Whelen Mod Tour News & Notes: Thompson
2013 Points Season Opens With Icebreaker
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With another NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season set to begin – the 29th campaign for the northeast-based circuit – there is plenty of reason for optimism for a whole host of teams that dare to dream about hoisting the championship trophy at year’s end.
Five of the last six seasons have culminated in a driver winning his first championship, including Doug Coby a year ago. In those previous six years only one driver has won two titles – Donny Lia – and there hasn’t been a driver able to secure back-to-back titles since Tony Hirschman in 2004-05.
Gone are the days where just one or two drivers are head and shoulders above the competition like Mike Stefanik and Hirschman were for nearly two decades. Those titans of NASCAR Modified racing combined to capture 12 of 18 championships from 1989-2006. Today’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is more balanced than ever.
As the Whelen Mods get set to officially drop the green flag on the 2013 season with the traditional season-opening event – the Icebreaker – at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on April 14, it’s a formidable challenge to whittle down a list of title contenders for the coming campaign to a manageable number. Let’s see who the main players are:
Doug Coby? Certainly. The reigning champion exploded last year to win more than one-third of the season’s events. After a number of nomadic seasons prior to 2012, Coby returns for a title defense with his No. 52 team in-tact.
Ron Silk? You bet. The 2011 titlist went into the finale at Thompson last year with an outside shot at repeating. The No. 6 team is here to stay as a championship contender and Silk is in the prime of his career.
Ryan Preece? Indeed, and maybe even a favorite. After a runner-up campaign in 2009, Preece slipped a rung the two subsequent seasons, but he battled back a year ago to finish just 11 points behind Coby for another second-place finish. This time he has stability on his side as he returns with the No. 16 team.
Donny Lia? The two-time titlist has to be included here. In his last three full-time seasons on the tour his points finishes are first, first and fourth, all with the No. 4 team, with which he returns again in 2013.
Bobby Santos? Probably so. The 2010 champ won twice and had an additional pair of top fives in just nine starts last year with the No. 44 team. That team plans to make the jump to full-time action this season, and as long as the rest of the pieces of the puzzle fall together, Santos has proven he has more than enough talent to contend again for a title.
Best of the rest … Although he is now a decade removed from his one and only Whelen Modified Tour title, Todd Szegedy is a consistent contender with seven-straight top-five points finishes with the No. 2 team. Stefanik seems reinvigorated with his new No. 22 program, which nearly started off 2013 with a win in Daytona if not for a late-race incident, and he is only three years removed from a runner-up finish to Santos in 2010. Then there’s Ted Christopher. Now cemented in the famed No. 3, Christopher has to be considered a contender if only for the fact that he has more than 200 career wins at Thompson and Stafford Motor Speedway, sites of half of the season’s schedule.
Will there be yet another first-timer? … With five of the last six seasons seeing a first-time champion crowned, recent history is on the side of yet another surprise in 2013. Perhaps Preece is the leading candidate to keep the trend going, but don’t rule out Justin Bonsignore, or even Rowan Pennink – if he were to run the full season – from making some noise. Even Woody Pitkat, who has yet to win a Whelen Modified Tour race, cannot be totally ruled out after having so much success during the World Series at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February.
RACE: Icebreaker
PLACE: Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway
DATE: Sunday, April 14
TIME: 3 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .625-mile, high-banked asphalt oval
2012 WINNER: Ron Silk
2012 POLESITTER: Ryan Preece
EVENT SCHEDULE: Saturday, April 13 – Practice 1:30-3 p.m., Qualifying 5 p.m.; Sunday, April 14 – Driver Autograph Session 1 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Russ Dowd, 860-923-2280, pitcrew@thompsonspeedway.com
TRACK TWITTER: @ThompsonSpeedwy
EVENT HASHTAG: #Icebreaker
NASCAR CONTACT: Jason Cunningham, 704-201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com, Twitter: @NASCAR_NE
FAST FACTS
The Race: The Icebreaker will be the first of three events this year for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson International Speedway. The tour has been a part of Thompson’s season-opening weekend each year since its inaugural season of competition in 1985.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field for the Icebreaker is 37 cars, including provisionals. The first 32 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 150 laps (93.75 miles) and the tire change rule is two tires, any position.
The Track: A .625-mile high-banked oval that opened in 1940, Thompson was the first entirely asphalt track in the nation, and was the largest in New England for five decades. Thompson has played host to 120 Whelen Modified Tour races all-time, more than any other track.
Race Winners: There have been 32 different race winners at Thompson, led by Mike Stefanik’s 14 victories. Ron Silk won this event last year while Donny Lia, Justin Bonsignore and Bobby Santos also earned victories there in 2012.
Pole Winners: There have been 41 different pole winners at Thompson, led by Tony Hirschman’s 13. Ryan Preece earned the pole for this race last year and Bobby Santos set the tour’s track qualifying record at 18.237 seconds (123.376 mph) on April 10, 2011.
THOMPSON RACE NOTES
Preece Still Looking for Thompson Tour Win: One driver conspicuously absent from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s all-time wins list at Thompson International Speedway is Ryan Preece. The owner of five career tour wins, Preece has yet to break through at Thompson despite four poles and a whole host of top finishes there. In fact, Preece has been on the podium six times in the last 12 Whelen Modified events at the track. Despite the lack of a tour win there, he is a proven winner at Thompson, where he captured the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championship a year ago with 10 victories.
Christopher One Win Behind Stefanik: Ted Christopher enters the Icebreaker one win shy of matching Mike Stefanik for the Whelen Modified Tour all-time wins lead at Thompson. Christopher has won 13 times at “Big T” since 2000, including a span of seven triumphs in nine races there from 2008-11. Christopher did win the non-points UNOH Showdown at Thompson last September, but is on a current six-race drought at the track.
Christopher Leads Icebreaker Victors: Of those 13 wins at Thompson, four have come in the season-opening Icebreaker, all since 2004. His four wins in the event are a Whelen Modified Tour record, one more than Rick Fuller’s total. The only other active drivers to win the Icebreaker are Mike Stefanik (2), Chuck Hossfeld, Bobby Santos and Ron Silk (1).
Icebreaker Favors Veteran Winners: The odds do not favor a Whelen Modified Tour driver getting his first career win in the Icebreaker. Through the first 28 seasons in which the Whelen Modified Tour has participated in Icebreaker weekend, only Richie Evans (1985), Charlie Pasteryak (1994) and Tommy Cravenho (1995) earned their first tour win in the event. It should also be noted that Evans was a first-time winner by default since the 1985 Icebreaker was the first race in tour history.
HOME TRACKS: Preece Tops at Thompson
Ryan Preece captured his first Thompson International Speedway track title in 2012 with a commanding performance in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series’ Sunoco Modified division. The 2011 titlist at Stafford Motor Speedway, Preece reeled off 10 wins in 19 races at Thompson last season to out-distance Kerry Malone by 114 points for the crown. An additional pair of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers also visited Victory Lane in a Sunoco Modified last year at Thompson: Woody Pitkat (4) and Ted Christopher (2).
LAST TIME OUT: Daytona
The most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race was a non-points event on the .4-mile short track at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway on Feb. 19. Here are some highlights:
• The UNOH Battle At The Beach was an inaugural special event consisting of three NASCAR regional touring and weekly series. The NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours competed in combination as part of the event.
• In a rough-and-tumble event that saw 17 caution periods, Steve Park came out on top in the 151-lap race that saw the veteran take the lead during a green-white-checker finish. Following the display of the white flag, third-place driver Eric Goodale started a chain reaction by getting into second-place Park, who then spun out leader Mike Stefanik. Park was able to keep it straight after the contact and wound up in Victory Lane.
• It marked Park’s first victory in a NASCAR Modified since 1996. He was a two-time Whelen Modified Tour championship runner-up prior to his career at NASCAR’s top levels.
• Goodale finished as the runner-up with Ted Christopher third. Stefanik wound up 13th after being turned on the last lap.
NEXT TIME OUT: Stafford
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will head to Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway for the first of four dates at the historic half mile in 2013 with the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler on Sunday, April 28. Doug Coby is the defending winner of the Spring Sizzler – Stafford’s traditional season-opening weekend. In fact, Coby won three of the first four races at Stafford a year ago en route to the Whelen Modified Tour title. Coby also nabbed his first career tour victory in this event in 2006. Ted Christopher has won the most Spring Sizzler tour races with five, including three in a row from 2008-10.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NWMT Thompson 4/14/13 Schedule
Time Series Event
Friday
11 a.m. NWAAS Haulers Enter
4 p.m. NWMT Haulers Enter
Saturday
8 a.m. NWMT Garage Opens
10-11 a.m. NWAAS Practice
12-12:30 p.m. NWAAS Final Practice
1:30-3 p.m. NWMT Practice
3 p.m. NWAAS Qualifying
5 p.m. NWMT Qualifying
Sunday
8 a.m. NWMT Garage Opens
11 a.m. NWMT Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
11:45 a.m. Opening Ceremonies
12:15 p.m. NWAAS Features Begin
1 p.m. NWMT Driver Autograph Session
3 p.m. NWMT Race (150 Laps, 93.75 Miles)
All times ET and subject to change
NWMT Thompson 4/14/13 Entry List
CAR DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM OWNER CREW CHIEF
2 Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair Chevrolet Mike Smeriglio, III Phil Moran
3 Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn. Silver Dollar Const./Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet Jan Boehler Scott Richards
4 Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y. Mystic Missile Racing Dodge Robert Garbarino Dan Laferriere
6 Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn. T.S. Haulers Chevrolet Ed Partridge Tom Grasso
07 Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y. Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet Jennifer Emerling TBA
15 Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass. 15-40 Connection Ford Rob Fuller Bobby Fuller
16 Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn. Diversified Metals Ford Eric Sanderson Stan Szaban
18 Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y. Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Ford Robert Pollifrone Greg Gorman
22 Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I. Robert B. Our Co./Canto & Sons Paving Chevrolet Christopher Our Brad Lafontaine
26 Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac Sean McDonald Chad McDonald
28 Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet Don King TBA
33 Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn. Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet Beth Cole TBA
38 Brian Schofield, Monson, Mass. * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet Linda Rodenbaugh TBA
39 Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Bosch Spark Plugs Chevrolet Rich Pallai Denis Pruchnik
44 Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass. ImperialCars.com/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet Sully Tinio Steve Lemay
46 Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn. Cape Cod Aggregates/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet Robert Katon, Jr. Robert Horn
51 Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y. M3 Technology Chevrolet Ken Massa John Sanford
52 Doug Coby, Milford, Conn. Reynolds Auto Wrecking/Furnace & Duct Chevrolet Wayne Darling John McKenna
58 Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y. Perimeters for the Home Chevrolet Edgar Goodale Jason Shephard
64 Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn. Hughes Motors/Complete Construction Chevrolet Mike Murphy Curt Chase
68 Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, N.Y. Buoy One Seafood/J.B. Stone Chevrolet Charlene Bush TBA
73 Cole Powell, Mt. Brydges, Ont., Canada * Copps BuildAll Chevrolet Todd Powell Jeff Malave
76 Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J. John Blewett Inc./Ling Trucking Chevrolet John Blewett TBA
79 Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn. Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac Sandra Hill David Hill
88 Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y. Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet Buzz Chew Michael Rutkoski
93 Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet Mark Pennink TBA
99 Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J. Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet Trey Tomaino Trey Tomaino
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
As of April 3, 2013