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Tag: Ted Christopher

  • Doug Coby Wins Whelen Modified Race and Sets Sights on Repeat Championship

    Doug Coby Wins Whelen Modified Race and Sets Sights on Repeat Championship

    In a race where the lead changes were frenetic, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Doug Coby, driver of the No. 52 Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet, made the pass when it counted most and took the checkered flag in the Town Fair 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Although the reigning champ, this was Coby’s first win of the season, his second New Hampshire victory and his eighth career Modified Tour Victory. And after sitting out the last race at Riverhead Raceway due to a qualifying wreck, he is back in championship contention, hoping for a repeat performance.

    “It’s really neat to be in Victory Lane here,” Coby said. “I’ve been really close a lot of times.”

    Coby has most certainly done his homework on New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including trying to plot out the best strategy to get him into the winner’s circle.

    “I’ve really studied the draft here and watched a lot of video when I missed a win or an opportunity to finish in the top-five,” Coby said. “It’s not going to happen all the time but I feel that I have a great understanding of where I need to be positioned at the end of the race.”

    “And it’s just a matter if I can get there,” Coby continued. “Both wins, I wanted to be running second on the last lap because I think that’s the best place to be to get a win here.”

    “It just so happens that we had a caution and we won last race in September here and I think the 3 and the 16 running side by side gave me an opportunity to start moving my car around and not giving them a chance to get a good draft on me,” Coby said. “There were about four lapped cars as well that I could use their air to pull me forward.”

    “Then it was just crazy and chaotic because you’re listening to your spotter and looking everywhere and thinking to yourself, am I doing the right thing?” Coby continued. “I’m coming to the white flag and saying I’m not going to win this thing.”

    “ So, just one of those deals where I don’t know how the heck it happens but you’re in.”

    Coby’s victory was especially sweet after having wrecked out of the race at Riverhead the previous race weekend. The driver of the No. 52 actually had to sit on the sidelines and watch as he had no backup car available to him.

    “We didn’t come here with Riverhead on our minds,” Coby said. “We came here with defending our race win at Loudon on our minds.”

    “I knew in practice that we have every bit as good of a car that we had in September,” Coby continued. “So, that gave me a little extra confidence.”

    Coby also hopes that his win, along with the Modifieds being on one of the biggest stages at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will call more attention to the series. He said that the Whelen Tour has the best combination of drivers of all different ages and capabilities.

    “Loudon’s still the biggest race on the schedule in terms of putting the Modifieds out in front of the public,” Coby said. “I hope when I win and get to do interviews, that it makes other people interested  in seeing the Modifieds and learning more about our drivers and the personalities that we have.”

    “Teddy (Christopher) is in his 50’s, I’m in my 30’s and Ryan (Preece) is 22 and that’s who was battling for the win out there,” Coby said. “I think that says something about the skill level and our series and for Ryan, the maturity that he possesses and of course Ted, the knowledge that he has.”

    “And I guess I’m somewhere in the middle.”

    While Coby does have thoughts of the championship repeat on his mind, he acknowledged that he and his team have work to do to be able to truly compete.

    “I think we have a way to go before I assess the championship fully,” Coby said. “I have to get through the August Bristol race.”

    “If you’re anywhere in an arm’s length distance of the championship, then you still have a shot.”

    Coby assessed the championship competition and shared his opinion that young driver Ryan Preece is the one to beat for that honor.

    “Obviously the 16 team of Ryan Preece has it going on this year,” Coby said. “They changed a motor this week and he went out and led most of the second half of the race.”

    “Ryan is the strongest competitor hands down,” Coby continued. “But there are eight of us out there really and it’s the same eight cars battling for the top spots.”

    “For us, it’s a matter of getting back to where we’re at,” Coby said. “We won the championship last year for a reason and we’re in Loudon victory lane for a reason.”

    “We’re coming back and we’re not going to let it be easy on anybody.”

    Coby also gave a nod to another Ryan in the field, Cup competitor Ryan Newman, who finished fifth in his No. 7 Menards/Wix Filters Chevrolet.

    “Ryan Newman did not time trial well but then Ryan Newman blew right by me before the break,” Coby said. “Obviously they have tremendous equipment and he is a Cup driver so he knows what he’s doing here.”

    “It’s great to have him in our field,” Coby continued. “They take it very serious and want to win races.”

    “And I’m sure they’re just as unhappy as every other Modified team that didn’t win today.”

    Ted Christopher, veteran driver of the No. 3 Silver Dollar Construction/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet, came in second and Ryan Preece, who was also making his debut in the Nationwide race, finished third in his No. 16 East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford.

    “Our cars usually do put on a show,” Christopher said. “Just came up a little short.”

    “Really want to thank the guys for giving me a car capable to win here in a bunch of years,” Christopher continued. “The last cautions just brought everybody closer but it was the three of us at the end.”

    “Anytime you have a day where you can take the car off the trailer, run up front and lead laps is a good day,” Preece said. “We had a head gasket that went in practice, so we had to swap motors.”

    “For them to put that back up motor and time trial twelfth, I knew we had a good race car,” Preece continued. “We were fourth on that restart and then made our way up front in the top three.”

    “It’s great to be a part of this team and I’m looking forward to running 200 laps in that Nationwide race.”

    Andy Seuss and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five and Woody Pitkat, Eric Berndt, Chuck Hossfeld, Richie Pallai Jr., and Jamie Tomaino completed the top-10 finishers in the Town Fair Tire 100.

     

  • Countdown to Daytona: 80

    Countdown to Daytona: 80

    In the countdown to Daytona, there are just 80 more days until the green flag waves. While there have been many drivers in the No. 80 car, including Dave Blaney, Joe Ruttman, Mike Bliss, Randy LaJoie, Carl Long, Ted Christopher, Mario Gosselin, Andy Hillenburg and Aric Almirola, the driver with the most time behind the wheel of that car number was without a doubt Jimmy Horton.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Curtis Palmer/Wikipedia” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Horton, a driver born and bred in New Jersey, raced in 48 NASCAR Cup races in eight seasons. He was behind the wheel of the No. 80 for 22 races, ranging from 1984 to 1994.

    “It was a good deal,” Horton said of his ride in the No. 80 car. “We started out in the No. 85 and then turned it over to the No. 80 because we couldn’t have No. 85 when we ran Cup.”

    “We started out running Cup with it but backed off a little bit to learn a little more,” Horton continued. “Then we went ARCA racing and we did real well. We won a total of eight ARCA races, five in a row.”

    As with many race car drivers, Horton started racing on dirt tracks close to home. He first started racing in 1974 in Middletown, New Jersey on Saturday nights and at Nazareth, Pennsylvania on Sundays, winning track championships at both tracks.

    Horton’s first asphalt race was at Daytona, which was also his first time ever in the draft.

    “I ran a Busch car in 1985 at Daytona,” Horton said. “We qualified 19th and ended up breaking a motor early. But that was my first real asphalt race that I ran and my first time in the draft.”

    “Bobby Allison helped us,” Horton continued. “At the time there were short fields in the Cup cars. Our first car was a Ford Thunderbird.”

    Horton also ran Dover and Pocono in the Cup series and then went ARCA racing. His first race in ARCA was again at Daytona, where he took the checkered flag.

    Yet in spite of his ARCA success, Horton was unable to return to the Cup Series on a full-time basis. As he described it, he was caught in the ‘middle generation’ of NASCAR drivers.

    “I had my foot in the door with the Cup deal and it was going to take off,” Horton said. “But when I was trying to get in, all the owners wanted older, experienced drivers.”

    “I was 33 years old when Jeff Gordon comes in at 20 years old,” Horton continued. “And everyone jumped over that whole one crop.”

    “I wasn’t alone but they jumped over that whole group and went to the younger drivers,” Horton said. “That middle generation got skipped.”

    In addition to running the No. 80 car, Horton is also known for two other reasons. First, many fans may recognize that he subbed for an injured Darrell Waltrip. The other reason for Horton’s notoriety is for two major crashes in which he was involved, one where he flew off the track at Talladega and the other a major wreck at Atlanta.

    “I drove for Darrell (Waltrip) when he got hurt and I ran real good,” Horton said. “I ran three races and Greg Sacks drove the car until Darrell was able to get back in it.”

    “I’ve had my share of crashes,” Horton said. “I was conscious for that whole time at Talladega when I crashed right off the race track.”

    “I started to get out, but the State trooper put his hand on my helmet and told me I better sit there a minute,” Horton continued. “I told him I’d had about all I could stand and I was getting out.”

    “Two years later, I wrecked at Atlanta and that one hurt me pretty good,” Horton aid. “I had a cracked skull, two broken shoulder blades, and a broken wrist. That one hurt me.”

    “But we mended good and went racing again.”

