Gateway Winner Returns to Waterford, Santos in Darling’s Ride at Seekonk
Bobby Santos, III of Franklin, MA is excited for the Mr. Rooter 161 at Waterford Speedbowl on June 21. Santos won his first NEMA Midget race, the 2002 Boston Louie Memorial, at Waterford. He would reel off three of the next six races there through 2004. “I’ve had a lot of success there with the Midgets and I’d like to go down there and try to get a win if we can,” Santos said.
The multi-groove 3/8 mile oval opened as a dirt oval in 1951 and was paved after three races. The track has been a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series member since 2000.
“It’s a fun race track,” Santos said. “You can run on the outside. You can run the bottom. You get side-by-side in a race. That’s the big thing. Right now at a lot of race tracks the cars are so close in speed you kind of just gotta slam it in there and make the passes that way, where a place like Waterford you can get side-by-side and race each other hard without too much bumping and banging, just have a good clean race. It was definitely a well-designed race track. Hopefully things work out where it’s around for a long time because a lot of guys enjoy going there.”
Points leader Doug Coby opened the season with three podiums and won the most recent race at Stafford Motor Speedway two weeks ago. Icebreaker winner Justin Bonsignore and Woody Pitkat also have opened the season with top five finishes. Pitkat is only nine points away from the lead. Santos, the Spring Sizzler winner, is fourth with one win, two top fives and two top 10s.
“The competition is so deep on the Modified tour,” Santos said. “I tell people that everywhere (I) race that as far as winning a Modified race is, in my opinion, one of toughest things in the country to do as far as racing goes. I don’t care if it’s the (Sprint) Cup Series right on down to win a Modified race is very difficult. There’s some great drivers in a great series. The competition level is just so high. Just to win a race a year on the tour is a feat never mind get a couple and do what Doug’s (Coby) done with this year having three top three finishes, but that’s what you got to do is be there at the end in the points. You gotta run top five every week and put yourself in position to win and that’s what’s going to give you a shot at the championship at the end of the year.”
“The guys have been giving me a great car in the Modified,” Santos said. “We’ve just had one hiccup at Thompson, but since then they’ve given me everything we needed to have a shot at winning these Modified races. I’m excited for Waterford. We had a good car there last year, adjusted a little bit to it during the race and we ran fifth, so there’s no reason why we can’t challenge for the win… Just excited to have a shot at running all the races on the tour this year.”
“That’s the biggest thing (consistency),” Santos said. “We want to win every race, but at the end of the day the goal is to be sitting in tech. After the race is over to be in the top five having your car put through tech at the end of the night at all the Whelen Modified races. If we could do that from here on out, … I would say that we have a good shot at being there at the end. That’s what this series is about being consistent, staying out of trouble, having no failures, and no driver errors and putting yourself in tech every week.”
“I love running the Modified and the opportunity to run for the championship there with a good team is awesome,” Santos said. “… I love the USAC Silver Crown cars and if everyone wants to work together and not conflict any Silver Crown pavement races with the Modified schedule I would be very happy.”
Santos points to five-time track champion and former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Keith Rocco as driver to watch. Rocco has won 12 races at Waterford (6-Late Model, 5-SK Modified, 1-VMRS) this season.
“It’s a long race,” Santos said. “You will you will get the tour regulars that are so good at it. …. If anyone can win the race that’s not a tour regular, it’s definitely Keith (Rocco). He probably knows Waterford better than anybody right now and he’s running tour races, so he’s getting the tour deal figured out and he knows Waterford, so he’ll definitely be a top threat to win that race, along with all the other tour regulars.”
“He’s definitely got some magic going on there right now,” Santos said. “I haven’t seen any races, but just from reading online some of the stuff he’s done at Waterford the last couple years, that’s pretty impressive.”
Santos defended his Gateway 100 USAC Silver Crown win on Saturday afternoon by a narrow margin.
“We had a good car the whole race,” Santos said. In the last couple laps the car stopped picking up fuel. We about lost it coming down to the start finish line, but we won and that’s all that matters.”
“It’s a great race track,” Santos said. “It’s a lot of fun to race on. Our Silver Crown races there the last two years have been exciting races, but it’s a fun track. It’s good to see racetracks around the country reopening that closed down, so it’s definitely good for the whole overall picture of racing to be able to race there.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to at Gateway Motorsports Park after a five year absence with Darrell Wallace, Jr. claiming the Drivin’ for Linemen 200. The flat 1.25 mile oval in Madison, IL features two very different turns.
“That track (has) two totally different ends of the race track,” Santos said. “One and two you’re going 190 miles per hour down the front stretch into one. And one and two is a tight, tight turn with a little bit of bank, so you use a ton of brake and it’s a tight corner. Then you go down the backstretch to three and four. It’s a long sweeping corner and it’s a fast corner. Two total opposite (corners). My car in the race was tight in one and two and it was good to the free side in three and four, so it’s definitely a unique race track where you’re really gotta get a good balance on your car, so that you can be good on both ends of the race track where you can keep the speed and momentum a little bit to have a shot at getting a good finish.”
