The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has yet to complete two-thirds of its 2015 schedule, but the developing championship chase has already become the dominant storyline.
Entering Wednesday’s Budweiser King of Beers 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, only four points separate championship leader Ryan Preece and second place Woody Pitkat. With six races remaining, reigning titlist Doug Coby and 2003 champion Todd Szegedy are also within range at 17 and 34 points out, respectively.
The competition for the crown has been magnified since, on a race-to-race basis, these drivers are going head-to-head for checkered flags as well as the championship. All four are finding that opportunities to separate from, or gain ground on, each other are hard to come by.
Eight of the nine events have been won by Preece, Pitkat, Coby and Szegedy, and they’ve had to fend each other off to get to Victory Lane. Of the 27 podium places across the nine races, 19 are owned by those four.
Preece, Coby and Pitkat filled the top three positions last week at Stafford Motor Speedway. Only by virtue of his bonus points for the win and laps led was Preece able to regain the points lead from Pitkat, who was three ahead entering the race.
The scene now shifts to Thompson, where all of the contenders but Pitkat have career wins. With runner-up finishes in two of his last five Thompson races, Pitkat may be primed for a breakthrough victory – and another change atop the standings.
| RACE: | Budweiser King of Beers 150 |
|---|---|
| PLACE: | Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park |
| DATE: | Wednesday, Aug. 12 |
| TIME: | 9 p.m. ET (approx.) |
| WEBCAST: | Live on FansChoice.tv |
| TRACK LAYOUT: | .625-mile, high-banked asphalt oval |
| 2014 POLESITTER: | Donny Lia |
| 2014 WINNER: | Justin Bonsignore |
| EVENT SCHEDULE: | Practice 4-5 p.m., Qualifying 7 p.m., Driver Autograph Session 8 p.m. |
| TRACK CONTACTS: | Theresa Condict and Russ Dowd, 860-923-2280, oval@thompsonspeedway.com |
| TRACK TWITTER: | @ThompsonSpdwy |
| EVENT HASHTAG: | #Bud150 |
| NASCAR CONTACT: | Jason Cunningham, 704-201-6658, jcunningham@nascar.com, Twitter: @NASCAR_NE |
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