Ted Christopher (No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet) may have come up just short of the victory at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, but he still finds himself in the driver’s seat in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points standings.
Barely.
After rain washed out a trip to Chemung, N.Y., this past weekend, the Tour will resume this Thursday at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway with a makeup date for the Budweiser 150 presented by New England Dodge Dealers. The race was originally slated to run prior to the combination race at Bristol.
Instead, it will serve as the tour’s return to the track. Christopher, from Plainville, Conn., will return to the .625-mile banked oval where he opened the defense of his championship with a victory in April. He will carry a slight 29-point lead over Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Wisk/Snuggle Ford) of Ridgefield, Conn.
A third Connecticut driver, Ryan Preece (No. 3 Mizzy Construction/Reynold’s Auto Wrecking Chevrolet), from Berlin, has won two of the last three races and is just three points behind Christopher.
In fact, the top five are all within 134 points of the lead.
Donny Lia (No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge), who passed Christopher late in the Bristol race for the win, has moved up to fourth. The Jericho, N.Y., driver is 82 points behind Christopher and finished third behind Christopher and Jimmy Blewett (No. 12 TS Haulers Chevrolet) at Thompson in April.
Rowan Pennink (No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet) of Huntington Valley, Pa., is enjoying a breakout season and sits fifth.
Thursday’s visit is particularly significant to the points chase because the next time the tour returns to Thompson, it will be for the season finale in October.
Christopher and the rest of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competitors will get the action going on race day at Thompson with practice at 2 p.m. Time trials are set for 5:30 p.m. and the 150-lap race is scheduled to go green at approximately 8:45 p.m.