Statistical Advance: UNOH Perfect Storm 150
Daytona Beach, FL — The NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours will get together for the lone combination race of the season this Wednesday, Aug. 24 for the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (NWMT No. 45 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, nine poles and 66 top 10s in 163 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Is sixth in points with five top 10s in nine races.
• Has overall finishes of 14th in both of his previous races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Justin Bonsignore (NWMT No. 51 Chevrolet)
• The 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
• Has a win, two poles and 10 top 10s in 25 starts.
• Is 11th in points with a win and four top-fives.
• Earned the pole at BMS in 2010 and finished sixth overall.
Tim Brown (NWSMT No. 02 Chevrolet)
• Finished second in the championship standings a record three times from 2006-2008.
• Has 64 career NWSMT starts, ranks second in top-five finishes with 38 and has 52 top-10 finishes.
• Finished 30th overall in his only previous start at BMS in 2010.
• Has six wins, the most recent came on Sept. 4, 2010 at Langley Speedway, his first since 2008.
George Brunnhoelzl III (NWSMT No. 09 Chevrolet)
• The 2009 NWSMT champion has returned to the south in 2011 after competing full-time on the NWMT last season.
• Competes for veteran car owner Howard Harvey.
• Owner of seven wins, eight poles and 32 top 10s in 46 career NWSMT starts.
• Was credited with win as highest finishing NWSMT regular in 2009 (fourth overall). Competed last year in as an NWMT and finished 28th.
James Civali (NWMT No. 79 Pontiac)
• Has four wins a pole and 33 top 10s in 66 career NWMT starts. Also has two wins, three poles and 12 top 10s in 16 career NWSMT appearances.
• Is 14th in the 2011 NWMT standings with three top 10s in nine races.
• Has competed in four of six NWSMT races this year and is 18th in points with three top 10s.
• Finished last (40th) in the inaugural BMS event, but was credited with an NWSMT win in 2010 as the southern tour’s highest finisher third overall.
Doug Coby (NWMT No. 52 Chevrolet)
• Has a win, four poles and 42 top 10s in 109 career starts.
• Is seventh in points with seven top 10s in nine races this year.
• This will be his debut at BMS.
Frank Fleming (NWSMT No. 40 Ford)
• Is tied for the most career NWSMT starts with 77 and has only missed one race since 2005.
• Has finished second seven times, the most recent one at Caraway was on July 3, 2009.
Has more than 50 career wins at his home track, Bowman Gray Stadium.
• Has collected two top-10 finishes at BMS among NWSMT competitors. He was credited with a third-place finish on Aug. 18, 2010 (17th overall).
• Brother, Chris Fleming, serves as his crew chief and also competes full-time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series modified division at Bowman Gray each week.
Matt Hirschman (NWMT No. 3 Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, three poles and 34 top 10s in 66 career starts.
• Is eighth in points with top-10 finishes in five of nine races this year.
• Finished 39th overall in 2009 at BMS after an early-race accident.
Donny Lia (NWMT No. 11 Ford)
• The 2007 and 2009 NWMT champion.
• Has 15 wins, 15 poles and 54 top 10s in 112 career starts.
• Won the inaugural UNOH Perfect Storm 150 in 2009.
• Has finishes of 26th and 25th – both DNFs – in his two starts in 2011.
L.W. Miller (NWSMT No. 36 Pontiac)
• The 2007 NWSMT champion. Won by 25 points over Tim Brown (1,930-1,905).
• Finished second in the 2010 final standings, 31 points behind Burt Myers.
• Has won the two most recent NWSMT events at Caraway and Bowman Gray. Miller now holds the record for most career NWSMT wins with 13, in just 60 starts.
• Finished 13th overall in 2009 at BMS and was 29th last year.
Burt Myers (NWSMT No. 1 Ford)
• Defending NWSMT champion.
• Holds NWSMT career records for poles (22), top fives (41) and top 10s (61).
• Has finished second among NWSMT drivers in both Bristol events. Finished ninth overall in 2009 and 11th overall a year ago.
• Picked up his most recent win at Charlotte on Oct. 14, 2010.
Jason Myers (NWSMT No. 4 Ford)
• Is tied with Frank Fleming for most career NWSMT starts with 77.
