Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Riverhead 175

By admin July 29, 2009 NASCAR WMT, Riverhead

Daytona Beach,FL — For the 25th season in a row the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will visit Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway for the Riverhead 175 on Saturday, Aug. 1.

At Riverhead Raceway:

History

Built in 1949.
Held its first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race on July 10, 1985 during the NWMT’s inaugural season.
Has held 47 NWMT races all-time, fourth-most among all venues.
Is one of two tracks to play host to the NWMT in each of its 25 seasons of competition along with Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.

Notebook

Mike Ewanitsko experienced more success than any other NWMT driver at Riverhead during his days as a competitor … His 11 wins and eight poles lead in both categories.
Jimmy Blewett earned his first Riverhead NWMT victory in last year’s event … Bill Park, who competes in Riverhead’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, earned his first NWMT Coors Light Pole Award in the 2008 event.
Donny Lia has won four of the last eight NWMT races at Riverhead dating back to 2003.
At .25 miles, Riverhead is the smallest track on the 2009 NWMT schedule … The largest is New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., at 1.058 miles.

Up to Speed:

Ted Christopher earned the Coors Light Pole Award and a trip to Victory Lane in the season opener at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
Christopher also earned the pole and the win in the second race of the year at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
Christopher made it three-for-three when he earned the pole for the third race of the season, also at SMS, but finished second to Jimmy Blewett in the race … Christopher became the seventh driver in NWMT history to earn at least three-consecutive pole awards, and extended his mark for consecutive poles to start a season.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway Donny Lia earned his first win of the season and the 12th of his career … Doug Coby captured the pole, the second of his career.
Erick Rudolph became the youngest winner in NWMT history when he took the checkered flag at Spencer Speedway … Qualifying was rained out and the race was pushed back a day.
The points lead belongs to Christopher, who is 17 tallies ahead of Todd Szegedy.

Selected Driver Highlights:

Eric Beers (No. 46 Chevrolet)

Has two wins and nine poles in 132 career starts.
Is 13th in points after five races.
Finished 10th at Riverhead in 2008 … Earn a pole there in 2005.

Jimmy Blewett (No. 12 Chevrolet)

Has five wins and one pole in 67 career starts.
Is eighth in the standings with top 10s in the three of the five races.
Won at Riverhead in 2008 … His brother, John Blewett III, won there in 1999.

Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)

The 2008 NWMT champion.
Has 33 wins and 21 poles in 270 career starts … Has at least one win in 11 consecutive seasons … His 33 wins rank fourth on the all-time list and his 21 poles rank ninth.
Earned the Coors Light Pole Award in the first three events of the year, and the race win in the first two … Finished second in the third race … Became the first driver in NWMT history to begin the season by earning multiple poles.
Brings a current streak of 10 top-10 finishes in a row to Riverhead.
Finished fourth at Riverhead in 2008 and has wins there in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
Is currently 10th in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings with five wins, 14 top 10s and 611 points in 17 starts.

Ed Flemke Jr. (No. 10 Chevrolet)

Has 17 wins and 15 poles in 375 career starts … Has made a record 316 consecutive starts … The last time he did not start a NWMT race was on July 22, 1992 at Riverside Park Speedway.
Is 10th in the season standings.
Finished 19th at Riverhead in 2008 … Won at Riverhead in 2002 and has four career poles there.

Donny Lia (No. 4 Dodge)

The 2007 NWMT champion.
Has 12 wins, 13 poles and 47 top 10s in 102 career starts.
Is third in points with a win and four top 10s in five races.
Finished third last year at Riverhead … Has wins there in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Bill Park (No. 20 Chevrolet)

Defending Riverhead track champion in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series … Is currently fifth in this year’s Modified division standings.
Earned his first NWMT Coors Light Pole Award in last year’s race at Riverhead.
Best career finish in a NWMT race at Riverhead was a runner-up effort in 2007.
Brother (Bob) and nephew (Steve) have NWMT wins at Riverhead.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)

Has 12 top 10s in 35 career starts.
Is currently sixth in points with four top 10s in five starts.
Established a new career-best finish with his fourth-place effort at Spencer.

Woody Pitkat (No. 28 Chevrolet)

Has 10 top 10s in 22 career starts … Saturday will be his first Riverhead start.
Is currently ninth in points with three top 10s in five starts.

Ryan Preece (No. 3 Chevrolet)

Has two poles, a win and 14 top 10s in 35 career starts.
Is currently fifth in points with four top 10s in five starts.
Finished fifth at Riverhead in 2008.

Ron Silk (No. 79 Pontiac)

Has three wins, a pole and 27 top 10s in 61 career starts.
Is currently seventh in points with four top 10s in five starts.
Finished as the runner-up to Jimmy Blewett at Riverhead in 2008.

Mike Stefanik (No. 16 Pontiac)

The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
Has 69 wins, 42 poles and 258 top 10s in 386 career starts … Holds NWMT record for most championships, wins, poles, top fives and top 10s.
Is currently fourth in points with four top 10s in five starts.
Finished seventh at Riverhead in 2008 … Won there in 1986, 1992, 1996, 1997 and 2001 (2).

Chuck Steuer (No. 11 Chevrolet)

Competitor in Riverhead’s Modified division of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series … Is currently second in the season standings, two points back of leader Dave Brigati.
Has earned three career NWMT Coors Light Pole Awards at Riverhead.
Best NWMT finishes at Riverhead were fourth place efforts in 1996 and 2000.

Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)

The 2003 NWMT champion.
Has 13 wins, five poles and 72 top 10s in 115 career starts.
Is second in points, just 17 behind Ted Christopher, and has top 10s in each of the five races.
Finished 14th at Riverhead in 2008 … Does not have a top five in his career there.

Jamie Tomaino (No. 99 Chevrolet)

The 1990 NWMT champion.
Has three wins, six poles and 234 top 10s in 503 career starts.
Streak of 60-consecutive starts was broken when engine failure precluded him from starting last time out at Spencer.
Become the first driver in series history to start 500 races at the Icebreaker … Has missed only five of the 508 races in the history of the NWMT (1985-present) … Is one of only two drivers, along with Carl Pasteryak, to make a start in each of the 25 years of the NWMT.
Finished 28th at Riverhead in 2008 … Best career finish there is fourth in 1985, 1986, 1991 and 1998.

Upcoming Milestones/Benchmarks:

Ed Flemke Jr. will attempt to extend his record consecutive starts streak to 317.
Jamie Tomaino will attempt to extend his series record for total starts to 504.
Ted Christopher is two wins shy of tying Tony Hirschman for third on the all-time list at 35.
Donny Lia’s next win would move him past Richie Evans and George Kent on the all-time wins list … The trio currently has 12 apiece … A 13th win would then place him in a tie with Todd Szegedy.
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.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR