Whelen Mod Tour Stat Advance: Waterford

Analyzing The Mr. Rooter 161 At Waterford Speedbowl

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will head to Connecticut shoreline oval Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday for the Mr. Rooter 161. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the tour and selected drivers at the track:

Mr. Rooter 161 Setup:
• Ryan Preece is the defending winner of the Mr. Rooter 161. Preece went on to capture the season title following his 2013 Waterford Speedbowl victory, as did Doug Coby in 2012.
• Preece and Donny Lia lead all active drivers in bullring victories with six apiece. Lia has two triumphs at Waterford.
• Coby is the season points leader after three events with podium finishes in each outing. Justin Bonsignore is just four points back with an average finish on the podium.
• Three drivers are slated to attempt their NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in this event: Spencer Davis, Craig Lutz and Derek Ramstrom.

 

At Waterford Speedbowl:
History
• The facility opened to auto racing on April 15, 1951.
• Waterford is a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series-sanctioned track with SK Modifieds as the headline division.
• The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour held 19 races at Waterford from 1985-2013.
• The track has also played host to seven NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races during its history, and the former NASCAR North Tour visited twice.
• The 161 scheduled laps for the third annual Mr. Rooter 161 is a tribute to the late Richie Evans, who campaigned the No. 61 on his modifieds.

Notebook
• The previous 19 races produced 15 different race winners and 12 different pole winners.
• There has never been a driver earn back-to-back victories at Waterford.
• Jamie Tomaino is the only driver to compete in all 19 previous NWMT events at the track.
• Four current NWMT drivers have won NWMT races at Waterford, including: Donny Lia (2), Doug Coby (1), Ted Christopher (1) and Ryan Preece (1).
• Five current NWMT drivers have won weekly SK Modified races at Waterford, including: Christopher (33), Ron Yuhas Jr. (24), Coby (4), Ron Silk (2) and Woody Pitkat (1).

Waterford Speedbowl Data
Race: #4 of 14
Track Layout: .375-mile asphalt oval
• Race Length: 161 laps (60.375 miles)
• Banking–turns: 8 to 12 degrees
• Banking–straights: progressive

Qualifying/Race Data
2013 Race Winner: Ryan Preece
2013 Pole Winner: Todd Szegedy
Qualifying Record: Jerry Marquis (13.618 seconds, 99.133 mph – 10/8/06)

Active Category Leaders at Waterford:
Wins
1. Donny Lia … 2
2. Ted Christopher … 1
Doug Coby … 1
Ryan Preece … 1

Poles
1. Ted Christopher … 2

Laps Led
1. Ted Christopher … 270
2. Doug Coby … 218
3. Donny Lia … 173

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 19
2. Ted Christopher … 15
3. Doug Coby … 9
Wade Cole … 9
Donny Lia … 9

Select Driver Highlights:
NOTE: Bullring races defined as tracks .25-.375 miles

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 chem3.com Chevrolet)
• Has four wins, three poles and 36 top 10s in 63 career starts.
• Won the 2014 opener at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
• In 13 career bullring races he has two wins, 10 top fives, 369 laps led and a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-best average finish of 5.8 among active competitors.
• Has finishes of second and fourth in his two previous NWMT starts at Waterford Speedbowl.

Ted Christopher (No. 13 J&R Pre-Cast/Cape Cod Aggregates Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion has 42 wins, 24 poles and 184 top 10s in 338 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 24 poles are eighth.
• Is looking to end a 32-race winless drought. It’s his longest such streak since the start of his career when his first win came in his 94th race.
• Has five wins, three poles, 1,038 laps led and an average finish of 10.6 in 69 career bullring starts.
• Has a win (2002), two poles and eight top 10s in 15 career NWMT races at Waterford.
• The 1992 track champion at Waterford, where he has 36 career feature wins.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance Chevrolet)
• The 2012 NWMT champion has 10 wins, four poles and 69 top 10s in 146 career starts.
• Won the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway in February and has podiums in the first three regular season races, including a win last time out at Stafford.
• Has 11 top 10s and an average finish of 14.3 in 30 career bullring starts.
• Won this event in 2012 and has five top 10s with an average finish of 12th in nine career NWMT races at Waterford.
• Has four career SK Modified wins at Waterford.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and 29 top 10s in 76 career NWMT starts. Best finish was second last June at Riverhead Raceway.
• Inherited the NWMT’s active starts streak lead, now at 74 races, when Ed Flemke Jr. did not run the 2014 opener.
• Has a pole, five top 10s and an average finish of 13.5 in 12 career bullring starts.
• Recorded finishes of 24th and seventh in two previous Waterford starts.

