Statistical Advance: Whelen Modified Tour F.W. Webb 100 At NHMS

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Jimmy Blewett readies for the start of Whelen Modified Tour practice in July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the second of two events at the track this season. Below is a look at Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 and some of the selected race participants.

F.W. Webb 100 Race Setup
Always among the most popular stops on the annual NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule, New Hampshire Motor Speedway begins the three-race stretch run to the championship. 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 14 races this season, while Timmy Solomito of Islip, New York, remains within striking distance, just 16 points behind Bonsignore.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway
History
• The track opened in 1990 on the site of the old Briar Motorsports Park road course and immediately became New England’s largest sports facility of any kind. Measuring 1.058 miles in length, it is the largest speedway in the region, and with seating for nearly 100,00 people, it has the largest capacity of any venue.
• Tommy Ellis won the first NASCAR-sanctioned race held at New Hampshire, winning a 300-lap combination event involving both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
• NHMS has hosted 64 previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events. The track hosts to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races each season.

Notebook
• Mike McLaughlin won the first Whelen Modified Tour event in New Hampshire Motor Speedway history, a 125-lap event in September of 1990.
• There have been 20 different winners at NHMS, led by Mike Stefanik who has eight career Modified wins at the track.
• There have been 24 different pole winners at NHMS, led by Jan Leaty with six.
• NHMS races have been won from the pole 14 times, yet no race winner has ever led more than 55 laps in any of their victories.
• NHMS is known for producing close finishes. Todd Szegedy won by just 0.041 seconds over Donny Lia in July of 2015, one of the closest margins of victory in Tour history.

New Hampshire Data
Race: #15 of 17 overall
Race Date: Saturday, September 24 at 3:30 p.m. ET
Track Layout: 1.058-mile slightly banked asphalt oval
Race Length: 100 laps (105.8 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Winner: Doug Coby
2015 Pole Sitter: Doug Coby
1-lap Qualifying Record: 132.743 mph (Tony Hirschman, July 2001)
100-lap Race Record: 112.987 mph (Todd Szegedy, July 2011)

Active Category Leaders at New Hampshire
Wins
1. Ted Christopher … 5
2. Doug Coby … 4
Todd Szegedy … 4

Poles
1. Ryan Newman … 5
2. Doug Coby … 4
3. Ron Silk … 4

Laps Led
1. Ted Christopher … 865
2. Ron Silk … 317
3. Todd Szegedy … 277

Top Fives
1. Ted Christopher … 21
2. Todd Szegedy … 13
3. Ron Silk … 12

Top 10s
1. Ted Christopher … 29
2. Todd Szegedy … 19
3. Ron Silk … 17

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 64
2. Wade Cole … 57
3. Ted Christopher … 53

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 nine top-10 finishes in 13 races.
• Won at Stafford Motor Speedway for his first win since 2009.
• Has three top fives and three top 10s in 18 career starts at New Hampshire.

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Sits second in the Whelen Modified Tour standings with two wins, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s in 14 starts.
• Has the most top-five finishes of any driver on the tour this season with 10.
• Cut Doug Coby’s point lead by 18 points over the last nine races with seven top five finishes in that span.
• Has wins at Thompson and Riverhead this season.
• Has three top fives and four top 10s in 14 career starts at New Hampshire, where he also has four DNFs.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair Chevrolet)
• Three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion leads the standings this season with four wins, eight top fives and 11 top 10s in 14 races this season.
• Won in July at New Hampshire and also has two wins at Stafford and one win at Oswego this season.
• Has four top-five finishes in his last seven starts.
• Has won two straight races and four of the last eight overall at New Hampshire, where he’s posted 10 top fives and 15 top 10s in 26 career starts.

Chase Dowling (No. 9 S&S Asphalt Paving/Dunleavy’s Chevrolet)
• Sits ninth in the current standings with two top fives and six top 10s in 14 races this season.
• Finished a season-best fourth in the third Stafford race.
• Has finished 11th or better in five of his last six starts.
• Has two top 10s in three career NHMS starts.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet)
• Sits fifth in the current standings with one win, four top fives and nine top 10s through 14 races.
• Won at Bristol Motor Speedway in Augusta for his second career win.
• Has six top 10s in 16 career starts at New Hampshire, where he also has five DNFs.

Donny Lia (No. 8 Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet)
• Two-time Tour champion has 17 career wins.
• Sits fourth in the current series standings with four top fives and eight top 10s in 14 races.
• Has one career pole and two career wins at NHMS, where he’s led more than 200 laps and posted 10 top fives and 14 top 10s in 23 career starts.

Ryan Newman (No. 7 Menards/Aggressive Hydraulics Chevrolet)
• Has two wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and two wins at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Won the inaugural Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire in 2014.
• Has five career poles at New Hampshire.
• Has eight top 10s in 15 career starts at NHMS.

Bobby Santos III (No. 44 Tinio Corp./Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Ranks 11th in the current standings with one win, three top fives and six top 10s in 14 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 one pole, one win, six top fives and 10 top 10s in 20 career NHMS starts.

Ron Silk (No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet)
• Sits seventh in the current standings with one win, three top fives and eight top 10s through 14 races.
• 2011 Whelen Modified Tour champion won at New London-Waterford Speedbowl in May.
• Has two career NHMS wins.
• Is among the career leaders at New Hampshire in poles (4), laps led (317), top fives (12) and top 10s (17).
• Has completed nearly 95 percent of all laps contested over his 25 career starts at New Hampshire, where he’s finished in the top 10 in nearly 70 percent of his starts.

Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)
• Sits third in the current standings with four wins, seven top fives and eight top 10s in 14 races.
• Won the most recent race at Seekonk Speedway.
• Won the June race at Riverhead for his second career win, and has also won at Thompson and Monadnock this season.
• Has never finished better than 11th in any of his five career NHMS starts.

Max Zachem (No. 20 Lu-Mac’s Package Store/VWS Chevrolet)
• Sits sixth in the current standings with two top fives and nine top 10s in 14 races.
• Has a best finish of 14th in three career NHMS starts.
• 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 and Solomito each have four wins, while Bonsignore has won twice. Bobby Santos, Ron Silk, Jimmy Blewett and Eric Goodale have also won races.