• Picked up his lone NWSMT win at Bowman Gray on Aug. 5, 2006.
• Has 54 total top-10 finishes since 2005.
• Has finished in the top 10 among NWSMT drivers in both Bristol events.
• Holds the record for consecutive starts with 69. Has started every race since Sept. 5, 2005.
Ryan Newman (NWMT No. 77 Chevrolet)
• Is credited with seven career NWMT starts. Has three wins and three poles in those events.
• All previous starts have come in the No. 7 owned by Kevin Manion, who is crew chief for Jamie McMurray in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Newman will compete in the No. 77 for Marcy Putnam in this event.
• Is the defending winner of the UNOH Perfect Storm 150. Suffered a DNF in the inaugural event.
• Has a win (NASCAR Nationwide Series, 2005) and 18 top 10s in 28 combined NASCAR national series starts at BMS.
Rowan Pennink (NWMT No. 93 Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 33 top 10s in 66 career starts.
• Is second in points – 16 behind Ron Silk – with a NWMT-high eight top 10s in the nine events.
• Finished seventh overall at BMS in 2009 and was 33rd a year ago with a blown engine.
• Is the only driver to complete all 1,330 laps contested in 2011.
Erick Rudolph (NWMT No. 98 Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 24 top 10s in 44 career starts.
• Is 10th in points with five top 10s in nine outings.
• Has finished 10th overall in each of the first to combo events at BMS.
Bobby Santos (NWMT No. 4 Dodge)
• Earned the 2010 NWMT championship in his first full-time season.
• Has six wins, six poles and 29 top 10s in 52 career starts.
• Is fifth in points with a win and six top 10s in nine outings.
• Finished fourth overall in his BMS debut a year ago.
Andy Seuss (NWSMT No. 11 Chevrolet)
• Hampstead, N.H., native has eight career wins, including a single-season high of four in 2009.
• Led more laps in 2010 than any other driver with 318.
• Has 35 top-10 finishes in 49 career NWSMT starts.
• Finished third among NWSMT drivers at Bristol on Aug. 19, 2009 (11th overall).
• Also has three top-10 finishes in 24 career NWMT starts.
Ron Silk (NWMT No. 6 Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, four poles and 47 top 10s in 90 career starts.
• Tops the standings by 16 point on Rowan Pennink. Has a win and six top fives in nine races.
• Finished 33rd overall in the 2009 event at BMS and was 15th a year ago.
John Smith (NWSMT No. 25 Chevrolet)
• Has 38 top-10 finishes in 55 career NWSMT starts.
• Credited with fifth-place finish among NWSMT drivers at Bristol on Aug. 18, 2010 (19th overall).
• Lone NWSMT win came at Caraway on July 2, 2010.
• Works full-time at Richard Childress Racing.
Mike Stefanik (NWMT No. 16 Pontiac)
• The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
• Holds NWMT records for most titles (7), wins (71), poles (46), top fives (215) and top 10s (281).
• Is ninth in points with five top 10s and a win last time out at NHMS.
• Led 21 laps and was the runner-up at BMS a year ago. He finished 25th overall in 2009.
• Finished 20th in both of his NNS starts at BMS in 2000 and was 22nd there in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 1999.
Thomas Stinson (NWSMT No. 7 Chevrolet)
• Finished second to record his best career finish in 14 starts at Caraway on April 23, 2011. Also finished third in the first race of the year at Caraway on March 13.
• Will be making his first start at BMS this week.
• Has 10 top-10 and three top-five finishes in 25 career NWSMT starts.
Todd Szegedy (NWMT No. 2 Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion.
• Has 16 wins, eight poles and 92 top 10s in 146 career starts.
• Is up to third in points with six top 10s, including wins at Monadnock Speedway and NHMS in July. The NHMS win came as a result of the disqualification of Ryan Newman.
• Has finishes of sixth and fifth overall in the first two editions of the UNOH Perfect Storm 150, the highest average finish of all competitors.
At Bristol Motor Speedway:
History
• First NASCAR race was on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith, from Spartanburg, S.C. was credited with the first race win although he did not finish the race in the car. Johnny Allen jumped in the car as a relief driver and completed the 500-lap race.
• Bristol Motor Speedway was originally an even half-mile oval with a seating capacity of 18,000. The configuration was expanded to .533 miles in 1969 and the capacity has increased to its current level of 160,000.
