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| Doug Coby continues to pace the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour field as they head back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Separated by just 36 points at the top, the top three drivers in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings are putting on a show as the season roars through its stretch run into the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, this weekend. In each of the last two races on the schedule, Doug Coby, Justin Bonsignore and Timmy Solomito have occupied all three of the podium spots at the checkered flag. Coby and Solomito have four wins apiece this season — including Coby’s win at Oswego Speedway and Solomito’s win at Seekonk Speedway in the two most recent races — with Bonsignore sandwiched between the two of them. Coby, of Milford, Connecticut, leads Bonsignore by 20 points and Solomito by 37. Coby, Bonsignore and Solomito finished 1-2-3 at Oswego, and then the trio finished 3-2-1, respectively, at Seekonk. In the race at Riverhead, prior to the stop at Oswego, Bonsignore and Solomito finished first and second. Nobody is giving an inch, and they now take the championship battle to Loudon, one of the few tracks on the schedule where wild point swings are common. Last season, for instance, Coby — who has four career Loudon wins — qualified on the pole but was caught up in a mid-race accident and finished 30th. Even though Bonsignore and Solomito are searching for their first wins on the largest oval on the schedule, everyone knows that Loudon is once again key to any serious championship aspirations.
The Race: The F.W. Webb 100 is the 15th of 17 championship points events in the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. It is the second and final race of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Procedure: The starting field is 36 cars, including provisionals. The first 32 cars will qualify through the two-lap time trial qualifying process while the remaining four spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 100 laps, spanning 105.8 miles, and there will be a 5-minute break at or near Lap 51. The Track: This is the 65th race for the Whelen Modified Tour at the 1.058-mile slightly banked oval, dating back to September 1990. The Tour has held two races annually at the the track every year since 2001, with the lone exception coming in 2011 when three races were contested at the track. Race Winners: There have been 20 different winners in the 64 previous Whelen Modified Tour races at Loudon. Mike Stefanik leads all drivers with eight career NHMS wins. Pole Winners: There have been 26 different pole winners at NHMS, led by Jan Leaty with six career poles. Doug Coby has four career starts from the top spot. F.W. Webb 100 Notes: Coby Is ‘Magic’: Three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and current point leader Doug Coby of Milford, Connecticut, has won the last two Tour races at ‘The Magic Mile,’ including the most recent race at the track in July. In this race last year, Coby started on the pole and led 88 laps en route to the victory. He has won four of the last eight races held at New Hampshire dating back to this race in 2012. Not Much History: While New Hampshire Motor Speedway held it’s first Whelen Modified Tour race in 1990, Timmy Solomito doesn’t have a lot of experience with the track. Solomito, of Islip, New York, has made five career starts at Loudon and has yet to post a top-10 finish. He has three consecutive finishes of 12th at NHMS dating back to the start of last season. But, Solomito’s breakout season this year hasn’t slowed — he earned his first career Tour win at Thompson in the season opener in April, and he’s currently tied with Coby for the series lead with four wins this season, including the most recent race at Seekonk. Kryptonite: New Hampshire Motor Speedway hasn’t been kind to Justin Bonsignore’s championship hopes over the years. The Holtsville, New York, driver has made 14 career starts at NHMS with only three top fives and five top 10s. The good news for Bonsignore is that recent history suggests he’s turning a corner — he finished fifth in this race a year ago and was eighth in the July event this summer. In 2014, Bonsignore finished third in the final Tour standings, his best career championship finish, but he finished 25th in this race that year to derail his title hopes. He’s An All-Star: Bobby Santos III only has one official win this season, at Thompson in the second race of the season there, but he also has a win at Loudon. Santos won the annual Whelen All-Star Shootout at NHMS in July, the day before the New England 100 points-paying event. Santos might be on an upswing heading into Loudon, where he has one win and 10 top 10s in 20 career starts, after finishing fifth in the most recent race at Seekonk. That finish was the first top five for the Franklin, Massachusetts, driver since finishing third at Thompson in August. Winning: Doug Coby, Timmy Solomito and Justin Bonsignore are the only Whelen Modified Tour drivers with multiple wins this season, with Coby and Solomito having Tour-leading four wins through the first 14 races. Bonsignore has two wins, both in the second half of the season. Ron Silk, Bobby Santos III, Jimmy Blewett and Eric Goodale won the other events on the schedule. NASCAR Home Tracks: New Hampshire plays host to K&N Pro Series East annually While this weekend’s F.W. Webb 100 is a companion event to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway also plays host to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East once each summer. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races there twice a season. |
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Whelen Mod Tour News & Notes: NHMS
Posted by Wayne G. Barber
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