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The Chrome
Horn -
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
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07/14/2011
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NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR
QUALIFIES FOR THE F.W. WEBB 100 Ryan Newman Speeds his
Way to the Pole by
Denise DuPont
Qualifying
for the F.W. 100 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
took place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on
Thursday July 14th. There were thirty four teams in
the pits ready to qualify and vie for the Coors
Light Pole. In the end only one of them would lead
the race for the best times to capture the Coors
Light Pole Award. Once again NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series driver Ryan Newman joined the NWMT ranks as
he jumped into a modified to have fun. “I enjoy the
race. I enjoy the 100-lapper part of it. I really
enjoy the race cars and the way that those guys race
here. I got to experience the Whelen Modified race
car in New Smyrna, Bristol and a couple other race
tracks. But they are a lot of fun here the way that
they draft and the way you have to work in the
corners here.”
Newman strapped into the #7NY modified came out
twelfth to qualify and once again he raced to the
top of the charts. Unlike most modified drivers,
racing is Newman’s full time job. He gets to the
track and jumps into the car and races. “I really
cannot complain about the car. It was good enough on
the straight away as it was in the corners. We
typically do this for fun and occasionally win a
race. We come up here to race and have fun with
these guys. We have fun racing with them. It is what
I call playing but it is racing. We have fun doing
it. We all want to win and we all strive to win that
is why we are racing one-hundred laps and not one.
We will go out and try to put on a show for the fans
first and foremost and have fun doing it. We have
fun doing what we do and have a safe race.”
“The groove is actually quite a bit different for
the modified then it is for the cup cars,” Said
Newman after winning the Coors Light Pole Award.
“Working with Bono and those guys, Gary Putnam, they
do a really good job and put a great car together.
It is just an opportunity for us to come up and do
one of the things that we love, just race without
the stress. We have won and we have not won here so
we will just go out and try to do it again.”
Ron Silk missed the NWMT pole by .251 seconds. It
was such a short margin but it was big enough for
him to miss his mark and have to settle for a second
place finish. “The car was pretty good. I tried to
get too much
out
of it the second lap. I cost myself a little bit of
time between turns one and two. We did not have
enough to get there. We will try improve a little
bit more on our car Saturday morning and see what we
can do.” Silk is currently second in points in the
NWMT standings.
Both Ron Silk and Todd Szegedy have one NWMT win
each in the 2011 season. Szegedy started off the
2011 season slow but in the last two races he has
moved from fifteenth to seventh in point standings
for the tour. “I thought that it (qualifying) was
real good. We made a change in the car to pick up
some speed. I really wish that we tried it in
practice earlier today because I think that we could
have improved on it maybe a tenth or a tenth and a
half. I can not say enough about my team. They are
awesome. They are the reason why they are running
good. I am real happy with how we ran.”
Veteran racer Mike Stefanik has not had lady luck on
his side this year. He has not completed a race in
the top five so far this season. When you are use to
running with the leaders you start to get frustrated
and question yourself. Stefanik recently ended a
long dry spell with a modified win in the Valenti
Modified racing Series at Thompson Speedway. This
win was
a great pick me up for Stefanik. He received another
morale booster when he was selected to be in the top
ten drivers in the K&N Pro Series East. Being number
six in the distinguished list of driver’s has added
a sparkle in his eye. Stefanik joined other members
of the elite K&N Pro Series group at the division’s
autograph session. There he shared racing tales and
stories with the retired drivers from the
developmental series. “I think that it is wonderful
to be involved in the top ten of the first
twenty-five years. I was happy for Andy Santerre
being number one. That (K&N Pro Series East) has
been his passion all his life, just like modifieds
are pretty much my passion. I am enjoying the day.”
On Saturday the NWMT will have their turn on the
“Magic Mile” groove.
We will then which one of the drivers makes magic on
the groove to draft their way to the checkered flag.
Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com Posted: July
14, 2011