(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
Rowan Pennink
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the “Action Track of the East” for the first time since 2005 when it heads to Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts. Below is a look at Saturday’s AnytimeRealty.com 150 and some of the selected participants.
AnytimeRealty.com 150 Race Setup
• This marks the return of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to Seekonk Speedway for the first time since 2005.
• There have been only six Whelen Modified Tour events in history at the track, with the most recent won by Eric Beers.
• Three-time champion Doug Coby of Milford, Connecticut, holds a 20-point advantage over Holtsville, New York’s Justin Bonsignore atop the point standings after 13 races this season.
At Seekonk Speedway
History
• A .333-mile asphalt oval, Seekonk Speedway has operated continuously under the direction of the Venditti family since its opening in 1946, when D. Anthony Venditti built the track just a few miles west of Providence, Rhode Island.
• The track is a member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series family, holding racing every Saturday night. The track’s top division is the Pro Stock (Super Late Model) class.
• Seekonk Speedway has hosted six previous Whelen Modified Tour races, the first in 1987. The Tour visited each year from 2000-2005, with the lone exception being in 2003.
Notebook
• Reggie Ruggiero won the first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race held at Seekonk in 1987.
• Jerry Marquis won at Seekonk in 2000, the same year he went on to win the championship.
• No driver has won multiple races or poles at Seekonk. Ruggiero has a win and a pole at the track, in different seasons.
Seekonk Data
Race: #14 of 17 overall
Race Date: Saturday, September 10 at 8 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .333-mile banked asphalt oval
Race Length: 150 laps (50 miles)
Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Winner: N/A
2015 Pole Sitter: N/A
1-lap Qualifying Record: 102.121 mph (Tommy Cravenho, 11.739 seconds, June 2000)
150-lap Race Record: 66.347 mph (Jerry Marquis, June 2000)
Category Leaders at Seekonk
Wins
1. Reggie Ruggiero … 1
Jerry Marquis … 1
Chris Kopec … 1
Ed Flemke Jr. … 1
Chuck Hossfeld … 1
Eric Beers … 1
Laps Led
1. Eric Beers … 187
2. Reggie Ruggiero … 170
3. Ed Flemke Jr. … 124
4. Chris Kopec … 107
5. Chuck Hossfeld … 83
Top Fives
1. Eric Beers … 2
John Blewett III … 2
Mike Ewanitsko … 2
Tony Hirschman … 2
Jerry Marquis … 2
Top 10s
1. John Blewett III … 4
Tommy Cravenho … 4
Rick Fuller … 4
4. Ted Christopher … 3
Tony Hirschman … 3
Jerry Marquis … 3
Selected Driver Highlights
Jimmy Blewett (No. 4 Starrett Dodge)
• Is ranked eighth in the standings headed into this week with one win, five top-5 and eight top-10 finishes in 12 races.
• Won at Stafford Motor Speedway for his first win since 2009.
• Chuck Hossfeld substituted for him at Oswego last week after Blewett became ill prior to the race.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Sits second in the Whelen Modified Tour standings with two wins, nine top fives and 10 top 10s in 13 starts.
• Has the most top-five finishes of any driver on the tour this season with nine.
• Cut Doug Coby’s point lead by 18 points over the last eight races with six top five finishes in that span.
• Has wins at Thompson and Riverhead this season.
Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair Chevrolet)
• The three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion leads the standings this season with four wins, seven top fives and 10 top 10s in 13 races this season.
• His most recent victory was at Oswego and he also has two wins at Stafford this season and a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
• Has three top-five finishes in his last six races.
• Won a non-NASCAR Modified open race at Seekonk in July.
Chase Dowling (No. 9 S&S Asphalt Paving/Dunleavy’s Chevrolet)
• Sits ninth in the current standings with two top fives and five top 10s in 13 races this season.
• Finished a season-best fourth in the third Stafford race.
• Has finished 11th or better in four of his last five starts.
Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet)
• Sits fifth in the current standings with one win, four top fives and eight top 10s through 13 races.
• Won at Bristol Motor Speedway for his second career win.
• Earned his first career win at his home track of Riverhead in 2014, where he has nine top 10s in 11 career NWMT starts.
Donny Lia (No. 8 Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet)
• The two-time Tour champion has 17 career wins.
• Sits fourth in the current series standings with four top fives and eight top 10s in 13 races.
• Finished second at Seekonk in 2004, his first of two career starts at the track.
