STAFFORD – As Noah Korner got ready to hit the track for the start of the seventh annual SK Modified TC 13 Shootout Friday at Stafford Speedway someone greeted him on pit road with some advice.
Mike Christopher Sr., the twin brother of the late Ted Christopher – for whom the event is run in an honor of – had some words of advice for Korner.
“The last person that came in and talked to me before I strapped into the car was Mike [Christopher] Sr,,” Korner said. “He came in and said ‘You’ve got to turn off your radio, flip your mirror up and drive your race.’”
Korner took the advice and ran with it, all the way to victory lane.
Korner, of Canton, led all 13 circuits to win the TC 13 Shootout at Stafford.
It was the first SK Modified victory at Stafford for Korner, who has competed in the division regularly since 2021. Korner and his family owned team made the decision in early July to step away from weekly for the remainder of the season and focus on selected events.
“Weekly racing at Stafford can be grueling,” Korner said. “You’ve got to be on your A-Game. You’ve got to be better than your A-Game because everybody else is. To finally come around with a car that’s got speed, and have luck go on our side, and we earned this one. And I’m stoked to finally have it here at Stafford with an SK [Modified].”
Michael Gervais Jr. of Wolcott was second and Troy Talman of Oxford, Mass. third.
Korner scored a $1,313 winner’s purse for the special event, which featured the top-13 finishers from the night’s 40-lap SK Modified feature.
Korner started on the pole for the event. Talman challenged him for the lead on the first lap, but Korner was up to fending off the turn three challenge.
“I feel bad for him but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to win,” Korner said.
From there Korner checked out from the field on the way to a dominating win.
“The car was phenomenal in the 40-lap [feature],” Korner said. “Just biding our time. … I knew we had a piece. I rolled the dice and made the right adjustments and the car was dialed right off the rip. I’m stoked.”
Great run Noah! Congrats! 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁
Why was Keith Rocco in TC13 race? He didn’t qualify
BigOrange61,
The TC Shootout starts 13 cars for the 13 laps event. Cory DiMatteo, who finished in 13th place in the 40-lap feature, opted not to run the TC Shootout. Austin Beers, who was 14th in the 40-lap feature and would have been slotted in to take the DiMatteo spot, also opted not to run it. So Rocco, who finished 15th in the 40-lap feature, got the 13th starting spot in the TC Shootout.