Rescheduled Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200 Up Next
Ryan Preece has been good everywhere the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has raced this year, but bullrings are where the season points leader really excels. It will be a tall task for another competitor to derail his attempt to repeat in the Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200 on July 27 at Monadnock Speedway.
Preece, from Berlin, Conn., has won the last three races in a row that the Whelen Modified Tour has contested at quarter-mile ovals, and led 70-percent of the laps en route to those checkered flags. In last year’s Whitcomb 200 he led green-to-checkered in the No. 16 Flamingo Motorsports Ford.
In nine career Whelen Modified Tour races between Monadnock and Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway – the other quarter-mile on the schedule – Preece has four wins and an average finish of fifth.
All of those numbers don’t bode well for the rest of the field heading to the rural Winchester bullring this week, but there will in fact be plenty of qualified challengers.
Ted Christopher won the Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Monadnock in 2010, and after being in contention to win in each of the previous two events this year, he and the No. 3 Boehler Racing Enterprises team are performing at their highest level so far this season. A 21-race winless drought also provides plenty of motivation for the third-winningest driver in tour history.
Like Christopher, there is another pair of drivers that have been successful at Monadnock in recent seasons that are looking to get off the schnied. Todd Szegedy has had a disappointing season to this point, compounded by a 22-race winless drought, but he won at Monadnock in 2011 and finished third there last year. Meanwhile, Justin Bonsignore enters the event following consecutive DNF’s, but he’s utilized his Riverhead roots to find success at Monadnock in the past, where he’s posted an average finish of fifth in the previous three events.
Then there’s defending tour titlist Doug Coby, who may have relaunched his bid to retain the crown when he won last time out at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and jumped to third in the standings behind Preece and Rowan Pennink. While Coby has yet to reach Victory Lane in 10 career starts on a quarter-mile track, he finished second at Monadnock last season, and has had a fast car the last two visits to Riverhead, just without the results to show for it.
One advantage the rest of the field has on Preece heading into this week is that, in the eight all-time Whelen Modified Tour races at Monadnock, there has yet to be a driver win more than once.
Stay tuned to see which trend continues.
RACE: Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200
PLACE: Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, N.H.
DATE: Saturday, July 27
TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .25-mile, banked asphalt oval
2012 POLESITTER/WINNER: Ryan Preece
EVENT SCHEDULE: Practice 1:30-2:30 p.m., Qualifying 4 p.m., Driver Autograph Session 6 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Michelle Cloutier, (603) 239-4067, speedway@webryders.net
TRACK TWITTER: @monadnockspeed
EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #Whitcomb200
NASCAR CONTACT: Jason Cunningham, 704-201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com, Twitter: @NASCAR_NE
FAST FACTS:
The Race: The Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200 at Monadnock Speedway will be the seventh race of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. It will be the lone appearance for the tour at Monadnock, but the second of three races in the state of New Hampshire.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field is 28 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 200 laps (50 miles).
The Track: One of two “bullrings” that the Whelen Modified Tour races at, Monadnock is a high-banked quarter-mile asphalt track. Monadnock held five tour races from 1986-90 and returned to the schedule in 2010.
Race Winners: Each of the eight all-time races at Monadnock have produced different winners. Ken Bouchard won the inaugural event in 1986 and Ryan Preece took the checkered flag a year ago.
Pole Winners: There have been seven different pole winners in the eight races at Monadnock, with Bouchard the lone driver with two. Preece took the pole in last year’s event with a track-record lap of 12.313 seconds (73.082 mph).
MONADNOCK RACE NOTES:
Two in a Row in the Granite State, and with Town Fair Tire: With the rescheduling of the Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will have back-to-back races in the state of New Hampshire for the first time since the 2007 season. The tour last raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on July 13, and up next is Monadnock Speedway in Winchester. In 2007, an event at Twin State Speedway in Claremont followed the June event at Loudon. This week’s trip to Monadnock also give the Whelen Modified Tour two races in a row with Town Fair Tire sponsorship as the Loudon event was the Town Fair Tire 100.
Preece Growing Lead Entering Halfway Point: After six of 14 events on the 2013 schedule, Ryan Preece has forged a 44-point lead atop the Whelen Modified Tour standings. The last time the margin has been that wide was at the conclusion of the 2011 season when Ron Silk finished 76 points ahead of Todd Szegedy. Since they were tied following the second race of the year, Preece has increased his lead on Rowan Pennink in each of the last four events.
Christopher Gets Another Milestone Win: Ted Christopher added to his legend at Stafford (Conn) Motor Speedway last week when he registered his 100th career win in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified division. Christopher earned his 100th win at Stafford across all divisions and series in 2008. On Friday night his triumph in the Coors Light Xtra Mart Xtra D 80 was his 121st at the half mile. Of those 121, 12 have come in Whelen Modified Tour action.
Preece Carries Over Winning Ways to Karts: Preece isn’t just chasing checkered flags in Modifieds. On July 17 Preece teamed with media member Matt Dillner to win the inaugural NASCAR Next vs. Media Karting Challenge at GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville, N.C. The event was part of an ongoing promotional schedule that Preece will participate in as a member of the NASCAR Next program.
HOME TRACKS: Tight Race In Granite State
It’s a tight race for the 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series New Hampshire state title. Through the latest national points update on July 16, Tyler Jarvenpaa led Adam Norton by four points and Bill Kimball Jr. by six atop the Granite State standings. All three compete weekly at Monadnock Speedway. In fact, the top five and seven of the top eight all come from the quarter mile’s headlining Sportsman Modified division. Jarvenpaa drives for car owner Ken Bouchard, a former longtime northeast Modified standout competitor.
LAST TIME OUT: Loudon
The sixth race of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 2013 season took place on July 13 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Here are some highlights from the Town Fair Tire 100:
· Doug Coby returned to his winning ways and found himself in Victory Lane for the first time in 2013, and for the second race in a row at the “Magic Mile.”
· Ryan Preece’s three-race winning streak was snapped, but he finished third while Ted Christopher had his best result of the season in second place.
· New Hampshire native Andy Seuss finished fourth for his best result in 29 career northern tour starts.
· Jimmy Blewett was the Coors Light Pole Award winner, but had to start at the rear of the race after he wrecked on his second qualifying lap. He finished 21st.
· The race featured 27 official lead changes, the most for any Whelen Modified Tour race since there were 28 – also at NHMS – on July 15, 2006.
NEXT TIME OUT: Stafford
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to action on Friday, Aug. 3 for the third of four events at Stafford Motor Speedway, and the second of two night races at the historic half mile. The 23rd Annual CARQUEST 150 will be the second leg of a three-race CARQUEST promotion for Whelen Modified Tour races at Stafford this year where, if the same driver wins all three races, they’ll take home a $25,000 bonus. Bobby Santos was victorious in the first leg – the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler – on April 28. Doug Coby won this event last year.