Statistical Advance: Lime Rock Park

Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 45 Chevrolet)
•  Has two wins, nine poles and 68 top 10s in 166 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
•  Is fifth in points with seven top 10s in 12 races.
•  Leads all drivers in laps completed with 1,762, two shy of the entire season’s total.
•  Finished last with engine failure in 2010 at Lime Rock Park in the No. 76 car.

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 Chevrolet)
•  The 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
•  Has a win, two poles and 13 top 10s in 28 starts.
•  Is ninth in points with a win and seven top 10s.
•  Finished 21st with engine failure at LRP in 2010.
•  Is the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 2011 Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway champion.

Ted Christopher (No. 36 Chevrolet)
•  The 2008 NWMT champion. Has 41 wins and 23 poles in 303 career starts. His 41 wins rank third all-time and his 23 poles are eighth. Has at least one win in 13-straight seasons.
•  Has three wins and eight top 10s in 10 starts this year. Did not attend two races.
•  Finished fifth at LRP in 2010.
•  Won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at LRP in 1997.
•  Has two NWMT road course wins at Watkins Glen International (1999, 2000) as well as two NKNPS East victories there (1997, 2003).

James Civali (No. 79 Pontiac)
•  Has four wins a pole and 36 top 10s in 69 career NWMT starts. Also has two wins, three poles and 12 top 10s in 16 career NWSMT appearances.
•  Is up to eighth in the 2011 NWMT standings with six top 10s in 12 races.
•  Did not compete at LRP in 2010.

Doug Coby (No. 52 Chevrolet)
•  Has two wins, four poles and 44 top 10s in 112 career starts.
•  Is fourth in points with nine top 10s in 12 races this year and a win last time out at Thompson International Speedway. He also won the non-points UNOH Showdown at Thompson.
•  Finished 20th in the No. 46 at LRP last year.
•  Is in the No. 52 car that Dale Quarterley drove to Victory Lane at LRP in 2010.

Matt Hirschman (No. 3 Chevrolet)
•  Has two wins, three poles and 34 top 10s in 69 career starts.
•  Is seventh in points with top-10 finishes in five of 12 races this year.
•  Did not compete at LRP in 2010.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Chevrolet)
•  Has a win and 34 top 10s in 69 career starts.
•  Is third in points with nine top 10s in 12 races.
•  Finished 22nd at LRP last year.

Erick Rudolph (No. 98 Chevrolet)
•  Has a win, two poles and 24 top 10s in 47 career starts.
•  Is 11th in points with five top 10s in 12 outings.
•  Finished 16th at LRP last year.

Bobby Santos (No. 4 Dodge)
•  Earned the 2010 NWMT championship.
•  Has six wins, seven poles and 29 top 10s in 55 career starts.
•  Is sixth in points this year with a win, three poles and six top 10s in 12 outings.
•  Finished 17th at LRP last year with engine failure.

Ron Silk (No. 6 Chevrolet)
•  Has six wins, four poles and 50 top 10s in 93 career starts.
•  Tops the standings by 60 points on Todd Szegedy. Has two wins and seven top fives in 12 races.
•  Has led more laps than any driver in 2011.
•  Finished third at LRP in 2010.

Mike Stefanik (No. 16 Ford)
•  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 13th in points with a win and five top 10s in 11 starts in 2011.
•  Finished sixth at LRP in 2010. Won the NKNPS East race there in 1998.

Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Ford)
•  The 2002 Sunoco Rookie of the Year and 2003 tour champion.
•  Has 16 wins, eight poles and 95 top 10s in 149 career starts.
•  Is up to second in points with a pair of wins and podium finishes in five of the last seven events.
•  Was the pole winner and led all but four laps at LRP last year before he settled for second place.
•  Had experience at LRP in other racing series prior to his NASCAR career.

Up to Speed:
•  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.
•  Santos earned his third pole and Newman once again proved to be unbeatable as he led 109 of 150 laps in the NWMT-NWSMT combination race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 24.
•  Erick Rudolph captured his second career pole and Silk his sixth career victory in the inaugural event at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway on Sept. 4.
•  Ryan Preece nabbed the pole and Coby the win in the Northern Thompson 125 on Sept. 11 at TIS. Coby followed later in the day by taking checkers in the exhibition UNOH Showdown.

Lime Rock Park:
•  Designed by Cornell Aeronautical Labs, Lime Rock Park opened in 1957.
•  Two additional corner complexes were added to the layout prior to the 2010 racing season to provide four different configurations. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour uses the “Optional Uphill” for its events.
•  Played host to the inaugural NWMT event on July 3, 2010.
•  The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East raced there 18 times from 1993-2010.
•  The NASCAR Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series has made 11 appearances there since 1999.
•  This will be the eighth all-time road course event for the NWMT. The first six took place at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International from 1996-2000.

Lime Rock Park Data
Race: #13 of 16
Track Layout: 1.5-mi., 8-turn road course
Banking: N/A
Race Length: 66 laps/99 miles

Qualifying/Race Data
2010 Pole Winner: Todd Szegedy (53.099 seconds, 101.697 mph – record)
2010 Race Winner: Dale Quarterley (1:30.55, 65.355 mph)

2011 Statistics:
Points
1. Ron Silk … 1847
2. Todd Szegedy … 1814
3. Rowan Pennink … 1761

Wins
1. Ted Christopher … 3
2. Ron Silk … 2
3. Todd Szegedy … 2

Poles
1. Bobby Santos … 3
2. Doug Coby … 2
3. Six with … 1

Laps Led
1. Ron Silk … 272
2. Doug Coby … 211
3. Todd Szegedy … 201

Laps Completed
1. Eric Beers … 1762
2. Matt Hirschman … 1756
3. Rowan Pennink … 1753

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR