Bobby Santos, III Comfortable in Points Lead as Whelen Modified Tour Heads to Stafford Speedway for CARQUEST Fall Final
Stafford Springs, CT — After leading the Whelen Modified Tour points standings for most of the 2010 season, Bobby Santos, III heads to Stafford with a 7-point advantage over 7-time series champion Mike Stefanik. Stefanik has cut almost 80 points off of Santos’ point lead over the past several tour events, but Santos says he and his team feel confident at the top of the standings heading into Stafford’s 38th Annual CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend.
“We feel really confident heading to Stafford,” said Santos. “With the exception of a spin, I think we could have won the Spring Sizzler and we won at Stafford in May. There’s no reason why we can’t run like we did in the Spring at the Fall Final. I think it’s better to be ahead rather than behind, so we’d much rather be where we are leading the points instead of having to make up points. The way we look at the year, we’ve had 12 races so far and we’ve thrown away three of them, so hopefully we have all our bad luck for the season behind us and we can get back to where we were earlier in the season.”
Santos and the Mystic Missile team have compiled an impressive record at Stafford this season, winning two pole positions to go along with a victory and a second place finish. A blown engine in the August race at Stafford kept Santos and his team from contending for another victory and relegated them to a 23rd place finish. Stafford has also been a good track for Santos’s two main championship rivals, Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher, who between them, have won over 140 times at Stafford.
“Stafford is everyone’s home track, it’s the track that we race the most at and the track that everyone knows best,” said Santos. “The bottom line is that we’re coming to Stafford to win the race. Since I was four years old, I go to the racetrack to win and that’s what we’re going to do again. I’ve never really run for or won a championship before except for quarter midget racing, but I think a lot of times people tend to overanalyze that. Stafford is a lot of fun to race at, and I’m sure it’s as much fun for Teddy and Mike as it is for me, but we’re going to go for the win because that is what gives the most points.”
While Santos has won at Stafford earlier this season, he thinks that Saturday’s qualifying session will play a big part in how the race will play out on Sunday.
“I think that qualifying on Saturday is going to be very important for us,” said Santos. “Earlier in the season, we were qualifying well, winning poles, and we won some races. I think that we need to get back to that qualifying performance, and if we can do that, I think we’ll be in good position to be there on Sunday going for the win. The Sizzler was 200 laps and the race in May was 125 laps, so I think our strategy will be a little different as to when we pit, but we have a good car and we just need to be there at the end so we can go race for the win. The car has been awesome all year long and I’m confident that we can do what we need to do and try to win the race.”
With his past performance at Stafford, Santos and his team certainly aren’t lacking for confidence, but Santos is cautious when asked about winning the championship this season.
“If we were able to win the championship, it would be a great accomplishment to put on my resume, but I’ll have a better answer to that question after we run the last two races of the year,” said Santos.
Race fans can meet and greet with Bobby Santos and the rest of the Whelen Modified Tour competitors and Stafford’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers at the CARQUEST Belts and Hose Pit Party on Sunday, starting at 11am.
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