Loudon, NH — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Ryan Newman continues to dominate in his Whelen Modified Tour car, grabbing the pole for the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his second straight pole at the speedway.
Driving, the No. 7 Aggressive Hydraulics/ Menards Chevrolet Newman turned a lap time of 29.457 at a speed of 129.300 mph. He was the race and pole winner for June’s Whelen Modified Tour race at “The Magic Mile.”
“We have such a great opportunity with Bono (Kevin “Bono” Manion) and those guys, I just have such a love of racing, and these cars are a blast to drive,” said Newman. “It gives you an appreciation for all different types of racecars.”
Continue reading ‘Ryan Newman Dominates F.W. Webb 100 Qualifying’
Sprint Cup Driver Will Start Out Front At Loudon For Third Time
Loudon, NH – Ryan Newman is one step closer to a clean sweep of his three-race NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule as he captured the Coors Light Pole Award in advance of Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
A veteran NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor, Newman laid down a fast lap of 29.457 seconds (129.300 mph) in Thursday’s qualifying for his third career Whelen Modified Tour pole. All three have come at New Hampshire.
Newman won the pole and the race in the Whelen Modified Tour’s first visit to the “Magic Mile” in June, and followed that with a victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August. His third and final moonlight appearance in the Tour in 2010 will be in Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100, which will air on SPEED at 1 p.m.
Continue reading ‘QUALIFYING: Newman Sweeps NHMS Poles’
Loudon, NH — Brett Moffitt of Grimes, Iowa grabbed the pole position for tomorrow’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series East New Hampshire 125 and set a new track record. Moffitt also won the pole in June.
Driving the No. 20 Game Plan for Life Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Moffitt turned a lap record of 29.863 seconds at a speed of 127.542 mph.
“We were terrible in practice, I really thought we were going to have a bad weekend, but my team worked on the car until it was time to qualify,” said Moffitt. “We’ve grown as a team learning, and picking everything apart. We just threw it all together today.”
Continue reading ‘Brett Moffitt Sweeps NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Poles at New Hampshire and Sets a New Track Record!’
Joins JGR Teammate Gresham On Front Row At NHMS
Loudon, NH — Brett Moffitt turned around his slow run from practice to run a record-lap in qualifying Thursday for Friday’s New Hampshire 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
It is the third career 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light for the second-year NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver from Grimes, Iowa. Moffitt’s lap of 29.863 seconds (127.542 mph) broke the track record set in 2002 by Brian Hoar of 29.893 (127.414). He also captured the pole in the series’ June race at New Hampshire.
Moffitt went out 26th out of 32 cars and knocked Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Max Gresham off the provisional pole. Gresham, who put down a lap of 29.945 (127.193), will start on the outside of the front row. Kevin Swindell qualified third at 29.954 (127.155). Swindell had won the Coors Light Pole Award in the previous two races: at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway and Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga.
Continue reading ‘QUALIFYING: Record Run For Moffitt’
Published at September 16, 2010
in Thompson.
Thompson, CT — Mother Nature handed NASCAR Whelen All-American division championships to Sunoco Modified driver, Ted Christopher and Mini Stock driver, Chuck Rogers. When Thompson management pulled the plug on their final Thursday Night Thompson Thunder race due to forecasts of severe weather, both Christopher and Rogers had built up enough track points to clinch their crowns before the final points race on September 26th.
Christopher had an exceptional 2010 season at Thompson. He started his remarkable season with a win on Icebreaker weekend and went on to claim nine more victories. His 2010 record shows fourteen finishes in the top five. To date, he has managed to secure 732 track points. Even if Christopher did not start the race on September 26th, his nearest competitor, Woody Pitkat could pick up, at most, fifty points which would be six points shy of a tie with Christopher. The 2010 crown for the Plainville, CT driver is his third Sunoco Modified title in the past ten years.
Chuck Rogers of Quaker Hill, CT claimed his first Thompson championship by being both fast and consistent. Rogers did not visit victory lane but he secured twelve top ten finishes with five of those in the top five. That effort enabled him to gather enough points to put himself sixty makers ahead of his nearest competitor, Jeff Moffat. This division title is a first for Rogers at the Thompson International Speedway. He has been a long-time competitor in the Mini Stock division, but 2010 has proven to be his most successful by far.
Continue reading ‘Rainout Clinches Division Titles for Christopher & Rogers’
Led Practice For The F.W. Webb 100 Thursday At New Hampshire
Loudon, NH — Winner in both of his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts this year, including at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June, Ryan Newman paced practice Thursday afternoon in advance of the F.W. Webb 100 at the “Magic Mile.”
Newman posted a fast lap of 29.255 seconds (130.193 mph) led all 35 cars entered for Saturday’s race. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran won the New England 100 at New Hampshire earlier this year, and was also victorious last time out at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Todd Szegedy finished as the second-fastest car in the 90-minute session (29.389/129.600) with Bobby Santos (29.431/129.415) third.
Continue reading ‘PRACTICE: Newman Stays Up Front’
Loudon, NH — Lee McCall is no stranger to working with young talent.
