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Well yes today is "April Fools Day", but there is no fooling here. Time to get into this months "JUST MY THOUGHTS".
My first topic is not 100% NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour related, but I wanted to bring it up anyways.
1. WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL'S BLAST OFF EVENT - I had the chance to venture down to the Waterford Speedbowl last weekend for the Modified Racing Series season opener. The weather definitely was on the FREEZING side, the track conditions left room for improvement and the racing... well it was Modifieds at least. I hate to burst some peoples bubbles, but the Heat Races to me were nothing more than an extra practice session for the top six finishers. The third heat had some decent racing, but that resulted in wrecked cars and then another six car practice session. The Last Chance Qualifier was really not much more entertaining. The 100-lap main event had SOME decent side-by-side racing mainly between drivers that either currently or have previously raced on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. It seemed to be two different races. There were the top cars(mostly driven by the current or former WMT drivers) and then there was the pack racing side-by-side infront of the leaders trying to stay on the lead lap. There were WAY to many cautions caused by this group of cars. Then there was the "wonderful" track preperations. I know it rained, but do you really think it was a great idea to have all that water left just inches from the racing surface. How much time and money(for Speedy-Dri) was wasted cleaning up that water... well enough that some drivers ran out of fuel. In closing I would have to say it was not the best show and that the Whelen Modified Tour drivers showed who are the best. I do give a HUGE thumbs up to Jacob Dore in the #05, that kid drove his heart out. Someone got an open Whelen Tour ride, give him a call.
2. THE NASCAR WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED TOUR - While they may not be 100% on the level of the Northern Tour, people need to think twice about down playing these drivers and the Tour in whole. I took a look at the entry list for the upcoming event at South Boston (VA) Speedway and realized something. There are 23 cars entered and it is comprised of nearly 100% SOUTHERN teams. Granted we will see more cars at the Northern Tour's season opener next week at Thompson (CT) Speedway, but to me that is a pretty impressive number considering circumstances. In the North we have several tracks that run some type of Modifieds. These tracks provide a training ground for the Tour. In the South they have Bowman Gray Stadium... that is pretty much it. Either run Bowman Gray or run the Tour right off the bat. No Sk Lights, no Thompson Modifeds, no Sunoco Modifieds ect. The Northern Tour was conceived in 1985 as a result of drivers having so many choices of where to compete, the Southern Tour was not. Given the amount of time the Southern Tour has been in existence, I would have to say they are doing pretty well. They are running some impressive places and breeding some great talent. Can anyone say George Brunnhoelzl III or Andy Suess. Just my opinion at least.
3. THE NEW NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR SEASON - I for one am VERY excited for this season to get started. I think this will be one of the most competitive seasons in a long time. Ryan Preece and the #3 team will be looking to improve on last season and take this years Championship. Ted Christopher and the #36 will be looking to return to Championship form. Bobby Santos III will be looking to prove the Mystic Missle #4 team made the right decision by putting him behind the wheel. Todd Szegedy and the #2 team will be guning for Todd's second Championship. We also have the HBR #98 team with young Erick Rudolph, the #46 team with 2009 Southern Tour Champion George Brunnhoelzl III, Eric Beers joins the partnership of DeLange and Blewett in the #76, Jimmy Blewett moves to the #14 and Mike Stefanik looks for yet another Championship in the #16. Will Ron Silk bring the TS Haulers #6 team their first Championship, or maybe James Civalli will reward the HillBilly Racing #79 team with their first. Maybe it will be Eric or Kevin Goodale in the #50 and #58 bringing the Championship to Long Island. I feel any of these combinations just may be hoisting the Championship trophy at the end of the 2010 season. The Rookie battle should also be a good one between Justin Bonsignore in the #51 and Richie Pallai Jr. in the #39. I know just typing this has me even more excited for Thompson Speedway and the ICEBREAKER. See you all there next weekend.
Well that is it for this month. As always you can agree or disagree... I'd like to see your thoughts posted as replies. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and your support of the website. Without you all, this site would be nothing.
-WMT-
-- Edited by WhelenModifiedTour on Friday 2nd of April 2010 12:35:19 PM
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
Well I was there myself on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm on vacation from work so I e-mailed Tom at the bowl to see if any help was needed to get the track ready and he said he could use some help with all the rain on Tuesday it put them a little behind. They pumped everyday, and then Thursday night into Friday it rained again. It gets to a point there's no place to put the water. I think the track crew did a GREAT job getting the track as good as they did. As far as the racing, it was just plain terrible. SK's 60 laps=s 1 Hour MRS 100 laps= 2 Hours, yes there was a lot of clean up, but some of these drivers looked like they had never been in a race car. The lower class racers put on a better show than the Mods did. Maybe because it was so cold or the first race, (I don't know) but I could care less if I every watch another MRS race again. It sounds bad, but that's how I feel. Richie.
BD, I unfortunately could not mention every driver that competes on the Tour. But you are correct, I did overlook one VERY talented driver in Rowan Pennink. I believe that Rowan is another driver that could be hoisting the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship trophy at Thompson Speedway in October. I also must admit that I was pulling for him to win at Waterford. One of the few drivers, other than eventual winner Doug Coby and Jacob Dore, that was not affraid to use the outside groove.
So once again BD, I definitely overlooked him and thank you for bringing it to my attention.
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
