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NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Holland Advance

    There is no racetrack on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour closer to the home of Chuck Hossfeld than Holland (N.Y.) International Speedway. As close as Holland is to Hossfeld’s hometown of Ransomville, N.Y., located just north of Buffalo, N.Y., he has actually never raced at the 3/8 mile oval in Holland. Hossfeld, a five-time career winner on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, expects to change that on July 29 when the Whelen Modified Tour is scheduled to make its first visit to Holland since 2001 for the Paul Graff Trucking 100.
    “There is nothing better than racing in front of your family and friends, “said Hossfeld.” I’ve been looking forward to this all season.”
    Hossfeld is in his first season driving for the Hill Enterprises/Sunoco/Tilton Engineering Pontiac race team. His new team is familiar with Holland’s victory lane. They won the last series race at Holland with driver Eddie Flemke.
    “I was at that race,” said Hossfeld. “I remember watching it from the stands as I was home for the weekend. It was a great race and I think our race this year will be also.”
    Hossfeld likes the configuration of Holland’s high banks.
    “The race track is perfectly suited to our cars,” said Hossfeld. “It has plenty of banking and two grooves. It’s a fast place and there will be plenty of close racing.”
    Hossfeld is hoping Holland might be the site of his first victory with his new team.”
    “I’m pleased with progress we’ve made so far, said Hossfeld. “On this series it takes some time for new teams to gel. We’ve had some fast cars this season and the Hill family is great group of people to drive for. It makes doing this very enjoyable.”
    The Paul Graff Trucking 100 is scheduled to get the green flag at approximately 8:00 p.m.

PAUL GRAFF TRUCKING 100 NOTES

* Bud Pole qualifying for the Paul Graff Trucking 100 is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 for positions 1-23. Five provisional positions (Two based on 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owners points, two based on driver points and one past champion provisional) will bring the starting field to a maximum of 28 cars.
* The race is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.
* Posted Awards are $75,953.
* The Paul Graff Trucking 100 is the seventh of 17 scheduled events on the 2006 Whelen Modified Tour calendar. Heading into the seventh race of the 2005 season, Ted Christopher held a 27-point advantage over Chuck Hossfeld in the point standings. Mike Stefanik leads the current point standings, by 36 points over two-time defending series champion Tony Hirschman,
* This will be the 12th series race at Holland. Jeff Fuller has the most career victories with 3. The following drivers have one series win at Holland: Tim Connolly, Richie Evans, Mike Ewanitsko, Eddie Flemke, Tony Hirschman, Chris Kopec, Jerry Marquis and Mike Stefanik.
* Holland International Speedway is the only track to have hosted twin features on the same day in series history. In 1985 the track hosted Twin 50’s with Richie Evans taking the first and Jeff Fuller the second. Both drivers were credited with a series win.
* Bill Colton won his only career Bud Pole at Holland in 1985 with a time of 14.110 seconds (95.676 mph). The Tour qualifying record at Holland is 12.812 seconds (105.370 mph) set by Steve Park in 1996.
* As of July 24, 28 teams have filed entries for the Paul Graff Trucking 100. In addition to Hossfeld, other New Yorkers who have entered the event include Donny Lia (Jericho, N.Y.), Alex Hoag (Corning, N.Y.), and Kevin Goodale (Riverhead, N.Y.). Hoag is the grandson of local Modified racing legend Dutch Hoag.
* Current Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings: 1) James Civali, 56 2) Anthony Sesely, 37 3) Matt Hirschman, 34 4) Ron Yuhas, 34 5) Ronnie Silk, 31 6) Danny Sammons, 26 7) Jon McKennedy, 21 8) Mike Andrews, 15 9) Glen Tyler, 14 10) Joe Hartmann, 13 11) Chris Pasteryak, 8 12) Eric Berndt, 4.

Source:  Mark Mockovak/WMT PR
Posted:  July 26, 2006