NEW ENGLAND MOTORSPORTS SOUTH EXTRA
By Lou Modestino
For most drivers, getting sent to the rear of the field would end any chance of picking up a win at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. However, most drivers don’t have the history Ted Christopher has at the track. Christopher was sent to the rear of the field at the start of the race from his pole position after missing the driver’s meeting, and then had to come through the field again after getting involved in a spin on Lap 66, but it didn’t stop the Plainville, Conn., driver from picking up his second consecutive NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win at the .625-mile oval in his home state.
The Budweiser ‘King of Beers’ 150 victory gives him 40 for his career on the Tour with 13 of those coming at Thompson. The win was also his seventh in the last nine Whelen Modified Tour races at the track. Christopher was able to pass Ron Silk on Lap 141 and survive a four-lap sprint to the finish after the final caution flag was given to the field on Lap 142.
Silk held on for second with point leader Rowan Pennink enjoying another consistent run and finishing third. Franklin’s Bobby Santos finished fourth and Eric Berndt, driving the Berkley entry for Bob Caton, completed the top five.Todd Szegedy followed in sixth with Doug Coby seventh and Eric Beers eighth. James Civali and Eric Goodale rounded out the top 10. Matt Hirshman, at the wheel of the Mike Boehler entry of Freetown placed 12th. The next race for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the F.W. Webb 100 on July 16.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Budweiser ‘King of Beers’ 150 Unofficial Results
Thursday At Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 87.164 mph.
2. (9) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
3. (2) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
4. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 150.
5. (7) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
6. (5) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150.
7. (4) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
8. (12) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
9. (23) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 150.
10. (17) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
11. (14) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
12. (13) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150.
13. (8) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
14. (11) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
15. (6) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
16. (18) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150.
17. (21) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150.
18. (20) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150.
19. (16) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 148.
20. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 145.
21. (22) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 143.
22. (26) Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, R.I., Chevrolet, 116, electrical.
23. (27) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 113.
24. (15) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 83, battery.
25. (25) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 64, engine.
26. (10) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 53, fuel pump.
27. (19) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 29, engine.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 4 minutes 32 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.711 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Christopher (120.366 mph, 18.693 seconds)
Caution Flags: 5 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Pennink 1-56; D. Coby 57-75; R. Pennink 76-124; R. Silk 125-141; T. Christopher 142-150.
Standings: 1. R. Pennink, 819; 2. R. Silk, 789; 3. T. Christopher, 786; 4. E. Beers, 709; 5. M. Hirschman, 706; 6. B. Santos, 702; 7. T. Szegedy, 683; 8. M. Stefanik, 669; 9. E. Rudolph, 664; 10. D. Coby, 655.
On the undercard Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, waged a heated battle with Ryan Preece to score a victory in the Sunoco Modifieds. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, was victorious in the Super Model division. His triumph was matched by his brother Tommy O’Sullivan, also of Springfield, who scored his second straight Late Model feature win. Chris Douton of Waterford, CT, earned the victory in a rough-and-tumble Limited Sportsman feature. Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, wired the field to score his first TIS Modified feature win of the season. Danny Field of Deep River, CT, continues to make history at Thompson International Speedway with his sixth consecutive victory in the Mini Stocks. We also noticed that the Sunoco Modifieds, Super Late Models and Late Models ran features with a lot less than a full field of 24 race cars. It can be attributed to the tight economic conditions. We’ve never seen things in the short track racing scene in all of the years that we’ve followed motorsports.
From our observations it appeared that a much larger crowd turned out for the NASCAR event than did the Valenti Modified Racing Series held at the same track two weeks ago. Considering the economy and tight money crunch for most working folks, it was plus for the NASCAR WMT as the admission was $40 while the VMRS event had a $20 ticket. So that tells us that NASCAR’s Modifieds are a bigger fan favorite. Contributing factors to the success of the event was it was close to the Independence Day weekend and the weather was excellent.
We did notice some other key facts in that there was a noticeable absence of younger fans in the so called key 18-34 year old group which is critical to the NASCAR marketing gurus. On that factor, we’ve heard from a source that someone high up in the New England Patriots front office said that NASCAR, on the Sprint Cup level, would find out with the NFL already knows. That that 18-32 age group doesn’t have the money to afford the tickets for top tier sporting events That was said when times were good prior to the current deep economic downturn. The absence of younger fans, who would continue to support the NFL and motorsports events, are even more scarce now. We are not the first to bring up this issue and it’s been debated and discussed by others.
The Bud 150 crowd, for the most part, seemed comprised mostly of senior citizens and middle aged fans, which mirrors and reinforces this theory. You just have to check the grandstands and the concession areas which bears this . Obviously, the older crowd managed to come up with $40 admission for the tickets. We also saw some seniors using canes, walkers and a few in wheel chairs. So draw your own conclusion on what the future holds for short track racing if these young people, in the 18-32 age bracket, don’t attend the racing events and can’t afford the tickets.
NASCAR, and other sanctioning bodies, and the host tracks have to figure a way to make the tickets more affordable for these special events. Non special events are more affordable like Thursday Night Thunder at Thompson and are priced from $10 to the $15/ticket.
We think that if the economic climate gets better, some of it will transfer over to motorsports. But, it’s going to take a lot of hard work by NASCAR on the top tier level and pretty much a similar effort on the short track scene. However, the former seems to be in better shape to make it happen. We’re not so sure that the short tracks will be able to pull it off? Also, there’s still no guarantee that motorsports will get the bounce of more fans buying tickets when things do get better. Some of the pundits in the media don’t feel anything is going change, economy wise, until there’s major political changes in DC. At the earliest it may take until November of 2012 to get things back on upswing.