LOUDON, N.H. – For five years Dave Sapienza chase a victory as a driver on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
When a broken back suffered in a crash in May at the conclusion of an event at Wall Stadium in Wall, N.J. meant he would have to step away from his car, he reached out to the driver he thought gave him the his best chance to get his first win as a car owner.
With former series champion Bobby Santos III without a ride with the series, Sapienza asked him to take over his car for selected events for the remainder of the season.
Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sapienza finally got that victory he’s been searching for since becoming a full-timer with the series in 2015.
Santos, of Franklin, Mass., held off a rabid pack of pursuers over a chaotic final lap to win the second Whelen Modified Tour Musket 250 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“It’s cool for this team,” said Santos, the 2010 series champion. “They work so hard. Me and [Sapienza] have kind of become friendly the last handful of years. I enjoy seeing him at the race track. When he got hurt, which is just a tough deal with these cars. We know it can happen to any of us. But for him to call me and give me a shot to drive for his team in his car, that’s special. It’s really cool that he can do that and give me the opportunity.”
After watching Santos run mid-pack for much of the event, Sapienza said he was resigning himself to the fact that he’d be happy just for his car to get back near the front by the finish.
“That guy, he’s just unbelievable,” Sapienza said. “When we were like a mid-pack car, 10thor 12th, I was just shaking my head and saying to myself ‘I could do that.’ … Then everything fell into place. … I thought, we get a top-five I’ll be happy with that. But watching this kid drive that car so deep into [turns] one and two on the bottom and just go from seventh to third to second just blew my mind.”
Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was second and series points leader Doug Coby of Milford third. It was the fifth career series victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Santos.
Santos got up to second on lap 243. A lap later he went by McKennedy for the lead. McKennedy fought back to regain the lead on lap 245. On lap 246 Santos went back to the front off turn two, but McKennedy regained the top spot before the lap was completed.
Santos went back to the front on lap 247, but McKennedy clawed back to the front once again on lap 248. On lap 249 Santos got by McKennedy for the lead off of turn two with Coby following to second.
On the final lap it was Santos defending the charges of Coby and McKennedy with fourth place Chuck Hossfeld and fifth place Justin Bonsignore climbing into the mix near the front.
“Once I saw that green stripe [Santos’ No. 36 car] coming out of [turn] four, I damn near [crapped] my pants,” Sapienza said. “I said ‘This is it, this is it.’ He’s the best. That’s why I called him.”
Said Santos: “The last lap is a blur honestly. The whole last five laps I just had in my mind that I wanted to be up front. We had an awesome race with [McKennedy]. I just felt that if I could be out front and kind of dictate the last lap that’s what I kind of wanted to do.
“The best thing for me was I had two of the best behind me in [McKennedy] and [Coby] as far as good, hard, clean racers. There’s no cheap shots or nothing thrown. Everyone was trying to win it right. … Hopefully the fans got a good show.”
McKennedy was a force near the front of the race the entire event, but knew when he saw Santos coming the game had changed.
“When I saw him behind me at the end, I was like … not the guy I wanted to see. But it’s a good run. … Wild race. Mentally it beats you up more than physically. It’s just a cat and mouse game. At the end there, those last 10 or so laps, there was probably six of us that could have won.”
Coby walked away holding a solid 21-point advantage over Bonsignore at the top of the series standings with two events remaining. Coby is chasing his sixth series title.
“It just turned into chaos. I want to win really badly. The goal here was to win. The goal here is for [Bonsignore] not to win. So we couldn’t meet out first goal, we meet our second goal. We had to make sure that we got out of that last turn in one piece and it ended up being a good finish so I can’t complain too much.
Ron Silk led 56 laps and seemed to the most dominant car in the field at the lap 200 mark. But his day ended when was crashed out of the lead by an aggressively charging Eric Goodale in turn one on lap 222.
“[Goodale] ran me over,” Silk said “I don’t know if he had his eyes were closed or what. He had just fenced [Bonsignore] coming off of [turn] four. I think the yellow was coming out and he just drove over me. I have no idea. … It was a moronic move for sure.”
