When Late Model team owner Jeff Hartwell announced in January that he and longtime driver Woody Pitkat were parting ways, he made sure to emphasize that the door would always be open for a reunion.
And it only took a few months for that reunion to happen.
Hartwell will field for a car for Pitkat in the American-Canadian Tour NAPA Spring Sizzler 75 Saturday at Stafford Speedway.
Pitkat raced regularly in Hartwell’s Late Model from 2017 through 2022. Pitkat and Hartwell decided to amicably part ways following the 2022 season and Hartwell put Jake Johnson behind the wheel of his ride for the 2023 season.
Johnson is competing at Stafford over the weekend in the NAPA Spring Sizzler 100 Tour Type Modified event. Hartwell said Johnson wanted to give full attention for the weekend on his efforts with his Modified ride.
And that decision opened the door for Pitkat and Hartwell to come back together.
“When the race came up that they were having it it was something that I really wanted to do because I’ve obviously had a lot of experience and accomplished a lot and had a lot of success in a Late Model [at Stafford] in the past,” Pitkat said. “I talked to Jeff a little bit about it and told him I was interested in doing something and it came together. I think we can go good there. I think it should be good.”
Pitkat is the second winningest driver all-time at Stafford Speedway with 81 career feature wins. Forty of this 81 wins have come behind the wheel of a Late Model. Pitkat is third on the track’s all-time win list for Late Models and had championships in the division in 2006 and 2012. Pitkat also has an SK Modified title at Stafford in 2013. At Stafford Pitkat has 30 SK Modified feature wins, Four Tour Type Modified wins, three Street Stock wins, two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins and two Modified Racing Series victories.
Pitkat has one career ACT victory, coming at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sept. 2017. Saturday’s event marks the first time the ACT will compete at Stafford since 1985.
“There’s a lot of good names on that entry list,” Pitkat said. “I’m hoping my advantage of racing [at Stafford] for 25 plus years will be beneficial.”
Pitkat will also be competing in the NAPA Spring Sizzler 100 Tour Type Modified event for team owner Doug Dunleavy.
what is the rain plan this weekend – right now it looks like rain on Saturday.
If it rains out Saturday – the late model cars will be rescheduled or just taken off the schedule?
Steve,
I have no inside info, but I know the ACT Tour has always made every effort to reschedule weather-delayed events. Stafford has said multiple times that they would announce any schedule updates on Thursday, so we’ll all find out sometime tomorrow exactly what the plan is.