Media Picks Defending Champion to Repeat in 2011
Daytona Beach, FL – With the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season set to begin with the Icebreaker at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway this weekend, defending champion Bobby Santos has been tabbed the favorite to repeat by the tour’s media.
Santos, from Franklin, Mass., garnered 15 out of a possible 25 first-place votes and tallied 230 total points to enter the season as the championship favorite. In his first full-time season in 2010, Santos recorded four wins and 11 top 10s in 14 outings to earn his first Whelen Modified Tour crown.
While it may have been the first title for Santos, it was the third in four years for Mystic Missile Racing and longtime car owner Bob Garbarino. Last year’s success with Santos behind the wheel, and with the run in recent years by the team which remains intact, combined to make the No. 4 ‘Mystic Missile’ Dodge the overwhelming preseason favorite.
Continue reading ‘Santos Tabbed Favorite in NASCAR Whelen Modified Preseason Poll’
Published at April 8, 2011
in NHMS.
Loudon, NH — After a long winter, spring has sprung at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the roar of engines can be heard on-track this weekend, as the North Country Porsche Club is the first to take on the 1.6-mile road course through Sunday.
The North Country Porsche Club kicks off their 2011 season this weekend with an advanced driver’s day today and for a selected few, national instructor certification training. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be a complete range of drivers on the track, segregated by experience and skill level.
The NCR boasts over 500 members regionally, priding themselves on camaraderie, high standards of operation and performance; the establishment of mutually cooperative relationships between other sports car clubs and the promotion of courtesy and safety on the roads.
“The North Country Porsche Club and its membership have a distinguished list of accomplishments and awards from Porsche Club of America and we continue to work hard to make NCR the best region in the Northeast,” said Mark Watson of NCR.
Continue reading ‘North Country Porsche Club Lay’s Down Some Rubber On NHMS’ 2011 Season of Speed’
Stafford Springs, CT — In NASCAR’s Daytona 500, Dave Marcis holds the record for most career starts with 33, and A.J. Foyt holds the Indy 500 record for most career starts with 35. Jamie Tomiano, who has raced in 27 of the previous 39 Sizzlers, currently holds the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler record for most career starts and he will add to that total in this year’s 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler. Tomaino’s familiar #99 Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet will take the green flag for the 28th time in this year’s edition of “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring”. Tomaino made his first career Spring Sizzler start in 1980 and he has been in the Sizzler starting field every year since 1989, a span of 22 consecutive races.
“I remember my first Spring Sizzler in 1980, we finished around 20th and we won around 350 or 400 dollars,” said Tomaino, whose recollection was spot on as he finished 22nd and won $365 for his first Spring Sizzler start.
“I’ve been racing at many Sizzlers, and it’s a great accomplishment that I’m still going today. I haven’t been able to win one yet, but I still think that we can get to victory lane. All drivers want to win the big races and the Sizzler is definitely a race that I would like to win. My whole career I’ve been close to winning some big races, but I always seem to come up a bit short.” With 27 and soon to be 28 Spring Sizzler starts under his belt, Tomaino has amassed a great deal of memories throughout the years, but he says that the memory that sticks out the most was a year that he missed the race. “It was the first year of the Tour in 1985 and I was leading the points heading into the Sizzler,” said Tomaino. “Back then, there were so many cars attempting to make the race, if you didn’t make the top-10 in time trials, you had to qualify through a heat race. We ended up qualifying 11th, so we had to go into the heat race to qualify. We started on the pole for the heat race and we were running in a qualified spot before I had a flat tire. There was no infield pitting for the heat, so we had to go into the consi, where they took 2 cars to transfer into the race. We ended up finishing third in the consi and we missed the race. That had to be the sickest feeling I’ve ever had as we drove back to New Jersey.”