Where did he come from? All race long he was mired back in the pack, then BAM he wins the race
Congrats to Bobby Santos for the win. Congrats to Dave Sapienza on your first tour win as a car owner. Waiting to see your first as a driver, but not till your absolutely ready to return. But it’s cool that the #36 won today. Enjoy this, the first is the best. Good Luck in the futurelooking forward to Dave’s return as a driver.
Ironic that Silk said Goodale’s move was moronic, considering the stuff he’s been pulling in the tri-track series. Paid hack.
The 58 drove like a dumb tool (with the 7NY), capped off by one of the most ridiculous entries into a turn I’ve ever seen. How he ever expected to come out of that move without taking out himself and others is beyond me. He had a fast car, it’s a shame he doesn’t know how to race it.
Congrats to Santos, Dave and the 36 team! Great runs by the 7, 2, 21 and Sam R. (51 kinda ran over him no?), loved that X6 tribute car!
Hey knuckles, who are you? Clown with a fake name
Goodale proved that there is indeed a connection between humans and apes, gorillas, chimps, and such. Did his throttle stick? He drove in low and had no control, couldn’t hold it on early entry because he was so hot, and just took out Silk. What a complete stupididiotmoronic move. Destroyed Stuart’s brand new car.
And he wonders why he doesn’t win.
Congrats to Santos and Sapienza. Bobby drove the race as he does when he wins Loudon. Careful, and keeps within striking distance, all while tuning the car. Santos and Sapienza looks like a good pairing.
This was an outstanding race. Something was going on all the time.
Great seeing the 64 lead and do well, and no really bad luck.
JBon is no longer on Rameau’s holiday card list. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Gary Putnam finishes P9 and on the lead lap?
Rear end troubles for the 01, again. 🤔
Another crowd on their feet finish. But the pinto beans and kn were a complete and utter waste. First time being there for a non cup weekend in a long time. Thought the crowd was pretty lite.
Is it true Silk was in a FURY car? What happened to the TA-3 they were having success with?
Is it me or did the Troyer cars look better than usual? The 06
7ny, 07, 64, 54, and even the 77 of Putnam tan great for him. Are they all starting to work together? Loudon used to be the LFR show.
Some marketing advice to Mr.Fuller. Change the name of your company to Fuller design race cars and claim everything out there. Fury posted the 36 win on their site. Talk about desperate measures. The teams should decide who they would like to promote and leave it at that Fury shoving it down the teams throat is starting to get old folks. My .02.
Moronic moves by Goodale and Bonsignore. Took out 2 good cars having great runs. Too bad.
Where were the fans? I think I saw about 20 on camera.
“Hopefully the fans got a good show”. Literally the greatest understatement of the race season. Are you kidding me.The way they were slicing, dicing, blocking in a mad dash of “rabid dogs” and “chaos” at the end was as frightening as it was entertaining.
Sapienza can give Santos all the accolades he likes, feign surprise at the cornering ability, results and all the rest with that awe shucks who knew perspective. What he should consider is reflecting on how great a car owner and tactician he is to produce a car that can put a great driver in a position to win. Santos won it but Sapienza’s program combining speed, durability and pit strategy put him in the position to be able to win it.
Not quite sure if Goodale is that much at fault. Silk and Goodale went high and low past a slower car like at a smaller track but it wasn’t, momentum exceeded grip and bang. More misjudgement then bonehead.
It is too bad about Silks new car but man it was fast. Be honest now. When it was two Fury cars at the front trading the lead weren’t any of you wondering if the ground was shifting in the chassis wars. At NHMS previously and Stafford the chips fell Silks way. This time the car was on the opposite side of racing luck but they’ll be back. Great car, great team, great driver that looks like it’s getting stronger and this event merely a setback in the long run.
My view was that Coby had several occasions when he got knocked around, saved it, lost ground and came back. Santos comes out of nowhere but Coby also was mired in 10th at one point and rallied. I don’t know how a multi championship driver can be under rated but in this race he was outstanding.
Bonsignor not outstanding. For the second NHMS race makes a misjudgement a driver of his experience should not make this time ending the day for a rookie having the race of his career. Rameau may have been dazed by the impact but his middle finger looked to be working just fine as the 51 passed by.
