Statistical Advance: Whelen Modified Tour Budweiser 150 At Thompson Speedway

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Rowan Pennink celebrates victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 in April at Thompson Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT)

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour continues the 2017 season on Wednesday night with the 28th annual Bud King of Beers 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Thompson, Connecticut. Below is a stastical look at the race, including selected participant notes:

Bud 150 Setup

• This marks the third of the four appearances for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson for the 2017 season. Rowan Pennink and Ryan Preece have already visited Thompson’s Victory Lane in 2017. The fourth and final appearance is scheduled for Sunday, October 15, where the champion will be crowned.

• The Bud 150 marks the beginning of the second half of the Whelen Modified Tour season. With eight races down and eight races to go, Timmy Solomito leads Rowan Pennink in the championship standings by just seven points.
• Solomito (three) and Ryan Preece (three) are the only two drivers with multiple wins on the season. Rowan Pennink and Bobby Santos III have also visited Victory Lane. Four-time series champion Doug Coby, who won five races last season, has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2017.

At Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
• The historic 0.625-mile oval opened in 1940 and has held at least one NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race since the series started in 1985.
• The track held three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in history, with the first being won by Neil Cole back in 1951.
• The track also has a non-NASCAR road course, where events are held throughout the year.
• The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Tour returned to Thompson for the first time since 2009 on July 8 this season, with Harrison Burton going to Victory Lane.

Notebook
• There have been 136 Whelen Modified Tour races in the history of Thompson, which is the most of any other facility on the 2017 schedule.
• Seven-time series champion Mike Stefanik holds the lead with 15 career wins at the Connecticut oval, while Doug Coby, Bobby Santos and Justin Bonsignore lead all active drivers with five career wins.
• There have been 46 different pole winners at Thompson. Tony Hirschman leads the list with 13 career poles, while Doug Coby and Ted Christopher are the active leaders with seven poles each.
•In the Icebreaker, Rowan Pennink snapped a dry spell that dated back to 2009 for the Boelher Racing team. Pennink enters Wednesday’s Bud 150 just seven points from the lead on the heels of seven top 10 finishes in eight races.

Thompson Data
Race: #9 of 17 overall
Race Date: Wednesday, August 9 at 7:45 p.m. (approx.)
Track Layout: 0.625-mile paved oval
Race Length: 150 laps (93.75 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data
2016 Winner: Justin Bonsignore
2016 Polesitter: Doug Coby
1-Lap Qualifying Record: 123.376 mph (Bobby Santos — April 2011)

Active Category Leaders at Thompson

Wins
1. Ted Christopher … 13
2. Justin Bonsignore … 5
Doug Coby … 5
Bobby Santos … 5

Poles
1. Doug Coby … 7
2. Ted Christopher … 7
3. Bobby Santos … 5
4. Donny Lia …. 5
5. Ryan Preece …. 5

Top Fives
1. Ted Christopher … 34
2. Jamie Tomaino … 20
3. Ron Silk … 17
4. Doug Coby ….17

Top 10s
1. Ted Christopher … 50
2. Jamie Tomaino … 49
3. Doug Coby …. 30
4. Todd Szegedy … 28

Laps Led
1. Ted Christopher … 1,750
2. Doug Coby … 847
3. Ryan Preece … 770

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 134
2. Wade Cole… 90
3. Ted Christopher … 90
4. Doug Coby … 52

Selected Driver Highlights

Doug Coby (No. 2 Mayhew Tools Chevrolet)
• Four-time series champion has five wins, 17 top fives and 30 top 10s in 52 career Thompson starts.
• Coby has 22 wins, 69 top fives and 108 top 10s in 196 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Has qualified inside the top five in his last 12 Thompson starts, including five Coors Light Pole awards.

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet)
• Enter’s Wednesday’s Bud 150 fourth in the championship standings with six top 10s in eight races this season.
• Is the defending winner of the Bud 150 and has five career Thompson victories in 27 career starts on the high-banks.
• Bonsignore has 12 wins, 51 top fives and 71 top 10s in 113 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.

Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Starrett Tools Ford)
• Enters Thompson with three victories & leading the point standings by seven points over Rowan Pennink.
• Has one win, five top fives and 12 top 10s in 16 career Thompson starts.
• In his last three Thompson starts, Solomito has two poles and three top 10 finishes.

Ryan Preece (No. 6 TS Haulers Chevrolet)
• Preece has 18 wins, 64 top fives and 90 top 10s in 138 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• In 38 career Thompson starts, Preece has two wins, including this year’s Thompson 125.
• Preece has three wins this season, including the last time out at Stafford Motor Speedway in the Stafford 150.

Craig Lutz (No. 46 Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet)
• Has five top 10s in 28 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Won the pole for Friday’s Stafford 150 in his first outing with Goodie Motorsports.
• In eight starts at Thompson, his best career finish is 18th.

Bobby Santos (No. 44 Sully Tinio/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet)
• Has 15 wins, 46 top fives and 67 top 10s in 128 career series starts, including a win at NHMS in July.
• Has five wins, 17 top fives and 23 top 10s in 41 career Thompson starts, leading 482 laps.
• In the two Thompson races this season, Santos has two top five finishes.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing Chevrolet)
• Has 2 wins, 17 top fives and 59 top 10s in 126 career series starts.
• Has no wins, four top fives and 16 top 10s in 30 career Thompson starts.
• Enters Thompson third in the championship standings, just 25 points from the top.

Rowan Pennink (No. 3 Cape Cod Copper/UNSE Chevrolet)
• Has three wins, 31 top fives and 73 top 10s in 149 career series starts.
• Has two wins, 10 top fives and 21 top 10s in 39 career Thompson starts, including a win in this year’s Icebreaker.
• Enters Thompson second in the point standings with seven top 10s in eight races

Max Zachem (No. 20 MPZ Motorsports/Lu Mac’s Package Store Chevrolet)
• Has 6 top fives and 20 top 10s in 43 career series starts.
• Has two top fives, six top 10s and 43 laps led in 12 career Thompson starts.
• Enters Wednesday’s 150 lap race seventh in the point standings on the heels of six top 10s in eight races this season.

Dave Sapienza (No. 36 Sapienza Enterprise Chevrolet)
• Has three top fives and eight top 10s in 39 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• In the last three races, Sapienza has two top fives and a seventh.
• In his Thompson career, Sapienza has just one top 10 in 11 starts.

Ted Christopher (No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet)
• Has 42 wins, 132 top fives and 202 top 10s in 368 career Whelen Modified Tour starts.
• Has 13 wins, 34 top fives, 50 top 10s and 1,750 laps led in 90 career Thompson starts.
• Christopher hasn’t won at Thompson since 2011 and has a best finish of fifth so far this season.

Up To Speed
• This is the 33rd season of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action. The first race was in 1985 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
• The 2017 schedule includes 16 points races at nine different tracks, across seven different states. It also includes two non-points events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• Ryan Preece scored the victory in the most recent series event at Stafford Motor Speedway on August 4.
• Following the Bud 150, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 16.