He worked in the NASCAR development ranks with the likes of Reed Sorenson and David Stremme for Chip Ganassi-owned teams in the Nationwide Series not all that long ago. And, more famously, he was the crew chief atop the pit box when Jamie McMurray vaulted into NASCAR consciousness by winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2002 — the year he replaced an injured Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 Sprint Cup Series ride.
Now, McCall is the crew chief for Revolution Racing’s No. 2 Changing Lanes Chevrolet driver Ryan Gifford in the K&N Pro Series East.
“It’s a great opportunity to try and teach these kids the dos and the don’ts and try and build their confidence and get them ready for the next level,” McCall said Thursday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, following qualifying for Friday’s New England 125. “You know, I enjoy it. It’s a challenge, but it makes you feel good when you go home at the end of the day.
Continue reading ‘NOTEBOOK: Sprint Cup Series experience leading K&N Pro Series East teams’
Led NASCAR K&N Pro Series Practice Thursday at New Hampshire
Loudon, NH – In preliminary preparation for Friday’s New Hampshire 125, Ryan Gifford led NASCAR K&N Pro Series East practice Thursday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Gifford registered a fast lap of 30.158 seconds (126.295 mph) to pace the 32-car field at the 1.058-mile oval. In two previous starts at New Hampshire, Gifford finished fourth in both.
Gifford was followed on the speed chart during the 90-minute practice session by Kevin Swindell (30.301/125.699) and Ty Dillon (30.465/125.022). Swindell was the runner-up to Ryan Truex in the series’ first stop at New Hampshire in June.
Truex, Eddie MacDonald, Jason Patison, Miguel Paludo, Alan Tardiff, Cole Whitt and Darrell Wallace Jr. rounded out the 10 fastest cars.
MacDonald is the defending pole and race winner of this event.
Qualifying for the New Hampshire 125 is scheduled for today at 3:30 p.m. Brett Moffitt, who ranked 21st in practice, was the June pole winner.
PRACTICE
Sources: Jason Cunningham, NASCAR
Szegedy: “It’s great that Ryan’s running with us. He’s one of the best out there. I wish he could race with us every week.”
Loudon, NH — Ryan Newman is 2-for-2 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts this season, and with the pole position for Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway he’s in a great spot to add to that win total.
It’s easy to see why some might grumble that it seems unfair for a Sprint Cup Series driver to dabble in the Modified ranks. But not everybody feels that way.
“I think it’s great that Ryan’s running with us,” said Todd Szegedy, the 2002 Whelen Modified Tour champion who starts second on Saturday. “It brings us notoriety. I know there’s talk about, ‘He comes in and he takes all the money.’ So what? It’s fair and square he’s winning.”
Continue reading ‘NOTEBOOK: Newman One Of The Mod Gang’
Published at September 16, 2010
in NHMS.
Loudon, NH — Inspired by the famous “Yard of Bricks” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a new start/finish line was unveiled at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway Thursday, September 16.
The “Granite Stripe” is a six-inch thick, two-foot-wide strip of New Hampshire granite that stretches across the 65-foot wide NHMS front straightaway at the start/finish line. New Hampshire is known as the Granite State.
Though the new start/finish line was the idea of New Hampshire Motor Speedway executive vice president and general manager, he said he didn’t have to think hard for his idea.
“Growing up in a racing family in Indiana, I was well aware of some of auto racing’s great traditions,” said Gappens. “I knew of ‘The Lady in Black’ (Darlington) and ‘The Rock’ (Rockingham), but for me the ‘Yard of Bricks’ at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was racing’s sacred ground. And the bricks just didn’t mean something to the Indy drivers. We’ve all seen what ‘kissing the bricks’ means to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers.” Continue reading ‘“Granite Stripe” Joins Other Iconic Motorsports Landmarks’
Published at September 16, 2010
in Thompson.
Thompson, CT — A severe weather forecast for high winds and heavy rains this evening has caused the management of the Thompson International Speedway to cancel tonight’s race program. The event was to have been the final Thursday Night Thompson Thunder (TNTT) event of the 2010 racing season.
In spite of the cancellation of tonight’s race, the season is far from over. A Tour-Type Modified program is scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, September 26th and the annual Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented by XTRAMART will be held on the weekend of October 15th-17th of October.
The cancellation of the September 16th race will only increase the pressure and excitement on Sunday, September 26th when all six of Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All- American Series division championships will be decided. Add all of this to the Tour-Type Modified 40-lap shootout and fans will have a great day of high speed competition to witness.
Continue reading ‘Severe Weather Forecast Cancels Thompson Speedway Race’
Loudon, NH — “The Magic Mile” and Richard Petty Motorsports are teaming up to make this weekend a little brighter for the employees impacted by the Hartford Distributor tragedy, by sending 250 tickets for all employees to the SYLVANIA 300 and four Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series haulers to the facility Thursday morning.
One of the victims, Doug Scruton, had dreams of retiring in New Hampshire before the tragedy occurred. Scruton, 56 had worked for the company for 30 years and was months away from retirement in the White Mountains.
Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway was more than willing to donate the tickets to the employees and families.
Continue reading ‘NHMS & Richard Petty Motorsports Bring Smiles from “The Magic Mile” with Tickets to Sylvania 300′