Santos has competed with USAC in Midgets, Silver Crown, and Sprint Cars. He has won at Anderson, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Iowa, Kalamazoo, New Smyrna, Phoenix, Richmond, and Toledo. Santos also holds victories in the prestigious Night Before the 500 and Turkey Night Grand Prix.
“It’s a great series as far as the cars,” Santos said. “They have a great product. In my opinion one of the best products in the country for race cars. And I think actually there’s a problem with the car count. I think USAC with the Silver Crown Series has had a couple of not so popular decisions among car owners, which hurts car count and makes it worse. But right now they have Andy Hillenburg trying to get it going in the right direction.
“It’s a division that I love. It has all aspects of racing. It’s got the long-distance race side of things with a lot of horsepower. You have to take care your car for long-distance race, but at the same time you gotta be up on the wheel like a Sprint Car. It covers all aspects of racing. It’s such a great series. You learn so much driving these cars, but they need to do something to keep the cars alive to go racing.”
“I haven’t really run fulltime with USAC stuff, so when we do get to run its definitely satisfying to be up front,” Santos said. “I felt like as far as the pace goes in the event, I’m one of the top guys and usually am a threat to win when we show up. Definitely it’s nice to do that in any kind of racing whether it’s Modified or Midget, or the Silver Crown Series, I like to go and feel like I have a shot at winning the race.”
Santos drives the pavement USAC Silver Crown races, while Jerry Coons handles the dirt tracks. The #98 RPM/Fred Gormly team is third in the car owner standings with four top fives in as many races. Santos will enter the next two races at Memphis on June 29 and Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 24 before Coons covers the remaining five events.
“That’s always a fun race to run and I’m looking forward to that one,” Santos said of IRP. “… It’s been good so far… (We) still got a long season ahead.”
Seekonk Speedway will host its 10th annual Open Wheel Wednesday race on July 23. The $10,000 to win event concludes the inaugural Tri-Track Open Modified Series. Matt Hirschman won at Lee USA on May 11 and Jon McKennedy won at Star on Saturday night.
Santos will pilot the #52 Modified for local businessman and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner Wayne Darling. Perhaps the best car in the event’s history, Darling has won the event four times with Matt Hirschman-2008, Chris Pasteryak-2009, and Doug Coby-2011, 2013.
“I’m pumped for that,” Santos said. “….Obviously there’s no excuses for me. I’m going to have a top-notch ride driving Wayne Darling’s #52 car. I just need to get the job done as a driver. I think there’s no reason why we won’t have as good a shot as anybody at winning.”
Open Competition ace and two-time event winner Matt Hirschman will drive for Bob Horn, who he won with in 2012. Hirschman also drives for Darling on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
“I guess it’s good timing for me,” Santos said. “Matt Hirschman had two different opportunities there and I think he’s driven Bob Horn’s car there the last couple years and I think he’s committed to Bob.”
“They needed someone to run that race since Matt couldn’t commit,” Santos continued. “I got Matt in the 44 car when I couldn’t run at Riverhead last year and I think Matt just thought of me to repay the favor in getting him a ride and putting me in the car, which I have a lot of respect for Matt and I think Matt has a lot of respect for me. Our driving styles are similar. So he just thought I’d be a good fit to get me in that car and work with John (McKenna, crew chief) and that whole team.”
“I’ve had an up-and-down deal with Seekonk, but I do run there when I have a good ride and good equipment,” Santos said. “I think that I’m going to have a great opportunity driving the 52 car there. I’m excited to go there and the big Modified races I really wasn’t going to do much of the Open Wheel Wednesday shows or the big open Modified races around New England because I’m off doing other racing, so it will be fun to get up there and race with those guys.”
“I think the biggest thing that they’ve got going is they’re finding a way to pay some money,” Santos said. “That’s what the racers like. They like to know that they’re racing for a shot at 10 grand to win. I got to thank everybody that’s involved for making that happen. For the racers it definitely makes it satisfying at the end of the day to know when you go home and win you’ve paid for your tires and your fuel and a little bit more that are barely squeaking by after a win.”
For the Record: A charter NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour track, Waterford has hosted 19 races (1985-87, 1989, 2000-06, 2012-13).
Four drivers lead the series with two victories: Jerry Marquis, Ed Flemke, Jr., Mike McLaughlin, and Donny Lia. Lia is the last driver to lead every lap at Waterford. He has finished in the top five for the last five races, dating back to his 2005 win.
The first three races at Waterford (1985-86) saw first time winners: former track champion Rick Donnelly, NEAR Hall of Famer Ray Miller (for their only career wins) and future champion Mike McLaughlin. Dave Berghman (2002) was the most recent first time winner.
1990 champion Jamie Tomaino holds the record for most Waterford starts with 19. 10 other active drivers have started at least three races at Waterford: Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Doug Coby, Wade Cole, Donny Lia, Ronnie Silk, Matt Hirschman, Ron Yuhas, Jr.
Jimmy Spencer was the first driver to win at Wateford during their championship season. Jerry Marquis won in 2000, when the NWMT returned after an 11 year hiatus.
Since Waterford returned to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule in 2012, the race winner has won the preceding race at Stafford and captured the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship. Doug Coby won the Mr. Rooter 161 in 2012 over Ryan Preece, while Preece beat Coby for the victory one year ago.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com
Special Thanks: Racing-Reference.info