“Digging Deep With Denise” is a semi-regular question and answer feature with local racers and racing personalities produced by RaceDayCT’s Denise DuPont
Growing into A Modified Driver’s Seat …
Nathan Wenzel of Granby, Mass. is a regular in the Mad Dog Modified division at Monadnock Speedway. On Saturday, July 20 Wenzel drove the No. 03 Modified hard and captured a series win. Wenzel is currently ranked second in points for the track division.
Wenzel did double duty at Monadnock Speedway driving the No. 81 in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Duel at the Dog 250. Wenzel completed all 250 lap and brought home a 17th place finish.
The Mad Dog Modifieds …
“It is a really good division for Monadnock. It is a good starter Modified division. It is also a good next step for a lot of guys coming from Late Models/Super Streets. It is the next step if you want to move up and try something different. When the JDV Open Modified race comes and you want to run with the Tour Type drivers you can do that. This allows you to figure out where you are on skill level.”
Jumping from a Mad Dog Modified Win to a Whelen Modified Tour race …
“I think that it was a really awesome experience. I have dreamed about it ever since I was a little kid watching my dad (Ken Wenzel) drive Tour Type Modifieds. I wanted to try and run a Whelen [Modified Tour] race to see how I stacked up. The car that I ran was not a $100,000 car like everyone else. You’re competing in a $50,000 car compared to others with $100,00 to $200,000 equipment with full time crew.
“We went out there to do the best that we could to try and learn how to be better as a group. I really would have liked to see a top-10 but our main goal was just to finish all the laps. My main goal was to compete at Claremont on Friday and Monadnock on Saturday. After we won both Modified races (Sportsman Modified – Claremont Speedway & Mad Dog Modified – Monadnock Speedway) we were able to focus on the [Whelen Modified Tour] race and what we could accomplish.” – Wenzel is leading the points at Claremont Speedway and second in points at Monadnock Speedway. — “I think that I struggled a little bit last year when I tried to do double duty with the Crate Mod and the Tour [Type] Mod last year.”
Is Your Modified Racing a Hobby, Passion …
“For sure my driving a Modified is a passion. It is what I always think about and love to do. I always want to be better. The hardest person on myself is myself. Of course, everyone would like to move up to full time ARCA or a full-time Whelen [Modified Tour ride], but right now, it is a full-time passion and getting better. If a full-time opportunity came about I definitely would jump at it.“
One Tire Rule at Duel at the Dog 250 race …
“I personally liked the rule. It gave all the teams a fair chance at pitting. They slowed the pace car down a little bit that helped and gave everyone a chance not to go one lap down. And it definitely helped us with me being green. I do not have a lot of experience with live pitstops. But it was good. I was trying to figure out the tire compound and it is a little bit new to me. So, I am trying to figure that out at the same time. I feel that we handled it pretty well just trying to learn and be better. “
Which Modified division do you prefer to compete in at the current time …
“It honestly depends on the track. I really like driving the crate stuff. Right now, that is our bread and butter. I am still learning how to drive a Tour Type car. Believe it or not it is totally different – a crate car versus a larger horsepower car. We had a really good run with the No. 81 at the JDV Open about a month back now. It felt good to finally have a good solid run with that car. It also showed promise to the team because of the pitstop and the car run. It showed what the car could do and to get the car handling to where I like it and getting the car to run a little faster.”
Leave a Reply