Continue reading ‘Jamie “The Jet” Tomaino Still Chasing First Career CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler After 27 Years’
Stafford Springs, CT — The 40th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler will kick off the 2011 race season and Richie Pallai, Jr., the driver of the #39 Bosch Spark Plugs Whelen Modified Tour Chevrolet, will jump into action both on and off the track. Along with the challenges that racing brings, Richie is also assisting the Danbury Animal Welfare Society (D.A.W.S.) increase awareness about animal rescue, adoption and animal service programs through the racing community network.
The first opportunity for outreach will be at the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party on Sunday May 1st in which fans can receive a CARQUEST Belts & Hose tee shirt for a $5 donation. All proceeds from the tee shirt sales will be donated directly to D.A.W.S.
“The Pit Party is a great way for us as drivers to make a connection with the race fans,” said Pallai. “We’re hoping to have a lot of fans stop by and check out our new paint scheme, which John Catania did for us. Along with checking out the car, the fans can donate $5 and get a CARQUEST Belts & Hose tee shirt, to support D.A.W.S. I will also be running in the CARQUEST Champions for Charities event on June 28th and will be representing D.A.W.S. at that event. The more money raised for D.A.W.S. results in a better starting position in the June 28th event. So it’s a win-win situation.”
Continue reading ‘Richie Pallai, Jr. Gearing Up for CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party at the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler’
Stafford Springs, CT — Stafford Motor Speedway has announced that it will welcome Trantolo and Trantolo Law Firm as the newest member of the Stafford family of sponsors. Trantolo and Trantolo is the newest SK Modified® contingency partner and they will offer a weekly bonus of $150 to each SK Modified® feature winner during the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season.
Trantolo and Trantolo has been a billboard sponsor at Stafford Motor Speedway for the past three seasons and they also sponsored the Back to the Track event, a demonstration motorcycle ride event where participants could take their favorite type of motorcycle around the half-mile oval.
“Everyone here at Trantolo and Trantolo is a big race fan, and Vincent Trantolo himself used to race many years ago, so we like being able to do things at the track,” said Norm LeBlanc, Marketing Manager & Event Coordinator for Trantolo & Trantolo. “We wanted to maintain a relationship with the sport and Stafford Speedway while being more involved with the competitors, so we decided to step up our involvement to the level of contingency sponsor. We’ve had the billboard and the Back to the Track event for the past three years, and we helped Dan Avery with the marketing on his car last season, so this contingency sponsorship is a great way for us to continue our support of Stafford Speedway and its competitors.”
Continue reading ‘Trantolo & Trantolo Law Firm Joins Stafford Contingency Program as First Place SK Modified® Sponsor’
Stafford Springs, CT — With the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler less than a month away, the excitement and anticipation of “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” continues to build. As part of the celebration of the 40th edition of the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, Stafford Speedway is inviting drivers who were on hand to take part in the early days of the Sizzler to be honored during this year’s CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler pre-race festivities.
This week’s Sizzler spotlight falls on Lou Austin, who was a Spring Sizzler pioneer by racing in three out of the first four Sizzler events. Austin was a well-known modified driver during his career, taking the wheel for several different car owners as well as driving his own #73 car during his career. In addition to his modified exploits, he also drove in the NEMA Midget ranks.
“That was a long time ago and I don’t remember that much about the race,” said Austin. “I think I was in the 29 car at the time, which was out of Durham, NH and was owned by Butch True. I remember the race was an all-out race, you really had to go for it. It was an 80-lap race and it was all or nothing. The grandstands were packed to a full house and the pits were full of cars. There were so many cars, you really had to work to get qualified. There were cars from all over the northeast for that race. That race had the best drivers like Charlie Jarzombeck, Richie Evans, and Bugsy Stevens, they were all pretty good wherever they went and they were all really good at Stafford. I was never able to get a win at Stafford, the closest I ever came was a photo finish one night with Bugsy [Stevens]. We came across the line nose to nose and they said he was the winner. I do miss racing, I really loved it when I was racing.”
Continue reading ‘Lou Austin Recalls Spring Sizzler Early Days at Stafford’
