Short Stop: Ron Silk Wins Snubbed Whelen Modified Tour Event At NHMS


Ron Silk celebrates victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Eastern Propane & Oil 100 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor/RaceDayCT)

LOUDON, N.H. – The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has long been the showcase division for producing dramatic finishes at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

Saturday in Loudon it looked like the fans who endured the blazing heat of the afternoon would be rewarded for their endurance with another one of those intense showdowns the Whelen Modified Tour is famous for at NHMS. 

And then it was unexpectedly all over before the players could even get staged for the expected theatrics of a race deciding green-white-checkered finish. 

With the race under a red flag for wall repairs in turn one and drivers preparing for a two-lap overtime dash for victory, NASCAR officials made the decision to throw the checkered flag on the event.

The decision to end the event after 107 laps gave Ron Silk of Norwalk victory in the Eastern Propane & Oil 100 Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

Doug Coby of Milford was second and Chase Dowling of Roxbury third. 

It was the second win of the season and 12th career Whelen Modified Tour victory for Silk and his third win in 31 career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

“It’s disappointing,” Silk said. “I finished second here years ago in a race that got shortened. Listen, I’m happy with it. I’m glad we won, but I would have liked to everyone have seen how it would have played out. We raced really hard all race and [Coby] was good and [Dowling] was good and [Jon McKennedy] was good at the end. Certainly no guarantee that I would have won. But we were leading at the right time. Just bummer circumstances that we didn’t get to finish it.” 

Said Coby: “We’re the race on Saturday that people come to see. That’s it. They need to change things just because we shouldn’t deal with this.”

Silk went from fourth place to the lead on a lap 85 restart. Coby moved by McKennedy for second place on lap 96. A lap later the caution flew when sixth place running Bobby Santos III spun in turn four. The red flag came out before the race got set to restart on lap 102. 

That first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish was curtailed when Tyler Rypkema got into the turn one wall just after the restart. Rypekema’s car caused damage to the wall forcing track crews to make repairs and bring out the red flag. 

Not long after the track crew began work on the wall the checkered flag was flown to end the event. 

The Whelen Modified Tour race began at 1:45 p.m. It was 3:15 when NASCAR officials ended the event. The official time of the event was 1 hour and 28 minutes. The race was marred by 10 caution periods. Driver introductions were scheduled for 3:30 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Roxor 200, which was scheduled to have a 4 p.m. start for a nationally televised broadcast. 

“Due to extensive wall repair required after an incident in turn 1 during the closing laps, and the requirements associated with preparing the track for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race ended under caution in NASCAR Overtime.” – read a post from NASCAR on the NASCAR Home Tracks Twitter page.

“A great race,” Silk said. “We had a pretty good car the whole time and got ourselves in the right position there at the end. I’m bummed for these fans that are here that they didn’t get to see how it would have actually finished, but we’ll definitely take it. It’s a big win for us for sure.” 

Not surprisingly, Coby was left angered by the decision to stop the event before the final restart. 

“This is just probably the biggest disappointment,” Coby said. “I’ve wrecked here on lap one. I’ve wrecked here battling for wins and what not. I’ve also been the goat. I wrecked a guy in 2015 for a win. On a day like today I think the Modifieds deserve the respect to finish the race, I don’t care how long it would have taken to fix that wall. I think the schedule should have been changed. 

Coby said to his knowledge teams were not offered any warning by NASCAR that the race could potentially be stopped. Coby – a five-time series champion and 18-year veteran of the series – said changes need to be made to accommodate the series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

“My spotter said we might go red-checker but I don’t know if that was relayed from the tower or not, I think he maybe just guessed that the wall was going to take a long time to fix and he looked at his watch,” Coby said. “… Here … we’ve always been under a time crunch. We always are faced with this it seems. I guess put us in a time slot when we have some time do our thing and maybe give a little bit of extra time there. I don’t know, there was no warning as far as I’m concerned and it just robbed the fans of a good finish. 

“… It’s like the hottest day in 10 years and you’ve got fans packed up under the bleachers there sitting in the sun who are sitting out there during the red flag. Our cars are all overheated. And then they’re just going to end it with a lap and a half to go? I don’t know. Certainly safety is the number one priority so if they feel like what was going on with the wall wasn’t safe for us then whatever, but the powers that be are the one’s that control the schedule whether it’s good or bad and I think they need to look at stuff like this and make it better.” 

Silk disagreed with Coby that change is needed. 

“We can complain about it all we want,” Silk said. “It is what it is. No I don’t think they need to [change anything], and I’m not just saying that because I won. If I finished second I’d be bummed and I get it, but it is what it is. If we can’t run 100 laps in an hour and a half or something it is what it is.” 

On March 30 Silk’s win at South Boston (Va.) Speedway gave team owner Kevin Stuart his first series victory. 

Saturday’s win offered an even sweeter reward for Stuart’s team, which is based out of Lowell, Mass., about an hour from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

“It feels great,” Silk said. “Every win is great, but it’s definitely more special for him. … And especially for him, an hour down the road. I’m just happy to see all the effort we’re putting in working out. It just shows that hard work pays off.” 

