Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler at Stafford

By admin April 22, 2009 NASCAR WMT, Stafford

The 25th season of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will continue with the Tech-Net Spring Sizzler presented by CARQUEST at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 26.

Stafford Motor Speedway Data
Race #2 of 14 (4-26-09)
Track Layout: .5-mile flat oval

A horse racing track for more than seven decades, the half-mile dirt oval started holding auto races following WW II.
Became a NASCAR track in 1959 and was paved in 1967.
Has held a total of 90 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races.
This is the first of four races that the NWMT will hold at Stafford Motor Speedway in 2009.

Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: Ryan Preece (98.684 mph, 18.057 seconds)
2008 race winner: Ted Christopher (56.057 mph, 1:47.20)
Track qualifying record: Matt Hirschman (99.905 mph, 18.009 seconds, 4-28-07)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DOUG COBY TALK ABOUT RUNNING THE SPRING SIZZLER

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DONNY LIA TALK ABOUT RUNNING THE SPRING SIZZLER

NWMT Active Win Leaders at SMS
1. Mike Stefanik, 20
2. Reggie Ruggiero, 9
3. Ted Christopher, 8
4. Ed Flemke Jr., 3
5. Todd Szegedy, 3

NWMT Active Pole Leaders at SMS
1. Mike Stefanik, 15
2. Reggie Ruggiero, 7
3. Donny Lia, 6
4. Rob Summers, 4
5. four drivers with, 2

At Stafford Motor Speedway:

Since the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour formed in 1985, there have been 90 races at Stafford Motor Speedway.
There have been 28 different race winners at SMS, led by Mike Stefanik’s 20 victories.
There have been 34 different pole winners at SMS, led by Stefanik’s 15.
Ted Christopher, Chuck Hossfeld, Jimmy Blewett and Stefanik reached Victory Lane at SMS in 2008.
Christopher had the longest win streak in the history of the NWMT at SMS with four-straight victories from Sept. 30, 2001 to Aug. 23, 2002.
The entry list for the 2009 Spring Sizzler features nine drivers who have won at SMS during their careers.

Last Time Out:

Ted Christopher earned the Coors Light Pole Award and a trip to Victory Lane as he led 111 of the 150 laps in the season-opening Icebreaker at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on April 5 … The win push his streak for consecutive seasons with a victory to 11.
Jamie Tomaino made his 500th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start and led 25 laps in the race before finishing 13th.
In addition to Christopher and Tomaino, Mike Stefanik and Doug Coby also recorded laps led.
Johnny Bush made his first NWMT start since 1997 and finished 30th.

Selected Driver Highlights:

Eric Beers (No. 46 Chevrolet)

Has two wins and nine poles in 128 career starts … Has earned two poles at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Finished sixth in the 2008 NWMT season standings … Career-best points finish was fifth in 2005.
Registered finishes of 2nd, 5th, 5th and 5th in four starts at SMS in 2008.

Jimmy Blewett (No. 12 Chevrolet)

Has four wins and one pole in 63 career starts … Earned his first win at SMS in 2008.
Finished ninth in the 2008 standings … Career-best points finish was eighth in 2007.
Had finishes of 23rd, 31st, 1st and 13th in four races at SMS in 2008.
Returns to the No. 12 car for 2009 after driving the No. 19 in 2008 … Finished second to Christopher in the 2009 opener at Thompson International Speedway.

Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)

The 2008 NWMT champion.
Has 32 wins and 19 poles in 266 career starts … Has at least one win in 11 consecutive seasons … His 32 wins rank fourth on the all-time list and his 19 pole total ranks ninth.
Earned the Coors Light Pole Award and a trip to Victory Lane in the 2009 opener at TIS on April 5.
Has eight wins and two poles in his NWMT career at SMS … Is the defending winner of the Spring Sizzler and also won the race in 2002 and 2003.
Had finishes of 1st, 3rd, 28th and 6th at SMS a year ago.
Has NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour wins this year at Concord (N.C.) Speedway and Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.
The 2001 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion, he plans to run for the national crown again in 2008 by competing weekly at TIS, SMS and possibly a partial season Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl.

Doug Coby (No. 19 Chevrolet)

Has one win, one pole and 27 top 10s in 82 career starts … His win came in the 2006 Spring Sizzler.
Recorded three top 10s in five 2008 starts driving the No. 28 … Finished 3rd and 21st in his two starts at SMS.
Will run a partial-to-full season in the No. 19 in 2009 … Led nine laps and finished eighth in the 2009 season opener at TIS.

Ed Flemke Jr. (No. 10 Chevrolet)

Has 17 wins and 15 poles in 371 career starts … He has three wins and two poles at SMS.
Has made a record 312 consecutive starts … The last time he did not start an NWMT race was on July 22, 1992 at Riverside Park Speedway.
Finished 11th in the 2008 NWMT standings … Best career points finishes were runner-up campaigns in 2004 and 2006.
Had finishes of 27th, 6th, 2nd and 11th in four races at SMS in 2008.

