“Digging Deep With Denise” is a semi-regular question and answer feature with local racers and racing personalities produced by RaceDayCT’s Denise DuPont
On Saturday the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour raced at Monadnock Speedway, a paved one-quarter-mile oval track in Winchester, N.H. Twenty-one teams were on hand to compete in the 250-lap feature event. Craig Lutz of Miller Place, NY, qualified fourth and with the luck of the draw started on the pole. Lutz held off the hard chargers for 99 laps until reigning series champion Ron Silk passed him for the lead. Lutz was in the top five with 40 laps remaining and then the car was off its mark. Lutz raced hard and brought home a 12th place finish.
On going from leading much of the race to a 12th place finish
On lap 210, the Russell Goodale owned No. 46 NWMT Modified was running in the top-five. Lutz led the field from the initial green flag for 99 laps which was more laps than any other driver. Lutz lost momentum during the last 40 laps which took him out of a top ten finish. … “It kind of has been the story of our year. We had really good speed with the car, ran in the top five and we were able to lead the most laps. … We had positioned ourselves to control the pace of the field. But the pit strategy and our first time running a race there was a learning experience. I feel like the one tire strategy threw a lot of curve balls to every team. Normally teams would be ready for three tires or none. Putting on one tire threw the car off balance. What we expected did not turn out for what we needed. So unfortunately, a 12th place finish again does not show the speed that we had. We will just try to learn and be better the next time.” … Lutz is currently seventh in the Whelen Modified Tour standings. … “Getting back with a new No. 46 team that I have not raced with in a couple of years there is definitely a learning curve on what goes into making a race winning team again. I feel that everyone has been working hard at it. We all want to be better. But then you go to the racetrack to try to be the best. And one of these days it is going to work out. We just have to go on and be better each week.”
Your thoughts on Modified car counts
“What we saw on Saturday [with 21 cars], anytime that you have a long-distance race that you throw pit stops into kind of eliminates the smaller guys that want to go there and compete. Knowing up front what you are against, and the cost and money required to run these shows, if you do not have the best or what it takes to win, you do not want to go. So, I think that it eliminates a lot of the local guys and it kind of turns into a race of the bigger more committed teams that go to every [Whelen Modified Tour] race. Aside from that, I think that the product that Monadnock Speedway puts on now is good. The track is so fast, and the car does not really fall off. The pace is so much faster than it used to be. I have a lot of fun racing there and every time we go there, I look forward to it. The finish really does not show how good the car was.”
Does having several Modified series now competing for a lot of the same and drivers diminish car counts?
“I think so. Everyone wants a 35-40 car field. But to bring that many cars to a smaller track kind of ruins how good a race can be. Sometimes at Stafford [Speedway] there are 40 cars that show up. Out of the field there may be 25 that are decent and 15 that are seconds off. Ultimately you have people that are passionate about each series. You have die-hard people that run the Modified Tour and you have people that run the [Milton Cat Modified Racing Series] or an Open show which is more feasible for what they are doing. I think for the Whelen Modified Tour is the way that it has always been, the playing field is so level and even that is where you will see the toughest competition because everyone has the same thing. … When you go to all these different tracks, realistically in the Modified Tour you have eight to ten guys that can win a race if everything goes right. But in an Open series, like at the Stafford Open 80, nine times out of 10 there are three guys who have won the last eight races there. So, it is a big difference in the racing series that you select to follow or compete in.”
What is your favorite track?
“My favorite track is Thompson [Speedway]. The mid-week show [coming up on Wednesday Aug. 14] is always something to look forward to. Because that is the way that it has always been. I think that Thompson puts a great race on. A lot of people look forward to going to race there. Now that the Tour is back on the schedule for three times as it normally was, I think that a lot of people are happy about that.”
Do you consider racing a hobby, sport, passion?
“There are multiple full time crew chiefs to the caliber that we race against now, including my team. For the drivers, some of the crew members and crew chiefs it is a lot of passion. Particularly the passion that is inside of you for some reason Even if you get money or if it is a job that you get paid for, I think that it is always more than just a job. It is a hobby for a lot of us. But it is so hard because a lot of what goes into it. In a 250-lap race, for an average guy that is a lot of laps of driving, and you have to be in shape for the task.”
Leave a Reply