Finding The Handle: Derek Ramstrom Back In Whelen Modified Tour Car At Waterford

Derek Ramstrom

WATERFORD – Last June Derek Ramstrom made his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut in the Mr. Rooter 161 at New London Waterford Speedbowl.

Saturday the West Boylston, Mass. driver was back at the shoreline oval with his family owned team in their quest to find their way to success with a Modified program.

While many of his peers in the Southern New England racing scene were gravitating toward Modified divisions and series’, the 23-year old Ramstrom – a former champion Pro Stock and Super Late Model champion at Thompson Speedway – has been running successfully in the full-bodied ranks around New England since he was a teenager.

Last year his family purchased a Tour Type Modified from team owner Wayne Darling.

Ramstrom made his debut at Waterford on the Whelen Modified Tour by qualifying sixth and finishing 20th. He also ran the Whelen Modified Tour season finale at Thompson in 2014. He also ran Open Tour Type Modified shows last year at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. and Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway. He opened the 2015 season by running the Modified Tour’s Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway, finishing 15th.

Ramstrom said figuring out his open-wheeled ride is still a puzzle he’s working on.

“I don’t know what I need to win,” Ramstrom said. “That’s the thing that’s holding me back. I don’t know what it takes to be fast in these. I don’t know if I need more brake or less brake or if I need to pick up the throttle faster, it’s just a struggle. I’m so used to racing Super Late Model’s, which is finesse, you don’t want to turn the wheel too much and pretty much loose is fast in those. But in these it’s kind of the opposite. If you’re loose in a Tour car you’re screwed. You can’t lay down the power and you’re just out to lunch. That’s the most difficult thing to me.”

Ramstrom intends to run the final three Whelen Modified Tour events this year at Thompson Speedway. He will also run select full-bodied events this season up and down the east coast.

“I really haven’t had a good run yet to really know,” Ramstrom said when asked if he’s had more fun driving an open-wheeled car versus a full-bodied car. “I haven’t been able to have a race where I could pass a lot of cars and run up with the leaders. I haven’t had a good race to judge things yet.”