Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Icebreaker at Thompson International Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will open the 2012 season with the Icebreaker on Sunday, April 15 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Below is a statistical look at the performance of selected drivers on the Tour:
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 45 Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc. Ford)
• Has two wins, nine poles and 72 top 10s in 170 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Ranked third in the final 2011 standings, the best finish of his career.
• Has a win, a pole and 17 top 10s in 43 career starts at Thompson International Speedway.
• Had three top 10s in four starts at Thompson in 2011.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Has a win, three poles and 16 top 10s in 32 career NWMT starts.
• Finished seventh in points last year following a Sunoco Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010.
• Has two top 10s in seven career starts at Thompson with a best finish of fifth in the 2011 Icebreaker.
Ted Christopher (No. 36 AL-Lee Installations Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion. Has 42 wins and 23 poles and 168 top 10s in 306 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 23 poles are eighth. Has at least one win in 13-straight seasons.
• Led the NWMT with four wins in 2011 and finished ninth in points despite missing two races.
• Has 13 wins, six poles, 39 top 10s and 1,723 laps led in 75 career starts at Thompson.
• Was the Icebreaker winner in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2011 and has won seven of the last 11 races at Thompson overall.
• Has unofficially registered 92 total career wins at Thompson.
Doug Coby (No. 52 Reynolds Auto Wrecking/Seekonk GP Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, four poles and 45 top 10s in 116 career starts.
• Finished a career-best fifth in points in 2011.
• Has 14 top 10s in 32 career starts at Thompson.
• Won both the regular NWMT and combo exhibition races at Thompson in the 2011 UNOH Showdown.
Ed Flemke Jr. (No. 28 Ron Bouchard’s Autos/Raceworks Chevrolet)
• Has 17 wins, 16 poles and 157 top 10s in 411 career starts.
• Enters 2012 with a NWMT record streak of 354 consecutive race starts that dates to 1992.
• Has four wins, four poles and 30 top 10s in 88 starts at Thompson. Won the rain-shortened 2008 Icebreaker.
Donny Lia (No. 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge)
• Has 15 wins, 15 poles and 55 top 10s in 113 career starts.
• Has earned the NWMT title in each of his last two full-time seasons: 2007 and 2009.
• Has two wins, three poles and nine top 10s in 25 starts at Thompson. Both wins and six of those top 10s came in eight races in the No. 4.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 35 top 10s in 73 career starts.
• Tied his career best points finish in 2011 in fourth.
• Has 12 top 10s in 20 races at Thompson with a best finish of second in the 2011 Icebreaker.
• His average finish of 10.7 at Thompson is the best among all drivers entered in this race with four or more starts at the track.
Ryan Preece (No. 16 Diversified Metals Ford)
• Has three wins, five poles and 34 top 10s in 67 career starts.
• Has two poles and nine top 10s in 18 career races at Thompson with a best finish of second on three occasions. Both poles came last year.
• Finished fourth, third and 26th in three starts at Thompson in 2011.
Keith Rocco (No. 3 Boehler Racing Enterprises Chevrolet)
• Has two top-10 finishes in five career NWMT starts. Both top 10s came at Thompson, where three of those five starts took place.
• The 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion has finished in the top four in the nation in each of the previous five years.
• Has earned three NWAAS track titles at Thompson out of the Sunoco Modified division.
Bobby Santos (No. 44 Imperial Cars/Tinio Corporation Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NWMT champion has six wins, seven poles and 30 top 10s in 59 career starts.
• Finished eighth in points a year ago with two top fives at Thompson.
• Has two wins, three poles and 12 top 10s in 21 starts at Thompson.
• Won the 2010 Icebreaker and set the track qualifying record in last year’s event.
Ron Silk (No. 6 T.S. Haulers Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has seven wins, five poles and 52 top 10s in 97 career starts.
• Has three wins and 16 top 10s in 27 career starts at Thompson. Those wins, in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, were the first three of his career.
• Has finished in the top 10 in 11 of his last 13 Thompson starts and carries a career average finish there of 12th.
• Only DNF of his 2011 title run came in the Icebreaker, but finished top 10 in the two summer events at Thompson.
Mike Stefanik (No. 66 Chevrolet)
• The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
• Holds NWMT records for most titles (7), wins (71), poles (46), top fives (216) and top 10s (284).
• Has a Thompson record 14 wins and 62 top 10s in 101 career starts.
• Last Thompson win was the 2006 Icebreaker. Also won this race in 1998. Both times he won the championship.
Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion has 17 wins, nine poles and 97 top 10s in 153 career starts.
• Ranked second in points in 2011, the fourth time in his career he’s finished on the championship podium.
• Has three wins, three poles and 17 top 10s in 36 career races at Thompson. Last win was in 2008.
At Thompson International Speedway:
History
• Opened on May 26, 1940 as the largest and first entirely asphalt track in New England at the time.
• Has one of the oldest NASCAR affiliations in the nation.
• Held NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 1951, 1969 and 1970.
• Was an inaugural member track of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, now in its 31st season, and features weekly competition with six divisions. Keith Rocco is the defending track champion.
Notebook
• Thompson has played host to 116 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races, the most in the Tour’s first 27 years.
• There have been 31 different race winners at Thompson, led by Mike Stefanik’s 14 victories.
• There have been 40 different pole winners at Thompson, led by Tony Hirschman’s 13.
• The Icebreaker is expected to have nine drivers entered who have won at Thompson during their careers: Stefanik (14), Ted Christopher (13), Ed Flemke Jr. (4), Ron Silk (3), Todd Szegedy (3), Donny Lia (2), Bobby Santos (2), Eric Beers (1) and Doug Coby (1).
• Jamie Tomaino has competed in all 116 previous NWMT races at Thompson.
Thompson International Speedway Data
Race: #1 of 14 overall, #1 of 4 at TIS
Track Layout: .625-mile asphalt oval
• Race Length: 150 laps (93.75 miles)
• Banking/Corners: 26 degrees
Qualifying/Race Data
Qualifying Record: Bobby Santos (18.418 seconds, 122.163 mph – 4/11/10)
2011 Pole Winner: Bobby Santos (18.418 seconds, 122.163 mph)
2011 Race Winner: Ted Christopher (1:28.14, 63.751 mph)
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR