Three Drivers Head to Thompson with WMT Championship Hopes
THOMPSON, CT — The 2012 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship will once again be decided at the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing at the Thompson International Speedway. Going into the final event, three drivers are still very much in the hunt for the title with only 18 points separating all three.
Doug Coby has lead the points chase much of the season but goes into the final event of the year at Thompson with an advantage of only 17 points over Ryan Preece. Only 1 point behind Preece is the defending WMT champion, Ron Silk. Anyone of these three could emerge with the 2012 WMT crown following a tough 150-lap race on Sunday, October 14th.
All three of the title contenders have had mixed results this year at Thompson. In the three WMT races run at the CT oval this season, the Icebreaker, Budweiser 150 and UNOH Showdown-Town Fair Tire 75, Coby scored finishes of 8th, 3rd and 13th. Preece managed finishes of 16th, 17th, 3rd and Silk picked up a 1st, 2nd, and 18th. With the points race so close, the pressure will be on all three race teams to run their best race of the season.
Donny Lia won the Bud 150 and Justin Bonsignore claimed the UNOH Showdown –Town Fair Tire 75-lap event. The UNOH Showdown, a non-points race, was won by Ted Christopher. Other drivers who have had successful runs at Thompson this year include Mike Stefanik, Rowan Pennink, Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy. All of these drivers are potential winners of the Sunoco World Series 150.
The sixteen-division, three-day race event, co-sponsored by Town Fair Tire and Xtra Mart, will see the WMT teams qualify through time trials on Saturday, October 13th, in preparation for their main event scheduled for the next afternoon.
Friday, October 12th, with have practice sessions for much of the afternoon. Qualifying will get underway at 5 PM for those divisions that will compete in Feature events on Saturday. Those divisions with feature event races on the Sunday schedule will qualify on Saturday. The one exception to this will be the Valenti Modified Racing Series. This division will qualify and race on Saturday. Grandstands open at 12 Noon on Friday, and at 9 AM on Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets for the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented by Town Fair Tire and Xtra Mart are available from the Thompson Speedway track office. Fans may call 860-923-2280 to secure tickets and avoid the inevitable lines that form for this event. All major credit cards are accepted. The complete schedule of events is posted on the Thompson web page. www.thompsonspeedway.com
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR