As the most successful competitor in the 25 years of the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour, there are few milestones that Mike Stefanik has yet to
attain. On Sunday in the Made In America Whelen 300 at Martinsville
Speedway, Stefanik crossed two more off the list.
Stefanik (No. 16 Diversified Metals/Sanderson-MacLeod Pontiac)
wrestled the lead away from Todd Szegedy (No. 2 Wisk/Snuggle Ford) on Lap
180 and kept it through two late restarts to earn the 70th victory of his
illustrious career in the combination race with the NASCAR Whelen Modified
and Whelen Southern Modified Tours. A seven-time Whelen Modified Tour
champion, and the winningest driver in Tour history, Stefanik also notched
his fifth career win at the 0.526-mile oval on Sunday, a Tour record at the
historic facility. With the victory, Stefanik became the eighth driver in
NASCAR history to reach the 70-win plateau in a series, and the first driver
to do it outside of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
To get to Victory Lane on Sunday, the No.16 team used a fuel
mileage strategy to gain some track position, and Stefanik made the move pay
off. In this combination race, teams were not allowed to take tires and fuel
in the same pit stop, unlike the Tour’s regular events.
“We put tires on when everybody else did, but chose not to come
back around and put fuel in,” Stefanik said. “Right from the time I time
trialed, I was in conservation mode. I drove in high gear under every
caution, I never really cleaned my tires off until the very last minute on
restarts, and just conserved fuel constantly all day. I don’t know how much
is left, but it was enough.”
The win for Stefanik, combined with his fifth place effort at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 19, has helped to rescue as season that
looked to be spiraling out of control. Entering the New Hampshire 100 the
No. 16 team had suffered four-straight DNFs, and had slipped from fourth to
10th in the season standings. With consecutive top-five efforts, Stefanik is
back up to sixth in points.
“We’ve been down pretty low a big part of this season,” Stefanik
said. “I’ve got to thank Sly [crew chief Stan Szaban] and everybody on this
Flamingo Motorsports team, they worked their tails off
Following Stefanik and Szegedy in the top 10 was Ryan Preece, pole
winner Ron Silk, Burt Myers, Kevin Goodale, George Brunnhoelzl III, Donny
Lia, Eric Goodale and Jamie Tomaino. Sunday was the first time that both
Goodale brothers had finished in the top 10 in the same race.
By virtue of being the highest-finishing car from the Whelen
Southern Modified Tour in the race, Myers earned a victory for that Tour,
but disappointment was evident in his post-race comments.
“Track position was critical,” Myers said. “I think I was probably
better on the first set of tires. Being the winner of the [Whelen Southern
Modified Tour] race is good, but I wanted the Grandfather Clock this time.”
Sunday marked the fifth year in a row that the two Tours have run
in combination at Martinsville . In each case, it has been a driver from the
Whelen Modified Tour that has taken the checkered flag. The two Tours also
ran a combination race at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time in
August, which was won by Lia.
Ted Christopher, the Whelen Modified Tour points leader coming into
the race, suffered mid-race engine troubles and settled for a 30th-place
finish, 67 laps down. His finish, combined with Lia’s eight-place effort,
closed Lia to within just one point of the championship lead with two races
remaining in the season. Preece is just 12 back of Christopher, and Szegedy
is fourth, 37 points out of first.
Brunnhoelzl increased his lead in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour
standings to 140 points over Andy Seuss, who finished 21st on Sunday, 20
laps off the pace. Two races also remain in the Whelen Southern Modified
Tour’s 2009 campaign.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour runs its second-to-last race
Sunday, Oct. 4 with the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford (Conn .) Motor
Speedway, while the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour holds its
penultimate race with the Lighting Fast 150 at Ace Speedway in Altamahaw,
N.C., on Friday, Oct. 2.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour/Whelen Southern
Modified Tour Combination Event
Made In American Whelen 300 Unofficial Results
Sunday At Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville , Va.
Lap length: 0.526 miles
(Start position in
parentheses)
1. (6) Mike Stefanik, Coventry , R.I. , Pontiac , 200 laps,
68.091 mph, $9,534.
2. (19) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield , Conn. , Ford, 200, $6,284.
3. (8) Ryan Preece, Berlin , Conn. , Chevrolet, 200, $4,534.
4. (4) Ron Silk, Norwalk , Conn. , Chevrolet, 200, $5,634.
5. (3) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 200, $3,250.
6. (12) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200, $2,611.
7. (9) George Brunnhoelzl, III, West Babylon , N.Y. , Ford,
200, $2,150.
8. (5) Donny Lia, Jericho , N.Y. , Dodge, 200, $2,634.
9. (18) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 199, $2,734.
10. (23) Jamie Tomaino, Howell , N.J. , Chevrolet, 198, $2,409.
11. (22) Frank Fleming, Mount Airy, N.C., Pontiac , 197, $2,200.
12. (15) Ed Flemke, Jr, Southington , Conn. , Chevrolet, 197, $2,284.
13. (11) James Civali, Meriden , Conn. , Pontiac , 196, $2,259.
14. (31) Jake Marosz, Middletown , Conn. , Chevrolet, 189, $2,784.
15. (10) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon , Conn. , Chevrolet, 186, $3,777.
16. (2) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley , Pa. , Chevrolet, 185,
$2,209.
17. (17) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 185, accident, $1,650.
18. (33) Johnny Bush, Huntington Station , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 182, accident,
$2,059.
19. (40) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 182, $2,034.
20. (25) Woody Pitkat, Stafford , Conn. , Chevrolet, 181, ignition, $2,109.
21. (16) Andy Seuss, Hampstead , N.H. , Dodge, 180, accident, $1,550.
22. (28) Glen Reen, Wilbraham , Mass. , Chevrolet, 180, $2,134.
23. (13) Eric Beers, Northampton , Pa. , Chevrolet, 175, accident, $2,009.
24. (24) John Smith, Mount Airy , N.C. , Chevrolet, 172, accident, $1,450.
25. (20) Jonathan Brown, Winston-Salem , N.C. , Chevrolet, 172, accident,
$1,425.
26. (30) Jay Foley, Stuart , Va. , Chevrolet, 161, steering, $1,400.
27. (21) Buddy Emory, Petersburg , Va. , Chevrolet, 160, engine, $1,375.
28. (27) Ken Heagy, Calverton , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 138, $1,784.
29. (1) Brian Loftin, Lexington , N.C. , Chevrolet, 138, brakes,
$1,700.
30. (14) Ted Christopher, Plainville , Conn. , Chevrolet, 133, $2,484.
31. (29) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 133, $1,784.
32. (35) Brad Robbins, Winston-Salem , N.C. , Chevrolet, 129, $1,350.
33. (38) Wade Cole, Riverton , Conn. , Chevrolet, 124, $1,784.
34. (26) Gene Pack, Walkertown , N.C. , Chevrolet, 78, accident, $1,350.
35. (34) Bryan Dauzat, Midland , N.C. , Chevrolet, 33, accident, $1,350.
36. (7) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 33,
accident, $1,784.
37. (37) J R Bertuccio, Centereach , N.Y. , Chevrolet, 29, accident, $1,350.
38. (32) Zach Brewer, Winston-Salem , N.C. , Chevrolet, 27, accident,
$1,350.
39. (39) Thomas Neal, Walkertown , N.C. , Chevrolet, 27, accident, $1,350.
40. (36) Greg Butcher, Mocksville , N.C. , Chevrolet, 27, accident, $1,350.
41. (42) Tim Brown, Cana , Va. , Dodge, 7, steering, $1,350.
42. (43) Jeremy Stoltz, Winston-Salem , N.C. , Pontiac , 7, handling,
$1,350.
43. (41) Jamie Tomaino, Howell , N.J. , Chevrolet, 2, steering, $1,350.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 32 minutes 42 seconds
Margin of Victory: .197 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Silk (99.695 mph, 18.994 seconds)
Caution Flags: 10 for 60 laps.
Lead Changes: 4 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Loftin 1-3; R. Pennink 4-80; C. Pasteryak 81-165; T.
Szegedy 166-179; M.
Stefanik 180-200.
NWMT Top 10 Driver Points: 1. Christopher, 1681; 2. Lia, 1680; 3.
Preece, 1669; 4. Szegedy, 1644; 5. Pennink, 1562; 6. Stefanik, 1405; 7.
Beers, 1390; 8. Pasteryak, 1386; 9. Pitkat, 1372; 10. Flemke, 1357.
NWSMT Top 10 Driver Points: 1. Brunnhoelzl, 2025; 2. Seuss, 1885; 3.
B. Myers, 1818; 4. Loftin, 1788; 5. Fleming, 1742; 6. J. Myers, 1696; 7.
Smith, 1653; 8. Pack, 1612; 9. Emory, 1602; 10. Miller, 1457.
Next Race:
NWMT: CARQUEST Fall Final – Stafford ( Conn. ) Motor Speedway , Oct. 4;
NWSMT: Lighting Fast 150 – Ace Speedway , Altamahaw , N.C. , Oct. 2.
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