Statistical Advance: Analyzing The New Hampshire 100
Daytona Beach, FL — The second and final trip for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009 will take place this week with the New Hampshire 100 on Saturday, Sept. 19 in Loudon, N.H.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
History
• Groundbreaking for New Hampshire International Speedway was Aug. 13, 1989.
• The official opening was June 5, 1990 and the first NASCAR event was a Nationwide Series race on July 15, 1990.
• The first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race was held on Sept. 2, 1990.
• The track was renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2008.
• Is the largest racing oval – and the largest sports facility overall – in New England.
Notebook
• There have been 49 NWMT races all-time at NHMS, third-most of any facility.
• With the exception of 1990 and 2001, there have been at least two NWMT races a year at NHMS since the track opened.
• There have been 14 different race winners, led by Tony Hirschman’s seven.
• There have been 20 different pole winners, led by Ted Christopher and Jan Leaty with seven apiece.
• Christopher is the reigning track champion with finishes of second and first in the two dates last year … Among his five NWMT wins at the track, four came in consecutive fashion in 2004-05.
• Mike McLaughlin won the first NWMT race at NHMS in 1992 … He also won the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Series East race that same day.
• In the first event at NHMS this year, Doug Coby captured the Coors Light Pole Award and Donny Lia was the race winner.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Data
Race: #10 of 13 overall, #2 of 2 at NHMS
Track Layout: 1.058-mile oval
Banking: Variable between 2-7 degrees in the turns
Race Length: 100 laps/105.8 miles
Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: Ryan Newman (127.453 mph, 29.658 seconds)
2008 race winner: Ted Christopher (70.549 mph, 1:29.18)
Track qualifying record: Mike Ewanitsko (132.743 mph, 28.693 sec., 7-20-01)
NWMT Win Leaders at NHMS
Tony Hirschman … 7
Reggie Ruggiero / Mike Stefanik … 6
Ted Christopher … 5
John Blewett III / Steve Park … 4
NWMT Pole Leaders at NHMS
Ted Christopher/Jan Leaty … 7
Mike Ewanitsko / Tim Connolly / Tony Hirschman … 4
Steve Park / Mike Stefanik … 3
Jeff Fuller / Rick Fuller … 2
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 in Williamson, N.Y. … 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 won the next time out at SMS with Eric Berndt earning his first career pole award.
• Lia won the inaugural event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … It was the first of two scheduled combination races with the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour in 2009 … Qualifying for the event was rained out.
• Lia made it two in a row with his win at TIS last time out … He also captured the pole prior to the race, his first of the season and the 14th of his career.
• Christopher has a 34-point lead in the season standings on Todd Szegedy … Christopher has maintained the lead through 15 of the last 16 races dating back to 2008.
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 46 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and nine poles in 136 career starts.
• Is up to sixth in points with four-straight top-15 finishes.
• Finished 16th at NHMS in June … Best finish there was a third place in 2005.
Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion … Has 33 wins and 21 poles in 274 career starts … Has at least one win in 11 consecutive seasons … His 33 wins rank fourth all-time and his 21 poles rank ninth.
• Earned the 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 a 34-point lead on Todd Szegedy in the standings … Has seven top fives in eight starts, with six of those either wins (2) or runner-up finishes (4).
• Has led 41-percent (529 of 1,286) of all laps run this year, more than double any other driver.
• Is the defending winner of this race … Finished fifth at NHMS in June.
• With five NWMT and five NCWSE wins at NHMS, he is the winningest driver in track history.
Mike Christopher (No. 82 Dodge)
• Has 13 top 10s in 66 career starts.
• Will attempt to make his first start since the September, 2007 NHMS race.
• Best career finish was a runner-up to his twin brother, Ted, in the July, 2004 NHMS race.
James Civali (No. 79 Pontiac)
• Has four wins and 23 top 10s in 43 career starts … Was the 2006 Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
• Has an average finish of 33rd in two starts in 2009.
• Has two top-three finishes in five career starts at NHMS.
Ed Flemke Jr. (No. 10 Chevrolet)
• Has 17 wins and 15 poles in 379 career starts … Has made a record 320 consecutive starts … The last time he did not start a NWMT race was on July 22, 1992 at Riverside Park Speedway.
• Is eighth in the season standings with three top 10s.