At the start of the season Silk, who won a series championship in 2011 driving for team owner Ed Partridge, said his Stuart owned team was competing race-to-race based how well they got through each event. After nine of 16 events Silk sits second in the standings, 28 points behind Coby. 

“Kevin Stuart and his brother Kenny, they’ve done a great job,” Silk said. “They’ve gotten me everything that I’ve asked for and they’re really working hard. It’s nice to the effort pay off. We really started running better toward the end of last year. We strung some good races together at the end of the year. To get our second win this year is a great.” 


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Comments

  1. It’s one thing watching it on fanschoice being disappointed missing out of the best part. Quite another if you’ve endured the race at the track just to see a lazy checkered flag waiving when it’s show time.
    I’ll be interested to read the reaction from racedayct nation.
    Otherwise an outstanding race.
    Emerling got screwed.

  2. Extremely disappointing. Maybe letting everyone start was a mistake. They should ban rookies from debuting at Loudon. The Perry kid lasted all of two laps. Obviously the moment was too big. Tyler R knocks down the wall with two to go. This is the biggest, most anticipated event of the season. People will blame Nascar but I blame the drivers who were over their heads. All they had to do was keep the wheels straight and not mess it up for the top ten who were putting on a show. Nothing is more frustrating than having last place cars wreck. Especially in heat like we had today.

    NHMS needs lights. If we have to pay off the locals than so be it. Today was dangerous heat and for what? Because of a couple locals who refuse to give in on night racing. It’s once a year. Get over yourselves already.

  3. JD,
    Singling out Jacob Perry because he was making his series debut is uncalled for. He was one of five cars involved in the first caution of the event on lap two and from what I could he see was not the cause of it. There were 10 caution periods and the majority of those cautions involved series veterans and regular contenders. Starting two more cars than expected on a 1.058-mile track was not the core cause of issues today.

  4. wmass01013 says

    I knew this would be very UNPOPULAR after the previous ends of races at NHMS AND BRISTOL when sharing the track with UPPER divisions, very sad that 2 more laps could not be run, sat is a very crowded day with practice, qualifying and 3 races on a tight schedule, its VERY FRUSTRATING to both fans and drivers.

  5. The race everyone comes to see at New Hampshire, the absolute best race of the weekend. Setting up for an edge of the seat finish and what happens? The fans, drivers and teams get screwed. You want to know what’s wrong with NASCAR? Today is a prime example.

    How can you blame the rookies? It’s NASCAR man, not the drivers. NASCAR please get your s!~t together and allow the paying fans that support your wallet what they deserve. If it is a scheduling issue then find a way to resolve it, I am certain you can!

    I will get off my soap box now.

  6. Rich Gourley says

    What a bone head move by Bonsignore taking out Santos the way he did.

    10 caution flags for a 100 lap race is not a good look for the series but as always there’s more excitement in those 100 laps than there is in all the other of the series combined.

  7. Cheryl Perry says

    Hey JD. maybe if watched the whole race you’d see Jacob Perry got driven into by the back runners. So unless you know what your talking about shut the hell up.

  8. Sugarcoat it all you want. The modified tour got screwed again. What a great finish this could have been. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m really tired of seeing it these guys, that in my opinion are the ticket for the whole weekend, getting the short end of the stick. It’s obvious, and has been obvious for a long time, where the tour stands in Nascar’s food chain. So with all the brightest minds in nascar, and at nhis, nobody, but nobody, has figured out a way, ( other than weather) to give the tour guys and their fans, enough built in time, and respect for the tour, to complete the events under rules? ( green white checker). I mean, jeez, they have done this before! Its not like nascar doesn’t know what can happen during this race at nhis time wise! Really? Wow! I’m not sour that Silk won, not at all. It’s just another incomplete tour race for me at nhis, and I feel for the teams that knew they had a shot with a couple to go. Frustrating.

  9. Congrats to Ronnie Silk and the #85 crew. Right place right time. Sucks that the race didn’t finish under green though.

  10. Ok so they had an hour and a half to get a 100 lap race in. Not even100 green flag lap race. Whelen tour is suppose to be the best drivers, the best crews, the best officiating. Ya right. Your champ coby sounds like a joke. What did you guys actual run for laps, 55 maybe 60. Keep spending all your big bucks to make yourself a look impressive. Real mod and real race fans want to see real racing not pace laps and then hearing your top guys whine like a three year old. Hell Batemens valenti tour puts on a better show then the whelen tour more often then not.

  11. A to Z you’re right Bob. No doubt about it.
    Aside from the lack of a competitive ending wasn’t the race great? A lot of things happened with a ton of action and great racing. Were you bored at any point? Not me.
    Say what you want about the weekend with the elite of NASCAR racing. Everyone associated with the NWMT love being in that atmosphere and network with the cream of the crop of Cup racing.
    The Musket is great for sure but admit it. If you could have The Musket or another Cup date with the NWMT included you’d pick a weekend just like we just witnessed.
    The ending wasn’t fair. Neither was Emerling’s exit fair. A car just destined to be in the hunt at end.
    Racing isn’t always fair but it was a great race in spite of the ending and Silk being the beneficiary of the limp checker isn’t exactly unpopular.

