08/08/06

TOUR DRIVERS ARE READY TO START SECOND HALF
OF SEASON AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY

    The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will travel to the Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Conn. on Friday night Aug. 11 to begin the second half of the 2006 season. The 16th Annual New England Dodge Dealers 150 will be the ninth race of 16 races scheduled for 2006.
    Six-time champion Mike Stefanik, of Coventry R.I, leads the series points standings as the series gets the “crossed flags” signal for the season. Stefanik, with one victory in 2006, has earned 1255 points and is 43 points ahead of Ted Christopher, of Plainville, Conn. Christopher, who is seeking his first title, was the winner of the last series event at Riverhead, N.Y. He is one of two drivers with more than one victory this season.
    Defending series champion Tony Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa. is third in the series standings and trails Stefanik by 78 points. Hirschman, a five time champion, has one victory this season. Eddie Flemke, of Southington, Conn., and James Civali, of Meriden, Conn., are tied for fourth in the standings and trail Stefanik by 160 points.
    John Blewett III, of Howell, N.J., is the other driver with two victories in 2006. Todd Szegedy, of Ridgefield, Conn., and Doug Coby, of Milford, Conn., each scored one win this season.
    Civali, in his first full season on the series, is currently leading the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings with 72 points. He is currently 22 points ahead of Matt Hirschman, of Northampton, Pa. Anthony Sesely, of Matawan, N.J., is third in the rookie standings 23 points behind Civali. Ronnie Silk, of Norwalk, Conn. is fourth 32 points behind Civali. Ron Yuhas, of Groton, Conn., rounds out the Top-five, 36 markers behind Civali. Only a drivers’ best 12 finishes count toward the final rookie standings. With just eight races completed no rookie driver has had an opportunity to “drop a race” yet.
    Several season-long award titles are also up for grabs. The drivers who earn these special award titles will be recognized at the Awards Banquet in December.
    Eight drivers are tied for the lead in the Bud Pole Award standings: Jimmy Blewett, Ted Christopher, Matt Hirschman, Tony Hirschman, Donny Lia, Jerry Marquis, Mike Stefanik and Zach Sylvester have all earned one Bud Pole Award this year during qualifying. This year’s Bud Pole Award champion can win a $4,500 bonus at the end of the year.
    In the POWERade Power Move of the Race season standings, Steve Whitt leads all drivers with two awards. Six drivers are tied with one award each. POWERade has posted a $5,000 to the year-end winner of this award, which is given in each race to the driver who improves the most number of positions during the race.
    Matt Hirschman leads the Featherlite Most Improved Driver standings. Hirschman has collected two awards. A tie exists between six drivers who have recorded one Featherlite award during the 2006 season. Featherlite, a longtime supporter of the Modified Tour, has posted a $3,000 year-end bonus for this award, which is given each week to the driver who improves the most number of finishing positions compared to the previous race.
    The New England Dodge Dealers 150 is scheduled to start at approximately 9:15 p.m.

NEW ENGLAND DODGE DEALERS 150 NOTES:

* Posted Awards: $82, 673
* Bud Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Aug 11. The fastest 26 cars will transfer.
* Five provisional positions (Two based on 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner points, two on 2006 driver points and one past champion provisional) will bring the starting field to 31 cars.
* The 150 lap race is scheduled to start at 9:15 p.m.
* The series qualifying record at Stafford is 18.102 seconds (99.437 mph) set by Mike Ewanitsko in 2001.
* The New England Dodge Dealers 150 is the third of four events scheduled to be held at Stafford in 2006. Doug Coby was the winner of the Carquest Tech-Net Spring Sizzler in April. John Blewett III won the Connecticut Classic in July
* Tony Hirschman is the defending champion of the New England Dodge Dealers 150.
* There have been 80 Whelen Modified Tour races at Stafford. In April, Doug Coby became the 24th different driver to win a Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford.
* As of Aug 1, 32 drivers have filed entries for the New England Dodge Dealers 150.

* Up next: Following the New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Stafford, the Whelen Modified Tour heads to Thompson International Speedway on Thursday, Aug 17

Source:  Mark Mockovak/NASCAR WMT PR
Posted:  August 8, 2006