News & Notes: Tour Tight In Points

Budweiser King of Beers 150 Up Next For Whelen Modified Tour

Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway will play host to the most-crucial race of the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season to-date as the Budweiser King of Beers 150 is up next on Thursday, Aug. 12.

The season standings are tighter than at any point in the 2010 campaign after the results of the Town Fair Tire 150 on Aug. 6 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway. Bobby Santos now leads Ted Christopher by just six tallies, the smallest margin in nine races so far this year. Coincidentally, Santos and Christopher are the last two drivers to win at Thompson, site of Thursday’s race.

Santos, who has led in points the entire year since his season-opening win at Thompson on April 11, suffered engine trouble last time out at Stafford and finished 23rd. The Franklin, Mass., native brought a 67-point lead into the event, and had a lead as large as 129 points this year, but Christopher has all but eliminated that gap in the last four races.

Christopher, meanwhile, has been the most successful driver at Thompson in the last two-plus seasons with wins in three of the last five races at the .625-mile speedway. The Plainville, Conn., driver has led laps in eight-straight races at Thompson, where he has nine career Whelen Modified Tour triumphs, second only to Mike Stefanik’s 14 among active competitors. Christopher also has seven wins this year in Thompson’s weekly Sunoco Modified division.

Like Christopher, Stefanik is also putting pressure on Santos’ championship lead. The Coventry, R.I., driver recorded his best finish of the season – second – last time out at Stafford and is now 56 points out of first. While Stefanik has had more success at Thompson than any driver in Tour history, he hasn’t won there since the 2006 Icebreaker.

Following his win last time out at Stafford, Todd Szegedy could be poised for an encore this week at Thompson, where he has three career Whelen Modified Tour wins. Szegedy was fifth in the first race of the year at Thompson and he has finished in the top 10 in five of his last six starts at the speedway, including a win in September 2008.

Despite his narrowing lead, Santos has a good opportunity to get back on track at Thompson, where he has gained two of his four career wins. He also set the Whelen Modified Tour pole track record at Thompson in April, and should be able to qualify up front on Thursday.

Action will begin for the Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson with practice at 2 p.m., followed by qualifying at 5:30 p.m. Following Thompson’s “Super Six” NASCAR Whelen All-American Series features, the Budweiser King of Beers 150 is set to go green at  8:45 p.m.

ENTRY LIST

Raceday Notes
The Race … Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway will play host to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for the second of three races in 2010. The Budweiser King of Beers will be contested on Thursday, Aug. 12.

The Procedure … Starting positions 1-30 will be determined from time trials, followed by a redraw of the fastest qualifiers. The remaining five positions in the maximum starting field of 35 cars will be filled through the provisional process. The race is 150 laps (93.75 miles).

The Track … A .625-mile high-banked oval that opened in 1940, Thompson was the first asphalt track in the nation, and the largest in New England until New Hampshire Motor Speedway opened in 1990. TIS has played host to the Whelen Modified Tour more times than any other track, and is the only track along with Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway to hold races in all 26 seasons of the Tour.

Race Winners … There have been 29 different race winners at Thompson, led by Mike Stefanik’s 14 victories. Bobby Santos won the first race of the year at Thompson. Donny Lia won this race a year ago.

Pole Winners … There have been 37 different pole winners at Thompson, led by Jeff Fuller’s 13. Bobby Santos set the Thompson qualifying record in the 2010 season-opener with a pole run of 18.418 seconds (122.163 mph).

Silk Looks To Break Through
Entering the Budweiser King of Beers 150 this week at Thompson International Speedway, Ron Silk is arguably the hottest driver running in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

It’s not often you can say that about a driver that has yet to win a race.

Silk, however, is coming off five-consecutive top-five finishes, the last four of which have been  third-place efforts.

Season-long points leader Bobby Santos is the only other driver this year that has put together a streak of five-straight top fives, which he did to begin the season.

Santos’ run, however, included three wins – something Silk is anxious for.

“We’ve finished third the last four races,” Silk said. “I want to win one pretty soon, but if we keep finishing third, we’ll get one.”

Silk’s run of top finishes has come during the most-diverse part of the schedule. It started with a fifth-place finish at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway mile and continued with third-place efforts at the Lime Rock Park road course, the Riverhead Raceway and Monadnock Speedway quarter-miles, and last week at the half-mile Stafford Motor Speedway.

Aside from his performance at Lime Rock, which was his first road course experience, the run last Friday at Stafford might have been the most impressive. Silk had just three top 10s at the track previously, and it was his best career finish there in 20 starts.

As the Whelen Modified Tour returns to Thompson this week, Silk might have his best chance yet to return to Victory Lane. Three of his four Tour wins have come at the .625-mile track, and he has recorded 12 top 10s in 21 career starts there. His last triumph at Thompson came in this race in 2008.

