Statistical Advance: Analyzing The Budweiser 150 Presented By New England Dodge Dealers At Thompson International Speedway

By admin August 11, 2009 NASCAR WMT, Thompson

Daytona Beach, FL — The second of three trips for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway in 2009 will take place this Thursday, Aug. 13, with the Budweiser 150 presented by New England Dodge Dealers.

At Thompson International Speedway:
History

Opened on May 26, 1940 as the first asphalt racing surface in the United States, and the largest track in New England at the time.
Has one of the oldest NASCAR affiliations in the nation.
Held NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 1951, 1969 and 1970.
Has played host to 107 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races, the most of any facility in the NWMT’s 25 year history.
Features six NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions as part of the ‘Thursday Night Thompson Thunder.’

Notebook

There have been 29 different race winners at TIS, led by Mike Stefanik’s 14 victories.
There have been 36 different pole winners at TIS, led by Jeff Fuller’s 13.
Ted Christopher earned the pole and the race win in the NWMT’s first appearance at TIS in 2009 … The race featured five lead changes among four drivers … Christopher led 111 of the 154 laps … Jamie Tomaino made his 500^th career start in the race and led 25 laps.
Ron Silk earned three wins during a span of five races at TIS from 2007-08 … His back-to-back wins last year were the first time a driver recorded consecutive triumphs at the track since 2003.
Eight drivers that are expected to be in this race that have won previously at TIS.
Last year’s TIS winners include: Ed Flemke Jr., Silk (2), Todd Szegedy and Christopher.

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.
Ryan Preece took the pole and the checkered flag at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway … He then repeated at SMS with Eric Berndt earning his first career pole award.
Christopher regained the points lead from Todd Szegedy with a runner-up finish last time out … Szegedy had the lead for one week … Christopher has a 14-point lead heading into this week.

Selected Driver Highlights:

Eric Beers (No. 46 Chevrolet)

Has two wins and nine poles in 134 career starts.
Set the TIS qualifying record last year and won there in 2006 … Finished 11^th in first race of 2009.
Is up to eighth in points with consecutive top-10 finishes.

Jimmy Blewett (No. 12 Chevrolet)

Has five wins and one pole in 69 career starts.
Is sixth in the standings with top 10s in four of the seven races.
Does not have a win at TIS … Finished second there in the 2009 season opener.

Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)

The 2008 NWMT champion.
Has 33 wins and 21 poles in 272 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 … Became the first driver in NWMT history to begin the season by earning multiple poles.
Has eight wins and five poles in his career at TIS.
Regained the current season points lead with a runner-up finish last time out.
Is up to fourth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings with six wins, 19 top 10s and 722 points in 22 starts … Is fourth in points in TIS’s Sunoco Modified division.

Ed Flemke Jr. (No. 10 Chevrolet)

Has 17 wins and 15 poles in 377 career starts … Has made a record 318 consecutive starts … The last time he did not start a NWMT race was on July 22, 1992 at Riverside Park Speedway.
Is ninth in the season standings with a pair of top 10s.
Has four wins and four poles in his career at TIS … Finished 16^th in the first race there this year.

Donny Lia (No. 4 Dodge)

The 2007 NWMT champion.
Has 12 wins, 13 poles and 48 top 10s in 104 career starts.
Is fourth in points with a win and five top 10s in seven races.
Has a win and a pair of poles at TIS … Win came in 2007 … Finished third there in the opener.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)

Has 14 top 10s in 37 career starts.
Is currently fifth in points with six top 10s in seven starts.
Finished ninth in the first race of the year at TIS.

Woody Pitkat (No. 28 Chevrolet)

Has 11 top 10s in 24 career starts … Finished 19^th in the opener at TIS.
Is currently seventh in points with four top 10s in seven starts.
Enters this week second in Sunoco Modified points at TIS in NWAAS action.

Ryan Preece (No. 3 Chevrolet)

Has three poles, three wins and 16 top 10s in 37 career starts.
Became the 20^th driver in NWMT history to earn back-to-back victories with recent triumphs at Riverhead Raceway and Stafford Motor Speedway.
Finished fourth in the season opener at TIS.

Reggie Ruggiero (No. 14 Ford)

Has 44 wins, 27 poles and 226 top 10s in 418 career starts … His 44 wins rank second in series history and his 27 poles are tied for fourth with Jan Leaty.
Has six wins and five poles in his career at TIS … Most recent win of his career came at TIS in the 2006 World Series … Finished 26^th in this year’s first race there.

Ron Silk (No. 79 Pontiac)

Has three wins, a pole and 27 top 10s in 63 career starts … All three wins have come at TIS.
Is currently 12^th in points with four top 10s in seven starts … Enters this race off a pair of DNFs.
Finished sixth in the first race of the year at TIS.

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 387 career starts … Holds NWMT record for most championships, wins, poles, top fives and top 10s.
Is currently 10^th in points with four top 10s in seven starts … Enters this race off a pair of DNFs.
All-time NWMT wins leader at TIS with 14 … Last win at TIS was the 2006 Icebreaker … Also has eight poles there … Finished seventh in the opener at TIS.

Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)

The 2003 NWMT champion.
Has 13 wins, five poles and 74 top 10s in 117 career starts … Has recorded three wins and three poles in his career at TIS.
Is just 14 points back of season leader Ted Christopher … Is only driver to have a top-10 finish in each of the season’s first seven races.
Came home fifth in the season opener at TIS.

Jamie Tomaino (No. 99 Chevrolet)

The 1990 NWMT champion.
Has three wins, six poles and 235 top 10s in 505 career starts.
Become the first driver in series history to start 500 races at the Icebreaker … Has missed only five of the 509 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.
Is 14^th in points … Led 25 laps and finished 13^th in the season opener at TIS.

Upcoming Milestones/Benchmarks:

Ed Flemke Jr. will attempt to extend his record consecutive starts streak to 319.
Jamie Tomaino will attempt to extend his series record for total starts to 506.
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 13^th 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.
Ryan Preece will look to become the first driver to earn three-consecutive wins since Lia in 2007.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR