Champions For Charities History

(Stafford Springs, CT)—The Champions for Charities Senior Outlaw go-kart race was established in 2011 in a collaboration between Lisa Arute, Mark Arute, and Rich Pallai. The hope was to create an event in which drivers and fans could race for a cause and give back to the community. The format remained unchanged over the four-year existence (2011-2014) of the event. Open wheel championship drivers were announced early in the year and each driver raised money for their respective charity with the driver raising the most money starting in pole position for the 15-lap Wild Thing Kart Senior Outlaw go-kart feature race.

“Wade and Sandi Gagner were very instrumental in bringing the Champions for Charities Event to fruition.” said Lisa Arute, Stafford Speedway Executive VP / CFO. “When Stafford Management presented the concept to them, in the winter of 2011, they embraced it. Without their hard work and dedication to the Monday Night Wild Thing Kart Series at Stafford the event wouldn’t have been possible. We also want to thank the Kart Owners and teams that participated throughout the 4-years.”

Over the course of four years, 26 Champion drivers combined their efforts to raise over $177,000 for 27 different charities. For the 2014 event, 10 open wheel champion drivers rallied to raise over $32,000 for an assortment of foundations and charities.

Fund raising over the 4 years included events such as: Stafford Speedway’s Annual Golf Tournament, Racing Against Cancer Annual Track Walk, Bowling Events, Motorcycle Run, Ice Cream Social, Rock & Roll Barbecue, Cat Food Drive, Toy Drive, various raffles, and t-shirt sales. Stafford Motor Speedway is proud to be associated with the following Foundations and Charities:

The Charities

Our Champion Drivers