Whelen Mod Tour Stat Advance: Stafford
Analyzing The CARQUEST 150 At Stafford Motor Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The second half of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will commence with the CARQUEST 150 on Friday, Aug. 2 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the tour and selected drivers at the track:
Stafford Race Setup:
• Bobby Santos (5), Ted Christopher (3) and Doug Coby (3) have combined to win 11 of the last 14 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races contested at Stafford Motor Speedway.
• Season points leader Ryan Preece won the last Stafford race in June, the first of what became three consecutive triumphs.
• All five of Santos’ Stafford wins have come in his last 12 starts there, including this year’s CARQUEST Spring Sizzler, which makes him eligible for the $25,000 CARQUEST bonus plan.
• Reigning NWMT champion Doug Coby won three of the four races at Stafford last year, and is the defending winner of the CARQUEST 150.
AT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
History
• The Stafford Springs Agricultural Park opened in 1870. The current race track was originally used for horse racing, which gave way to automobiles after World War II.
• Stafford Motor Speedway became a NASCAR track in 1959 and was paved in 1967.
• Stafford is one of nine tracks that have been a part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program in each of its now 32 years of competition.
Notebook
• The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has held 108 races at Stafford since 1985. The NWMT has run there every year of its existence, except for 1988.
• The 108 all-time NWMT races at Stafford rank second only to the 121 held at Thompson International Speedway.
• There have been 31 different race winners at Stafford, led by Mike Stefanik’s 20 victories. Bobby Santos and Ryan Preece have won the first two races there this season.
• There have been 40 different pole winners at Stafford, led by Stefanik’s 17. Preece set the track qualifying in the 2012 Spring Sizzler while Santos earned the pole for the first two events there this year.
• The CARQUEST 150 entry list features 10 drivers that have previously won at the track, including: Stefanik (20), Ted Christopher (12), Santos (5), Doug Coby (4), Todd Szegedy (4), Ed Flemke Jr. (3), Donny Lia (3), Preece (2), Ron Silk (1) and Jamie Tomaino (1).
Stafford Motor Speedway Data
Race: #8 of 14 overall, #3 of 4 at SMS
Track Layout: .5-mile asphalt oval
• Race Length: 150 laps (75 miles)
• Banking/Turns 1 & 2: Nine degrees
• Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 7.5 degrees
Qualifying/Race Data
2012 Pole Winner: Ryan Preece, 98.296 mph, 18.312 secs.
2012 Race Winner: Doug Coby, 68.234 mph, 1:05:57
Qualifying Record: Ryan Preece, 100.424 mph, 17.924 secs., 4/29/12
ACTIVE CATEGORY LEADERS AT STAFFORD:
Wins
1. Mike Stefanik … 20
2. Ted Christopher … 12
3. Bobby Santos … 5
4. Todd Szegedy … 4
Doug Coby … 4
Poles
1. Mike Stefanik … 17
2. Donny Lia … 7
3. Bobby Santos … 5
4. Ted Christopher … 4
5. Ryan Preece … 3
Laps Led
1. Mike Stefanik … 2,165
2. Ted Christopher … 2,083
3. Todd Szegedy … 801
4. Bobby Santos … 567
5. Doug Coby … 518
Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 107
2. Mike Stefanik … 93
3. Ed Flemke Jr. … 90
4. Ted Christopher … 82
5. Wade Cole … 48
SELECTED DRIVER HIGHLIGHTS:
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Has three wins, three poles and 29 top 10s in 53 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Ranks fifth in points at the midway point of the season with five top-10 finishes, highlighted by a win last time out at Monadnock Speedway.
• Has a pole, seven top 10s, an average finish of 13th and a best result of second in 14 career NWMT starts at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Ted Christopher (No. 3 Silver Dollar Construction/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion, he has 42 wins, 24 poles and 178 top 10s in 328 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 24 poles are eighth.
• Is sixth in the season standings with three top-five finishes in seven outings. The runner-up finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was his best result of the season.
• Has 12 wins, four poles and 44 top 10s in 82 career NWMT starts at Stafford.
• Is an eight-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track champion at Stafford out of the SK Modified division – where he has 100 victories – and has a record 121 overall career feature wins at Stafford entering this week’s events.
Doug Coby (No. 52 Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet)
• The 2012 NWMT champion has eight wins, four poles and 62 top 10s in 137 career starts.
• Ranks third in points with six top 10s in seven races, highlighted by a win at New Hampshire.
• Has four wins, two poles and 16 top 10s in 34 NWMT starts at Stafford. Is the defending winner of this event.
• Has 18 career feature wins and two division titles at Stafford in NWAAS action.
Donny Lia (No. 4 Circle Track Magazine Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 NWMT champion. He has 16 wins, 16 poles and 67 top 10s in 134 career starts.
