There are just three races remaining on the 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule and the series only appearance of the season at the Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 24. The Whelen VFD 150 will feature a 150 lap race at the 3/8-mile Connecticut shoreline oval for NASCAR’s oldest open wheeled Touring Series.
    Eddie Flemke of Southington, Conn. heads to Waterford third in the series standings. He considers the Speedbowl to be one of his favorite race tracks.
    “It’s a drivers a track,” said Flemke. “There’s plenty of room to get by someone – if you’re faster. Keeping your momentum is a key, it’s a handling track. The most important thing is to be patient”
    Flemke has found success in the past at Waterford; he is a two time winner with his last victory coming in 2004.
    “The track has been good to me,” said Flemke. “But you can’t get overconfident. This series is very tough. There are a lot of experienced drivers and some very talented new ones. I believe we can have a good finish but you need to have things go your way.”
    Flemke is in his second year driving for car owner Gary Teto and the Red Line Oil/Ron Bouchard Auto/Premier Kitchens Chevrolet Race team. With five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes he heads to Waterford trailing Ted Christopher by 57 points and Mike Stefanik by 161 markers.
    “I’m very pleased with the success we’ve had so far this year,” said Flemke. “I have a great owner and crew. When I joined this team last year I knew it had the potential. It’s nice to see that things have fallen into place the only thing we haven’t done this year is win a race. Waterford would be a great place to get that first win.”
    Bud Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. and the Whelen VFD 150 is scheduled to get the green at approximately 5:15 p.m.

WHELEN VFD 150 NOTES

* On Sat. Sept 23 from 1-4 p.m. drivers from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be on hand at Waterford Speedbowl for an autograph session to benefit local Volunteer Fire Departments.
* Bud Pole Qualifying for the Whelen VFD 150 is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. for positions 1-25. Five provisional positions (Two based on 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner points, two based on 2006 driver points and one past champion) will bring the starting field to a maximum of 30 cars.
* The Whelen VFD 150 is scheduled to begin at approximately 5:15 pm
* Posted awards are $78,933 for the Whelen VFD 150.
* Jerry Marquis is the defending champion of the Whelen VFD 150.
* Current series drivers with wins at Waterford include: Eddie Flemke (2), Jerry Marquis (2), Ted Christopher (1), Rick Fuller (1), Chuck Hossfeld (1) Donny Lia (1) Reggie Ruggiero (1) and Todd Szegedy (1).
* The series qualifying record at Waterford is 13.630 seconds set by Chuck Hossfeld in 2003.
* Waterford Speedbowl is one of the Whelen Modified Tour’s charter race tracks, having hosted the Tour in its inaugural 1985 season. On June 19, 1985, Rick Connolly won the race ahead of Dave Rezendes, Leo Cleary and Mike McLaughlin in fourth place. The track hosted two Whelen Modified Tour races that season, with local favorite Ray Miller winning the second race on Aug. 21, 1985. Since that first season, 13 different drivers have visited victory lane in 16 Whelen Modified Tour races at Waterford.
* NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Top 10: Mike Stefanik 1992, Ted Christopher 1888, Eddie Flemke 1831, James Civali 1796, Todd Szegedy 1788, Tony Hirschman 1751, Jerry Marquis 1703, Eric Beers 1582, Chuck Hossfeld 1570 , Donny Lia 1543
* James Civali, of Meriden, Conn., is the top-ranked driver in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year competition.
* As of Sept 15, 34 teams have filed entries..