Great day for Wade Cole. That’s a really, really long race. He finished it running, beat one car that was running and takes home a nice 16th place finish.
So many Catalano’s and two have equipment failures. How do you prepare 3 cars to go 250 laps each? In this case they didn’t but it’s amazing what that family does fielding 3 cars at the highest level of modified racing.
You are right Dareal the race was outstanding!! Slice and dice all day long and the restarts were awesome.Tuff break for Silk and his new race car.Very nice to see the Sapienza car in victory lane.All in all a GREAT day at the races
But did you see the chain of responses on that BS post. The one from Sap himself says it perfectly. Are these people at Fury 12 years old? Do they claim Fullers kids too? Pathetic.
I work for a home builder in central MA. We hire a concrete company for the foundation a framer for the structure a plumber, electrician, window installer, roofer and then at the end we bring in a interior designer and sell it as a Brendon Home. When we sell the house the concrete company does not claim it as a Sterling concrete home! That’s just stupid. LFR contracted Fury to build their chassis. Now Troyer builds their chassis. Are they Troyer chassis now? Come on people. This is not confusing to a contractor. How is it confusing to the people in racing. Fury should have kept their mouth shut and worked with Fuller and counted their cash. Now they have to try and pay the bills with 5 customers in modifieds. They made a big deal on their SM page about Burt in his Fury house car. How did they make out with that? They are not mod guys. Stick with the fenders down there. Oh yea…..GO PATS!
What a great race. I’m already looking forward to the 2020 Musket 250. Congrats to 36 crew. I thought letting all the fans into the garage post race was a nice touch. I know Ronnie and Eric are peeved but those lapped cars need to be out of the way with 20 to go. That’s on the spotters and officials . I don’t think the 58 realized how slow the lapped car was actually going at first. I’ll have to watch the replay. Either way, I was told the 85 needs a new rear clip.
I’ve been critical of the 51 this season but I don’t really think the incident with the 06 was on him. Again, my opinion there.
I though the crowd was good. There were a lot of people in the infield. The lower camping lot was full. Not sure they got the 15,000 but it was solid. Maybe a good paying PASS event would make for a better support division. K&N and Legends didn’t quite cut it.
Best moment of the day, a screaming match in the men’s room between race fans. The matter at hand involved Douglas Coby. Can’t make this stuff up. The one guy was all worked up. Too funny.
Once again I will say it. NASCAR’s best produce is the Modified racing at NHMS hands down. Cup could only hope to put on a show this good. The Riverhead “driving” still doesn’t work here. Bonsi!!! isn’t racing.
Chuck Hossfeld wheelin it like the old days. He might want to rethink retirement. He looks awful good in that 21. Bobby Santos what can you say. “Hiding” most of the day but what a charge at the end.
Man I love this place. Only way to make it better would be to have Pee Dee out there in the mix.
Hopefully…someday….I’ll keep lobbying.LOL Fall Final for me ….can’t wait.
So Doug, were you at the race or is the FanschoiceTV from home opinion. Just wondering……….
Doug, as usual you are 100% incorrect . Santos, winner of 3 recent (now 4) Loudon races brought the expertise, crew and equipment to the 36 to put them over the top. They should have won at Thompson too. For all the talk about the 51 and 2, the Santos driven 36 has had them covered. I love Sap but Santos has brought them to a new level. Hes a generational driver. The results speak for themselves.
If you had been at the track all the drivers and owners were available to answer questions post race. I guess we’ll chalk that up to a missed opportunity.
Hossfeld in the 21 is working. How about one more year Chuck?
I read the fury post on Facebook. Pretty funny response from Sapienza. The 36 has a LFR decal on it. Was there always this level of bad blood and nonsense before LFR and Fury entered the mix or is it just a product of the social media age?
I don’t pretend to understand the whole LFR/Fury thing, I’ll wait for the movie, but how about the 92 Raceworks car representin’, not sure what happened to him but great qualifying position and was real solid up front in the early stage. Would have liked to see what the 06 had in the final laps, the kid was stout.
