Wining another Fall Final at Stafford would suit Millis’ Bobby Santos( fine this weekend Credit: NASCAR Home Track photo.)

By Lou Modestino  (for Sat. Sept. 30)

Bobby Santos of Millis comes to Stafford Speedway for Sunday’s October 1^st NAPA Fall Final on the heels of a big win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  With winning momentum on his side, Santos is looking to recreate the magic he enjoyed at Stafford from 2010-2014 when he won 6 times there, including 3 NAPA Spring Sizzlers and 2 NAPA Fall Finals.

“Obviously a big win gets the whole team excited, and I’m looking forward to the next race,” said Santos.  “I love Stafford and I love racing there.  I’ve had past success there but lately it’s been a little dry.  Hopefully, we can make up for that this weekend.”

With Santos and the #44 Tinio Corp. team of Bellingham running a reduced schedule this season, they can afford to throw caution to the wind and do everything they can in order to get to victory lane, whereas other drivers might have to be a bit conservative with their race strategies.

“We’re coming to win the race,” said Santos. “We’re definitely not one of the guys that has to be concerned with strategy and pit when everyone else pits.  We just have to make the best strategy to win the race and not the best strategy to get a top-5 finish.  It’s less stress on the team and less stress on me. All we have to worry about is trying to win the race. The guys who are in the points race are really good, and we’ll just have to approach it thinking to win.  I think we can take a gamble on the strategy that could either get us a win or it could be a 10^th place finish where other guys have to be a little more conservative because they need to finish in the top-5.  It’s always easy to sit here and talk about how we need to run the race and then once the green flag comes out, things start to change by the second.  You just have to take the race as it comes, and make the best decisions you can.  I’m confident we can do that.  I have a great team, a great owner, and a good crew chief so we have all the pieces in place to do that.”

With 6 Stafford victories to his credit, Santos certainly knows what it takes to park in victory lane at the end of 150 laps.  The only drawback with the Whelen Modified Tour making multiple stops each season at Stafford, most of his competitors also know what it takes to get to victory lane.

“We’ll need to have a good car right off the trailer and practice and qualify well, that’s half the battle,” said Santos.  “Then we just have to make good decisions during the race and have a good enough car to keep us up front to be in position to go for the win.  Stafford is a track that I enjoy, but pretty much everyone on the Tour knows Stafford well because we race there so often. It’s important to start up front to make your life easier for the race.  You can win from the back, Ryan [Preece] showed that earlier this year, but it definitely makes things easier to start up front.”  Other notable drivers competing in this event will be Rowan Pinnink at the wheel of the Mike Boehler entry out of East Freetown and Keith Rocco steering the Bob Katon’s Berkley Racing machine.

The 2017 NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final Weekend gets underway today, Saturday, September 30 with practice sessions for Stafford’s Whelen All-American Series divisions, Mr. Rooter Truck Series, and the Whelen Modified Tour.  Action continues with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for all divisions with feature events for the SK Light, Limited Late Model, DARE Stock, and Mr. Rooter Truck Series divisions wrapping up Saturday’s on track activities.

The NAPA Fall Final continues on Sunday, October 1 with the NAPA Auto Parts Pit Party from 11 am-12 noon followed by a number 13 retirement ceremony for Ted Christopher and pre-race activities before Stafford’s SK Modifieds and Late Models take to the track along with the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action starting at 1 pm.