• There have been a total of 101 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 58 NASCAR Nationwide Series and 13 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events at BMS entering this week.
Notebook
• Wednesday’s UNOH Perfect Storm 150 will mark the third time the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours have competed in combination at BMS.
• All four drivers who have either visited Victory Lane or been credited with a win as the highest finisher in their respective division will be racing this week.
• Donny Lia captured the checkered flag in the inaugural race at BMS in 2009 en route to the NWMT title. George Brunnhoelzl III, who crossed the line fourth overall, was credited with NWSMT first-place points as that Tour’s top finisher. There was no pole winner as qualifying was rained out.
• In last year’s event Ryan Newman took the checkered flag while James Civali crossed the line third and was credited with an NWSMT win as that Tour’s top finisher. Justin Bonsignore was the overall pole winner.
Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race: NWMT #10 of 16, NWSMT #7 of 14
Track Layout: .533-mile concrete oval
Banking: 24-30 degrees in the turns, 6-10 in the straights
Race Length: 150 laps/79.95 miles
EVENT SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST
Qualifying/Race Data
2010 Pole Winner: Justin Bonsignore (14.835 seconds, 129.343 mph – record)
2010 Race Winner: Ryan Newman (101.025 mph, 47 mins., 29 secs.)
2011 NWMT Points Leaders
1. Ron Silk … 1,405
2. Rowan Pennink … 1,389
3. Todd Szegedy … 1,324
4. Ted Christopher … 1,296
5. Bobby Santos … 1,292
2011 NWSMT Points Leaders
1. George Brunnhoelzl III … 1,045
2. John Smith … 914
3. L.W. Miller … 910
4. Jason Myers … 880
5. Andy Seuss … 841
Up to Speed – NWMT:
• 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.
• Bobby Santos broke his own track record in qualifying for the season opener at Thompson International Speedway while Ted Christopher took the checkered flag 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 at SMS on May 27.
• Todd Szegedy followed Silk’s example as he captured the pole and led all 175 laps en route to victory at Monadnock Speedway on June 26. The race was postponed a day due to rain.
• In the second of four races at TIS this year, Christopher earned the pole and then came from outside the top 15 with 25 laps left to earn the victory on June 30.
• Ryan Newman took the pole and the checkered flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16, but Szegedy was awarded the victory after Newman was disqualified due to post-race technical violations.
• Justin Bonsignore earned his first NWMT victory at his home track when he took the checkers at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway on July 30. Local competitor Howie Brode also captured his first NWMT pole award prior to the race.
• Christopher retuned to Victory Lane once again at Stafford when he took the Town Fair Tire 150 checkered flag on Aug. 5. Coby earned the pole earlier in the day.
• Mike Stefanik tied Tony Hirschman for the most NWMT career wins at NHMS with his seventh on Aug. 13. Santos earned the pole as the NWMT shared the race weekend at ‘Magic Mile’ with the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Up To Speed – NWSMT:
• Since the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour formed in 2005, there have been 78 races in the history of the tour.
• The NWSMT has crowned five different champions: Junior Miller (2005, 2006), L.W. Miller (2007), Brian Loftin (2008), George Brunnhoelzl III (2009) and Burt Myers (2010) during its previous six years of competition.
• Loftin captured the pole and Brunnhoelzl the checkered flag in the 2011 season opener at Caraway Speedway on March 13.
• Brunnhoelzl took the checkered flag at Hickory Motor Speedway on April 2, for his second win of the season.
• Ted Christopher won the rain-delayed race at South Boston over Brunnhoelzl.
• Christopher returned the next week and won the Caraway 150 in April at Caraway Speedway for his sixth career southern modified win.
• L.W. Miller returned to Victory Lane after almost a year-long absence winning the Firecracker 150 presented by Budweiser. It was his 12th career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour win giving the record outright. He was tied with Loftin and Junior Miller for the mark prior to the Caraway race.
• L.W. Miller kept his hot streak alive and made it two wins in a row by taking the Strutmasters.com 199 at Bowman Gray Stadium for his 13th career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour win. He also moved up to third place in the current point standings.
Sources: Jason Cunningham & Tim Southers/NASCAR PR