    At age 55 years, Horton is still honing his craft. For the 2011 season he ran close to 60 races, at his regular dirt track on Saturday nights and some select special races, winning one race and finishing fifth in points.

    “I’ve always said when I don’t win a race in a year, I’ll retire,” Horton said. “I’ve been lucky the past two years that I’ve won a race a year, so I’ll keep going.”

    “Next year, we’re just going to run selected races and I’m looking for a ride to run a full schedule,” Horton continued. “Right now I work building racing radiators and all parts for the race cars.”

    But for Horton, sitting behind the wheel of the No. 80 car was one of the most special times in his life.

    “The 80 car was a real good deal,” Horton said. “The 80 number has been good to me.”

  • Ron Silk Makes Whelen Modified Magic with Third Win

    Ron Silk, driver of the No. 6 TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet, made three times a charm with a win in the New Hampshire 100 on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Silk, from Norwalk, Connecticut, started the race from the pole.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”239″][/media-credit]This was Silk’s second career victory at the ‘Magic Mile’, his third win of the season and his seventh career win.

    “The car was really great right from the beginning,” Silk said. “After we didn’t make any adjustments at the pit stop, I was happy with the car. It got a little bit better throughout the race and I was able to get up there to the lead.”

    Silk said that pit strategy was important throughout the race, especially with the green flag runs, as well as the red flag rain delay.

    “It was definitely the right time to pit,” Silk said. “It went green for awhile. It would have been pretty tough to wait longer to take tires and get back through the field.”

    “I was confident,” Silk continued. “We’ve had a good car here all year.”

    Todd Szegedy, behind the wheel of the No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford, finished second. This was Szegedy’s second win at New Hampshire and his 14th top-10 in 19 starts at New Hampshire.

    “Second is a phenomenal finish for us,” Szegedy said. “But we certainly didn’t have a second place car.”

    “We’ve got our homework to do,” Szegedy continued. “It’s fortunate we got second place but why were we so far off and basically struggled. It was a struggle for me to stay in the top five.”

    “That green-white-checkered, we started fourth,” Szegedy continued. “I had momentum and I knew I could push Ronnie. But I had absolutely zero for him.”

    The third place finisher was Justin Bonsignore, from Holtsville, New York. The driver of the No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet scored his best finish ever at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Bonsignore was the 2010 Sunoco Rookie of the Year on the Whelen Modified Tour. He finished fourth in August, so this third place finish was also his career best.

    “It was pretty eventful,” Bonsignore said. “The air cleaner came off about 20 laps in and we rode around until the yellow came out for the rain.”

    “We replace that and took tires then and that put us a little bit behind,” Bonsignore continued. “We stayed out and the car was good.”

    “Luckily that last restart, we mixed it up on that last lap and came home third.”

    “We’re only a second year team,” Bonsignore said. “I’m really proud of what we’ve built.”

    “To be contending for wins is really cool to do.”

    As is tradition at New Hampshire, the race had its share of drama. One source of drama was the weather, with sprinkles breaking out on the track, delaying the race.

    The other source of drama was for the only Cup driver in the competition. After his win disqualification at the last Modified race, Ryan Newman, who qualified fourth, blew the engine of his No. 77 Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet.

    Newman finished a disappointing 28th out of 29 spots, after the tell-tale smoke flowed from his race car on lap 60 of the race.

    The final drama of the race had to do with the points battle for the Whelen Modified Series championship. Szegedy came into the race leading the points by 12 points over Silk.

    “It’s a lot of fun, especially battling with a guy like Todd Szegedy,” Silk said. “He’s a good friend of mine.”

    “I kind of kept tabs on him throughout the race today and when I saw he was second, I said ‘Damn, I’m not going to gain too many points today.’

    “It’s going to go right down to the wire it looks like,” Silk continued. “It will go right down to the world series there at Thompson (International Speedway).”

    “This is how you win a championship,” Szegedy, the other points challenger, said. “You’ve got to use your head, stay out of trouble, and I’m being a nice guy because I want to win that championship.”

    After Silk, Szegedy and Bonsignore, rounding out the top five were Ted Christopher, driver of the No. 36 Al-Lee Installations, and Eric Beers, behind the wheel of the No. 45 Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett, Inc.

    Erick Rudolph, Zane Zeiner, Mike Stefanik, Matt Hirschman and Eric Goodale rounded out the top ten. Stefanik, who finished eighth, was the ‘comeback kid’ after spinning and going a lap down early in the race.