Donny Lia (No. 4 Dodge)

The 2007 NWMT champion.
Has 11 wins, 13 poles and 44 top 10s in 98 career starts … Has two wins and six poles at SMS … Both wins, which included the Spring Sizzler, came during his 2007 championship season.
Finished third in the season opener at TIS on April 5.
Has returned to the No. 4 full-time in 2009 after winning the NWMT title in the car in 2007 … Ran in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2008.

Chris Pasteryak (No. 52 Chevrolet)

Has four top 10s in 15 career starts.
Will compete full-time in the NWMT in 2009 after running partial schedules in 2005 and 2006 and serving as crew chief for his father, Charlie, in 2007 and 2008.
Captured the True Value Modified Racing Series championship in 2008.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)

Has nine top 10s in 31 career starts.
Finished ninth in the opener at TIS.
Had finishes of 6th, 11th, 7th and 7th in four races at SMS in 2008.
Improved from 17th in points as a rookie in 2007 to eighth as a sophomore a year ago.

Woody Pitkat (No. 28 Chevrolet)

Has seven top 10s in 18 career starts.
Hometown is Stafford, Conn.
Had one start at SMS in 2008 and finished 17th.
Will drive the No. 28 full-time in 2009 after making seven starts with the team last year.

Ryan Preece (No. 3 Chevrolet)

Has two poles, a win and 11 top 10s in 31 career starts.
Recorded finishes of 29th, 7th, 18th and 28th in four starts at SMS in 2008 … Set fast time in qualifying for the Spring Sizzler, becoming the youngest driver in NWMT history to earn a pole.
Finished 10th in points as a sophomore in 2008 after a 19th place showing as a rookie in 2007.

Erick Rudolph (No. 59 Chevrolet)

Has five top 10s in 10 career starts … Finished 24th, 9th and 17th in three starts at SMS in 2008.
Recorded five top 10s in nine starts as a rookie in 2008 … Earned Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors in six of those nine outings.
Finished 31st in the NWMT opener at TIS … Has finishes of fifth and seventh in two NWSMT starts in 2009.

Reggie Ruggiero (No. 14 Ford)

Has 44 wins, 27 poles and 225 top 10s in 414 career starts … His 44 wins rank second in series history and his 27 poles are tied for fourth with Jan Leaty.
Has eight wins and seven poles in his career at SMS … Last win came in May, 1993.
Recorded finishes of 32nd, 28th and 29th in three starts at SMS in 2008.

Ron Silk (No. 79 Pontiac)

Has three wins, a pole and 24 top-10s in 57 career starts … All three wins have come at TIS.
Registered finishes of 28th, 15th, 27th and 15th in four starts at SMS in 2008.
Finished sixth in the NWMT season opener at TIS and has top 10s in both NWSMT starts this year.
Has finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the points standings the last two seasons.

Mike Stefanik (No. 16 Pontiac)

The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
Has 69 wins, 42 poles and 255 top 10s in 382 career starts … Holds NWMT record for most championships, wins, poles, top fives and top 10s.
Is the all-time wins and poles leader at SMS with 20 and 15, respectively … Won the Spring Sizzler in 1989, 1990, 1997 and 1998.
Registered finishes of 4th, 4th, 7th and 1st in the four races at SMS in 2008.

Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)

The 2003 NWMT champion.
Has 13 wins, five poles and 68 top 10s in 111 career starts … Three wins and two poles have come at SMS.
Recorded finishes of 9th, 2nd, 16th and 4th in four starts at SMS in 2008.
Has the best win percentage of any active driver, earning a trip to Victory Lane one out of every 8.5 starts.
Has finished in the top five in the points standings in each of the last three years.

Jamie Tomaino (No. 99 Chevrolet)

The 1990 NWMT champion.
Has three wins, six poles and 234 top 10s in 500 career starts.
His 25 laps led in the opener at TIS were his first since the 2005 Spring Sizzler.
Become the first driver in series history to start 500 races at the Icebreaker … Has missed only four of the 504 races in the history of the NWMT (1985-pr.) … Is the only driver along with Carl Pasteryak to make a start in each of the first 25 years of the NWMT.
Has more starts than any driver in any NASCAR series, other than the Sprint Cup Series, and has 61 more than any other NWMT competitor.
One of his three career wins was the 1986 Fall Final at SMS.

Upcoming Milestones/Benchmarks:

Ed Flemke Jr. is expected to extend his record consecutive starts streak to 313.
Jamie Tomaino is slated to extend his series record for starts to 501.
Mike Stefanik’s next victory would make him the eighth driver in NASCAR history to earn 70 wins in a series … All others on the list accomplished the feat in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Donny Lia’s next win would place him in a tie with Richie Evans and George Kent for 14th on the all-time series wins list at 12 … He is also two starts shy of 100 for his career.
Wade Cole is one start away from 150 for his career.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR