Banquets and Schedules and Ticket Pricing... Oh, My!

Happy Thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure by now the bird has been cooked and you're sitting down giving thanks for everything in life, but I've completed all of that and today I give you what might as well be the biggest entry this holiday season. Today we'll cover three things that have been brought up through the Stafford community: The awards banquet, the 2007 season schedule, and ticket pricing. Please keep the ticket pricing part somewhere safe, just in case you plan on buying some season passes this season. You will not be disappointed.

However, we begin with the 2006 Champions Banquet held on November 17th. Plenty of people were there to officially crown the five track champions in their respective divisions, and along with the kings and queen being crowned, we had some other hardware to give out. They were for Most Improved Driver, Most Popular Driver, and Rookies of the Year. In the Most Improved category, your winners were Kenny Horton in the SK Modifieds and Scott Cook in the Late Models. Most Popular Drivers this season were Todd Owen in the SK Modifieds, Woody Pitkat in the Late Models, Kevin Gambacorta in the Limited Late Models, Lori-Jo Rzeszutek in the DARE Stocks, and Shelly Perry in the SK Lights. And the Rookies of the Year were Rowan Pennink in the SK Modifieds, Wayne Coury, Jr in the Late Models, and George Nocera in the Limited Late Models.

Now we turn our attention to something that'll put people on the edge of their seats: The 2007 Stafford Motor Speedway schedule. The entire schedule is on the track's website as we speak, but I've taken the time to take notes and give you the heads up on the special events. These are dated according to... Well, date. Pay attention and mark your calendars.

• Spring Sizzler: April 27-29
• Whelen Modified Tour: April 29 (FIRST appearance)
• Whelen Modified Tour: May 25 (SECOND appearance)
• Busch East Series: June 8 (ONLY appearance)
• Late Model 100: July 6
• CARQuest Extreme Tuesday: July 10
• SK Modified 100: July 20
• Whelen Modified Tour: August 10 (THIRD appearance)
• Fall Final: September 28-30
• Whelen Modified Tour: September 30 (FOURTH appearance)

There's an open date on the schedule. That date is June 24th, and that is a Friday. I don't know what's going on or what's the deal with the empty date, but I will give you details when I hear them.

Finally, today we are thankful for season ticket prices for the 2007 season. There are four different ticket packages to choose from starting now and up until May 11th. If you're looking for a Paddock Pass Package, it's $385 until December 15th. From December 16th to March 15th, it'll be $430, and then it gets raised to $485 from the 16th of March to May 11th. If you'd like to add a reserved seat to that package, be prepared to pay $50, $70, and $80 respectively. There are three other ticket packages to choose from, and the pricing was all listed in this friendly press release by the track.

Now that we've got everything covered, I'm thankful for sharing this information with you and I'm also thankful that we've had the best darn year ever. Stay dry and safe and don't go out tomorrow unless you absolutely need do. Happy Thanksgiving again. Take care.

Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Mini Report

Welcome to the first of what will be many installments of "Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Report". In these reports, you'll know who'll be changing divisions and where drivers will be heading to next season. I figure that if we'll get off on the right foot, we'd better start with something major concerning the SK Lights and SK Modfieds. We're talking "points champion moving from entry level to big time" major here. That's right. In a Making Laps message board post from yesterday afternoon, it has been said that Shelly Perry will be running in the SK Modified division in 2007. Of course, this is only a rumor and the Stafford Speedway site is the only ticket towards confirming this (and I'd be the messenger in the middle), but I'd like to personally express good luck wishes to Shelly and her team. May the road to the championship be a prosperous one.

The next installment of "Movin' On Up -- The 06-07 Report" will be whenever more news hits the blog. Until then, I bid you good Sunday morning.

NASCAR: New England -- November Airings

Ladies and gentlemen, turn on your television sets and flip over to NESN next Friday night. While the awards banquet will be happening for the competitors, fans can still see the drivers through the magic of cable. NASCAR: New England will be airing twice (and by NESN's schedule, three more times) on November 17th... Which, of course, is the same day as the awards banquet. All of the episodes have (R) next to them, which is making me wonder if they'll be episodes I've seen before. R could stand for "repeat", as there are DB -- standing for "debut" and L -- possibly for "live".

There will be no other heads-up warning, so please schedule accordingly. (I think I might not get a chance to do that, considering that I might have plans on that night. I can't disclose them as of yet. They're still in the works.)

Competitor Meetings: Just a Head's Up

This month might be the first month without racing at Stafford, but it doesn't mean that there won't be anything going on there. The track has announced the five dates for their annual competitor meetings, which are to be held at the Fairground banquet facilities -- behind the turn four grandstands. Dinner will be served between 5:30 and 6:30pm Eastern Standard Time with the meeting to start around 6:30pm. As a note to all teams: Meeting attendance is limited to two team representatives. (I don't know what that means for multi-car teams, as I know there are a few who have raced there this season.)

Here is the schedule for this month:

• Limited Late Models: November 8th (Wednesday)
• DARE Stocks: November 13th (Tuesday)
• SK Modifieds: November 14th (Wednesday)
• Late Models: November 15th (Thursday)
• SK Lights: November 21st (Tuesday)

Rules and possible rule changes for the 2007 season will be discussed. If any rule changes do take effect, I will discuss them in a later entry.