Whelen Modified Tour News & Notes: Loudon
Preece Closing The Points Gap With Three Races Left
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The annual September race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway always signals that the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule is drawing near its completion, and this year’s F.W. Webb 100 figures to have plenty of championship implications with the points race the tightest it’s been in three months.
With his victory on Sept. 15 at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, Ryan Preece moved into second in the championship standings, just nine tallies behind leader Doug Coby. Preece has been in the picture the entire season – having ranked in the top three in points since mid-May – but he hadn’t been this close until now.
With finishes of third, third and first in his last three outings, the 21-year-old from Berlin, Conn., has knocked off 46 points off of his deficit to Coby.
Coincidentally, it was during that same three-race stretch where Coby also encountered his first adversity of the year. A top-10 finisher in each of the season’s first eight events, the 33-year-old from Milford, Conn., has 11th, 13th and 22nd as his last three results. Preece’s win at Riverhead was magnified by the fact that Coby suffered his first DNF of the year in the same event.
Preece has also been on fire in time trials this year with Coors Light Pole Awards in six of the season’s 11 events – including the last two outings – and while a pole win doesn’t guarantee a race win, he has been positioning himself to contend for those wins by starting out in front of the pack. Preece does have a pole at NHMS among his career total of 12, which came in the September 2009 race.
With three events left in the season starting with the F.W. Webb 100 on Sept. 22, Preece will look to continue his climb up the standings at the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, N.H. In 12 career starts at NHMS Preece has five top 10s, including three third-place finishes, and he’ll gunning for his first victory there this weekend. In July’s Town Fair Tire 100 – his first race at the track with the No. 16 Flamingo Motorsports team – he finished 12th.
The F.W. Webb 100 race weekend will begin for the Whelen Modified Tour on Friday, Sept. 21 with practice and qualifying. The tour will be joined by the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East on the Saturday, Sept. 22 race card.
RACE: F.W. Webb 100
PLACE: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H.
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 22
TIME: 12:15 p.m. ET
TV SCHEDULE: Live on SPEED
TRACK LAYOUT: 1.058-mile asphalt oval
2011 WINNER: Ron Silk
2011 POLESITTER: Ron Silk
EVENT SCHEDULE: Friday: Practice 10:10-11:45 a.m., Qualifying 5 p.m.; Saturday: Driver Autograph Session 11-11:30 a.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Kristen Costa, 603-513-5708, kcosta@nhms.com
TRACK TWITTER: @NHMS
EVENT HASHTAG: #FWWebb100
NASCAR IMC CONTACT: Jason Cunningham, 704-201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com, Twitter: @NASCAR_NE
FAST FACTS
The Race: The F.W. Webb 100 will be the 12th of 14 races on the 2012 schedule and the second of two at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The Procedure: The starting field is 38 cars, including provisionals. The first 33 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 100 laps (105.8 miles) and will have a five minute break at or near the conclusion of Lap 50. The tire change rule is four tires, any position.
The Track: NHMS, a 1.058-mile slightly-banked asphalt oval, is the largest track the Whelen Modified Tour races at. NHMS has played host to the Whelen Modified Tour 56 times previously, the most of any facility outside of Connecticut.
Race Winners: There have been 17 different race winners at NHMS, led by Mike Stefanik with eight victories. Ron Silk is the defending winner of the F.W. Webb 100 and he finished second to Stefanik in this year’s first trip to Loudon.
Pole Winners: There have been 23 different pole winners at NHMS, led by Jan Leaty’s six. Ted Christopher is the active poles leader with five. Mike Ewanitsko holds the qualifying record at 28.693 seconds (132.743 mph), set in 2001. Silk took the pole for this event last year and made it two in a row at the track when he was the fastest qualifier there this past July.
LOUDON RACE NOTES
Silk Looks to Stay Hot at NHMS: There have been many masters of the “Magic Mile” through the years – some of them are still active competitors – but Ron Silk is arguably the driver to beat in the present day when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Silk has an average finish of 10.2 in 17 career races at Loudon, but his last eight appearances there have produced an average result of 3.75 with a pair of wins. Silk is the defending winner of the F.W. Webb 100, and finished second in the season’s first race at the track.
Stefanik Now the NHMS Wins Leader: With his narrow 0.003-second victory over Silk in July, Mike Stefanik became the Whelen Modified Tour’s career wins leader at NHMS with eight. He had been previously tied with Tony Hirschman. The seven-time tour champion, Stefanik now has 72 career victories in total, including two of the last three races at Loudon. Prior to his August 2011 win there, his previous triumph at the “Magic Mile” came in 1998.
Hirschman to Make First NWMT Appearance This Year: A three-time top-10 finisher in the Whelen Modified Tour championship standings, Matt Hirschman is scheduled to make his season tour debut in the No. 50 Goodie Motorsports Chevrolet in the F.W. Webb 100. The pairing made their first appearance together on Sept. 9 at Thompson International Speedway in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour race and Hirschman drove to a runner-up finish. Hirschman has four top 10s in nine career NWMT starts at NHMS with a best result of third in July 2011. Hirschman’s father is Tony, who earned those previously-mentioned seven wins at Loudon. There has yet to be a father and son combination reach Victory Lane at NHMS.
