Tight Points Race as Whelen Modified Tour Comes to Stafford for 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend
Stafford Springs, CT — As the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour rumbles into Stafford Motor Speedway for the 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, three drivers are within 100 points of each other in the chase for the 2010 Whelen Modified Tour Championship. Bobby Santos, III currently leads Ted Christopher by 32 points and Mike Stefanik is third, 61 points behind. With a stop in New Hampshire before the Tour hits Stafford for the penultimate race of the 2010 season, all three drivers at the top of the standings have strong Stafford credentials.
Santos was the class of the Tour field for the first two Stafford races this season, winning two Coors Light Pole Positions and finishing second and first. But a blown engine in the August Town Fair Tire 150 left him with a 23rd place finish, while Christopher finished fifth and Stefanik finished 2nd in that race. Even with the 23rd place showing last time out at Stafford, Santos has an average finish at Stafford this season of 8.3. Santos also has wins in the NEMA Midget and PRA Big Car Series at Stafford on his resume.
Christopher won the CARQUEST Spring Sizzler in April and finished 5th the last time out, but he finished a disappointing 12th in the May TSI Harley-Davidson 125. Christopher has found his groove of late at Stafford, taking his first SK Modified® feature victory of the season three weeks ago and he won last week’s Shark Cycle 100 for his 110th career win at the Connecticut half-mile.
CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend Whelen Modified Tour Entry List
CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend Event Schedule & Ticket Information
Of the top-3 drivers in championship contention, Mike Stefanik has the best average finish of 4.0 with finishes of third, seventh, and second. Stefanik has also been a master of the Fall Final in his career with 9 of his 20 career Whelen Modified Tour victories at Stafford coming in the CARQUEST Fall Final event.
Perhaps the wild card in the 2010 points chase is Todd Szegedy. Szegedy is currently fourth in the standings, 106 points behind Santos, and he has had the best results at Stafford of any driver on the Whelen Modified Tour. Szegedy has an average finish of 3.0 at Stafford this season, and he won the Town Fair Tire 150 at Stafford the last time the Tour visited. Szegedy also has a CARQUEST Fall Final victory to his name as well, as he led the 2006 edition of the CARQUEST Fall Final 150 from green to checkered.
With the top-4 drivers in championship contention all having excellent records at Stafford, it is anyone’s guess as to who will be the championship leader when the checkered flag falls on the CARQUEST Fall Final 150.
The Whelen Modified Tour cars hit the track for the first time during CARQUEST Fall Final weekend on Saturday October 2nd with a practice session from 11:00am-12:30pm. Time trials to set the field will begin at 2:15pm on Saturday and the 150-lap race will take the green flag at approximately 3:15pm on Sunday.
Tickets for the 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend are now on sale at the Stafford Motor Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, $38.00 for reserved seats, and free for children ages 5 & under. Tickets are good for admission to the Saturday, October 2nd, and Sunday, October 3rd portions of the Fall Final. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free parking with overnight weekend parking available.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
Sources: Scott Running/Stafford Motor Speedway PR