Whelen Mod Tour Stat Advance: Monadnock

Analyzing The O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 At Monadnock Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2014 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will reach the midway point with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 on Saturday at Monadnock Speedway in rural Winchester, New Hampshire. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the tour and selected drivers at the track:

Monadnock Race Setup:
• All nine previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Monadnock Speedway have been won by different drivers.
• The points leader at the midway point has gone on to win the championship in each of the previous four seasons. Doug Coby brings a two-point edge on Bobby Santos to Monadnock.
• Santos has won three of six races so far this year. He hasn’t raced at Monadnock since 2011.
• This will be Coby’s 150th career start. He has been the runner-up the last two years at Monadnock.
• Ted Christopher has finished on the podium in each of the previous three races. The 2010 Monadnock winner is looking to end the second-longest winless drought of his career.

At Monadnock Speedway:

History
• Monadnock Speedway opened Aug. 13, 1971.
• Monadnock has played host to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour nine times previously from 1986-90 and 2010-13.
• A member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Monadnock sanctions five divisions in its weekly program, headlined by the sportsman modifieds.

Notebook
• Ken Bouchard won the inaugural NWMT race at Monadnock on May 18, 1986. Bouchard also earned the first two poles at the track.
• Active competitors Justin Bonsignore (2013), Ted Christopher (2010), Ryan Preece (2012) and Jamie Tomaino (1990) have earned wins at the track.
• Tomaino and Mike Stefanik are the only two drivers to compete in all nine previous tour events at Monadnock.
• Ryan Preece was the youngest Monadnock race winner at 21 years, six months, 17 days, set in 2012.
• In 2010, Christopher became the oldest Monadnock winner at 52 years, one month, 12 days.
• Monadnock has been won twice in wire-to-wire fashion, in 2011 by Szegedy and in 2012 by Preece. Both races were 175 laps.

Monadnock Speedway Data
Race:  #7 of 14
Track Layout:  .25-mile asphalt oval
Race Length:  200 laps (50 miles)
Banking/Turns 1 & 2:  18 degrees
Banking/Turns 3 & 4:  16 degrees

Qualifying/Race Data
2013 Pole Winner:  Eric Goodale
2013 Race Winner:  Ryan Preece
Qualifying Record:  Ryan Preece (12.313 seconds, 73.082 mph – 5/12/12)

Active Category Leaders at Monadnock:
Wins
1. Four drivers with … 1

Poles
1. Two drivers with … 1

Top Fives
1. Jamie Tomaino … 4
2. Justin Bonsignore … 3
    Ron Silk … 3

Top 10s
1. Justin Bonsignore … 4
    Ron Silk … 4
    Jamie Tomaino … 4

Laps Led
1. Justin Bonsignore … 184
2. Ryan Preece … 175
3. Ted Christopher … 41

Laps Completed
1. Jamie Tomaino … 867
2. Justin Bonsignore … 729
    Ted Christopher … 729

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 9
2. Six drivers with … 4

Selected Driver Highlights:
Note: Bullring defined as tracks measuring between .25-.375 miles

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 chem3.com Chevrolet)
• Has four wins, three poles and 38 top 10s in 66 career starts.
• Won the 2014 opener at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Has top-five finishes in the first five of six races this year and ranks fourth in points.
• Has two wins, 11 top fives and an average finish of sixth in 15 career bullring starts.
• Has a win (2013), three top fives and an average finish of fourth in four career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts at Monadnock Speedway.

Ted Christopher (No. 13 J&R Pre-Cast/Cape Cod Aggregates Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion has 42 wins, 24 poles and 187 top 10s in 341 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 24 poles are eighth.
• Is looking to end a 35-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 top 10s in all six races this year with his new team, including podiums the last three times out.
• Has five wins, 41 top 10s and an average finish of 10th in 71 career bullring races.
• Has a win (2010) and an average finish of 7.5 in four NWMT starts at Monadnock.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance Chevrolet)
• The 2012 NWMT champion has 10 wins, four poles and 72 top 10s in 149 career starts.
• Is the season points leader by two tallies on Bobby Santos. Won the non-points UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway in February and has podiums in four of the six regular season races, including a win at Stafford Motor Speedway in June.
• Has a win (Waterford Speedbowl, 2012), 13 top 10s and an average finish of 14th in 32 career bullring starts.
• Has finishes of 11th (2011) and second (2012 and 2013) in three previous Monadnock starts.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 30 top 10s in 79 career NWMT starts.
• Inherited the NWMT’s active starts streak lead, now at 77 races, when Ed Flemke Jr. did not run the 2014 opener.
• Ranks ninth in points after six events. His first career victory was earned in June at Riverhead Raceway.
• Has that Riverhead win, six top 10s and an average finish of 13th in 14 career bullring races.
• Has a pole (2013), an average finish of 19th and a best result of 15th (2010) in four Monadnock NWMT races.

