Statistical Advance: Whelen Modified Tour NAPA Fall Final 150 At Stafford Speedway

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Doug Coby (Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images for NASCAR)

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour makes its fourth and final stop of the season at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford, Connecticut, for the 44th annual NAPA Fall Final 150 on Sunday, October 2. Below is a look at the NAPA Fall Final 150 and some of the selected race participants.

NAPA Fall Final 150 Race Setup
• This marks the fourth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in 2016 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
• The track has held 121 Whelen Modified Tour races, the second-most of any track in series history.
• Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, New York, has won three of the last six races and shaved three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby’s point lead to just 13 points with two races remaining.

At Stafford Motor Speedway
History
• The Stafford Springs Agricultural Park opened in 1870. The track was originally used for horse racing, which gave way to automobiles after World War II.
• Stafford Motor Speedway became a NASCAR-sanctioned track in 1959 and was paved in 1967.
• Stafford is one of nine tracks that have been a part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program in each of its 35 years of competition.
• The track has hosted 121 previous Whelen Modified Tour races, second only to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in series history.
• The inaugural NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford was held on April 14, 1985. NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans won the 80-lap race as part of the 14th annual Spring Sizzler weekend.

Notebook
• Stafford has held multiple races in 31 of the tour’s 32 seasons. The lone exception was 1988.
• There have been 32 different race winners at Stafford, led by Mike Stefanik’s 20 victories.
• There have been 43 different pole winners at Stafford, led by Stefanik’s 17. Ryan Preece set the track qualifying record in the 2012 Spring Sizzler.
• No driver has started all previous 121 races at Stafford. Jamie Tomaino has missed only one – the track’s inaugural race.
• There have been eight races won in wire-to-wire fashion at Stafford, the last by Doug Coby in April.
• Ryan Preece was the youngest Stafford race winner at 18 years, 9 months and 14 days in 2009.
• Ted Christopher was the oldest Stafford victor at 53 years, 3 months and 28 days in 2011.

Stafford Data
Race: #16 of 17 overall
Race Date: Sunday, October 2, at 3:15 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .500-mile slightly banked asphalt oval
Race Length: 150 laps (75 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data
2015 Winner: Doug Coby
2015 Pole Sitter: Doug Coby
1-lap Qualifying Record: 100.424 mph (Ryan Preece, April 2012)
150-lap Race Record: 83.773 mph (Woody Pitkat, August 2014)

Active Category Leaders at Stafford
Wins
1. Ted Christopher … 12
2. Doug Coby … 9
3. Bobby Santos … 6

Poles
1. Bobby Santos … 9
2. Donny Lia … 8
3. Doug Coby … 7

Laps Led
1. Ted Christopher … 2,090
2. Doug Coby … 1,297
3. Todd Szegedy … 844

Top Fives
1. Ted Christopher … 30
2. Todd Szegedy … 24
3. Doug Coby … 17

Top 10s
1. Jamie Tomaino … 55
2. Ted Christopher … 52
3. Todd Szegedy … 32

Starts
1. Jamie Tomaino … 120
2. Ted Christopher … 93
3. Wade Cole … 60

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 10 top-10 finishes in 14 races.
• Won the most recent race at Stafford Motor Speedway for his first win since 2009.
• Has three wins and 17 top 10s in 33 career starts at Stafford.
• Missed the race at Oswego earlier this month due to illness.

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)
• Sits second in the Whelen Modified Tour standings with three wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s in 15 starts.
• Has won three of the last six races on the schedule and has the most top-five finishes of any driver on the tour this season with 11.
• Cut Doug Coby’s point lead by 25 points over the last 10 races with eight top five finishes in that span.
• Has wins at Thompson and Riverhead this season and won for the first time in his career at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend.
• Has never won at Stafford, but he has 15 top 10s in 27 career starts at the track.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair Chevrolet)
• Three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion leads the standings this season with four wins, nine top fives and 12 top 10s in 15 races this season.
• Won two of the first three races held at Stafford this season (both from the pole), and also has wins at New Hampshire and Oswego.
• Has won nearly one out of every five career starts at Stafford, with nine wins at the track in 47 tries. Has 17 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes at Stafford, where he’s led nearly 1,300 laps in his career.
• Has won four consecutive poles at Stafford and five of the last six dating back to the 2015 season.

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 15 races this season.
• Finished a season-best fourth in the third Stafford race this season.
• Has finished 11th or better in six of his last seven starts.
• Has four top 10s in seven career Stafford races.

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 15 races.
• Won at Bristol Motor Speedway in August for his second career win.
• Has 10 top 10s in 37 career starts at Stafford, where he has completed more than 95 percent of the laps contested.

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 nine top 10s in 15 races.
• Has four career Stafford wins to go along with 16 top fives and 28 top 10s in 47 races.

Rowan Pennink (No. 3 Cape Cod Copper/Canto Paving Chevrolet)
• Ranks 11th in the current standings with two top fives and seven top 10s in 15 races this season.
• Clinched his second consecutive NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championship at Stafford Motor Speedway this season.
• Has 12 top fives and 22 top 10s in 36 career Whelen Modified Tour starts at Stafford.

Bobby Santos III (No. 44 Tinio Corp./Curb Records Chevrolet)
• Ranks 12th in the current standings with one win, three top fives and six top 10s in 15 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 six wins and eight poles in 31 career starts at Stafford. With 19 career top 10s at the track, he’s finished in the top 10 more than 60 percent of the time there.

Ron Silk (No. 82 Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet)
• Sits seventh in the current standings with one win, four top fives and nine top 10s through 15 races.
• 2011 Whelen Modified Tour champion won at New London-Waterford Speedbowl in May.
• Has four career poles and one career win at Stafford.

Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)
• Sits third in the current standings with four wins, seven top fives and nine top 10s in 15 races.
• Won at Seekonk for his fourth career win, and has also won at Thompson, Monadnock and Riverhead this season.
• Has three top fives and six top 10s in 13 career Stafford starts.

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 three times. Bobby Santos, Ron Silk, Jimmy Blewett and Eric Goodale have also won races.