While he has three wins at Thompson to his credit, none have come with the team for which he currently drives, T.S. Motorsports. In their first run there together, the 2010 opener, Silk crossed the line eighth. Silk has been running a T.S. car at Thompson weekly in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition this year, and is third in points.

Tour Tidbits: Szegedy Ends Drought
The third of four stops for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway took place on Friday, Aug. 6 with the Town Fair Tire 150.

Szegedy Returns to Victory Lane … The longest winless streak in the successful career of Todd Szegedy came to an end last Friday when he returned to Victory Lane at Stafford. Szegedy had gone 26 races without a win, nine more than his previous longest drought, which occurred between his first and second wins in 2002-03. Szegedy led a race-high 54 laps and pulled away from the field at the end with a margin of victory of nearly three seconds. The win, which followed a finish of 22nd in the previous race, earned him the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award.

First Stafford Pole, Another Podium Finish for Silk … A two-time Coors Light Pole Award winner prior to the Town Fair Tire 150, Ron Silk was able to earn his first at Stafford with the top qualifying effort. Silk redrew the sixth starting position after he earned the pole, and was able to polish off the day with a third-place finish. It marked the fourth-consecutive race he has finished third, and his fifth top-five finish in a row overall.

Best Season Finish for Stefanik … Seven-time champion Mike Stefanik continued his bounce-back season with his best finish of 2010 with a runner-up effort at Stafford. Stefanik, who has finished seventh in the standings in each of the previous three years, is currently third and has seven top 10s in nine outings.

Costly Engine Failure for Santos … The points leader the entire season, Bobby Santos was brought back to the pack at Stafford with a blown engine that resulted in a 23rd-place finish. What was once a 129-point lead is now down to just six tallies over Ted Christopher, who finished fifth in the Town Faire Tire 150.

Engine Trouble Also Kills Pennink’s Momentum … A week after Rowan Pennink earned his first Whelen Modified Tour win and climbed into the top 10 in points for the first time this year, he once again suffered a setback. Like Santos, a blown engine ended Pennink’s night early, and it resulted in a 29th-place finish. He also slipped back to 13th in points.

Goodale Puts Together Another Top Ten … For the first time in his relatively-young Whelen Modified Tour career, Eric Goodale has notched back-to-back top-10 finishes. The younger of the Goodale brothers finished seventh at his home track – Riverhead Raceway – and matched that at Stafford. He is now up to 10th in the season standings. Goodale’s improvement to seventh from a starting position of 21st earned him the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award for the Town Fair Tire 150.

Pallai Earns Rookie Award … At the track in which he got his start in racing, Richie Pallai Jr. earned Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season when he finished 11th.

Grigas Returns With a Top 10 … The first start of the 2010 season for former full-time driver Bobby Grigas III was a solid outing. Grigas qualified second and was able to bring it home in eighth place.

Thompson’s Super Six
One of three NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks in the state of Connecticut, Thompson Motor Speedway promotes six divisions in its Thursday night programs.

Keith Rocco is the defending track and state champion out of the Sunoco Modified division, the track’s headline class.

The 2010 Thompson “Super Six” division leaders entering the week are: Ted Christopher (Sunoco Modified), Mike O’Sullivan (Super Late Model), Rick Gentes (Late Model), Rene Marcotte (Thompson Modified), Shawn Monahan (Limited Sportsman) and Scott Michalski (Mini Stock).

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers Christopher, Rowan Pennink, Ron Silk and Woody Pitkat hold the top four positions in the Sunoco Modified standings.

All six divisions will share the race card with the Whelen Modified Tour on Aug. 12.

Up Next: Bristol
Following the highly-anticipated inaugural appearance for the NASCAR Modifieds at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway a year ago, the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 is back on the schedule in 2010 and up next following this week’s race at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.

This year’s edition will be the lone combination event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours. The two Tours will compete for separate points, but for one purse and overall finish, in the combination race format.

Donny Lia took home the checkered flag in the inaugural running of the Modifieds at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” en route to his second Whelen Modified Tour title. He will not defend that win, however, as he now competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

This year’s on-track schedule will be compacted to one day starting with practice sessions at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Qualifying is slated for 2:45 p.m., and the 150-lap will go green at 6 p.m., live on SPEED.

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

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

FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD
Eric Beers, 1
James Civali, 1
Chuck Hossfeld, 1
Ryan Preece, 1
Bobby Santos, 1
Mike Stefanik, 1
Rob Summers, 1
Todd Szegedy, 1
Glenn Tyler, 1

WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE
Bobby Santos, 3
Ted Christopher, 2
Ryan Newman, 1
Rowan Pennink, 1
Dale Quarterley, 1
Todd Szegedy, 1

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Justin Bonsignore, 7
Richie Pallai Jr., 2

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Justin Bonsignore, 88
Richie Pallai Jr., 83

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR

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