  12. wmass01013 says

    I do like how some people think every WMT race is supposed to be the most perfect race ever, never should be a caution, should be 100 leader changes and green from start to finish, do U people ever consider that track conditions, temps 90-100, TRACK TEMPS most likely 130 plus several NEW teams that have never been in a WMT race at NHMS AND plain old hard racing, would u rather see 100 single file laps 0 passes and no cautions, are there too many caution laps per WMT race? Yes, ARE some incidents stupidity? Yes, the end was unfortunate after a decent race and yes I do think COBY and fans have the right to be UPSET that the WMT always gets ended early for XFINITY, CUP OR TRUCK RACES.
    Batemans VALENTI series seems to be on quite a downward TREND in both races and teams there SONNY.

  13. You clearly haven’t seen a mod tour race this year then because they have been putting on one hell of a show every race

  14. Every year the teams arrive at NHMS knowing they may or may not get a full race in, although this is the first time in recent memory it’s been shortened. Knowing that they are only going to get a set amount of time to complete the race, what can they do? They could shorten the caution period by putting all the cars together. The drivers could try and regroup faster. In the situation of a spin, for instance, should be a 3 lap caution, 1 lap to regroup, pit on lap 2 back racing on lap 3. This alone would save allot of time. Let the teams change as many tires as they want, they’ve only got a set amount to work with. It sucks that they didn’t get to finish today, but it’s nobody’s fault but their own.

  15. The biggest problem with the race seems to be spotters. And it was the same way with the VRMS race at Loudon last month too. Some of those guys are totally unbelievable to listen to on the scanner. It is like they would rather their driver end up in a huge wreck than have them lose 1 position 5 laps into the race. There is a huge contrast in listening to the spotters in one of the NASCAR national series and the spotters for the Mods

  16. mike Ardito says

    once again the tour who puts on the BEST show there gets the shaft and nhms,1

  17. Gerard M Duclos says

    I was offered 4 adult & 2 children ticket package for the weekend for free, and turned it down because the only race I was interested in was the Modified race. I didn’t take them so someone else could enjoy the whole weekend. So very glad I didn’t take them, because I would have been pissed with the out come of this race. They’ve done this before with Mods, cut a race short to fit the rest of the schedule in. If they can’t support the Mods, maybe just do them on a different weekend. I love watching them on the Magic Mile, but so very disappointed with how they’re treated by NASCAR. As far as the Mods are concerned, maybe they should be called NASCAN’T.

  18. They could give them a 2 hour time slot, may create a gap in the show but on a day like yesterday fans would welcome a gap to leave the stands and try to cool down.

  19. Todd Carey says

    If the drivers in 2019 had any respect for one another no one would be having the conversation about not finishing a race. Cant believe the owners that are writing the checks havnt had enough of these guys using their cars as missles.

  20. Why don’t the just move one of the Saturday races to Sunday the cup race doesn’t start till 3

  21. Sorry Sonny but Bateman’s VMRS is not even in the same solar system as the TTOMS.

    A simple schedule adjustment can remedy the situation for the WMT.

  22. Very lackluster homecoming for Ryan Preece. Finished 18th in the modified race. Looks like CD has a little more work to do.

  23. 107 laps, 62 green flag laps, 45 yellow flag laps. Only two green flag runs over 10 laps, 23 lap run and a 13 lap run. Those 23 and 13 lap runs were pretty darn good. But we are talking a mere 36 laps of a 100. lap event. Not what we want to see at Loudon.

    It does look like the lesser experienced caused much of the yellow flags. meh.

    Santos made a heart stopping save on the front stretch. Outstanding. JBon mixed it up with the 36. Not sure 🤔 about that. Did BSIII try to move down into JBon, or did JBon not have the position? Tough to call.

    The yellow-🏁 was a huge buzz kill. Those guys were primed for a spectacular finish. I understand the upset positions people are taking, but how often does a hole get punched in the wall?

    Twenty-one cars on the lead lap, impressive. What happened to the 21? Finished 3 laps down, though he supposedly had the magic setup and much higher expectations.

    Good cast of characters in the top 10.

  24. Dareal, as you’ve been saying it not always the chassis, it’s the whole package.
    So here;s what happened to the #21:
    Car was tight, came in once to take out the LR rubber, car still tight
    Transmission problems – lost laps in the pits
    Changed tires and found out the tire guy missed the stagger big time. Had only 2″ of stagger Duh, no wonder the car was tight.
    Short on crew members

  25. Regarding the 6… are Partridge and Preece really that repulsed by the Troyer/LFR merger that they now refuse to use either brand and are working with CD to develop something that can be competitive? Can anyone say where the 6 is weak? Entry? Apex? Exit? Is the car turning? Have to assume they have legit power.

    What also made the day rather sucky was the heat and humidity. It was brutal. This compounded the lack of long racing runs and frequent interrupts. With conditions like that, I want the show to move along.

