Bock Set for NWMT Debut Sunday
STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT — Brendon Bock of Franklin Square, NY will make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut tomorrow for BGB Motorsports. Bock was 14th in practice in the Pro-Systems Brakes No. 29 car. Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler is the longest race of his career. The team consists of his uncles Vincent, Paulie, and Glen, Alex, and spotter James Hollywood. Sponsors include A&S Bagels, Long Island Performance Race Fuels.
“It’s going pretty good,” Bock said. “Right now, we’re focusing on learning the track and getting better. So far pretty happy with the advances we’ve made and see how we do in qualifying.”
“…We got to focus on getting our pit crew down pat. This is basically the first time that they’re going to be out over the wall. We’ll see how we do. We’ll see how much practice we need.”
While Bock won a LegendsCar race at Stafford last year, he has limited Modified experience. Stafford hosts four NWMT races annually and a track hosted the series for many years.
“Seat time is very key here. A lot of the drivers on the tour have been to these tracks tons of times. All these rookies fresh out of the box are just down compared to all the experience.”
“Expectations are get accustomed with the car in the beginning and just be very competitive towards the middle of the year maybe today. Just work on being competitive and we’ll see how things go.”
Bock chose the NWMT over the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South series. Stafford is a 2.5 hour drive, compared to longer commutes for races in North Carolina. “It’s only a few times a year. It’s not every week that we’ve got to drive. It’s not terrible, but it’s not around the block.”
Bock had top tens in his two Modified races during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway. The car has changed from red to white and blue, Bock’s traditional colors.
“(New Smyrna) definitely helped a lot with the bigger tracks, getting used to it. Traveling is going to help us a lot this year as opposed to staying at one track the full season, getting different experiences.”
“New Smyrna was a very banked that was probably the most banked track I’ve raced on. I’m used to the flat tracks with the Legend Cars. It’s not too hard to adapt. We’re getting there, just about there.”
The former Riverhead (NY) Raceway Legend Car champion will enter the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season opener May 2, the first of five events there. He will run the first Northeast Race Cars and Parts Tri-Track Open Modified Series race at Lee (NH) USA Speedway May 17. His next NWMT race will be June 10 at Thompson (CT) Speedway Motorsports Park. Additional Tri-Track races are possible.
A former champion at Mountain and Riverhead, Bock has competed in the Legend Cars for three seasons with an estimated 27 wins. He won at Bethel, Riverhead, Stafford, Wall, and Waterford last year. He won at Mountain in 2013.
A former national Quarter Midget champion, Bock has titles with the QMRA in Texas and USAC. One of USAC’s biggest events was held in the infield of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bock raced in the USAC Ford Focus Midgets before moving up to Legend Cars.
Brendon’s father George made five NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts from 1998-2000.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com