Whelen Tour Statistical Advance: Riverhead
Analyzing The Riverhead 200 At Riverhead Raceway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will headline this weekend’s racing action at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway with the Riverhead 200 on Saturday, July 28. Below is a statistical look at the performance of series and selected drivers at the track:
Riverhead Race Setup
• The most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner this year, Mike Stefanik, is also the active career wins leader at Riverhead with six.
• Justin Bonsignore is the defending winner of the Riverhead 200, which marked his first and only NWMT win.
• There has not been a driver earn back-to-back wins at Riverhead since 2001 when Stefanik swept the season’s two events at Riverhead.
• Ryan Preece, who has two NASCAR Whelen All-American Series wins at Riverhead this year, has a record of two wins and five top-fives in seven career NWMT starts at quarter-mile tracks. He won the NWMT race at Riverhead in 2009.
At Riverhead Raceway:
History
• Built in 1949.
• Held its first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race on July 10, 1985 during the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s first season. The inaugural race was won by Jimmy Spencer.
• Has held 50 NWMT races all-time, fourth-most among all venues.
• Is one of two tracks to play host to the NWMT in each of its now 28 seasons of competition, along with Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
Notebook
• At .25 miles, Riverhead is the smallest track on the schedule along with Monadnock Speedway.
• There have been four NWMT races that have been won by Riverhead NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers, the last of which was Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. in 1995.
• Mike Ewanitsko experienced more success than any other NWMT driver at Riverhead during his days as a competitor. His 11 wins and eight poles lead in both categories.
• Mike Stefanik is the active wins leader at Riverhead with six while Ed Flemke Jr. has the most poles – four – among current competitors.
• The Riverhead 200 entry list – as of July 18 – included eight drivers that have previously won NWMT races at Riverhead and nine who hail from Long Island.
Riverhead Raceway Data
Race: #7 of 14 overall
Track Layout: .25-mile banked asphalt oval
• Race Length: Qualifying Race, 25 Laps; Feature Race, 175 laps
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 Pole Winner: Howie Brode
2011 Race Winner: Justin Bonsignore
Qualifying Record: Chuck Steuer (11.546 seconds, 77.949 mph, 6/10/00)
Active Win Leaders at Riverhead
1. Mike Stefanik … 6
2. Donny Lia … 4
3. Ted Christopher … 3
4. Jimmy Blewett … 1
Justin Bonsignore … 1
Ed Flemke Jr. … 1
Rowan Pennink … 1
Ryan Preece … 1
Active Pole Leaders at Riverhead
1. Ed Flemke Jr. … 4
2. Ted Christopher … 2
Mike Stefanik … 2
4. Howie Brode … 1
Ryan Preece … 1
Jamie Tomaino … 1
Active Laps Led Leaders at Riverhead
1. Mike Stefanik … 771
2. Donny Lia … 516
3. Ted Christopher … 436
4. Ed Flemke Jr. … 201
5. Justin Bonsignore … 185
Active Starts Leaders at Riverhead
1. Jamie Tomaino … 48
2. Ed Flemke Jr. … 35
3. Mike Stefanik … 34
4. Ted Christopher … 21
5. Eric Beers … 12
Donny Lia … 12
Selected Driver Highlights:
Eric Beers (No. 45 Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc. Ford)
• Has two wins, nine poles and 75 top 10s in 176 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Is up to 10th in current season points with three top 10s in six starts and a best finish of fourth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
• In 12 starts at Riverhead Raceway he has a pole, seven top 10s, an average finish of 12th and his best finish was a runner-up effort in 2005.
Jimmy Blewett (No. 76 John Blewett Inc./Ling Trucking Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, a pole and 29 top 10s in 91 career NWMT starts.
• Has three top 10s in six races this year. Had three top 10s across 16 races the two previous seasons.
• Won at Riverhead in 2008 and has an average finish of 13th in five career NWMT starts at the track.
• Has three career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified wins at Riverhead, including the 2008 Baldwin Evans Jarzombek 77. He is the only driver to win the 77 and the NWMT race in back-to-back weeks.
Howie Brode (No. 96 Peter Clark Motorsports Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and 14 top 10s in 55 career NWMT starts. The pole came in this event last year.
• Twenty-seven of his career starts have come at Riverhead, where he’s posted 11 top 10s with a best finish of second in 1998.
• Has 11 career NWAAS Modified wins at Riverhead and was the track champion in 1998.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Has a win, three poles and 19 top 10s in 36 career NWMT starts.
• Has finishes of fourth, fourth, 17th and first in four NWMT starts at Riverhead.
• Since gaining his first NWMT win last year at Riverhead, he has finished in the top 10 in 13 of 16 events.
• The 2011 NWAAS track champion at Riverhead, where he has six career victories in the Modified division.
Ted Christopher (No. 15 Eastport Feeds Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion, he has 42 wins and 24 poles and 171 top 10s in 313 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 24 poles are eighth. Has at least one win in the 13 previous seasons.
