no thanks. Going to Seekonk instead. Stafford and the open divisions will have to do something with engines and testing rules before they are watching 10 cars compete. 50k for an engine? lol. I can buy a good used speck engine for 20k. The maintenance is half as well. Open your eyes guys.
@Hillary 20Never, 5 year olds think McDonald’s is the Greatest restaurant on the planet. Why? Because it’s all they know.
Side note to the tire comment, talked to a rep from Hoosier during speed weeks this past Feb. Told me they can’t find enough qualified help to make the tires.
So it’s not the supply chain excuse anymore?
But should we really be complaining though? If the sizzler was still a tour race we’d be complaining about 20 something cars. What’s Waterford gonna get next week for the MRS? 10? Going against the whelen tour up north wasn’t the brightest idea.
I believe the Hoosier rep told you the truth. It’s probably the same for McCreary. Building racing tires is a lot like real work. Since there are only two companies in the USA now that make short track tires it also requires 5 or 6 day work week just to keep up for the few that care and want to do it, which causes them to suffer burn out and they either quit caring or quit the job altogether. Why care or work hard when you can just borrow the money and go to college, dead beat around for 4 or 5 years, get your degree in “Human Studies” and then later have your college loans forgiven? No wonder racing tires have increased in price so much lately with wage pressure and planet savers like ALGORE creating more and more obstacles to stay in business. The “tire problem” will get worse before it gets better and could wind up being one of the pillars that collapses causing a complete reset in the world of short track racing.