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04/04/2011 |
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NASCAR WHELEN
MODIFIED NOTES
Days To The
Icebreaker |
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 The
calendar has turned to April- the unofficial yet
official start of the racing season here in the
Northeast.
Finally, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker
at Thompson is not months or weeks but just days
away. Getting a jump on the season, I was able to
catch up with a few NWMT drivers at Waterford
Speedbowl this last weekend and find out their plans
for 2011.
Ron Yuhas of Groton, CT will be making a return to
the Tour with a full time ride driving for Mike
Murphy. It has been five years since the 2009
Waterford Speedbowl SK Champion ran the entire
schedule. “It actually has been a couple of years in
the making,” said Yuhas about his KLM Motorsports
entry. “I started driving for ‘Murph’ in ’08. He’s
kind of always wanted to go this route but we
started running the SK in ‘08 and then in ‘09 we won
the championship here at Waterford and that is what
kind of when the ball really got rolling.”
 At
the Thompson open practice with two race ready
Troyers, Yuhas was able to run both machines and at
the end of the day was smiling. “Everything went
good- we kind of accomplished what we set out to do-
we pretty much shook both cars down and make sure we
didn’t have any issues.”
“This past winter the final pieces got put into
place, I mean we still have work to do, don’t get me
wrong, but we’re at the point now we can go, be
competitive. Learn- that’s the biggest thing. It’s
going to be a learning curve for all of us. We’re
going to take this as a learning year, take it one
race at a time.”
Yuhas will also maintain his SK modified schedule at
Waterford. While schedule conflicts are few, there
will be a time when Yuhas can’t be in two places at
once. “We’re really thinking that when the conflict
comes, it will be like where are we at on the Tour
and where are we at here (Waterford) and try to make
the right decision- what makes the most sense. First
we have to make the show, be competitive, but then
again, it’s all going to be a big learning year.”
 Doug
Coby has been a Tour part timer for the last five
seasons. That changes this year for the Milford, CT
open wheel driver taking on the full schedule in the
#52.
“It’s funny, my mind set is still that of a part
timer. And as much as I know I have the ride, until
we really start going with the season, race to race,
definitely it will sink in that I have a ride for
all 16 shows. I think that mindset, of a part timer,
is going to be really good because as a part timer
you go out and you have one shot to run good. Full
time, you might start points racing, I’m not too
sure about that,” Coby said smiling. “I’m excited.
It’s pretty cool. You know, for some reason if after
this year I didn’t end up with a full time ride,
being a part timer is not too bad. After all the
part time that I’ve done, I like my mind set now.
When you have to work with different people, drive
different cars, it’s a little more challenging.” Not
leaving his part time mind set completely anytime
soon, Coby will be running his share of shows in the
Valenti Modified Racing Series as well as part time
SK rides at Stafford and Waterford. After setting
fast time then leading his share of the VMRS 100 lap
feature at Waterford Speedbowl this last weekend
finishing second is any indication of his season,
Coby shouldn’t mess with his mind set.
 The
Boehler #3 will turn another page in history this
year with driver Matt Hirschman. “I’m really looking
forward to this,” said Hirschman who was also at
Waterford for the VMRS event. “After two years of
not doing the Tour, it’s good to get back to the
Thompson/ Stafford’s, those places and I’m really
looking forward to working with the ‘3’ guys.
They’re a great group of guys- there is a
relationship that goes back to when my dad drove for
them so really it has been an easy transition so far
working together. Few of the crew guys are new to me
but the core crew is still the same- it’s really
neat that it’s the next generation - it’s a neat
combination and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Tony Hirschman who was on hand ‘watching only’ at
Waterford, drove for the Boehler family from ‘95-98-
four seasons, claiming two championships, back to
back in ‘95 and 96. “I don’t feel pressure at all,”
said Matt. “They’ve always been successful not
matter who drives the car, always been in contention
and I don’t expect it to be any different.” Practice
last week at Thompson? "We did want we wanted to do
and that was to make sure we were comfortable, that
we didn’t a have any problems with the car and we
accomplished that. We weren’t worried about how fast
we were- we’ll worry about that next week. Working
together has been smooth during the off season and I
think that’s just the way we’re going to go.”
“I’m impressed with the combinations that we’re
going to be competing with this year, the
driver/crew chief combinations,” add Matt. “When you
start to look at some of the combinations that have
won - just off the top of my head- Phil is back with
Todd, Brad is back with Teddy, Stefanik and Sly,
Santos with Troyer Bob, and the list really goes on
and on down the line. It’s a very impressive. And
although this is our first season working together,
I expect we will be in contention with those teams.”
 Rowan
Pennink didn’t attend the Thompson practice but was
getting his season off to a jump start in the Gary
Casella VMRS modified Sunday. “We didn’t want to go
up there and just go out in practice and not have
the car how we wanted it. There was no point in
going up there when we’re not ready, try and test
when we don’t have everything we wanted. We’ll go up
there next weekend and get our practice. The guys on
our team will have the car where it needs to be and
hopefully we’ll be right up there.”
“We had an up and down season last year, a bunch of
DNF’s - some were out of our control, some were our
fault. Then we had some bright spots, we won
Riverhead.” Top of Pennink’s list then as you can
imagine is being consistent in 2011. His fifth
season on the Tour, Pennink will have a new face
turning the wrenches with Doug Chouinard heading up
the crew chief duties. “Doug came with us to the
North-South Shootout and then the Turkey Derby. We
worked well together, everything went well.”
While not running the Tour full time, Rob Summers of
Vernon, CT will be ‘doing plenty of racing’. Summers
opened his season at Waterford in the VMRS event in
the Bill Frasco/Guy Ronzoni 01. We’ll most likely
see Summers at a ‘couple of Tour Stafford races,’
and while other Tour events are possible, Summers
will be busy tackling the full ISMA schedule for
2011 which kicks off May 7th in Oswego, NY. “I’m
looking forward to that,” said Summers. “Last year
was part time; it was a brand new deal. This year,
we’ll run the whole deal.”
Mike Stefanik made good use of his time at the
Thompson practice over a week ago, echoing what
several teams set out to accomplish during the
session. “We didn’t go there
 to
put up any numbers,” said Stefanik, the two cars
kept the Coventry, RI driver and the Flamingo
Motorsports team busy. “Basically we were there to
shake down both cars so when we return to Thompson
we can unload at the track and not worry about any
problems. When we show up for practice (at the
Icebreaker), we can really use the time.”
Fortunately we didn’t have anything big happen, just
a small water leak that we could fix, a fitting,
that was good.” “We didn’t put on new tires- we were
using old feature tires. Just from the winter, the
track was kind of dirty but you could tell it was
getting faster. I would imagine by the end of the
day, it was the same old Thompson.” Stefanik is
quick to add that for all the time he has raced,
there is something special about opening day. “I’ve
never had a problem getting excited about the
season. I’m always excited about getting to the
track, a new challenge, starting a new season. I
still like walking through the gate smelling the
fuel, seeing the haulers.”
And a new season it is. Check out Thompson
Speedway’s website for the complete Icebreaker
schedule
http://www.thompsonspeedway.com. |
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Source: Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: April
4 2011 |
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