NOTEBOOK: Shuffling The Deck
Whelen Modified Standings Tighten At Top After New Hampshire
Loudon, NH — What looked like a two-horse race heading into the season’s final few races has suddenly turned into a wide open stretch run.
When NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point leaders Bobby Santos and Ted Christopher both encountered trouble in the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, it opened the door to title hopes for both Mike Stefanik and Ron Silk.
With Stefanik and Silk finishing third and fifth, respectively, and Santos (19th) and Christopher (30th) finding themselves involved in separate incidents, the four drivers are now separated by less than 100 points with two races remaining. Santos leads the seven-time Tour champion Stefanik by two points, with Christopher third 65 points out of the lead. Silk sits just 24 points behind Christopher.
“We got wrecked. We went down the backstretch and got run over. That’s it,” Santos said of his Lap 97 incident with Ryan Preece. “It was pretty crappy because we did a good job minding our own business and racing clean, and we got wrecked.
“I really don’t care about (the standings). It destroyed a perfectly good race car that shouldn’t have been destroyed.”
Christopher was equally frustrated, after having been claimed as collateral damage in contact between Jimmy Blewett and Ed Flemke Jr. on Lap 38.
“It was good until (Blewett) decided to take (Flemke) out and wreck half the field. I guess you’ll have that in ‘big-time’ auto racing,” Christopher said, adding that he took little solace in the troubles suffered by other leaders. “I just didn’t want to be one of the ones that had trouble, all because of somebody else.”
Despite the fact that Santos and Christopher have each won three times on the season, Stefanik is knocking on the door.
“It’s better to be the point leader than not the point leader,” Stefanik said. “The 4 car and the 36 car have been really stellar all year, and both have cars that have visited victory lane. We’re still looking for that first win.
“We’re showing that we’re back in the game. We still want that win, and if we were to finish this off with the championship and no wins, that seems a little hollow to me. So I’m going for that win.”
Stefanik has 10 Top-10 finishes and eight Top-5 finishes in 12 races this season.
FRONT RUNNER: On Thursday afternoon, as his team was busy swapping out a blown engine that ended his day before qualifying ever began, Doug Coby vowed that he’d make the F.W. Webb 100 by coming from the back to the front to challenge Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman for victory.
And Coby delivered on his promise.
Coby momentarily led on a green-white-checkered restart Saturday before settling in for a fourth-place finish.
“I’m a little disappointed we didn’t even get a Top-3,” Coby said. “I got a good jump on the restart, obviously, and did my job there. I knew (Newman) was going to come back at me, and I was hoping that once I got by him maybe Jimmy (Blewett) would have nerfed him and I could have pulled away from the field.
“I pulled into second off Turn 4 coming to the white flag, and I said, ‘You know what? Whoever’s behind me, if they want to win against a Cup guy, they’ve got to push me. I’m the guy that’s going to have to try to win.’ Jimmy made the decision to try and pass me and nerf me out of the way — which is Loudon racing. It’s not Jimmy’s fault.”
Coby, a part-time Modified Tour competitor, was in a team car to Ron Silk. Both Eddie Partridge-owned cars finished in the Top-5, as Silk finished fifth.
“I just think Jimmy pulled the trigger too quick,” Coby said on Blewett’s move for the lead. “I know from watching Ron run second enough here, the place to be is second with one to go. That’s your only shot. Jimmy trying to banzai me down there, all that did was give the 7 an easy win. That’s really all it was.
“The 7 probably would have had an easy win, anyway, if the caution didn’t come out, but at least we made it interesting and had some fun.”
NOTES: Dale Quarterley, who wrecked his race car in practice on Thursday, rallied through the field to finish sixth on Saturday. The part-time driver and K&N Pro Series East crew chief for Jeff Anton won the WMT race at Lime Rock Park in July and finished seventh at Bristol last month … Richie Pallai Jr. finished 10th and was the highest-finishing rookie in the race.
Sources: Travis Barrett, Special To NASCARHomeTracks.com