By Lou Modestino
The starting field for Friday’s Whelen All-Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a who’s who of Modified racing, with a combined 10 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships and 132 race wins among the lineup of 20 drivers.
Mike Stefanik, the seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, leads the star-studded field that includes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman, two-time tour titlist Donny Lia and defending champion and NASCAR Next driver Ryan Preece. The race will also feature current championship points leaders of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Doug Coby) and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour (New Hampshire native Andy Seuss).
Friday’s race, a 40-lap shootout split into two 20-lap segments with a partial field inversion at the halfway mark, is set to begin at 2:10 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, July 20 at 2 p.m. ET.
The following is the Whelen All-Star Shootout field, listed in the order they will draw for starting position: Mike Stefanik (Coventry, R.I.): A nine-time NASCAR touring series champion overall, he has eight NHMS wins among his record 74 career Whelen Modified Tour victories.
Donny Lia (Jericho, N.Y.): Two-time tour titlist and 17-time race winner, he has two victories at NHMS.
Ted Christopher (Plainville, Conn.): The 42-time race winner, including five at NHMS, earned the tour crown in 2008.
Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.): The 2010 tour champion has 12 career wins.
Todd Szegedy (Ridgefield, Conn.): The 2003 champion has 18 career wins, including last September’s race at NHMS.
Ryan Preece (Berlin, Conn.): Defending tour champion has nine Whelen Modified Tour wins.
Doug Coby (Milford, Conn.): The 2012 champion has 10 career wins, including two wins in the last three races NHMS.
Ron Silk (Norwalk, Conn.): The 2011 titlist has nine career victories; he won at NHMS in 2011.
Jamie Tomaino (Howell, N.J.): The 1990 champion has three career wins and a record 574 career tour starts.
Andy Seuss (Hampstead, N.H.): Seuss has 18 career NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour wins, including three this season.
Ryan Newman (South Bend, Ind.): Sprint Cup driver moonlights in Whelen Modified action, where he has four wins, including two at New Hampshire.
Chuck Hossfeld (Ransomville, N.Y.): A seven-time race winner on the tour, he’s won three times at NHMS.
Matt Hirschman (Northampton, Pa.): Has a pair of wins in his Whelen Modified Tour career.
Rowan Pennink (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.): Has won at Riverhead and Thompson.
JR Bertuccio (Centereach, N.Y.): Won this season’s southern tour race at Southern National Motorsports Park.
Glen Reen (Wilbraham, Mass.): The 2008 tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year and 2011 Thompson World Series winner.
Cole Powell (Mount Brydges, Ontario): The 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
Eric Goodale (Riverhead, N.Y.): The 2009 Sunoco Rookie of the Year recently earned his first tour win at Riverhead, his home track.
Bryan Dauzat (Alexandria, La.): One of three drivers representing the Whelen Southern Modified Tour in this event.
Patrick Emerling (Orchard Park, N.Y.): The 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
Following Friday’s Whelen All-Star Shootout, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will also be on track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday for the Sunoco 100, which will air on Fox Sports 1 on Friday, July 18, 12 p.m. ET.