Long Island NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Riverhead Raceway 

NWMT: Analyzing the Riverhead 200

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Wrapping up a busy three-week stretch of racing, the Whelen Modified Tour heads to the Riverhead 200 at Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, New York. Below is a look at the race itself and some of the selected participants.

Riverhead 200 Race Setup:

This marks the Whelen Modified Tour’s first of two stops at the Long Island quarter-mile. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, New York, swept both races at Riverhead in 2015. Three-time champion Doug Coby of Milford, Connecticut — who has never won at Riverhead — sits atop the standings after five races this season, holding a 19-point lead over Preston, Connecticut driver Max Zachem.

At Riverhead Raceway:

History:

  • Built in 1949, the high-banked quarter-mile Riverhead Raceway bills itself as one of the oldest asphalt tracks in the United States. It opened as a dirt track in 1951 and was converted to asphalt in 1955.
  • Sitting one mile east of the Long Island Expressway, Riverhead Raceway is metropolitan New York’s only NASCAR-sanctioned facility.
  • One of only two tracks to host the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in every season of the tour’s existence, joining Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
  • Has hosted 56 Whelen Modified Tour races, fourth-most all-time, including three in 1985, the first year of the tour.

 Notebook:

  • Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmy Spencer, the Pennsylvania native whose roots are in Modified racing, won the first two Whelen Modified Tour races held at Riverhead in 1985.
  • There have been four tour races been won by Riverhead NASCAR Whelen All-American Series drivers, the last of which was Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. in 1995.
  • Mike Ewanitsko owns 11 career wins at Riverhead, most of any driver. Active drivers Ryan Preece and Donny Lia each have four career wins at the track. Preece and Ted Christopher each have two poles at the track.
  • Riverhead races have been won from the pole 14 times, and six of the races have been led wire-to-wire by the race winner.

Riverhead Data:

Race: #6 of 17 overall

Race Date: Saturday, June 25 at 8 p.m. ET

Track Layout: .25-mile paved high-banked oval

Race Length: 200 laps (50 miles)

Qualifying/Race Data:

2015 Winner: Justin Bonsignore

2015 Pole Sitter: Tom Rogers Jr.

1-lap Qualifying Record: 77.949 mph (Chuck Steuer, 11.546 seconds, June 2000)

200-lap Race Record: 57.754 mph (Richie Evans, August 1985)

Active Category Leaders at Riverhead:

Wins

  1. Ryan Preece … 4

Donny Lia … 4

  1. Ted Christopher … 3

Poles

  1. Tom Rogers Jr. … 3
  2. Ted Christopher … 2

Ryan Preece … 2

Top Fives

  1. Ted Christopher … 11
  2. Ryan Preece … 8
  3. Donny Lia … 7

Top 10s

  1. Jamie Tomaino … 22
  2. Ted Christopher … 16
  3. Ryan Preece … 11

Laps Led

  1. Ted Christopher … 1,750
  2. Doug Coby … 852
  3. Donny Lia … 645

Starts

  1. Jamie Tomaino … 132
  2. Ted Christopher … 89
  3. Wade Cole … 86

Selected Driver Highlights:

Jimmy Blewett (No. 4 Starrett Dodge)

  • Is ranked 10th in the standings headed into this weekend with three straight top 10 finishes.
  • Has five career Whelen Modified Tour wins, including one at Martinsville and two at Stafford.
  • Owns a win at Riverhead in 2008.
  • Returned to full-time competition this season with owner Bob Garbarino’s Mystic Missile team.

Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet)

  • Sits fifth in the Whelen Modified Tour standings with three top fives in five starts.
  • Swept the tour’s two 2015 races at Riverhead, where he was the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track champion in the Modified division.
  • Has three wins, seven top fives, seven top 10s and five top-five starts in 10 career Riverhead races.

Doug Coby (No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair Chevrolet)

  • Three-time Whelen Modified Tour champion leads the standings this season with three top fives and four top 10s in five races this season.
  • Finished 11th in the tour’s most recent race at Thompson.
  • Has two wins this season, both at Stafford, after starting from the pole in each.
  • Has three top fives and five top 10s, along with two DNFs, in 11 career starts at Riverhead.

Eric Goodale (No. 58 GAF Roofing Chevrolet)

  • Posted top-five finishes in each of the two tour stops at Riverhead last season.
  • Has started four of the five races this season inside the top six and is 12th in the standings with one top five and two top 10 finishes.
  • Only career win came at Riverhead — his home track — in 2014.
  • Has completed 99.8 percent of all the laps run in his nine career starts at Riverhead.
  • Has seven top 10s in nine races at Riverhead.

 Donny Lia (No. 8 Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet)

  • Two-time Tour champion is fourth in the series standings with three top 10s in five starts.
  • Is tied for the lead among active drivers with four career wins at Riverhead.
  • Finished on the podium in six of eight races at the track from 2003-2008, including the four wins, but has just two top 10s in the eight races since.
  • Finished fourth at Riverhead in August 2015.

Rowan Pennink (No. 3 Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet)

  • Sits third in the tour standings with four top 10s in five races.
  • Has two career wins on the tour and has finished in the top 10 in 62 of his 129 career starts.
  • Has one win and four top 10s in 11 career starts at Riverhead.

Ryan Preece (No. 6 TS Haulers/Riverhead Raceway Chevrolet)

  • The 2013 NWMT champion has 15 career wins in 126 career starts on Tour, and this week makes his fourth appearance of the season.
  • Tied for lead among active drivers with four career Riverhead wins, including three straight in 2012-2013.
  • Has never finished outside the top 10 in 11 career starts at Riverhead, where he’s completed all 2001 of the laps contested in those races.
  • Has an average finish of 4.1 and an average starting position of 7.4 at Riverhead.

Tom Rogers Jr. (No. 0 Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm Chevrolet)

  • Has three career tour poles at his home track.
  • Swept the poles for both 2015 Riverhead races
  • Has four consecutive top 10 finishes at Riverhead.

Bobby Santos (No. 44 Tinio Corp./Dan Kelley/Curb Records Chevrolet)

  • The 2010 champion sits sixth in the current standings with one win, one top five and three top 10s in five races.
  • Won the most recent tour race at Thompson for his 14th career victory.
  • Has three top 10s in five career Riverhead starts.

Timmy Solomito (No. 16 Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford)

  • Recorded his first career Whelen Modified Tour win in the season opener at Thompson, leading 50 of 150 laps en route to the victory.

Shawn Solomito (No. 75 Eastport Feeds Chevrolet)

  • Current NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified division point leader at Riverhead.
  • Has made six career Whelen Modified Tour starts at Riverhead with one top five and two top 10 finishes.

Max Zachem (No. 20 Lu-Mac’s Package Store Chevrolet)

*   Sits second in the standings with two top fives and four top 10s in five races.

*   Equaled a career-best with a second place finish at Thompson on June 15.

*   Has made two career starts at Riverhead with a best finish of 12th in August 2015.

Up To Speed:

  • This is the 32nd season of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour racing. The inaugural race was contested March 31, 1985 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
  • The 2015 schedule features 17 points races at nine different tracks across four states.
  • The first five races of the season featured four different winners — Timmy Solomito, Doug Coby (twice), Ron Silk and Bobby Santos III.
  • Doug Coby is the only multi-time winner this season with two wins at Stafford.

 

Source: Jason Christley/NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications