SZEGEDY TABBED
MODIFIED PRESEASON FAVORITE
Media
Favors 2003 Champion to Regain Title
Todd Szegedy, the 2003 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion, has been
tabbed the favorite to recapture the title in 2008 by media members that
cover the tour.
Szegedy earned 176 points in the preseason ballot and
collected seven first place votes. Matt Hirschman was second in
balloting with 164 points and garnered a first place nod by four voters.
Szegedy had two wins and eight top-fives in 16 NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour races a year ago and finished as the runner-up in driver
points to Donny Lia. The Ridgefield , Conn. , resident captured his
first – and only – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in 2003 on
the strength of a career-high four wins and 14 top-10s. In 94 career
starts, Szegedy has 12 wins and 56 top-10s.
A Northampton , Pa. , native, Hirschman finished third in the 2007
season standings. Although he has yet to reach victory lane in 39 career
starts, Hirschman had a breakout season a year ago in which he
registered 11 top-10s and five top-fives.
Ted Christopher (154 total/5 1st place) of Plainville , Conn.
, Mike Stefanik (141/3) from Coventry , R.I. , and James Civali (109/1)
of Meriden , Conn. , round out the top five in poll points. Christopher,
a championship runner-up in 2002 and 2005, is seeking his first title
while Stefanik will look to hoist the trophy for an eighth time.
Poll vote totals were weighed on a point scale that ranged
from 10-1, with 10 points for first place and one point for 10th place.
The voting pool was made up of members of both print and electronic
media that cover the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
The 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is set to open on
Sunday, April 6, at Thompson ( Conn. ) International Speedway. The
Icebreaker, a 150-lap race, is scheduled to go green at approximately
3:15 p.m., following a pre-race show that will include the honoring of
past NASCAR Modified champions Lia, Frankie Schneider and Richie Evans.
For ticket information, please visit Thompson’s official Web Site
(thompsonspeedway.com).