Statistical Advance: Monadnock 200
Analyzing The Whelen Modified Tour At Monadnock
Daytona Beach, FL — Following a month-long break the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will head to Winchester, N.H., for the Monadnock 200 on Saturday, June 25 at Monadnock Speedway.
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 45 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, nine poles and 64 top 10s in 157 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Is fourth in the season standings after three races with two top 10s.
• Finished 10th in his first NWMT race at Monadnock Speedway in 2010.
Eric Berndt (No. 46 Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and five top 10s in 43 career starts. This is his first full-time season.
• Is 23rd in points after three races.
• Recorded a career-best finish of fourth in his first NWMT race at Monadnock last year.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 Chevrolet)
• The 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Has two poles and seven top 10s in 19 career starts.
• Is 27th in points after three races.
• Finished ninth at Monadnock in 2010.
Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion. Has 39 wins, 22 poles and 160 top 10s in 296 career starts. His 39 wins rank third all-time and his 22 poles are eighth. Has at least one victory in 13-straight seasons.
• Is third in points with a win and top-10 finishes in all three races this year.
• Led 41 laps and won the NWMT race at Monadnock in 2010.
James Civali (No. 79 Pontiac)
• The 2006 NWMT Sunoco Rookie of the Year. Has four wins, a pole and 31 top 10s in 60 starts.
• Is 16th in points after three races.
• Finished seventh in his first NWMT Monadnock start last year.
• Also competes in the NWSMT, where he is tied for sixth in points after four races.
Doug Coby (No. 52 Chevrolet)
• Has a win, three poles and 37 top 10s in 103 career starts.
• Is ninth in points this year with a pair of top 10s in three starts.
• This will be his NMWT debut at Monadnock.
Matt Hirschman (No. 3 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, three poles and 32 top 10s in 60 career starts.
• Is seventh in the standings with top 10s in each of the three races.
• This will be his NMWT debut at Monadnock.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 28 top 10s in 60 career starts.
• Has runner-up finishes in all three races this year and has a 51-point lead in the standings.
• Was 12th in his NWMT debut at Monadnock in 2010. Has multiple starts there in other series.
Erick Rudolph (No. 98 Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 21 top 10s in 38 career starts. His pole came at Monadnock in 2010.
• Is eighth in points with top-10 finishes in two of the season’s first three races.
• Led a race-high 138 laps and finished second at Monadnock last year.
Bobby Santos (No. 4 Dodge)
• The 2010 NWMT champion. Has six wins, five poles and 25 top 10s in 46 career starts.
• Earned the title last year – his first full-time season – with four wins, four poles and 11 top 10s.
• Is sixth in the standings after three races with a win and an additional top-five finish.
• Was fifth in his NWMT debut at Monadnock last year.
Ron Silk (No. 6 Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, four poles and 42 top 10s in 84 career starts.
• Is second in points with a win and an additional top-five in three starts.
• Finished third in his first NMWT race at Monadnock in 2010.
Mike Stefanik (No. 16 Pontiac)
• The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
• Holds NWMT records for most titles (7), wins (70), poles (46), top fives (213) and top 10s (278).
• Is fifth in points after three races with a pair of top-five finishes.
• Is one of two drivers, along with Jamie Tomaino, to compete in all six previous NWMT races at Monadnock. He won the pole and the race in 1988, has an average finish of eighth and has led 146 of his 481 laps completed at the track.
Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion and 2002 Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
• Is 15th in points after three races with one top 10.
• Finished 25th in his NWMT debut at Monadnock in 2010.
Miscellaneous Notes:
• Ed Flemke Jr. will attempt to extend his record for consecutive starts to 342 races.
• Jamie Tomaino will attempt to extend his record for overall starts to 529. He has started all six previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Monadnock Speedway.
• Richie Pallai Jr., Todd Szegedy and Ron Yuhas Jr. have competed in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races at Monadnock this year in the Modified division.
At Monadnock:
History
• Monadnock Speedway opened Aug. 13, 1971.
• Monadnock has played host to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour six times previously, from 1986-90, and most recently in 2010.
• A member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Monadnock sanctions six divisions in its weekly program, headlined by the Modifieds.
Notebook
• This will be the 70th all-time NWMT race in the state of New Hampshire, and the first of four on the 2011 schedule.
• The last time there was as many as four NWMT races in the Granite State in one season was 1998, when there were five.
• Ken Bouchard won the inaugural NWMT race at Monadnock on May 18, 1986. Bouchard also earned the first two poles at the track.
• Current competitors Ted Christopher (2010), Mike Stefanik (1988) and Jamie Tomaino (1990) have earned wins at Monadnock.
• The NWMT will visit two quarter-mile tracks in 2011, Monadnock and Riverhead Raceway. Both events are qualifying-format races that include a 25-lap heat race and a 175-lap main.
Monadnock Speedway Data
Race: #4 of 16
Track Layout: .25-mile asphalt oval
Banking: 18 degrees in Turns 1 & 2, 16 degrees in Turns 3 & 4
Race Length: 175 laps/43.75 miles
EVENT SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST
Qualifying/Race Data
2010 Pole Winner: Erick Rudolph (12.423 seconds, 72.446 mph)
2010 Race Winner: Ted Christopher (1 hr. 2 min., 32 sec., 42.937 mph)
Qualifying Record: Mike Stefanik (12.390 seconds, 72.693 mph, 5/22/88)
Race Winners at Monadnock
1986 … Ken Bouchard
1987 … Jimmy Spencer
1988 … Mike Stefanik
1989 … Reggie Ruggiero
1990 … Jamie Tomaino
2010 … Ted Christopher
Pole Winners at Monadnock
1986 … Ken Bouchard
1987 … Ken Bouchard
1988 … Mike Stefanik
1989 … Mike McLaughlin
1990 … Reggie Ruggiero
2010 … Erick Rudolph
Up to Speed:
• Bobby Santos and Mystic Missile Racing are the defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champions. Santos edged Mike Stefanik by 27 points in the 2010 final standings.
• The 2011 schedule features 16 races at eight tracks across four states. The NWMT will make its international debut this year with a race at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway in Canada.
• Santos broke his own track record in qualifying for the season opener at Thompson International Speedway while Ted Christopher took the checkered flag in the Icebreaker on April 10.
• Doug Coby was the pole winner at Stafford Motor Speedway for the Spring Sizzler and Santos took home the checkered flag on May 1.
• Ron Silk won from the pole the last time out at SMS on May 27.
Sources; Jason Cunningham, NASCAR WMT PR