News & Notes: Whelen Modified Tour Heads to Stafford for CARQUEST Fall Final

Annually an important event in shaping the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship picture, the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 3 will once again go a long way toward deciding the 2010 title.

As the penultimate race of the 2010 season, the Fall Final will have many championship implications. Donny Lia’s win in last year’s event solidified his title hopes, which marked the seventh time the eventual champion won the Fall Final.

The 2010 Fall Final – the 25th time the Whelen Modified Tour has participated in Stafford’s season-ending race weekend – will feature an extremely tight points battle as first and second are separated by single digits, and fourth place is less than 100 points out.

Bobby Santos won three of the first four races this year and has been atop the standings following 11 of 12 events. His smallest lead was six points following the August race at Stafford when he suffered a blown engine and Ted Christopher’s top-five closed the gap. As the Tour returns to the Connecticut half-mile, he will have to contend with Mike Stefanik on his bumper following a similar situation at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when Santos was caught up in an accident and Stefanik turned in a podium finish.

Christopher has ranked either first or second in the standings following the four races prior to New Hampshire. There, like Santos, he was caught up in an accident. The resulting 30th-place finish pushed him back to third in the standings, 70 points behind Santos.

Not to be lost in the shuffle is Ron Silk, who has quietly put together the hottest second half of any driver in the garage that has yet to win a race. He has finished in the top five in seven of the last eight outings, with a 15th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway the lone exception, and he enters the Fall Final 94 tallies out of first.

If the first three races of the year at Stafford are any indication, each of the top four drivers in the standings will be competing for the win in the Fall Final. Santos was runner-up in the Spring Sizzler and won the May race prior to his DNF in August. Stefanik has finished better than seventh in all three of his outings there and Silk won the pole and finished third in the latest appearance. Christopher’s record at the track speaks for itself, and this year he has posted a win in the Spring Sizzler and an additional top five in three previous races this year.

Action will begin on race weekend with practice and qualifying on Saturday and raceday will commence with the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party.

ENTRY LIST  |  EVENT SCHEDULE

Raceday Notes
The Race … The CARQUEST Fall Final will be the 13th of 14 races on the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule, and the fourth and final stop for the Tour at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

The Procedure … Starting positions 1-28 will be set from time trials. The remaining five will be filled through the provisional process. The race is 150 laps (75 miles).

The Track … A half-mile, slightly-banked oval, Stafford Motor Speedway originated as a horse-racing track in the 1870s. After seven decades as a horse track, the  dirt oval started holding auto races following WW II. Stafford became a NASCAR track in 1959 and was paved for the first time in 1967.

Race Winners … There have been 30 different race winners at Stafford, led by Mike Stefanik’s 20 victories. Ted Christopher had the longest win streak in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Stafford with four-straight victories from Sept. 30, 2001 to Aug. 23, 2002. Christopher, Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy have won the first three 2010 Stafford races.

Pole Winners … There have been 37 different pole winners at Stafford, led by Stefanik’s 15. Santos was the pole winner for the first two Stafford races this year and Ron Silk was fastest in the August race.

Santos Clinging To Title Hopes
Despite three mid-season DNFs, Bobby Santos is still two races away from what could be his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title.

Competing full-time for the first time, Santos started the season with wins in three of the first four races. Following the fifth race of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he had a season-high 129-point lead in the standings.

That lead has fluctuated significantly in the seven races since, and is now down to single digits for just the second time this year. After getting wrecked on Lap 96 last time out at New Hampshire, Mike Stefanik is just seven points behind Santos with two races left on the schedule.

“It was a rough way to spoil a good run,” Santos said. “Thankfully, we are still ahead in the points, but seven points is not a lot. We will have to go to Stafford and Thompson and focus on solid finishes.”

Although the points lead has declined to a precarious margin, the last two races of the year will come at tracks where Santos has experienced a high level of success this year. He finished as the runner-up to Ted Christopher in the first race at Stafford Motor Speedway in April, and followed that with a win at the half mile in May. The August Stafford race saw the No. 4’s engine let got for the second of Santos’ three DNFs on the year.

Following this week’s race at Stafford, the season finale will take place at Thompson International Speedway, site of two of his four career wins. In two starts this year at the .625-mile oval, Santos earned a win in the season opener and was third there in August.