  26. Comments on the NASCAR site mention it took 40 minutes to repair the hole in the wall. There was no other choice but to end the race.
    If we’re flirting with the idea inexperienced drivers deprived the fans of an exiting ending that may be short sighted. Having 38 cars qualify was a banner effort and reason for celebration as new blood enters the series. Average qualifying car count for the previous 8 races was 30.8 and highest being the Sizzler at 34.
    Wasn’t it a couple years ago we were bemoaning how stale the field had become with the same teams with predictable results far too often.
    True there have been far better endings. Wasn’t that race even with all the cautions, even with the premature ending more interesting then most other races right from the green flag? The number of lead changes was epic.

  27. Bobby Santos III is an incredible driver. I hope Bobby drives a few more races for Sap as he recovers. Should Sap ever decide to be an owner that fields a car, SantosIII would be a perfect fit.

    Just Me, like I’ve been saying, it’s talent. The tire guy couldn’t do the arithmetic to get the stagger? I mean, how hard is that? Short on crew members? WTF???? The guy that can read a tape measure and do arithmetic couldn’t make it? Tell the acting tire guy to use the calculator that comes as a standard app on his iPhone to get the stagger. Tires are crucial, and doing the tires is crucial. Tire management can make a chassis look great, or make it look not great. Like engines… a great engine can compensate for a not so great set up, but no amount of set up can make up for a lack of power. No amount of chassis can compensate for poor tire management, or a lack of horsepower. It’s talent to know the best, and not make mistakes. No chassis can cure a lack of talent or mistakes.

  28. Olivia M says

    JD,
    Jacob Perry, who is only 17, has worked extremely hard to have a shot at this race. His passion for racing comes before everything, like eating and sleeping, he didn’t sleep for like a week. He is so dedicated and works his ass off everyday to make sure his cars are running. He doesn’t give himself enough credit for all the work he puts in. What happened at the race was not his fault so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t bash him for all the hard work he’s done, maybe you should “get over yourself” as you said.

  29. I figured a few people would go all Joey Logano’s dad on me. Just because someone is hard working and dedicated and a great guy or girl doesn’t make them necessarily qualified for the WMT. Especially at Loudon. I’ve seen it on ESPN. The coverage is excellent-Cole Trickle.

    Regardless of fault, the backrunners running for 35th shouldnt be wrecking. People pay good money to see the guys upfront race. The 01 takes a ton of heat on RaceDayCT but the other backrunners posted qualifying speeds equally as unimpressive at 12-13 seconds off the 7ny. Think about that! This isn’t the Rusty Wallace driving experience. Many drivers had zero chance of even being competitive going that slow so why are they allowed out there? I guess that’s a question for Nascar but I would argue it’s a fair question. Then they started wrecking one another and the show couldn’t be finished. So I ask you. What’s more important, A good, completed race that starts around 30 cars or a everybody starts wreckfest that finishes under caution? Kind of ironic that the largest field in many years turned out to be the worst, most disappointing event in many years. The tour isn’t the bowl on Saturday Night or the MRS. There are expectations and criticisms that go along with big boy Nascar tour racing. It comes with the territory. Its a huge fanbase. The 51 is getting killed on social media. Sap was livid about what Justin did. It’s the nature of the beast. I’m with Silk though, there was plenty of time on the original schedule to run a 100 lap race. The blame lays amongst the 38 drivers that made up the starting grid. Like it or not.

  30. JD,
    Your points here are valid, though it doesn’t take away from the fact that your original comment was off base and unfair. You chose to pick out one single person and place blame, and that person had nothing to do with starting the wreck he got caught up in.
    All that said, yes the backmarkers were at fault for some of the cautions. But longtime veterans were also at fault too for some of them.

  31. JD might have been harsh and brutally honest, but he had some great points. Loudon is the Daytona and Superbowl for the Modifieds. There were many yellows from names that are far from regulars on the Tour. To show up at one of the two biggest events (the Loudon events) for the first time, making a debut, very inexperienced on big tracks, or such, is just begging for yellow flags or worse. A point that JD made that I agree with is that many non-competitive cars caused lots of yellows. These cars were racing way over their heads, and probably had crappy spotting.

    A big part of racing is staying out of trouble. That has many facets. This was racing on the big stage, where speeds are the fastest on the Tour, and things happen much faster. You have to stay out of trouble. Many of the issues that happened in this race could easily be attributed to amateur, off-off-off-Broadway level performance. Take the top ten from this race and clone them 2 or 3 times, and run a Loudon race with all of them. It will be totally different, very few mistakes. Yes, I know some competitive teams also get into altercations, and Coby probably leads that prestigious group over the last few years.

    The key to be a top level team on the Tour is having the talent, for that talent minimizes the possibility of making mistakes.

