The 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season drew to a close
Saturday night as Ted Christopher was crowned the series’
champion at the annual postseason awards banquet at Mohegan Sun
Resort.
Christopher’s 2008 title campaign included four wins and 13
top 10s. Driver of the No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet,
Christopher’s championship season was highlighted by wins at
Stafford Motor Speedway, Mansfield Motorsports Park, New
Hampshire Motor Speedway and Thompson International Speedway.
From Plainville, Conn., Christopher has established a
reputation of racing any type of car, anytime, anywhere. He has
won multiple track championships and was the 2001 NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series national champion, but 2008 marked his first
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour crown in his 15th full season in the
series.
“Throughout my racing career I have been very fortunate to
have driven many different types of race cars for many different
car owners,” Christopher said. “From people like Joe Brady, who
I won my first Modified tour race with, to Curt Chase, Gary
Cretty, Jim Galante, Eddie Whelan and many in between, one
common denominator was: I always loved driving their Modifieds.”
Christopher’s night also included taking home the Whelen
Engineering Winner of the Race Award and, for the first time in
his career, the prestigious Most Popular Driver Award. For the
first time, voting for the Most Popular Driver Award was
conducted online through NASCAR.com and NASCARHomeTracks.com.
More than 10,600 total votes were cast in online balloting for
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers.
In addition to the coronation of series champion Christopher,
the top drivers and owners and special award winners from the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour were also honored Saturday night.
Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pa., was recognized for his
championship runner-up effort in 2008 when he recorded 11 top
10s and the first two wins of his career. Todd Szegedy, the 2003
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion, was the third place
honoree.
Ronnie Silk of Norwalk, Conn., earned the Featherlite Most
Improved Driver Award, given to the driver who earned the award
the most times in 2008, while seven-time series champion Mike
Stefanik of Coventry, R.I., likewise took home the POWERade
Power Move of the Race Award. Eric Beers, from Northampton, Pa.,
was recognized as the winner of the Coors Light Pole Award.
Glen Reen, a native of Wilbraham, Mass., earned 2008 Sunoco
Rookie of the Year honors.
“This was just a dream a year ago,” Reen said. “It wasn’t
until February that my uncle and I were talking about which
direction to go in for the 2008 season and I said something
about going Tour racing and he said, ‘hey, let’s do it.’ In a
few short months we pieced together our team and did what we
needed to do to my SK Light car and here we are at the end of
the season with the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Championship.
Four special awards were also presented during the awards
banquet.
Mike Smeriglio III, owner of the No. 2 Modified team driven
by Szegedy, was bestowed the Sportsmanship Award and Ken Heagy
of Calverton, N.Y., was recognized with the Driver Achievement
Award. The Len Boehler Award was presented to Roger Hill, owner
of the No. 79 Modified team driven by Silk and the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour Women’s Auxiliary Award went to longtime series
veteran Jamie Tomaino and his wife, Cheryl.
Source:
Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
Posted:
December 14, 2008