On reply, i think the 36 owes the win to the nice bump given by the 7 entering turn 3, not sure he would have had enough to get by the 2 through the turns without it. I’m a big Santos fan, but would have liked to see that 7 car in victory lane as well.
David Fisher,
There were just as many fans there or more than a Mod tour race at Thompson or Stafford. It was a deal where you could sit almost anywhere for 1 price(only the shaded seats under the tower cost extra), so all the fans were pretty much sitting in the upper half of the stands. You did not really realize how many people are there until you start walking in the crowd on the way to the parking lot of after the race.
I thought I seen him in the garage area clipboard in hand asking about the chassis and motor of each car. But seriously though, I don’t believe he’s allowed to venture out beyond Stafford.
Mr. “Where did he come ?” Seems nobody gets around or knows how to race London better. He’s won 4 out of the last 5 there, and was right there last year. Not surprised he won. He’s an awesome driver! Great job Booby and congrats to Dave! Great race, bad break for Eric and Silky , not sure what happened, missed it. Good job by Rob Summers!! Team getting better and better.
Sorry,I meant 4out 6. Like I said though. Right there those 2 races.
Doug good points all except the chassis war BS. Ron Silk won the race at Loudon in a Troyer. The guy will win in whatever he gets in. They have been having a record year to date. The chassis swap is a questionable move except that he shares his house with Stone and is trying to support his friend. Understandable. The 51 going from no wins and no poles to a record year is a result of a chassis war with LFR and Spafco. Give LFR game set match on that one. The 85 chassis swap will be less dramatic for sure. They are already a winning team before the swap. The 58 will always be a 10th place team no matter what they race. He was over driving all race to try and prove that a chassis swap would turn his career around like the 51. Stafford is a big race for that team. They always run good there so they should be a factor for sure. I think all we want is good racing to watch from the stands without the drama. Let the teams decide who they want to partner with and lets dance!!
I will also add. Ron “ Smooth as Silk” gets around Loudon very well as well. Like I said, didn’t see it. Caught a bad break. He was “ Haulin’ the mail” as DW would put it!
There’s plenty of accolades to go around for the 36. Stressing driver or car depending on your perspective is simply potato, potaato.
The whole effort was just extraordinary. Anyone that has fielded or driven a race car would agree. A great driver can turn a 15th place finish into a 12th with a so so car. He or she can’t turn it into a win. Sapienza provided the top 5 car that we all kind of knew he’s had on many occasions and Santos turned it into the win that few other drivers could equal.
Hossfeld as well is proving how the driver can maximize a cars potential. Not winning but milking very solid runs out a a car that might have been under achieving. The announcer said Bertuccio was keeping his options open for next year. Hopefully Hossfeld will be in the mix if he decides the opportunity is right to delay his exit.
Goodale on the dust up.
“I got a great run coming off of four, and I thought we had much more time before we caught up to the 45 there,” Goodale said. “I had to make a split-second decision. I chose to go to the bottom, and I couldn’t get the car woed up to stay out of the 85.”
” It sucks, I think we probably had the best car here today and just made a wrong split-second decision… Just disappointing to have such a good car and have something so stupid be the end of it.”
Silk has every right to be ticked off. However after he sees the video and processes what happened he may conclude it was more racing then “moronic”.
Doug,
Please stop! Obviously Goodale is going to say things like that. I was sitting right there when he fell out of his tree. There is no way you sail a car into a turn at that angle and think you are going to make it work. He didn’t use poor judgement. He did what he wanted. He tried to make a move that had no chance of working and didn’t work. He pulled the pin and the grenade blew up. You can’t just about rub your left sides against the pit wall going that speed and expect the car to turn. Goodale has been around long enough to know that. I bet if that was Ronnie Williams that made that move, you would be all over him.
Fury claiming the win again. At this point if Fury sells you a Nerf bar, and then your car wins, they’ll probably claim the win. Love that Dave corrected them. It’s funny how social media can make everybody Lose their mind. Best to just ignore them, everyone knows the 36 is an LFR, it says it on the car. In the end everyone has the right to their opinions, doesn’t make them fact.
Doug, were you there or just arm chair quarterbacking? Just curious?
Sap gave him a top 5 car and Santos gave him a win? Santos stayed out of trouble all day, did not abuse his stuff, did not show his hand, at the end dropped the hammer and put himself in position to win the race. Great job Bobby Santos, Mr. New Hampshire Motor Speedway!
Rob P. First time post for me because you are spot on. Those clowns at Fury need to let it go. They are so busy trying to be Fuller that the Seneca and Rowdy Late Models are beating them in that arena now. This will end bad for those guys if they don’t shift focus on what pays the bills. If they think Fuller is paying the bills with LFR they are dumber than I give them credit for. This is his golf game. Not his paycheck. Good luck with knocking him off the top of the mountain from N.C.
Interesting Fury takes credit but Fuller was in victory circle with Santos and team.
The yellow had come out before the Goodale/Silk crash. Not sure how that played into their tangle.
That’s 2 for 2 for outstanding Musket 250’s!
A peek at the lap leader breakdown on Racing Reference tells part of the story. Aside from plenty of exciting lead changes, I thought there was plenty of excitement through the field, and a good crowd for WMT event. It’s hard to see how many were really there, as the stands are huge, you could sit / stand anywhere, and there were folks who came from Canada specifically to see the Pinty’s race and didn’t stay for the mods.
Here’s to next year!
Do we have confirmation of a third Musket 250? I was disappointed to see Star, Monadnock and White Mountain with PASS running yesterday. Seems the tracks could work together in an effort to help themselves. Every ticket sold means something. I mean NHMS has two weekends a year after all.
Ed, the 58 was caught by surprise. The guy was going for the lead in the biggest race of the year with 20 to go. It wasn’t intentional to take himself or Silk out. Socks that it happened for sure.
JD,
I was told the contract has been signed for the 2020 Musket 250.
I don’t know, awful strong comments on Goodale. Comparing him to apes, grenades and making him sound like some kind of menace to racing. Not what I’ve seen over the years. I like him. A lot. The team supports all kinds of modified events from the New Smyrna to NWMT to the VMRS to TTOMS and Staffords opens. This is a racing misjudgement. One that he admitted and manned up to. It’s the latest reason for harsh judgements like many things including Coby’s potty mouth or young drivers causing delays in the last NHMS race or whatever. This too shall pass.
The guy is in 5th place in the points for Pete’s sake.
JD,
That is the weakest argument I have ever heard. Are you telling me his spotter wasn’t on the radio telling him lapped car down low? If he wasn’t then the 58 needs a new spotter. I will say it again, Goodale should have known better. He pulled the pin and the grenade blew up in his face and he wrecked two cars.
Eric has had an evenful 2019, coming close to winning only to have something happen, then there’s hi antics in victory lane at the Stafford open show. I think it’s Frustrating for him. He’s got allot of money tied up in equipment that other teams are winning with, yet has no results. Hopefully he resets over the upcoming winter and has a better 2020. He is a decent guy, and he’s shown Sparks of talent before, it’s just been one of those years, we all have them.
Not a real Goodale fan but in his defense I don’t think his spotter could tell him how slow lapped car was going and at his speed he had a split second to make a decision and now it’s easy to say he made a mistake , I know I’ve made my share of mistakes at a much slower pace but that’s just my take , I know a lot of people have yet to make a mistake
tdm1950
have to say that was a great race it proves the mods can go that distance and have a awesome finish but they need to fine other divisions other then what was presented 20 and 14 cars don’t cut it maybe a SK type car and late models with local drivers will increase attendance thought the crowd was good
No SKs please. PASS would work if the purse was close to that of the Oxford 250. Short of that you would be looking at 20 something cars as usual. Beyond that, what division will bring fans or cars.?The June event with the streets and mini bombers draws nobody. It’s a tough situation for the track really. This is really a cool weekend. Just needs some tweaks. Thus far, it seems like they want to restrict it to Nascar Tours.
Kills me to say this but I agree with Doug regarding the 58. It was a racing deal to me too. Elect nailed it too, stuff happens in the blink of an eye out there. I thought Eric gave an honest answer even if you don’t like the answer.
Was a good crowd, maybe less than last year but still good!
I don’t think NHMS will change the 3 NASCAR series format although like I said its very boring to watch 100- 125 lap races with 15-20 CARS, maybe if ARCA and K&N merge it will be better!
Goodale, well he was racing up front all day, took the lead a couple times in the last few laps before the wreck, I was sitting about 20 yard past start finish, they do build lots of speed down front strech, the lapper was about 2/3 DOWN front AND the 58 made the choice to go low, there was no spotter talk except when he was about to turn, CAUTION out, then he slams 85, was is a smart move?? No, was it a racing move? YES I think if he had the chance he wouldn’t do it again, he wrecked HIS chance at a win as much as Silks!
Was the 06/51 a racing deal? 06 didn’t think so, hard to tell from video, the scanner said right away that the 51 wrecked the 06, looked fairly even contact.
SHOT OF POSION was VERY ENTERTAINING FRI. NITE
The 58 disaster had NOTHING to do with the spotter. The 58 went into Turn 1 way too hot and just flew right up into the 85. It looked like the 58 had a stuck throttle. The spotter had nothing to do with that. REPEAT: The spotter had NOTHING to do with that.
The 58 was going for it, win or bust. And he blew it for sure.
Great Modified race!! Lots of passing throughout the field along with a wild finish! And And Bobby “Loudon Low Groove” Santos wins again!! I was rooting for him and a very overdue McKennedy, and they were 1 & 2. The Pinty’s race wasn’t too bad, but 14 K&N cars should be running 50-60 laps at the most. The stands looked more full this year than last year. Awesome day EXCEPT… I have one HUGE gripe, which I don’t do much of, but this really frosted me. If you weren’t willing to pay for parking, you had to park farther away than on Saturday of Cup weekend!! C’MON MAN!! It was either cough up $10 or park way WAY in the back. Me and my bum knees would not have been happy with that long of a walk, so I had to spend $10 I wasn’t planning to spend. The lot behind the back straight should have been where the free parking was, which is where most people end up parking on Saturday of Cup weekend. That’s where I parked at last year’s event, and where I almost always park when going to Loudon. Actually the free parking could have been to the left of where you had to pay, as there was a big lot right there. Please don’t torture fans with a crazy long walk when you have plenty of closer places to park! I came to watch racing, not walk a mile each way to and from the track to my car!
This may be a repeat, but I think I messed up my previous attempt. Great Modified race! Lots of passing, a wild finish and a win by Bobby “Loudon Low Groove” Santos! I was rooting for him and an overdue McKennedy; great to see them 1 & 2! The Pinty’s race wasn’t bad, but 14 K & N cars should be running 50-60 laps, not 125. Overall an awesome raceday, EXCEPT… I’m not one to complain, but this really frosted me. Pay $10 to park or park way WAY back, BEHIND other unused lots! Consequently me and my bad knees had to spend $10 more than planned. The lot next to where you had to pay, or the lot behind the back straight should have been available for free parking. That’s where the parking has been for Saturday of Cup weekend and where I parked at last year’s event Please don’t torture race fans with a ridiculous walk to and from the “free” lot! I came to watch racing, not walk a mile to and from my car!!
“Please don’t torture race fans with a ridiculous walk to and from the “free” lot! I came to watch racing, not walk a mile to and from my car!!”
I camped all weekend and was also surprised free parking was so far away. That said, there was free bus and tram transportation all day both days. We noticed that the passenger load seemed lower than we expected, was the stop out near parking not clearly marked, did the route not go all the way out?
Fast Eddie, the free parking is way in the back because they want you to pay the $10 to park closer. As a rule of thumb, I hate paying for parking anywhere. Traditionally, parking at races is free. We parked in the free lot too. Then we jumped on the tram right there which brought us to the main gate. Sounds like you weren’t able to get on a tram. They probably needed a few more running. I intend to mention that they need more trams when I get my post race survey. Same deal with the kid tickets. $10 in Sept but free in July. They have to make their money on this deal anyway they can I suppose.