PRACTICE: Berndt Tops Field
Track veteran leads the way for Whelen Modifieds at Stafford
Stafford Springs, CT — Eric Berndt, a veteran of Stafford Motor Speedway’s weekly SK Modified Division, led the way in practice Friday afternoon in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event.
Berndt put down a fast lap of 18.366 seconds (98.007 mph) around the half-mile during the 1 1/2-hour practice for the Town Fair Tire 150. Berndt won his only career Coors Light Pole Award in the Tour at last year’s event. Qualifying is slated for 6 p.m., and the green flag at 9:40 p.m.
Ron Silk was second fastest in practice at 18.369 (97.991), followed by points leader Bobby Santos at 18.375 (97.959). Chuck Hossfeld and rookie Justin Bonsignore round out the top five.
Santos won the previous Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford on May 28 and enters the race with a 67-point lead over Ted Christopher, who won the season’s first race at Stafford May 1. Christopher was 15th fastest in practice.
2010 NWMT Stafford 8/6/10 Practice
Pos No. Name Sponsor Time Speed
1 54 Eric Berndt Northend Auto Parts 18.366 98.007
2 6 Ron Silk T.S Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm 18.369 97.991
3 4 Bobby Santos Mystic Missle 18.375 97.959
4 59 Chuck Hossfeld Ed Bennett Properties 18.397 97.842
5 51 Justin Bonsignore* M3 Technology 18.428 97.677
6 3 Ryan Preece Dividson Co./Reynolds Auto Wrecking 18.432 97.656
7 98 Erick Rudolph Mohawk N.E. /Original Pizza Logs 18.441 97.609
8 52 Bobby Grigas Furnace & Duct Supply 18.483 97.387
9 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk/Snuggle 18.490 97.350
10 76 Eric Beers Horwith Freightliner 18.524 97.171
11 92 Doug Coby Santos Motorsport/LI Mod Maniac 18.532 97.129
12 58 Eric Goodale JT’s Lumber/Perimeters for the Home 18.570 96.931
13 17 Glen Reen Reen Orthodontics 18.602 96.764
14 14 Jimmy Blewett Ling Trucking/Atlantic Sprinkler 18.607 96.738
15 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations 18.617 96.686
16 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner 18.647 96.530
17 46 George Brunnhoelzl, III Cape Cod Aggregates/Sunoco/PT 18.672 96.401
18 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/Sanderson-MacLeod 18.682 96.349
19 8 Glenn Tyler Sypher Construction 18.718 96.164
20 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood 18.733 96.087
21 28 Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall/TSI Harley-Davidson 18.735 96.077
22 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing 18.742 96.041
23 90 Renee Dupuis Union Insurance Group/SFI 18.770 95.898
24 10 Ed Flemke Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto/Kleer Trimboards 18.772 95.887
25 39 Richie Pallai Jr.* Bosch Spark Plugs 18.837 95.557
26 80 Michael Speeney MRI Vinyl Art & Design 18.883 95.324
27 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/ Ryan’s Oil 19.014 94.667
28 15 Danny Knoll Jr. HJ Motorsports 19.135 94.068
29 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric 19.258 93.468
30 38 Jake Marosz Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil 19.706 91.343
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR