The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will reach the halway mark this Saturday at Riverhead Raceway . Here are , in my opinion , some of the biggest stories so far this season .

1. ROUGH DRIVING - With few exceptions, this season has featured some of the worst rough driving the Tour has seen in many years . Sevral race cars have become junk due to a drivers enlarged ego and complete lack of disrespect for his fellow competitors . Let us all hope things settle down a bit during the run for the championship .

2. NHIS - Now this is what Modified racing is all about . Anyone who has never seen the Tour compete at NHIS needs to do so . This is what "Bump Drafting" is all about . The "powers that be " at NASCAR need to work hard at getting the Modifieds on more large tracks . Can you say RICHMOND ? With the closing of Nazareth , Loudon is the only large track the Tour now competes at . I personally would LOVE to see the rebirth of the Super Speedway Modified .

3. BREAKOUT SEASONS - In my opinion three drivers who are relatively unknown are showing they belong in the premier Modified racing division . These drivers are the 77 of Doug Coby , the 06 of Steve Whitt , and the 23 of Greg Shivers . All have shown several flashes of brillance thus far on the Tour .

4. WHELEN - The new Title Sponsor of the Tour just continues to prove they support Modified racing . Taking over title sponshorship of both the Northern and Southern Modified Tours was only the beginning . Whelen has also stepped up to sponsor the biggest race of the season , the "American Made 300 " at Martinsville .