Bobby Santos III (No. 44 Tinio Corp./Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Has one win, two top fives and five top 10s in 13 races this season.
• Won the the second Thompson race this season and also won the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire.
• Has won in a midget at Seekonk, and competed at the track in Supermodifieds.
Ron Silk (No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet)
• Sits seventh in the standings with one win, three top fives and eight top 10s through 13 races.
• The 2011 Whelen Modified Tour champion won at New London-Waterford Speedbowl in May.
Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)
• Sits third in the standings with three wins and six top fives in 13 races.
• Won the June race at Riverhead for his second career win, and has also won at Thompson and Monadnock this season.
Max Zachem (No. 20 Lu-Mac’s Package Store/VWS Chevrolet)
• Sits sixth in the standings with two top fives and nine top 10s in 13 races.
• Ranks third on the Whelen Modiifed Tour with nine top-10 finishes this season.
• Finished a career-best second at Waterford and equaled that at Thompson.
Up To Speed
• This is the 32nd season of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour racing. The inaugural race was contested March 31, 1985 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
• The 2015 schedule features 17 points races at nine different tracks across four states.
• The first five races of the season featured four different winners — Timmy Solomito, Doug Coby (twice), Ron Silk and Bobby Santos III.
• Doug Coby, Timmy Solomito and Justin Bonsignore are the only repeat winners this season. Coby has four wins, while Solomito has won three times. Bonsignore has won twice. Bobby Santos, Ron Silk, Jimmy Blewett and Eric Goodale have also won races.
Statistically, the 2 will win.
How is Seekonk listed at 0.333 miles in length? That’s one big giant lie! The racing groove is more like 1/4 mile and not 1/3.
OK DAREAL…..Won’t happen…..51 to victory lane and 16 close behind . LIA will be in the mix..
Don’t know about that, he was about to get whooped by an 18 degree, SPAFCO chassis at the 10k show until the 21 got put to the back because he stalled and required a push start.
I think the outside groove is 1/3 and the inside is 1/4. That’s how they come up with that. Handling track, HP less important. Lia is due. The 3 is fast there. I suspect all the usual players in the top 10.
WELL SPOKEN HUMPHRY !!!! Championship is going to be a great dog fight……
NH Mark – DEFINITELY handling & finesse much more so than horsepower. Money Matt Hirschman proved that a few years ago at the $10k “open” show. He won with his SK modified! I’m hoping it’ll be a Santos Saturday myself. He’s run many laps there in Midgets.
1/4-1/3 is still a BIG LIE… 1/4 of a mile is 1,320 feet and 1/3 of a mile is 1,760 feet, or 440 feet longer. No way does a car in the outside groove at Seekonk run 440 feet longer than the inside one. To do so the outside car would have to run at an average speed 33 1/3% faster than the one in the inside groove–that’s 80 mph vs 106.7 mph. No way! 1/3 mile at Seekonk is a BIG FAT LIE!
If anybody is due, it’s Silk.
i think the 4 will be in contention for the win
Yes it will be Mod Man and the 51 has all the right pieces in place. Additionally they are peaking at just the right time.
It looks like the same person measured Seekonk and the Speedbowl (not 3/8 mile).
I’ve seen cars three-wide down the straight at Seekonk with room to spare. I’ve also seen them three-wide in the corners, and it looks like you could easily put three more next to them! I don’t think it would measure out as a 440 foot difference, but there’s A LOT of real estate in those corners! The favored line looks like it’s pretty close to a true circle.
Honestly does the size of the track matter? You could call it a 1/4 mile, 1/3 mile, 1/7 mile, but its not going to change the racing that the track puts on. Seekonk Speedway is a great place to see wheel-to-wheel three wide racing, because every line here has its advantage. The bottom is the shortest way around and the top lets you drive it in harder and accelerate harder. Seriously, big deal. The track was a 1/4 dirt oval then was expanded to a 1/3 mile asphalt oval. If the track is measured the same way NASCAR measures the tracks they race on, its from a couple feet off the wall all the way around the track.
Size does matter! It sure does to me!
Calculating speeds off an obviously inflated distance is a deceitful business practice. If you went to the gas station and they charged you for 20 gallons and only 16 went in your tank would you care? If Budweiser started putting 10 ounces in a 12 ounce can would Bud fans protest loudly?
It’s lap times that matter. Then track size doesn’t matter.
Isn’t the measurement according to NASCAR taken like 10 feet off the wall I believe? Not by what the groove of the track is.