• Runner-up effort in June was his best career finish at NHMS.
Chuck Hossfeld (No. 22 Chevrolet)
• Has seven wins, eight poles and 65 top 10s in 112 career starts.
• Will attempt to make his second start of 2009 … He finished third at Spencer.
• Has three career wins at NHMS … His June, 2008 win was the closest in NWMT history at .001 seconds.
Donny Lia (No. 4 Dodge)
• The 2007 NWMT champion.
• Has 14 wins, 14 poles and 51 top 10s in 106 career starts.
• Is up to third in points with consecutive wins at BMS and TIS.
• Won the June NHMS race … Also won at NHMS in June, 2007.
Ryan Newman (No. 7 Chevrolet)
• Made NWMT debut with a pole and a 20th-place finish at NHMS in September, 2008.
• Has two previous starts in 2009 … Finished 34th at NHMS in June and 37th at BMS.
• Has 21 career NASCAR national series wins … First career NSCS win came at NHMS in 2002 … Also recorded NSCS win there in 2005.
Chris Pasteryak (No. 52 Chevrolet)
• Has nine top 10s in 23 career NWMT starts.
• Is ninth in points with four top 10s.
• Finished 25th in the June NHMS race.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)
• Has 16 top 10s in 39 career starts.
• Is currently fifth in points with seven top 10s in nine starts.
• Finished fourth in the first race of the year at NHMS.
Woody Pitkat (No. 28 Chevrolet)
• Has 12 top 10s in 26 career starts.
• Is seventh in points with five top 10s in nine starts.
• Finished ninth in the June race at NHMS.
Ryan Preece (No. 3 Chevrolet)
• Has three poles, three wins and 17 top 10s in 39 career starts.
• Became the 20th driver in NWMT history to earn back-to-back victories with recent triumphs at Riverhead Raceway and Stafford Motor Speedway.
• Finished 24th in the June race at NHMS.
Keith Rocco (No. 12 Chevrolet)
• Has two career NWMT starts, both at TIS.
• Finished 19th in the 2008 World Series and fifth last time out on September 3.
• Finished as the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national runner-up to Philip Morris.
Bobby Santos (No. 96 Chevrolet)
• Will attempt to make his first start of 2009.
• Has one win and 12 top 10s in 27 career NWMT starts.
• Best career finish at NHMS was a fourth-place effort in September, 2007.
• Is 13th in USAC Silver Crown points with a win at O’Reilly Raceway Park and 19th in USAC Sprint Car points with wins at Kalamazoo Speedway and Richmond International Raceway.
Ron Silk (No. 6 Chevrolet)
• Has three wins and 27 top 10s in 64 career NWMT starts.
• Has four top 10s in eight 2009 starts … Will run as a teammate to Keith Rocco.
• Finished third in the June NHMS race.
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 390 career starts … Holds NWMT record for most championships, wins, poles, top fives and top 10s.
• Is 10th in points but has suffered four-straight DNFs entering this race.
• Has six career wins at NHMS … Finished 23rd there in June.
Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion.
• Has 13 wins, five poles and 76 top 10s in 119 career starts.
• Is 34 points back of season leader Ted Christopher … Is only driver to have a top-10 finish in each of the season’s first nine races … Is also the only driver to run all 1,286 laps in 2009.
• Finished eighth at NHMS in June … Won the 2007 September race there.
Jamie Tomaino (No. 99 Chevrolet)
• The 1990 NWMT champion.
• Has three wins, six poles and 235 top 10s in 507 career starts.
• Become the first driver in series history to start 500 races at the Icebreaker … Has missed only five of the 512 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 11th in points with one top 10 … Finished 26th in the June NHMS race.
Upcoming Milestones/Benchmarks:
• Ed Flemke Jr. will attempt to extend his NWMT record consecutive starts streak to 321.
• Jamie Tomaino will attempt to extend his NWMT record for total starts to 508.
• Ted Christopher is two wins shy of tying Tony Hirschman for third on the NWMT all-time list at 35.
• Donny Lia is one win shy of tying Jimmy Spencer for 12th on the all-time wins list at 15.
• Todd Szegedy is one win shy of tying Lia for 13th on the all-time wins list at 14.
• Mike Stefanik’s next NWMT 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