Marquis to Return at Monadnock
2000 Champ To Make First Start In Five Years
WINCHESTER, N.H. – When the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the high banks of the Monadnock Speedway on May 12, it will also mark the return of eight-time Track Champion Jerry Marquis from Broad Brook, Conn., who will drive the Ralph Solhem owned Modified in the Monadnock 200. Marquis is also the 2000 Whelen Modified Tour Champion.
Marquis has 19 wins and 114 top ten finishes in 204 career Whelen Modified Tour starts. Marquis hasn't competed on the tour since 2007, but he is looking forward to going back to a place that left so many good memories. Marquis recorded titles at the quarter-mile in the Pro Stocks, Late Models and twice in a Modified (1991-92).
"Monadnock is my old stomping ground," Marquis admits. "There and Riverside Park (Agawam, Mass.) are the places I grew up at. It's really where I learned how to drive on the short tracks.
"Monadnock is a special place. I've won a bunch of Championships up there. It was always a good place to go and have a good time. Larry Cirillo (track owner), his wife and everybody who operated the place was great."
Marquis, who drove in non-tour events in a Modified twice in 2011, winning one of those, got an unexpected call from car owner Ralph Solhem recently, asking if he would be interested in competing, thanks to sponsorship support from race fan Jim Schaefer of Riverhead, N.Y. It didn't take him long to accept the challenge of returning to Monadnock to compete against today's stars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
"I'm not looking to get back in," Marquis admitted. "I'm at peace with where I am as far as being out of racing. But this is going to bring back special memories. We'll see how many of the old fans that used to go there come back and watch the Modified Tour there again.
"I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people that I knew up there and raced against, and some of the fans that were in the stands every week. I'm going to go out and have a little bit of fun."
The May 12 Monadnock NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event purse has been bolstered by a sponsorship from Ted Hebert, owner of Teddy Bear Pools and Spas, with his $5,000 contribution going directly into the event payoff. Hebert's company was also a sponsor on the Mario Fiore owned car in which Marquis won his 2000 Whelen Modified Tour Championship in.
Tickets for this special event go on sale April 30. For more event information on the Monadnock 200 and the return of Jerry Marquis, along with the stars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, please click HERE.
Sources: Monadnock Speedway PR