NOTEBOOK: A Different Feel At NHMS
Loudon, NH — Even as they were checking out as a three-car train, none of the leaders thought the F.W. Webb 100 would go caution-free over an improbable final 88 laps.It did, leaving everyone scrambling just to keep up with one another over the final quarter of Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.“I was still waiting for a caution the whole time,” said Silk, who finished third behind winner Ryan Newman and Todd Szegedy. “But everyone kind of got strung out I guess, and that kind of eliminates the chance of getting a caution. No one can get together.
“If we had had a couple cautions there, there probably would have been a whole bunch of cautions. I pretty much drove my car as hard as I could from the green flag lap. I didn’t have much left at the end.”
[Photo Gallery] by Nathan Teto
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
There were two early cautions. The first came on Lap 2 for an incident in Turn 2 and the second on Lap 10 for Andy Seuss’ spin. When the race restarted on Lap 14, it never slowed again.
Everybody talked about how loose the cars were handling, making it even less likely that there would not be a caution to bunch the field and allow drivers to do the kind of bump-drafting that people are accustomed to seeing on the mile-long New Hampshire track.
Sprint Cup Series crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion – who got his start as a Modified crew chief in the early 1990s – wasn’t sure what to attribute the racing to.
“I really don’t know. I know a couple of years ago we were here with Ryan and it was getting past halfway and we were loose then, and I was thinking, ‘We could really use a caution here’ – and we were the caution,” Manion said. “Today was the same thing, we were getting really loose and I was thinking we could use a caution here.
“Every race is different… I really can’t attribute why there were no cautions. It was hot out and it was slick, so you thought there would be some cautions. But I’m not sure why there wasn’t.”
BEATING ‘SUPERMAN’: Asked about whether it was insulting for observers to think Newman “should” win Whelen Modified Tour races, Silk said he wasn’t insulted at all by the insinuation.
“Ryan Newman races at the highest level. He’s good at doing it,” Silk said. “We come out and try our hardest. I think that a lot of us are really good drivers and we have good equipment, but I don’t think we should take it as an insult when people say that. We just have to keep working our hardest to try and beat him.”
Newman has won three straight Tour races at New Hampshire and four straight overall including a win at Bristol last season.
Silk also noted, though, that he might be looking forward to the Tour’s next stop at New Hampshire in August – as part of a weekend where the Sprint Cup Series is at Watkins Glen.
“We’ll work a little bit harder for the next race and see if we can beat that 7,” Silk said. “I don’t know if he’ll be here with the Indy Cars – maybe he won’t and we can get a break.”
Szegedy, who said his second-place felt like a win because he “beat all the regulars” on the Tour, was firm in his belief that there are teams that can compete toe-to-toe with Newman.
“I have a regular job, and he makes millions a year to try and be the best, but he’s not unbeatable,” Szegedy said. “We’ve beaten him before – but he’s got a good crew chief and a good car, and he understands the cars now.
“But anybody’s beatable, I don’t care if you’re Superman.”
FULLY FUELED: With the cars running an entire 100-lap race at New Hampshire without a pit stop for the first time, some drivers worried about the potential for running out of fuel.
“At the end, I was conserving a little bit,” Szegedy said. “We weren’t banking on going – I don’t know how many green laps we went. Ryan looked like he was conserving some fuel early on, that’s my opinion. He kind of let us go and then he came back and run right back by us again.
“We wanted to conserve a little bit. I was checking out my fuel gauge every now and then.”
Manion, though, said he never once considered fuel to be an issue. He said Newman’s No. 7 started the race with a full fuel cell, though some teams may have tried to lighten the load in their cars by opting not to go with a full fuel load at the start.
Silk was not one of them.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t have a fuel gauge in my car, and I never thought about it once,” Silk said.
NOTES: The weekend started out on the wrong foot for 2010 Rookie of the Year Justin Bonsignore and it never got any better. After losing an engine in practice Thursday and not making a qualifying attempt, Bonsignore started last in the 34-car field Saturday. He crashed on Lap 2 and did not return. … Five different drivers retired early due to engine failure – Ryan Preece, Mike Stefanik, Dale Quarterley, Jimmy Blewett and Patrick Emerling. … Bryon Chew finished 18th and was the highest-finishing rookie in the field. … Point leader Rowan Pennink finished sixth and held onto a slim 10-point lead over Silk.
Sources: Travis Barrett, Special To NASCARHomeTracks.com