Matt Hirschman (No. 52 B.C. Brennenstuhl/L.I. Mod Maniac Chevrolet)
• Has two wins, three poles and 42 top 10s in 83 career NWMT starts.
• Ranks 10th in points with three top 10s, highlighted by a third-place effort at Riverhead.
• Has a win (Chemung Speedrome, 2008), seven top 10s and an average finish of 12th in 16 career bullring starts.
• Finished third in his only previous NWMT start at Monadnock in 2011.

Donny Lia (No. 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge)
• The 2007 and 2009 NWMT champion has 17 wins, 19 poles and 74 top 10s in 147 career starts.
• Ranks 12th in points with a pair of top 10s and a best result of second at Waterford.
• Has six wins, four poles, 19 top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 40 career bullring races.
• Has finishes of sixth (2012) and 15th (2013) in his only two previous Monadnock starts.

Woody Pitkat (No. 88 Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and 38 top 10s in 84 career starts. Best career finish is second, recorded three times: August 2011 Loudon, 2012 Stafford Fall Final and 2014 Thompson Icebreaker.
• Ranks seventh in points this year with four top 10s and a best result of second in the season opener.
• Has five top 10s and an average finish of 12th in 10 career bullring events.
• Has finishes of 14th (2010) and ninth (2013) in his only two previous Monadnock starts.

Ryan Preece (No. 16 East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford)
• The 2013 NWMT champion has nine wins, 12 poles, 25 podiums, 44 top fives and 59 top 10s in 101 career starts.
• Ranks sixth in points with five top 10s and a best result of fourth at Riverhead.
• Has six wins, three poles, 12 top fives and an average finish of seventh in 18 career bullring starts.
• Won from the pole at Monadnock in 2012. Also finished 23rd there in 2010, and fifth in 2013.

Bobby Santos (No. 44 Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NWMT champion has 13 wins, 14 poles and 48 top 10s in 86 career starts.
• Ranks second in points with a tour-high three wins (Stafford Spring Sizzler, Waterford, July Loudon) in six races.
• Has a win (Waterford, 2013), seven top 10s and an average finish of 12.5 in 11 career bullring starts.
• Has finishes of fifth (2010) and 15th (2011) in his only two previous Monadnock starts.

Andy Seuss (No. 70 Rockingham Boat Chevrolet)
• Has seven top 10s in 31 career NWMT starts.
• Has an average finish of 12th and a best result of seventh (2013) in three previous NWMT Monadnock starts.
• Primarily competes in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour where he is the current season points leader. Has 18 wins, 11 poles and 65 top 10s in 85 career NWSMT starts.

Ron Silk (No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has nine wins, nine poles and 77 top 10s in 131 career starts.
• Earned the NWAAS modified division title in the New Smyrna Speedway World Series in February.
• Ranks fifth in points with five top 10s in six outings, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at Stafford in June.
• Has 14 top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 23 career bullring starts.
• Has an average finish of 4.5 and a best result of third (2010) in four previous Monadnock races.

Timmy Solomito (No. 75 Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet)
• Has a pole and five top 10s in 13 career starts with a best finish of third at Riverhead in September 2013.
• The Sunoco Rookie of the Race in four of the first six 2014 events, he ranks eighth in the overall standings with a best result of fourth in the Thompson opener.
• Has two top fives and an average finish of 13th in four NWMT bullring starts.
• This will be his first appearance at Monadnock.

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.
• The first bullring race of the year saw a battle between polesitter Donny Lia and Bobby Santos on June 21 at Waterford Speedbowl, and Santos eventually won out for his 12th career victory.
• Eric Goodale earned his first career win and John Beatty Jr. his first pole on June 28 at Riverhead Raceway.
• Ron Silk earned his first pole of 2014 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 12 and Santos made a last-lap pass to record his first Loudon victory. Ryan Newman won the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout the day before.
• Following this week’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200, the NWMT will return to action with the Call Before Dig 811 150 on Friday, Aug. 8 at Stafford.

Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR