Setting The Scene: Whelen Modified Tour Dunleavy’s 200 At Monadnock Speedway

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Donny Lia (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

After finishing second last weekend in Loudon, New Hampshire, Donny Lia has positioned himself as the man charged with chasing down three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby. Lia, of Jericho, New York, is no stranger to championship chases — the 2007 and 2009 Tour champion has finished in the top three in the final standings on four occasions in his career.

When the tour rolls into the Dunleavy’s 200 this Saturday at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, Lia has more momentum than anyone not named Doug Coby. He’s finished in the top three in three of his last four races, and he’s headed to the quarter-mile Monadnock bullring where he’s shown plenty of speed in the past.

As the season nears its halfway mark, Lia trails Coby by 32 points with five top 10s in seven starts this season. At Monadnock last season, Lia and his Mark Sypher-owned team showed speed. The team continues to show signs of promise, and it could well be that Monadnock is just the place where it takes a giant step forward and cuts into Coby’s lead.

Race: Dunleavy’s 200
Place: Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, New Hampshire
When: Saturday, July 23
Time: 8:45 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .25-mile banked asphalt oval
2015 Winner: Doug Coby
2015 Pole Sitter: Ryan Preece
EVENT SCHEDULE: Saturday, July 23 – Garage opens: 9:30 a.m.; Practice: 1:30-3:05 p.m.; Qualifying: 4:30 p.m.; Driver Autograph Session: 6 p.m.; Dunleavy’s 200: 8:30 p.m.
TWITTER: @monadnockspeed
EVENT HASHTAG: #Dunleavys200

FAST FACTS:
The Race: The Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair 200 will be the eighth of 17 races on the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. It will be the Tour’s 12th visit to Monadnock Speedway.

The Procedure: The maximum starting field is 28 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process.. The race will be 200 laps, spanning 50 miles.

The Track: This is the 12th race for the Whelen Modified Tour at the 0.25-mile banked asphalt oval, dating back to May 1986. Ken Bouchard won the first Tour race held at Monadnock, and the Tour returned there after a long hiatus in 2010. It has competed at Monadnock once every season since.

Race Winners: There have been 10 different winners in the 11 Whelen Modified Tour races at Monadnock. Justin Bonsignore is the only driver with multiple wins at the facility.

Pole Winners: There have been nine different pole winners at Monadnock, led by Ryan Preece who has two career poles there.

Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair 200 Notes:
Coby Is Magic: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point leader Doug Coby, a three-time series champion, won the New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the tour’s most recent race. It was Coby’s second consecutive win at the track and his third win of the season, helping him open up a 32-point lead atop the current standings.

Bullring Bonsignore: Justin Bonsignore is the only driver with more than one career win at Monadnock, having won back-to-back races there in 2013 and 2014. Five of Bonsignore’s eight career Whelen Modified Tour victories have come on quarter-mile tracks.

Solomito Strong: Timmy Solomito has moved up to fourth in the current Whelen Modified Tour standings. The New York driver won his first career race at Thompson in the season opener, and he backed that up by winning at his home track, Riverhead Raceway, last month. Solomito joins Coby has the only two drivers with multiple wins this season.

Santos Cashes In: Bobby Santos III may only sit in 12th in the current point standings, but the 2010 Tour champion has been a clutch performer this year. He won a midweek race at Thompson last month, and he followed up by winning the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend. It was Santos’ first career win in the event and his first with new crew chief Ryan Stone.

NASCAR Home Tracks: Sportsman Modifieds On The Docket
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour won’t be the only open-wheeled division on the card Saturday night at Monadnock. The track’s premier division, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Sportsman Modifieds will also be in action, along with Super Stocks, Thunder Stocks and three other weekly divisions.