Statistical Advance: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Mr. Rooter 125 At Thompson Speedway

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

The second of four visits for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in 2015 is set for Wednesday with the Mr. Rooter 125. Below is a statistical look at the performance of the tour and selected drivers at the track:

Mr. Rooter 125 Setup:
• Ryan Preece enters the Mr. Rooter 125 as the winner of four of the last six NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events, including the World Series at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park last October.
• Preece brings the points lead to Thompson thanks to wins in each of the last two weeks. The last driver to win three consecutive NWMT races was Preece, when he won races No. 3-5 during his 2013 championship season.
• Woody Pitkat, who is second to Preece in the season standings, will look for his first Thompson NWMT win after runner-up finishes in two of his last four starts there.
• Twenty-six of the previous 127 races at Thompson were 125-lap events. The Mr. Rooter 125 will be the first of that distance since 2005.

At Thompson Speedway:
History
• Opened on May 26, 1940 as the largest and first entirely-asphalt track in New England at the time.
• An inaugural member track of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, now in its 34th season. Ryan Preece is the defending track champion out of the track’s top division, the Sunoco Modified Division.
• Held NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 1951, 1969 and 1970 and 27 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East events from 1988-2009.
• Held the inaugural NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event on March 31, 1985, a race won by the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans.

Notebook
• Thompson has played host to 127 NWMT races, the most in the tour’s 31 seasons.
• There have been 34 different race winners at Thompson, led by Mike Stefanik’s 15 victories.
• There have been 43 different pole winners at Thompson, led by Tony Hirschman’s 13.
• Jamie Tomaino is the only driver that has participated in all 127 previous NWMT Thompson races.
• There have only been three races won in wire-to-wire fashion at Thompson, the last by Rick Fuller in 1997.
• Bobby Santos was the youngest Thompson race winner at 22 years, 11 days in 2007.
• Stefanik was the oldest Thompson victor at 54 years, 10 months, 25 days in 2013.

Thompson Data
Race: #5 of 15 overall, #2 of 4 at Thompson
Track Layout: .625-mile asphalt oval
Banking/Turns: 26 degrees
Race Length: 150 laps (93.75 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data
2014 Pole/Race Winner: New event in 2015
Qualifying Record: Bobby Santos, Dodge, 18.237 seconds, 123.376 mph, April 10, 2011

Active Category Leaders at Thompson:
Wins
1. Ted Christopher … 13
2. Bobby Santos … 4
Ron Silk … 4

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

Top Fives
1. Ted Christopher … 34
2. Jamie Tomaino … 20
3. Ryan Preece … 16

Top 10s
1. Jamie Tomaino … 49
2. Ted Christopher … 46
3. Ron Silk … 25

Laps Led
1. Ted Christopher … 1,723
2. Donny Lia … 637
3. Ryan Preece … 586

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 127
2. Ted Christopher … 86
3. Wade Cole … 81

Select Driver Highlights:
Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Has six wins, five poles and 43 top 10s in 77 career starts.
• Uncharacteristic start has him ranked 25th in points without a lead-lap finish in four races.
• Has two wins (2014), eight top 10s and an average finish of 15th in 18 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

Ted Christopher (No. 13 Mr. Rooter/Cape Cod Aggregates Chevrolet)
• The 2008 NWMT champion has 42 wins, 24 poles and 195 top 10s in 352 career starts. His 42 wins rank third all-time and his 24 poles are eighth.
• Is looking to end a 46-race winless drought. It’s the second-longest such streak in his career. His first win came in his 94th race.
• Has 13 wins, seven poles, 46 top 10s, an average finish of 13th and 1,723 laps led in 86 career NWMT Thompson starts. Also won the non-points UNOH Showdown there in 2012.
• Is a four-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track champion at Thompson out of the Sunoco Modified division, and enters this week’s events with 98 total feature wins at the track.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance Chevrolet)
• The 2012 and 2014 NWMT champion has 11 wins, five poles and 81 top 10s in 161 career starts.
• Ranks third in points after four events with three top 10s, highlighted by a win in the Thompson Icebreaker 150.
• Has two wins (Sept. 2011, April 2015), 23 top 10s and an average finish of 12th in 43 career Thompson starts. Also won the non-points UNOH Showdown there in 2011.

Patrick Emerling (No. 07 Buffalo Auto Auction Chevrolet)
• Has 19 top 10s in 58 career starts with a best finish of fifth, recorded on four occasions.
• Ranks seventh in points this year on the strength of three top 10s in four outings.
• Has four top 10s, an average finish of 13th and a best result of seventh (2012 Icebreaker) in 13 Thompson starts.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing/Supreme Skylights Chevrolet)
• Has a win, a pole and 37 top 10s in 90 career starts.
• Maintains the NWMT’s active starts streak lead, now at 88 races.
• Ranks 10th in points after four races with two top 10s and a best finish of fourth at Stafford Motor Speedway in April.
• Has 10 top 10s, an average finish of 14th and a best result of third (Aug. 2013) in 21 career Thompson starts.

Corey LaJoie (No. 15 15-40 Connection Chevrolet)
• Started second and finished 27th in his NWMT debut, the 2012 Stafford Spring Sizzler.
• Finished 28th in his only other NWMT start, the 2015 Thompson Icebreaker 150.
• Has a win (2010 Atlanta Motor Speedway quarter mile) and three top 10s in five career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour appearances.
• Made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut in 2009 at Thompson and was the series’ championship runner-up in 2012 behind a series-high five wins.
• Has made six NASCAR XFINITY Series starts and two more in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Donny Lia (No. 8 Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet)
• The 2007 and 2009 NWMT champion has 17 wins, 21 poles and 80 top 10s in 158 career starts.
• Two top 10s in four starts this year has him 11th in the points standings.
• Owner of three wins, four poles, 16 top 10s and an average finish of 13.5 in 36 career Thompson starts.

Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Van Wickle Auto Supply Chevrolet)
• Has two wins and 58 top 10s in 115 career starts.
• Ranks sixth in points this year with three top 10s in four races.
• Has a win (2013 World Series), 17 top 10s and an average finish of 11.5 in 31 career Thompson races.

Woody Pitkat (No. 88 Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet)
• Has three wins, two poles and 45 top 10s in 95 career starts.
• Ranks second in points, eight behind Ryan Preece. He and Preece are the only drivers to finish in the top five in all four races this year.
• Has seven top 10s, and an average finish of 16th and a best result of second (2014 & 2015 Icebreakers) in 26 Thompson starts.
• Won Thompson’s late model division title in 2002 and was the track’s 2006 NWAAS champion out of the Sunoco Modified division.

Ryan Preece (No. 6 TS Haulers/East West Marine Chevrolet)
• The 2013 NWMT champion has 13 wins, 13 poles, 31 podiums, 52 top fives and 68 top 10s in 112 career starts.
• Has an eight-point lead in the season standings after four races, with wins the last two weeks at New London-Waterford Speedbowl and Stafford.
• Has a win, four poles, nine podiums, 17 top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 29 career Thompson starts.
• The 2012 and 2014 Thompson NWAAS track champion, where he has 15 career Sunoco Modified division wins.

Keith Rocco (No. 22 Canto Paving/Milton Caterpillar Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion has 10 top 10s in 25 career NWMT starts with a best finish of third in the 2012 Stafford Spring Sizzler.
• Did not participate in the Thompson opener, but ranks 14th in points with a pair of top 10s in the three events since.
• A four-time NWAAS Thompson track champion out of the Sunoco Modified division, where he has 34 career wins.

Bobby Santos (No. 44 Tinio Corp./Dan Kelley/Curb Records Chevrolet)
• The 2010 NWMT champion has 13 wins, 16 poles and 53 top 10s in 97 career events.
• Sits fourth in points after four races with three top 10s and a best result of third in the Thompson Icebreaker 150.
• Has four wins, five poles, 18 top 10s and an average finish of 14th in 32 career Thompson appearances. His first win came in the 2007 World Series.

Ron Silk (No. 40 15-40 Connection Chevrolet)
• The 2011 NWMT champion has nine wins, eight poles and 84 top 10s in 139 career starts.
• Finished ninth in his only previous appearance this year, the Thompson Icebreaker 150.
• Has four wins, 25 top 10s and an average finish of 11th in 38 career Thompson appearances. His first three career wins were earned at the track, and his most recent Thompson triumph was the 2012 Icebreaker.

Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)
• The 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year has a pole and 10 top 10s in 24 career starts with a best finish of third at Riverhead Raceway in September 2013 and again last week at Stafford.
• Ranks ninth in points with a pair of top 10s through four events.
• Has an average finish of 11th and a best result of sixth (2015 Icebreaker) in seven career Thompson starts.

Todd Szegedy (No. 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge)
• The 2003 NWMT champion has 18 wins, 10 poles and 118 top 10s in 191 career starts.
• Sits fifth in points with three top 10s in four outings in his first season with Mystic Missile Racing.
• Has three wins, three poles, 24 top 10s and an average finish of 13th in 46 career Thompson starts.

Up To Speed:
• This is the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s 30th Anniversary season. The inaugural race was contested March 31, 1985 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
• The 2015 schedule features 15 points races at seven different tracks across four states.
• Doug Coby opened up his title defense with a win from the pole in the Thompson Icebreaker 150 on April 12.
• Woody Pitkat earned the NAPA Spring Sizzler 200 victory on April 26 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
• Ryan Preece emerged victorious at New London-Waterford Speedbowl in the Mr. Rooter 161 on May 30.
• Preece made it two-in-a-row with a victory in the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 on June 5 at Stafford.