    Perry, Sutcliffe, Carroll, Molleur, Fortin, Nocella, Pitkat, Tim Catalano, Emerling, Dauzat, Zachem, Santos, Rypkema. Those cars were involved in crashes, and crashed out. Of all those listed, only Emerling and Santos had a chance at winning, or were capable of competing for the win. The MAJORITY of that list are not, and far from, Tour regulars. Pitkat had a really bad day, Zachem has potential. They simply have not shown the ability, capability, or potential to be competitive on the Tour. And some have been around for a while. And then to show up at one of the most prestigious and fastest tracks is just crazy. Like someone said earlier, lots of these guys were in way over their heads. Just review some of the accidents… there was no respect or give in the apex, cars made contact and went into walls. That’s just plain stupidity. They were doing last lap racing when it was far from the last lap.

    I don’t care how hard or long someone works at something. I can work hard and long, and I know I’ll never be a competitor in the NFL, NBA, MLB, Tour de France, or NHL.

    If the 36 car rule was enforced, Perry and Fifield would have been sent home. Fifield was out at 85 laps for “handling”, which appears to be code for a black flag, perhaps self-imposed, or agreed with NASCAR so they are not actually black flagged. Getting black flagged that often will hurt chances of getting sponsors. The 01 was out 4 or 5 times this season (out of 9 races so far) for “handling” reasons. How can a car that is so slow have handling issues? And so often?

    And I agree with the comments about spotters for the NWMT… they suck. Most of them are telling the drivers what the driver already sees and knows. The spotter has to be watching far ahead and be ready to alert the driver to things he can’t possibly see. That’s a large part of the reason why cars pile into each other. I am frequently saying to myself during a race “I hope that car has a good spotter” and then WHAM! … accident.

    There were two good runs, the 23 and 13 lappers. Not good for a scheduled 100 lap event. Look, this was a bad one, made even worse by the weather, the hole punched in the wall, and the business commitments of the televised series. It happens.

    I used to think that the televising of the races incentivized these drivers to conduct themselves with decorum. But this race shows that stupid raised its ugly head rather bigly.

  32. Lap 3-Cooper, Perry, Sutcliffe
    Lap 13-Pitkat
    Lap 22-Carrol
    Lap 29-Pitkat
    Lap 33-Moeller
    Lap 61-Fortin, Nocella
    Lap 80-Dauzet
    Lap 71-Emerling
    Lap 97-Zachem, Santos
    Lap 102-Rypkema
    All this amounts to is anger at essentially a fluky, damaged wall, extended repair time and unGodly temperatures looking for someone or anyone to blame. The wall isn’t damaged and this wouldn’t even get a mention.
    So who exactly are all the inexperienced drivers causing all this mayhem. Cooper, Perry and Sutcliffe were gone early. Are you mad at Dauzet or Fortin? McKennedy ended Emerlings day does he get any blame? Rypkema is not some kind of novice Street Stock driver that towed his car up on a turnip truck simply to damage the wall and end the race early. Aside from generalizations and the fact there were accidents do you have any idea of the specifics or who was to blame. Few specifics just vague recollections and accusations and anger at being deprived of a proper ending.
    Stafford and Wall had 10 or more cautions. Was it the youngsters fault there as well?
    Blame the temperature, the wall damage, the fact it takes a long time to navigate cautions laps on a big track or maybe even blame your local politician. These teams paid their dues and have every right to compete within their own window of goals as anyone else. Implying there should be some kind of worthiness test based on an isolated set of circumstances and discouraging the new blood the series has been seeking for years is just nuts.

  33. Proud of all you guys you said it well. Yes oldest division of nascar screwed again…..

  34. wmass01013 says

    I know people on message boards love to complain and I guess this race has some reasons BUT in general I LIKE what the WMT is doing, I have either seen in person or watched on FANS CHOICE all the WMT races so far this year and what I see is HARD RACING, Add you have several NEW inexperienced teams running the tour which I like more than having 20 teams in total run, if you look at the 3 most caution races, SPRING SIZZLER, WALL, NHMS , the RACING had been hard, some may call DUMB BUT I will take that action over THE SNOOZEFEST that SEEKONK was, I welcome NEW TEAMS whether at Loudon or Thompson or Oswego, the wall issue at NHMS was unfortunate AND nothing upsets WMT fans more than a shortened race, I don’t want freight train, follow the leader racing and if u want only teams that can win then lets have 15 car Races, NO THANKS.

  35. Jd they should be mad at the 51 that’s typical for him like at Riverhead ooo I don’t want to win that way he wrecks people all the time I hope someone will return the favor

  36. @dareal,
    Please read my post again, I didn’t say the tire guy wasn’t there. I said they were short on crew members and the tire guy missed the stagger

  37. Good point wmass01013. Need to separate what the NWMT is doing and the quality of the driving.

    The racing from the top 15 or so teams is usually very good, very few bonehead moves from that group. Down the line, things get rather dicey, those cars bring on the yellows. Like someone said earlier about starting all the cars, over the 36 car limit, at this event because there is so much room, along those same lines, there is so much room cars should not be driving into each other like they did at this event. (SPOTTERS!) There’s plenty of room. I think many years ago the number of cars starting was even higher, so the number of cars at this event and on this track was inconsequential. So even on the regular tracks such as Stafford, Thompson, etc., the same cars are causing the yellows. And often, these same cars are spinning on their own. A few years ago, the 26 caused 3 – 4 yellows all by himself at Stafford.

    There’s a thing called qualifying for a reason. Cars were sent home at Riverhead. There’s no way Riverhead can start more cars on an already crowded track. Slow cars are hazards. Cars are slow for many reasons, equipment and driver ability. Qualifying is to weed those drivers out so they don’t get in the way of the competitive cars, or cause the yellows they do on their own.

    But regardless of the size of the track and room available, there needs to be minimum speed rules. Some of the slowest cars spin out all by themselves. These slow cars can’t even get a setup so they can make it through a turn at speeds far slower than the competitive cars. The fans and competitive cars deserve better. Qualifying presumes ample cars, far more than are allowed for that event. When there are not ample cars, many of these very slow cars make the field. Qualifying won’t weed out these cars when car counts are low. Perhaps qualifying should also have a minimum speed metric. But once the race starts, if cars are not up to a certain minimum speed, they should get back flagged. If a slow car causes a second yellow by itself, it gets black flagged. These slow car drivers have to stop trying to drive over their abilities and the capability of their cars.

    The competitive cars should not be denied a racing groove or the low line because slow cars are there. Listen on the radio and an important aspect of the spotting is to make drivers of the fast cars aware that a slow car is in the way.

    At some tracks, cars are very sensitive to stagger from one line to the adjacent racing line. I hear drivers complain all the time that they can’t run a line with the other cars. If competitive cars have to run a line other than the preferred racing line because of slow cars in the way, it’s an obstacle to good racing.

  38. So Silk and Coby go on TV yesterday and question and debate the whole situation at Loudon. Among many of the issues discussed, letting everyone start was brought up. He was fairly specific about what cautions he was referring to. So it isn’t just me. Silk might be my new favorite driver by the way. We can’t have this at Martinsville next year. That’s going to be a showcase event. If cars go home, cars go home. It seems the drivers are ok with. I find in encouraging that the top drivers want to put on the best show possible for the fans.

    Unrelated questions, do modified drivers have cool boxes like the cup cars? Are they even allowed to use them?

    What are the provisional rules. Seems like a good time to refresh given the last two races. Is there still a past champion provisional?

    DaReal, looks like we saw the same race. Zachem was having a really strong run. It’s unfortunate that a defending champ had to take out him and Santos. Zachem has had some really bad luck these last two years but was in the points three years ago. I don’t know him but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the folks involved with that team. They are due for a big win. I hope they get it soon.

  39. This is like talking to your friend that just got a divorce trashing their ex. No mention of all the good years, the children or anything good that happened over time. Just the bummer of an ending and pointing finders.
    Wmass views it with a larger perspective that in my view is more relevant.
    This trashing of the inexperienced drivers is mostly a racedayct forum issue of aggrieved parties ticked off at the messy divorce. Coby and Silk on the Morning Bullring were more analytical. Silk mentioning the fact that the field should have been limited to the announced maximum. Otherwise making more relevant suggestions for future races. Coby when pressed suggested having the Xfinity run first and get the TV commitment over although he expressed concern about the crowd leaving. The consensus of the hosts was that the crowd would not leave because it’s New England and most are there for the modifieds anyway.
    Aside from their comments it was just impressive hearing both Coby and Silk make measured, intelligent observations that are a credit to the type of drivers that race modifieds.
    Everyone also agreed the NWMT race was the best of the weekend even though it ended pre maturely.

  40. JD, the mods do not have cool boxes. Nothing in the rules about them either.

    Don’t worry about how many agree or disagree with you. Most of the folks here are enablers. They’d provide opioids for their addicted kids, while blaming the dealers and manufacturers. I’m overweight and I do not want to look stupid by blaming the farmers, ranchers and grocery stores. Doug, or one of his other screen names, was telling folks to make sure they go to Waterford and support the track after Bemer was arrested to make sure that Bemer got wealthier so the victims would get more in the settlement. That’s the kind of thinkers we have here.

    Just imagine being a competitive car, and you have to watch out for the slow cars in the racing line, and having to stop racing because the non-competitive cars are spinning, wrecking, etc. It would be awesome to have a field of competitive cars just to reduce the number of stoppages from these non-competitive cars, and we can have an all out real race.

    I do hope there are limits on car numbers and minimum speeds in effect for Martinsville. When the mods travel for shows like that, they need to put on an impressive show, not a wreckfest full of yellow flags. I understand the points fund distribution, but the racing product is what puts people in the stands, and helps grow the class.

    Silk is good. He doesn’t say much, but what he does say is usually pretty good. Very good to see that team is clicking this season. That’s looking like a team that can hunt down the 2.

    Zachem is good. I hope he can pick up sponsorship and run full time. He needs more seat time to get relaxed, and keep out of trouble.

    As far as making more time available for the mod event at Loudon, I say no way. Allowing it to take longer to run 100 laps is 🦇 💩 KRAZY!!!! That’s feeding more fuel to the fire, enabling the non-competitve cars that cause the yellows. The hole in the wall was a rare anomaly, forget it already. Can not plan or accommodate for things like that. All the wrecks from the lack of respect and give was the cause for the yellows. Give them more time and they will fill it with more wrecks and yellows. If they can’t get the race done in the allotted time, they have problems, not time constraints.

    Let me remind ya’ll, there were only two runs over 10 laps for a total of like 36 laps. The rest of the runs were nothing more than long restarts.

  41. sour grapes of reality says

    cant believe the BS on this thread.. the facts are without the back markers the car counts would suck for the tour. not to mention those back markers trudging to New Hampshire to race on the hottest day of the year and people ..ANYONE feels they can criticize these competitors. you make me sick.. not to mention what the almighty tour with its back markers gets gaffed because someone could really get hurt with a gash in the safer barrier.,. A DISGRACE PLAIN AND SIMPLE ! .no wonder racing is dying..
    PS santos was punted by bonsignore racing him 2019 style with a dive bomb below the yellow line .. bush league move.

  42. Every series, including Cup, INDYCAR and F1, have always had back markers. I don’t think this is a new or unique problem.

  43. I think everyone is blowing it way out of proportion. It was a hot humid day. Track temp near 130°. Even the vetrans had their hands full the only reason they ended the race was because wall repairs were taking so long. One thing I didn’t catch, was the guy who took the wall down ok? In the future the powers that be should schedule 2 hours for the race, and race them before the K&N cars who only had a 16-18 car field. What is the purpose of the K&N divisions anyway?

  44. The cup cars took 1hr 8 min. To run 100 laps, with 3 cautions. So 1hr 28 min with 10 cautions is right on Pace. Maybe for a simple spin, or a whreck where everyone drives away the should have a quickie yellow, one lap to regroup 1 lap everybody pit, back to racing the next lap. This would save time. Let them change as many tires as they want durring that 1 pit stop, as they’re limited on tires for the event. Even better after a spin, line them up and throw the green 2 lap caution. Something has to give.

  45. Unbiased says

    Couple thoughts, one NASCAR has a huge financial contractual tv obligation to start Xfinity race on time so maybe run mods after them to avoid time constraints as Coby suggested. Second as much as car counts are good for financial health of the sport all-star race proves fewer cars can put on a good clean show. Also it is tough to discourage teams from coming but making a series debut either as a driver or team can be a challenge, maybe set some parameters based on speed or season starts before allowing team to start race at Louden. The accident with Roy Seidell in the MRS event shows what can happen when cars way off the pace are racing and the dangers it can create for the entire field. It is hard to justify a car laps down creating cautions that effect a races outcome. Any one remember Zachem, in a spot start and a Bonsingore crew member coming out of pits and hitting Justin at Stafford a few years ago taking the 51 out of championship contention. It seems Zachem makes some of his own bad luck, lots of crashes in everything, patience might come with some more experience.

  46. Rob p, there was no rule on how many tires they could change durring the pit stop at Loudon.
    Percent of race run under caution: 42.1%
    Average green flag run: 6.2 laps
    Not a good showing for the NWMT teams

  47. Ron Silk in a SPAFCO, Coby in an LFR Both Mckennady and Dowling in Troyer, and Swanson in a BRE car. Now that’s parity. Surprised Preece dido better, finished 18tg. Looks like CD has more work to do. Rob Summers had a good run in The #64, which spent time at LFR. Expected ” showtime to do better in the morning #21.what happened to Bobby in the #36?

  48. Boy. A lot of great posts. And, I posted early, voicing my frustration about the way the race ended. Maybe be prematurely.
    So, I’ve been schooled here about how it was the tour drivers fault, for having so many cautions. I have also read about how maybe, back markers could have been part of the problem.
    And lastly, I blamed nascar itself, for treating the mods as second class.
    So if I respectfully may, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around a comparison of the mod guys to cup guys cautions. And I’m not trying to rile anybody here at all. I just look at this one thing. Do cup guys run closer to their competitors, (overall) or do mod guys run closer to their competitors on the track at NH? To me it’s night and day. And to me, the closer you are to your competitors at those speeds, it just leaves so little margin for error. Which is why I think we all love the mods there. So some can blame the mod guys for the amount of cautions. Holy crap guys, running that close, at those speeds, at those temps, I’m surprised there wasn’t more!
    I do have a question though. Why does nascar list how many can qualify, can get in through provisionals, and that’s it, and then let everyone in the race anyway?
    And agree, or disagree, on the point about rookies in the race, it’s like going to your first job interview, and the prospective employer asks you if you have any experience. You say no. Geeze, someone has to give you the opportunity to get experience. How do you get it? So Im glad rookies and new teams try to take their shot, as they are the future, in my opinion. Everyone who races, had to have their first race! How do you get experience on the big stage if you don’t try?
    I realize not all will agree, and thats ok. I get point, even though some may not think that I do. Jmo Thanks for listening

  49. Great point Unbiased regarding Roy. How many broken bones did Roy suffer, 15-20? It was a lot. I wish him the best but NHMS is the real deal. Yuhas never got back behind the wheel. Jan Leaty had a bad one. Plus the Cup side. But hey, let everyone start regardless of minimum speeds.

    I do disagree about Zachem. In 2016 he finished 5th in the points with eleven top tens. Hardly a novice.

  50. All this discussion about slow cars is why I am not a fan of inverting the starting order, forcing the faster cars to drive through the slower cars.

    Just Me, I think there is a limit on tires, such as how many they get for the weekend and race, but they can change those tires around all they want. They can take them off, put them back on, and move them around on the car. But they only get an allocation of so many tires for the weekend and race. Preece came in for a pit stop and swapped right side tires… moved the RF to the RR, and the RR to the RF.

  51. Rob P, Ron Silk in a SPAFCO. Are you sure about that?

  52. Crazy in NY says

    Preece came in for a pit stop and swapped right side tires… moved the RF to the RR, and the RR to the RF.

    Wow..DaRe didn’t know what swapping the rights meant. Now we all know. I’ll bet Preece is happy with you giving away all his speed secrets. (words for words sake..pathetic)

  53. Liz Cherokee says

    Melissa didn’t cause a single issue in this race. You boys should stop trying to conjure up a way to keep her out of the field. If you do such, I will immediately file a gender bias lawsuit as well as get one of the federal judges that I know to issue an immediate injunction allowing her to race. Enough with the misogamy already! Drink up and be happy that the race had a field of 38 cars!

  54. Liz, how did misogamy get into this thread?

  55. Facebook,Troyer Race Cars, 7/22/19
    “Congratulations to Ron Silk on winning the Nascar Whelen Modified Tour Eastern Propane and oil 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway! This was Silk’s second win of the season but it was his first time out in the brand new Stuart’s Automotive TA3! Great effort by Kevin Stuart and his brother Kenny and team!”

  56. Did not think it was a SPAFCO.

    This has nothing to do with gender bias, it has everything to do with ability. So why are we going down that road?

  57. Liz,

    Misogamy: the hatred of marriage.

    Are you having problems?

    Is there something you want to talk out?

    Go ahead, we’re listening.

  58. Crazy, I was that explicit for your sake, so you would understand, and eliminate all possibilities of questions.

    It worked. 😂 😆 😝

  59. Earl, not to worry. It’s just Liz being Liz. She’s a minx. It’s what she does.

  60. Fast Eddie says

    Apologies for being late to the conversation. I unfortunately have not seen the race, but wish to offer two opinions based on watching some Xfinity qualifying and cup practice on TV. I think the weather had a lot to do with many of the issues being talked about. I was joking with my kids about how some of the Cup teams were getting a “Granite State Stripe” due to skimming the walls out of turns 2 & 4. There were also more than the normal amount of wrecks in practice as well. I’ve been to enough races at NHMS & NHIS to safely say the weather conditions like that haven’t occurred that much at any previous races. The high heat and track temperatures no doubt contributed to more slipping, sliding, & cautions than usual for all the race teams.
    NASCAR needs to recognize the core fans that are at the track on Saturday are there for the Modifieds. I watch the other races because I’m already there, but I’m there because of the Mods. Almost all the people in the stands I’ve spoken to over the years are there for the same reason. If NASCAR would like fans to show up they might want to cater to those fans a little more. How about running the Xfinity race first? Why do they need 3-4 hours between qualifying and racing? Run Xfinity after Cup happy hour, then the WMT, and K&N last. That way TV can better keep there schedule and Modifieds get to run a full race. Please forgive me for stating the obvious. However, if it is so obvious why doesn’t an organization as big as NASCAR see and get this?

  61. Did anyone happen to notice all the empty seats on Sunday? Unbelievable and I really don’t think the place was 1/2 – 2/3 full at best unless my glasses needed adjusting.

  62. Earl, I’m sure the weather had much to do with the low crowds. It was unbearable. Many probably bagged it. The crowd on Saturday was less than usual. I think people stayed home, hunkered down in the A/C.

  63. Fast Eddie, I usually leave after the Modifeds. I have a cousin-in-law that works fabrication on one of the Xfinity teams, so I have stayed for one for two Xfinity races.

  64. NHMS Facebook has some crowd shots from Sunday right before the green. It
    Wasn’t half bad. I think folks finished watching in there RVs or left early and listened on the radio. Weather was brutal. I agree Saturday crowd was less than normal. I heard a lot of people talking about the Musket 250. Hopefully that coninues to grow into something special.

  65. Not to be a Polyanna but doesn’t this sort of situation make the decision to show the races on Fanschoice look that much smarter.
    The heat was alarming. Most people weren’t going to go into that frying pan no matter what. This year however the close competition wasn’t wasted.
    Say what you will about cautions, the ending and all the rest that race had the best competition of all the races over the weekend. In a normal year it would be like the tree that fell in the forest with no one to hear it. If great racing is happening and no one sees it did it even happen. With it getting more eyeballs on TV this year there is the chance it could build awareness in general for the great racing the series offers. Those in racing media get to see it as well like the crew at Speed51’s Morning Bullring. they talk about the great racing and it creates a buzz………hopefully.

  66. Hillary 2020 says

    Watched the race on TV yesterday. How is it there is no talk of Blewett wrecking Pitkat twice?

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