Matt Hirschman (No. 52 Furnace & Duct/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, three poles and 41 top 10s in 80 career NWMT starts.
• Has a win, a pole, six top 10s and an average finish of 11.6 in 14 career bullring races.
• Has an average finish of 15.3 and a best result of eighth (2005) in three previous starts at Waterford.

Donny Lia (No. 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 NWMT champion has 17 wins, 18 poles and 73 top 10s in 144 career starts.
• Owner of six wins, three poles, 15 top fives and an average finish of 11.4 in 38 career bullring races.
• Has two wins (2005, `06), six top fives and an average finish of 8.3 in nine career Waterford appearances.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 51 top 10s in 103 career starts.
• Has a win, nine top 10s and an average finish of 10.4 in 16 career bullring starts.
• Finished sixth and eighth the two previous seasons at Waterford.

Woody Pitkat (No. 88 Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and 37 top 10s in 81 career starts. Best career finish is second, recorded three times: August 2011 Loudon, 2012 Stafford Fall Final and 2014 Thompson Icebreaker.
• Has four top 10s and an average finish of 12th in eight career bullring starts.
• Finished 22nd at Waterford last year in his only previous NWMT race at Waterford.

Ryan Preece (No. 16 East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford)
• The 2013 NWMT champion has nine wins, 12 poles, 25 podiums, 42 top fives and 56 top 10s in 98 career starts.
• Has six wins, three poles, 11 top fives, 584 laps led and an average finish of 7.3 in 16 career bullring races.
• Is the defending winner of this race after a third-place finish in 2012.

Keith Rocco (No. 48 Wheelers Auto/Mr. Rooter Chevrolet)
• Has seven top 10s in 17 career NWMT starts with a best finish of third in the 2012 Stafford Spring Sizzler.
• Finished eighth in this race in 2012 in his only prior NWMT start at the track.
• Earned NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track titles at Waterford in 2010, `11 and `13. Has 90 career feature wins at Waterford, including 59 in SK Modifieds. Between SK Mods and late models he’s won 11 of 22 races this year.

Bobby Santos (No. 44 Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NWMT champion has 11 wins, 14 poles and 45 top 10s in 83 career starts.
• Has five top 10s and an average finish of 14.1 in nine career bullring starts.
• Finished 22nd and fifth the last two seasons at Waterford.

Ron Silk (No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has nine wins, eight poles and 75 top 10s in 128 career starts.
• Earned the NWAAS modified division title in the New Smyrna Speedway World Series in February.
• Has 13 top 10s and an average finish of 11.2 in 21 career bullring starts.
• Has an average finish of 16.5 and a best result of ninth (2013) in four career NWMT starts at Waterford.

Timmy Solomito (No. 75 Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and four top 10s in 10 career starts with a best finish of third at Riverhead in September 2013.
• The Sunoco Rookie of the Race in each of the first three 2014 events, and ranks seventh in the overall standings.
• Only two previous NWMT bullring starts came at Riverhead last year.

Ron Yuhas Jr. (No. 64 Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet)
• Has 19 top 10s in 66 career NWMT starts with a best result of third on two occasions.
• Has an average finish of 8.7 and a best result of fourth (2012) in three career NWMT races at Waterford.
• The 2009 NWAAS track champion at Waterford, where he has 24 career SK Modified victories.

Up To Speed:
• The 2014 season is the 30th for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
• The 2014 schedule features 14 races at seven different tracks across four states.
• The competition season opened with the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 18. Ryan Preece was the polesitter and Doug Coby took the checkered flag.
• Justin Bonsignore passed first-time pole winner Woody Pitkat with nine laps to go to win the points season opener at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on April 6.
• Rookie Tommy Barrett Jr. captured his first pole and Bobby Santos earned his sixth Stafford Motor Speedway victory on April 27.
• After two rainouts, the third race of the season finally got in the books on June 6 when Doug Coby took the checkered flag at Stafford. Santos earned the pole on the original May 23 race date.
• Following this week’s Mr. Rooter 161, the NWMT will return to action next Saturday, June 28 for the Hoosier Tire 200 at Riverhead Raceway.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR

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