• Sits eighth in points after seven events with three top 10s and a best result of third at Waterford Speedbowl.
• In 34 career starts at Stafford he has recorded three wins, seven poles and 20 top 10s.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet)
• Has a win and 46 top 10s in 93 career starts.
• Ranks second in points with five top 10s in seven races, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the season opener at Thompson Speedway.
• Has 13 top 10s, an average finish of 11th and a best result of second (twice) in 24 career NWMT starts at Stafford.
• Earned his first NWAAS SK Modified win at Stafford earlier this season.
Woody Pitkat (No. 79 Mr. Rooter/Coors Light Pontiac)
• Has 29 top 10s in 71 career starts with a best finish of second (twice).
• One of those runner-ups came in last year’s Stafford Fall Final, when he led a career-high 128 laps.
• Ranks ninth in points with four top 10s in seven races, including the last three events in a row.
• Has 10 top 10s, an average finish of 15th in 20 career NWMT starts at Stafford.
• Has 65 career feature wins at Stafford, where he has two Late Model division titles in NWAAS action.
Ryan Preece (No. 16 East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford)
• Has eight wins, 12 poles and 51 top 10s in 88 career starts.
• Is the season points leader with top-five finishes in all seven races, highlighted by three wins. Is in the midst of a career-best streak of 13 straight top-10 finishes dating back to last year.
• In 22 races with Flamingo Motorsports he has five wins, seven poles, 15 races led and 17 top 10s.
• Has two wins, three poles, 13 top 10s and an average finish of 12th in 24 career NWMT starts at Stafford. Won the last NWMT event there in June.
• Was the 2011 NWAAS SK Modified division champion at Stafford, where he has 14 career wins. Is also leading the division points this season on the strength of six victories.
Bobby Santos (No. 44 Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NWMT champion has nine wins, 10 poles and 38 top 10s in 73 career starts.
• Ranks 20th in points with three top fives in five starts, highlighted by a win in the Stafford Spring Sizzler. Did not attend the events at Monadnock or Riverhead Raceway.
• Has five wins, five poles and 10 top fives in 18 career starts at Stafford. He’s earned three straight poles at the track.
• Has finished on the podium in nine of his last 13 Stafford races, a run that includes all five of those wins.
Ron Silk (No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has nine wins, eight poles and 66 top 10s in 118 career starts.
• Ranks seventh in points this season with four top 10s in seven events.
• Has a win, two poles and 13 top 10s in 31 career NWMT starts at Stafford.
• Has that win and eight top fives in 14 Stafford starts since joining forces with the No. 6 team.
Mike Stefanik (No. 22 Robert B. Our Co./Canto & Sons Paving Ford)
• The 1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2006 NWMT champion.
• Holds NWMT records for most titles (seven), wins (73), poles (48), top fives (222) and top 10s (296).
• Sits fourth in points this year with four top 10s in seven outings, highlighted by a win in the opener at Thompson.
• Leads all drivers with 20 wins, 50 top fives, 72 top 10s and 2,165 laps led at Stafford. Also has a tour-best average finish of eighth across 93 career starts there.
• His last win at Stafford was the 2008 Fall Final, a span of 19 races, which is the longest drought of his career.
Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair/A&J Romano Construction Ford)
• The 2003 NWMT champion has 17 wins, 10 poles and 107 top 10s in 174 career starts.
• Ranks 10th in points with a best result of sixth at Waterford.
• Has four wins, two poles, 20 top fives and an average finish of 10th in 46 career starts at Stafford. Last win there came in August 2010. His average finish is second-best among active drivers behind Mike Stefanik.
• Has an average finish of sixth in his last nine mid-season races at Stafford, but his last eight results in the Spring Sizzler and Fall Final events have averaged 17th.
UP TO SPEED:
• The 2013 season is the 29th for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
• The 2013 schedule features 14 races at seven different tracks across four states.
• The competition season began with the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Feb. 19. The Modified feature was won by Steve Park.
• Mike Stefanik won from the pole in the season-opening Icebreaker at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on April 14.
• Bobby Santos matched Stefanik’s feat from the opener when he won from the pole in the second race of the season on April 28 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
• At Stafford on June 14 it was Santos on the pole, but Ryan Preece rallied from the rear for the victory. The race was postponed twice – on May 24 and June 7 – due to rain.
• Preece made it two-in-a-row when he took the checkered flag following a thrilling green-white-checkered finish at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on June 22. Todd Szegedy was the event’s pole winner.
• At Riverhead on June 29 Preece made it three victories in a row when he took yet another checkered flag. Ron Silk was the pole winner prior to the event.
• Doug Coby earned his first win of the season on July 13 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Jimmy Blewett was the event’s pole winner.
• Eric Goodale captured his first career pole and Justin Bonsignore earned his third career victory at Monadnock Speedway on July 27.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR