Pit Box: Musket 250 At NHMS Looms in Midst Of Whelen Modified Tour Championship Battle

(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Time to hit the big stage.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams are headed to New Hampshire Motor Speedway with just three races left in the season, but this race isn’t just any other race.

It’s the second annual Musket 250 presented by Whelen, which will tie last year’s inaugural event for the longest race in the history of the series. Drivers are chasing a $25,000 first-place prize around the ‘Magic Mile’ on Saturday in a true test of driver and equipment.

A championship battle that has just 19 points separating the top two is heating up entering the Musket 250 presented by Whelen.

In the final lap of the inaugural event, contact between Ryan Preece and Justin Bonsignore sent both of them into the wall, and allowed Chase Dowling to earn the first-ever Musket prize. Dowling is heading back looking to make it a clean sweep, but this time with a different race team.

His Sunoco Rookie of the Year season in 2018 came driving for Rob Fuller and LFR Chassis, but this year he’s teaming with veteran car owner Jamie Tomaino, who he’s already run five races for this season — including at NHMS in July. Dowling qualified eighth, and finished third in the Eastern Propane & Oil 100, proving he’s nearly mastered the drafting techniques New Hampshire takes.

On the championship front, Doug Coby is coming off a night at Riverhead Raceway he’d like to quickly forget, and there would be no better way to do that than win one of the biggest prizes in the series. Coby has five championships to his credit, and is no stranger to Victory Lane — but adding another checkered flag at New Hampshire, in this race, would add to his already stout career stats.

Bonsignore, who led 77 laps last before the final turn incident last year, earned his first New Hampshire win in 2016, and has finished inside the top 10 in seven of his last starts at the 1.058-mile track. Bonsignore is only 19 back of Coby, but with three races left, he still needs to find a way to slice into the gap quickly.

On the entry list front, a few names stick out that fans might want to watch. Former New Hampshire winner Woody Pitkat begins his tenure with Eddie Harvey Racing, a combination that is preparing for battle for the remainder of this season, and hoping to chase the championship crown next season.

Former NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Burt Myers, who has driven for Harvey already this season, is bringing his own car up to New England looking to earn the prize in just his second New Hampshire start. Myers finished third in the inaugural race, driving for Harvey.

Ron Silk, who earned the victory in the July Whelen Modified Tour race, returns looking to sweep the season, while Bobby Santos III looks to turn on the heat and start another NHMS streak. Santos finished 24th after crashing in July, and crashed in the Musket 250 last year, but prior to that, he earned three New Hampshire wins in a row.

RACE FACTS

RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: 

The starting field for the Musket 250 presented by Whelen is 36 starters, including provisional positions. The first 30 drivers will secure starting positions through the qualifying process. The remaining six positions will be awarded through the provisional process.

Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time.

NASCAR will use a wave around vehicle race procedure for this event. All vehicles between the leader and the caution car at the start/finish line when the “one to go” signal is given by the starter, are considered “Wave Around” eligible. “Wave Around” vehicles will not be permitted to enter the pit road at any time during this yellow flag period. “Wave Around” vehicles must receive the green flag on the race track before being permitted to enter pit road without a penalty. Vehicles under a penalty and/or the “Free Pass” will not be eligible to receive a “Wave Around”.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is twenty (20) tires per team. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. The tire change rule is twelve (12) tires, any position.