HOME TRACKS: Four Tour Drivers Vie For Top 10
While the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series final points standings will not be official until midweek, four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regulars from Connecticut had a shot to finish in the top 10 nationally. As of Sept. 11, Keith Rocco ranked second with 731 points while Ryan Preece was fourth with 722. Ted Christopher also ranked sixth nationally with 712 points and Woody Pitkat was just six points outside the top 10 with 656. All four built on their totals over the weekend. On Friday night, Sept. 14, Christopher finished second, Preece third, Pitkat eighth and Rocco 10th in the SK Modified feature at Stafford Motor Speedway. On Saturday, Sept. 15 Rocco was credited with the SK Modified win (Todd Ceravolo was a substitute driver from a suspended race) at Waterford Speedbowl and on Sunday, Sept. 16 – the last day points count toward the NWAAS national and state standings – Pitkat was victorious at Thompson International Speedway in the Sunoco Modified division with Preece second and Rocco third.
LAST TIME OUT: Riverhead
The most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race was held at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway on Sept. 15. Here are some highlights from the Riverhead 200:
• Ryan Preece earned his sixth Coors Light Pole Award in 11 events this season and held on to earn his second victory of the campaign. It was his fifth career win, and second at Riverhead.
• Defending race winner Justin Bonsignore finished as the runner-up.
• Eric Goodale led a career-high 35 laps and recorded a season-best finish of seventh.
• Points leader Doug Coby suffered his first DNF of the year with engine failure.
• The event was contested as a make-up from the original July 28 date that was rained out.
NEXT TIME OUT: Stafford
The penultimate event of the 2012 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will take place on Sunday, Sept. 30 with the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway. It will mark the fourth and final event for the Whelen Modified Tour at Stafford this season, and the 106th all-time at the historic half mile. Ted Christopher is the defending race winner while Doug Coby has been victorious in each of the first three Stafford races this season. Practice and qualifying will take place on Saturday with the 150-lap race on Sunday.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NKNPS East/NWMT New Hampshire 9/22/12 Event Schedule
Time Series Event
Friday
7 a.m. NKNPS East Garage Opens
7 a.m. NWMT Garage Opens
8:30-10 a.m. NKNPS East Practice
10:15-11:45 a.m. NWMT Practice
2 p.m. NKNPS East Qualifying
5 p.m. NWMT Qualifying
Saturday
8 a.m. NWMT Garage Opens
9:15-9:45 a.m. NKNPS East Autograph Session
10 a.m. NKNPS East Garage Opens
10:30 a.m. NWMT Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
11-11:30 a.m. NWMT Autograph Session
11:50 a.m. NKNPS East Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
12:15 p.m. NWMT F.W. Webb 100
2:30 p.m. NKNPS East G-Oil 100
All times ET and subject to change
NWMT New Hampshire 9/22/12 Entry List
CAR DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM OWNER CREW CHIEF
2 Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford Mike Smeriglio, III Phil Moran
3 Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn. Cape Cod Copper/Silver Dollar Const. Chevrolet Jan Boehler Scott Richards
4 Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y. Mystic Missile Racing Dodge Robert Garbarino Dan Laferriere
6 Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn. T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet Ed Partridge Tom Grasso
07 Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y. Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet Jennifer Emerling Mike Paquette
7 Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind. Menards/Aggressive Hydraulics Chevrolet Marcy Putnam Gary Putnam
16 Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn. East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford Eric Sanderson Stan Szaban
18 Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y. Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Chevrolet Robert Pollifrone Greg Gorman
28 Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn Ron Bouchard's Autos/Raceworks TV Chevrolet Don King Thomas Trcka
33 Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn. Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Chevrolet Beth Cole Richard Rodenbaugh
38 Driver TBA Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Chevrolet Linda Rodenbaugh Jake Marosz
39 Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet Rich Pallai Denis Pruchnik
44 Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass. ImperialCars.com/Tinio Corp. Chevrolet Sully Tinio Steve Lemay
45 Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa. Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc. Ford Dave Delange Ryan Plourde
46 Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn. Cape Cod Agts./North End Auto Parts Chevrolet Robert Katon, Jr. Richard Rotundo
50 Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa. Heritage Wide Plank Flooring Chevrolet Nancy Goodale Kevin Goodale
51 Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y. M3 Technology Chevrolet Ken Massa John Sanford
52 Doug Coby, Milford, Conn. Reynolds Auto Wrkng./Furnace & Duct Chevrolet Wayne Darling John McKenna
58 Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet Edgar Goodale Jason Shephard
64 Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn. Hughes Motors/Complete Const. Chevrolet Mike Murphy Stephen Dodge
66 Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I. Canto & Sons/Robert B. Our Co. Ford Ed Marceau Brad Lafontaine
68 Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, N.Y. Two Brothers Scrap Metal Chevrolet Charlene Bush Ed Schutze
70 Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H. Rockingham Boat/Summit Signs Chevrolet Steve Seuss Lyle Patterson
71 Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass. Draco Spring Ford Rob Fuller Bobby FUller
76 Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J. John Blewett Inc./Ling Trucking Chevrolet John Blewett Ed Bennett
79 Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, Mass Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac Sandra Hill David Hill
82 Mike Christopher, Plainville, Conn. Conn. Trailers/Martino & Binzer Dodge James Ksepka TBA
88 Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y. Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet Buzz Chew Ron Ste. Marie
93 Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet Mark Pennink Don Barker
99 Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J. Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet Trey Tomaino Trey Tomaino
Entry List as of Sept. 11