Tour Tidbits: Newman Sweeps New Hampshire
The last time out the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour made its second and final visit of the year to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the F.W. Webb 100 on Saturday, Sept. 18.

Newman Returns to Victory Lane … NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman went three-for-three in his Whelen Modified Tour 2010 moonlight when he took the checkered flag at New Hampshire. In addition to his clean sweep of both races and poles in the two races in Loudon, Newman also won the Tour race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.

Blewett Close at the Finish … A late restart got Jimmy Blewett in position to challenge Newman at the end, but he had to settle for runner-up. It was Blewett’s best finish in eight races this year, and it tied his previous best finish at New Hampshire.

Stefanik’s Third Closes the Gap … The fifth podium finish of the year for Mike Stefanik brought him to within seven tallies of championship leader Bobby Santos. Stefanik’s third-place effort, combined with Santos’ accident on Lap 96, was enough to put the seven-time champ in serious title contention with two races remaining.

Trouble at the Top … Santos and Ted Christopher, who entered the race second in points, both got wrecked on Saturday and were dealt costly setbacks. Santos entered the race with a 32-point lead on Christopher, but his accident and resulting 19th-place finish brought him back to the pack. Christopher was caught up in a multi-car accident on Lap 37 and finished 30th. He is now third in points, 70 tallies behind.

Comeback for Coby … After suffering a blown engine in practice on Thursday, the No. 12 T.S. Haulers team rallied to replace the engine and driver Doug Coby took the car from the rear of the field to a fourth-place finish. Coby had to take a provisional and started 35th. The in-race improvement netted him the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award.

Silk Stays Hot, Moves Up in Points … A teammate to Coby, Ron Silk registered his seventh top-five in the last eight races and moved up to fourth in the season standings, his highest ranking of the season.

Pallai Takes Home Two Awards … The second top-10 finish of Richie Pallai Jr.’s young career netted him the Sunoco Rookie of the Race and Featherlite Most Improved Driver Awards. Pallai finished 10th at New Hampshire after a 31st-place effort in the previous race at Bristol Motor Speedway to earn the award.

Quarterley Continues to Find Success … A longtime veteran of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Dale Quarterley registered his third top-10 finish in as many tries this year in the open wheel Modifieds with a sixth-place effort at New Hampshire. He won at Lime Rock Park in July and finished seventh at Bristol.

Up Next: Thompson
The 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will come to a conclusion at the same place it began six months earlier – Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway – with the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing on Sunday,  Oct. 17.

The World Series will be the final of three stops for the Whelen Modified Tour to Thompson, site of more races than any other facility in Tour history.

The World Series will once again see a Whelen Modified Tour champion crowned as the  tight points race moves to the .625-mile oval at Thompson. Just seven points separate Mike Stefanik from leader Bobby Santos entering this week’s event at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and Ted Christopher sits in third, 70 points out.

Santos and Christopher have won the first two races at Thompson this year, and Christopher has captured the World Series in each of the last two seasons. Christopher has racked up 10 victories this year in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at Thompson in the Sunoco Modified division, which earned him the track title.

Action will begin on race weekend with practice and qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 16.

Contingency Awards
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD
Bobby Santos, 3
Ryan Newman, 2
Justin Bonsignore, 1
George Brunnhoelzl III, 1
Ted Christophe, 1
Erick Rudolph, 1
Ron Silk, 1
Mike Stefanik, 1
Todd Szegedy, 1

COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD
Woody Pitkat, 3
Doug Coby, 1
Eric Goodale, 1
Danny Knoll Jr., 1
Dale Quarterley, 1
Glen Reen, 1
Erick Rudolph, 1
Ron Silk, 1
Mike Stefanik, 1
Jamie Tomaino, 1

FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD
Eric Beers, 1
Justin Bonsignore, 1
James Civali, 1
Chuck Hossfeld, 1
Richie Pallai Jr., 1
Rowan Pennink, 1
Ryan Preece, 1
Bobby Santos, 1
Mike Stefanik, 1
Rob Summers, 1
Todd Szegedy, 1
Glenn Tyler, 1

WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE
Ted Christopher, 3
Ryan Newman, 3
Bobby Santos, 3
Rowan Pennink, 1
Dale Quarterley, 1
Todd Szegedy, 1

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Justin Bonsignore, 8
Richie Pallai Jr., 4

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Justin Bonsignore, 116
Richie Pallai Jr., 112

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR

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