• In 21 NWMT starts at Riverhead he has three wins, two poles, 13 top 10s, an average finish of 11th and 436 laps led.
• Had an average finish of 13th in six starts this year in the No. 36 with a best result of second in the opener at Thompson International Speedway.
• Is competing in the NWAAS Modified division this year in this same car, owned by 1994 NWMT Champion Wayne Anderson. He has five runner-up finishes to his credit.
Doug Coby (No. 52 Reynolds Auto Wrkng/Furnace & Duct Chevrolet)
• Has five wins, four poles and 51 top 10s in 122 career starts.
• Points leader has three wins and five top fives in six races this year. Recorded two wins in 116 starts prior to the 2012 season.
• Has finished on the podium a career-best five races in a row. The previous best such streak of his career was two.
• Has two top 10s in six NWMT starts at Riverhead with an average finish of 15th and a best effort of fifth, recorded last year.
Donny Lia (No. 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 champion, he has 15 wins, 15 poles and 59 top 10s in 119 career starts.
• Has three top 10s through six races with an average finish of 10th in his return to the NWMT this year.
• Has four wins, six top 10s, an average finish of 12th and 516 laps led in 12 career NWMT starts at Riverhead.
• Has three career NWAAS Modified wins at Riverhead and was the divisions Rookie of the Year in 2001.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 39 top 10s in 78 career starts.
• Has competed in five of six races this year and has an average finish of eighth with a best result of fifth at Stafford Motor Speedway in May.
• Won at Riverhead in 2010 and has three top 10s in five career NWMT starts there.
Ryan Preece (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)
• Has four wins, nine poles and 37 top 10s in 73 career starts.
• In seven races with Flamingo Motorsports he has a win, four poles, three top 10s, and laps led in four of those events.
• Earned the pole and led all 150 laps at Riverhead in 2009. His five career finishes there are 10th, fifth, first, second and fourth.
• Has two NWAAS Modified wins at Riverhead this year in the No. 20 owned by Bill Park, the latest of which was the Baldwin Evans Jarzombek 77 on July 21.
Keith Rocco (No. 3 Cape Cod Copper/Silver Dollar Const. Chevrolet)
• Has six top-10 finishes in 11 career NWMT starts, including four in six races this season.
• Ranks ninth in the overall standings and has a commanding lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year points.
• Does not have any previous NWMT experience at Riverhead.
• Ranked third in the NWAAS national standings through July 17 with nine wins in 28 starts.
Ron Silk (No. 6 Reynolds Auto Wrecking/Schnitzer Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has eight wins, six poles and 57 top 10s in 103 career starts.
• Has five wins and 29 top 10s in 38 starts with TS Haulers Racing since they first joined forces in 2009.
• In six NWMT races at Riverhead he has four podium finishes.
• Also competes on a part-time basis in NWAAS Modified action at Riverhead, where he has two career victories, including the 2011 Baldwin Evans Jarzombek 77.
Mike Stefanik (No. 66 Variety Auto/Canto & Sons Paving Ford)
• The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
• Holds NWMT records for most titles (seven), wins (72), poles (46), top fives (218) and top 10s (288).
• Won last time out at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Has won two of the last three races at that track.
• Has six wins, two poles, 20 top 10s and 771 laps led in 34 career NWMT starts at Riverhead. His last win at Riverhead came in 2001, a span of 12 races.
Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion has 17 wins, nine poles and 100 top 10s in 159 career starts.
• Has three top fives in six outings this year with a best finish of third at Monadnock Speedway.
• In 11 NWMT starts at Riverhead he as four top 10s with an average finish of 14th and a best finish of second, which came last year.
• Finished third in the NWAAS Modified feature at Riverhead on July 21.
Up to Speed:
• The 2012 season is the 28th for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
• The 2012 schedule features 14 races at seven different tracks across four states.
• Defending NWMT champion Ron Silk won the 2012 season-opener at Thompson International Speedway on April 15. Ryan Preece was the polesitter for the Icebreaker.
• Doug Coby joined a select group of multiple Spring Sizzler winners when he took the checkered flag at Stafford Motor Speedway on April 29. Preece set the track record in qualifying prior to the event.
• Preece made it 3-for-3 in qualifying as he took the pole in track record fashion at Monadnock Speedway on May 12 and made the top starting position stand up as he led every lap en route to the victory.
• Bobby Santos captured the pole and led nearly the entire race before Coby wrestled the lead away in the closing laps to take the checkered flag on May 25 at Stafford.
• In the NWMT’s return to Waterford Speedbowl following a six-year absence, Ted Christopher earned the pole, but it was Coby who stole the show to earn his third win of the season.
• Mike Stefanik earned his first win of the year when he edged polesitter Silk by .003 seconds at the line at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14.
• Following the Riverhead 200, the NWMT will return to action on Aug. 3 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR