Champion Profile: Santos Fits Right In
Tabbed At Last Minute, Returns “Mystic Missile” To Charlotte
It’s well documented by this point what transpired as winter broke in New England and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season approached. Reigning titlist Donny Lia departed Bob Garbarino’s Mystic Missile Racing team for a shot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the famed No. 4 seat became vacant.
Who would Garbarino tab to be Lia’s successor? Would the “Mystic Missile” even return to defend the championship? Those questions were answered when Massachusetts native Bobby Santos answered the phone.
“It was really exciting to get the call last-minute to drive for Bob,” Santos said. “It’s one of the best rides on the Tour, so that meant a lot. It was pretty exciting to do what we did this year and go out and win the championship.”
CHAMPION CAR OWNER PROFILE: Bob Garbarino
CHAMPION CREW CHIEF PROFILE: Bob Mueller
What Santos and the No. 4 team did was start the season with wins in three of the first four races. First came wins at Thompson International Speedway and Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut – Santos’ home tracks. But it was his third win of the season in his first run at historic Martinsville Speedway that is perhaps the most memorable moment of the season for the third-generation racer.
“Martinsville was probably the biggest win for us of the season, at least for me personally,” Santos said. “To win that Grandfather clock, it’s something I’ve known about for a long time. My grandfather won one in 1972, and it’s a pretty historical trophy. Just to be involved in that tradition at Martinsville is pretty meaningful.”
Santos’ lead in the standings grew from 89 points following the Martinsville win to a season-high 129 tallies after the June race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“The season couldn’t have started any better,” Santos said. “We didn’t have any mistakes or any problems. The cars were good and the motors were good. Everything went the way it was supposed to, but I guess those things don’t last forever.”
It took only four races for that sizable points lead to shrink to single digits, starting with his first DNF of the season at Lime Rock Park in Santos’ first road course race.
“We ran really good, actually, and it was a lot of fun racing the road course,” Santos said. “We just got caught up and I got a flat tire at one point, then we ended up breaking the motor with only a handful of laps to go. It ended up being one of our worst finishes of the year, but it wasn’t because we didn’t run well, it just didn’t work out well.”
Following their season-low 23rd-place finish in the August Stafford race, the No. 4 team pulled together for a pair of top-fives heading into the second race at New Hampshire. Bad luck struck again, however, as Santos was wrecked out of the race with four laps to go.
“Everyone was pretty angry, but once everyone thought about it and cooled off, we knew we just had to get to work and go win the next race,” Santos said. “That’s what we knew we needed to do, and that’s what we went and did. Maybe it was a little wake-up call for everybody and made us go out and run the way we did at Stafford.”
What Santos and crew did in the Stafford Fall Final was record the fourth win of the year, which increased the points lead from just seven following Loudon to 37 heading into the season finale at Thompson.
According to Santos, the bounce-back performance could not have come at a better time.
“It was a relief in multiple ways. I think it was a relief that we got back to Victory Lane and it was a relief that it gave us a little breathing room in the points headed to the last race,” Santos said. “That was a huge deal overall. That was the most key victory of the season.”
The boost that the Stafford win provided proved to be enough to hold off challenger Mike Stefanik at Thompson, and Santos took home his first career points title.
Here is a look back at some of the highlights of the No. 4’s championship campaign:
Santos Dominates Icebreaker
Santos Edges Blewett For Stafford Victory
Santos Continues Winning Ways
Near Perfect Santos Leads June Hunter Index
Santos Survives For Fourth Win
Santos Comes Full Circle
Santos Crowned As Christopher Wins
Historic Run For Santos To Modified Title
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR