Santos Solid at NHMS
Bobby Santos, III’s personal best at New Hampshire Motor Speedway leads all NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers over the last four races. He has 1 win, 3 top fives and 4 top tens in his last 4 races.
“We’ve had a good setup there the last couple of years and we’ve had a great car there,” Santos said. “I felt like in the spring we actually had a car that probably could’ve won it, but got caught up in an early crash. But I don’t know, I’m just comfortable there and I gotta thank my team for giving me good cars.”
Santos rallied from a crash just past the halfway break to finish third in July.
“I kind of wish that wreck didn’t happen ’cause I felt like it hurt our car a little bit, but it was a good thing for our team. We’ve had a tough year, so it was a positive to get a good finish out of that.”
The team will be using a spec engine on their Troyer No. 44.
“Clearly they’re better than a built motor, unfortunately. But it is what it is. That’s what they want us to run so that’s what we got forced into running… That’s what you have to have to win a race this year. … It’s just pretty clear if you want to be competitive you have to have a spec motor, so it is what it is. I mean, they’re definitely not equal the spec motor’s definitely a better motor, a better combination.”
Santos enters Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 tenth in points with 4 top fives and 7 top tens in 11 starts.
“We’ve just struggled. We’ve just had one thing or another’s happened this year. It just seemed like whether we’re caught up in someone else’s mess or we’re just kind of missed it and struggled, and having issues or our own. It’s just been a long year.”
Santos missed the most recent race at Riverhead.
“It didn’t make sense for our team to go there for what it pays versus the cost that it costs to go there, and just the excitement of going there honestly just didn’t add up to us going there for where we’re at in the points.”
Santos is ready to get back racing after a month off. The 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has won at least one race the last five years. Three races remain to keep the streak going.
“I feel like we’re way overdue to win a race. So obviously, I’d like to get a win, if not two or three wins to end the season and end the season on a high note. We got the motor. We got the car. We got the team. We have all the pieces. We’re just missing the results. … There’s no reason why we can’t win a race or more than one race before the season’s over.”
“I just gotta thank all my guys for all the hard work coming through a tough year and I’m excited for these last 3 races. It’s actually been nice to have the last month off from it and get regrouped and ready to go again.”
The 600th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race will be at New Hampshire. The 1.058-mile oval has hosted 62 races since Mike McLaughlin won the inaugural race in September 1990.
“The tour’s a lot of fun. I enjoy racing on the tour. When it comes to Modifieds to me it’s the premier division. The premier competition is on the modified tour and it’s good and hopefully they have more good years and we can make the tour an even better place to race in the future.”
The restrictor plates enable the cars to draft and race in large packs, even using slingshot passes entering the corners. The races can feature multiple lead changes a lap.
“I’ve said it for a long time. The competition level in the modified tour is tougher than anything else that I do. And there’s just multiple good cars and drivers, and combinations and teams and with the drafting and the restrictor plates at Loudon just exaggerates that even more and makes it even tighter of a race.”
Santos has three Auto Value/King of the Wing USAC Sprint Car races remaining. The schedule ends in California November 20-22 at Madera Speedway, Irwindale Speedway, and Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield.
“It’s a long three days but it’s a lot of fun. It’s worth it…. I’ve raced at them before. I enjoy going to all three of them. They’re all unique in their own way and to me it’s just a fun deal to do.
Santos won in his series debut, the season opener at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola April 17. He is fifth in points with 1 win, 5 top fives, and 5 top tens in 10 races. Santos led the first 7 laps of the All American Coach/Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Fastest Short Track Show until a part broke on his No. 22A until a part broke and he crashed in turn 1.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com