Woody Pitkat
From Stafford's Hero to NASCAR Star
Woody Pitkat
2006 NASCAR Division IV Regional Champion
Birthdate: July 7, 1979
Hometown: Stafford, Connecticut
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Car Chief & Jackman, King Racing (WMT #28)
Favorite Music: Curtis Jackson
Favorite TV Show: Laguna Beach
Favorite Movie: Walk the Line
Favorite Wrestler: John Cena
Favorite Racer: Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Carl Edwards
Hobbies: Hockey
Favorite Pro Team: Hartford WolfPack / New England Patriots
WOODY'S WORLD
- First Late Model Feature Win: 50-Lap feature, Stafford Motor Speedway on his 21st birthday (7/7/00)
- Inaugural Stafford Late Model 150 Feature Winner (2001)
- Winner: "The Invitational," Stafford Motor Speedway (2003)
- Winner: PASS Outlaw Late Model feature, Thompson International Speedway (2003)
- Invited to participate in the Drive for Diversity Combine Scouting Program, Hickory, NC (2003)
- Second Place: Inaugural Funkmaster Flex Super Series, Waterford Speedbowl (CT, 2003)
- Winner: Inaugural SK Modified Feature; North-South Shootout, Concord Motorsport Park (NC, 2005)
- NASCAR Division IV Regional Champion (2006)
- NASCAR Connecticut State Champion (2007)
- Second in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship standings (2007)
Now, all that success at Stafford has since transferred beyond the sleepy Northern Connecticut burg and the 28-year-old Pitkat has been winning at tracks across the Northeast and beyond.
Recently, all of that success that has led him to a NASCAR Regional Championship, track championships at two legendary tracks and a ride in one of the most prestigious rides in all of major short track racing, the Hillbilly Racing #79 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour entry.
In a day when many of his contemporaries are seeing success because of development deals or because they spend the most money to get where they want to be, Pitkat has achieved everything in his career by sheer determination and hard work. Growing up in a mill town, Pitkat learned the importance of hard work at an early age and those lessons followed him to the racetrack.
Building a car and racing it with just his family and friends for support early on, Pitkat won two races in his first year of DARE Stock racing at Stafford. Winning early on helped him earn the “Most Popular Driver” award that season at Stafford, an award he would go on to win 11 more times between Stafford and Thompson.
With the fan support behind him, Woody continued to win in DARE Stocks and also the competitive Late Model ranks beginning in 1998. It was in Late Models that the young racer began to show his true talent. Pitkat has 18 career Late Model victories, putting him sixth on the all-time win list at Stafford.
But Pitkat’s Late Model success was not limited to just Stafford, however. In 2002, he was the Late Model track champion at Thompson International Speedway, where he won 14 total Late Model races.
It was when Pitkat moved to the open-wheel groundpounders, the Modifieds, that Pitkat became a household name in the short track racing world. Pitkat immediately impressed at both Stafford and Thompson, winning Rookie of the Year titles and scoring victories at both tracks in 2004. The strong runs weren’t limited to just Connecticut, either, as he won as far South as North Carolina, when he took the checkers in the SK Modified portion of the prestigious North-South Shootout at Concord Motorsport Park in 2005.
Growing up just a few miles from one of the most prestigious short tracks in all of America, Woody Pitkat always dreamed about one day standing in victory lane at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway. He had always had family members involved in the sport, but nothing, in his mind, would be better than hoisting a trophy over his head as a victor in front of his hometown family and friends.
Never did Pitkat ever dream, however, that he would not only get the chance to do so, but he’d get that chance so early and so often. From the time he first set behind the wheel of a DARE Stock at Stafford in 1996, Pitkat has been a frequent visitor to victory lane at the historic half-mile.
The wins and top finishes continued rolling in through 2006, when Pitkat’s name was instantly thrust onto the list of elite short track racers in the country. Pitkat won the track championships in both the Late Model division at Stafford and the Sunoco Modified division at Thompson, marks that earned him the prestigious NASCAR Division IV Regional Championship.
All of the accolades and titles that Pitkat has earned over the years due to hard work and a heavy left foot have made Pitkat a star with plenty of potential for greatness. That potential was recognized in mid-2007 as Pitkat made his first-ever starts in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Pitkat concluded the 2007 year as the Connecticut NASCAR State Champion and the young driver finished second in NASCAR National Championship points
In 2008, Pitkat has his sights set on a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship, as well as victories at tracks across the Northeast and
beyond in hopes of gaining the recognition it takes to pursue opportunities in the competitive NASCAR world. All while driving and preparing racecars in three different divisions on a weekly basis, Pitkat also serves as the Car Chief and raceday jackman for James Civali's #28 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour entry for King Racing.
Any given weekend, Woody Pitkat is sure to be inside of a racecar. Chances are, he’ll also be in victory lane with that machine, too. He can build, maintain and race that car and still make time for his fans. With a hard-working attitude both inside the car and out, Woody Pitkat is a throwback racer with unlimited potential.
