THE NEW ENGLAND .001
By Jason Cunningham, NASCAR
June 28, 2008 - 7:03pm

HOSSFELD EDGES CHRISTOPHER IN PHOTO FINISH

LOUDON, N.H. – Chuck Hossfeld led just one lap in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but it was the one that counted the most as he took the checkered flag in a photo finish in the New England 100.

Hossfeld battled Ted Christopher for a number of laps down the stretch, making the pass for the lead in Turns 1 and 2, but falling back to second in Turns 3 and 4. On the final lap, he made a move entering Turn 3 on Christopher and won the drag race out of Turn 4 to the finish by .001 seconds.

“I knew I had to be patient,” Hossfeld said. “With Teddy (Christopher), you’re racing one of the best racers here. I would have been a happy either way with the finish, but I was glad to come home first. I’m just so thrilled.”

The victory was the seventh of Hossfeld’s career, his third at New Hampshire and his second of the season.

“This car is brand new and this team is just so good, I really have very little to do with it,” Hossfeld said.

Christopher led 93 laps but was denied an opportunity to extend his own track record for victories, registered his fourth top-five finish of the season, and second runner-up in as many outings. He leads all drivers at New Hampshire with nine all-time victories at the track, was denied the opportunity to extend his record by the slimmest of margins.

Ed Flemke Jr. tied his previous career-best finish at New Hampshire when he came in third. Eric Beers and Reggie Ruggiero rounded out the top 10.

After leading the race on lap 68, Bobby Santos finished sixth. Todd Szegedy, Ryan Preece, Jeff Fuller and Ronnie Silk completed the top 10.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will move to the Empire State for its sixth race of the 2008 season. Spencer Speedway in Williamson, N.Y., will be the venue for the Mason Farms 100 on Saturday, July 12.

Hossfeld Holds Them All Off
 By Jason Christley, NASCAR
May 24, 2008 - 12:06am

STAFFORD, Conn. – If Chuck Hossfeld wins the 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, he can point to Friday night’s TSI Harley-Davidson 150 as where it came together.Hossfeld drove the No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge to Victory Lane, ending a winless drought of nearly four years. To get there, though, he had had to withstand a pair of restarts in the final 11 laps with Todd Szegedy, Ted Christopher and Mike Stefanik at his heels.“I just tried to run a couple perfect laps,” Hossfeld said. “I knew I was going to have to protect the bottom, but also have a good restart. I guess Todd got a good run, because I felt him.”The race’s final restart was a green-white-checkered finish that pushed the race to 153 laps. Szegedy finished second in the No. 2 Wisk-Snuggle Ford. Christopher (No. 36 Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet) was third, followed by Stefanik (No. 16 Diversified Metals/Ace Moldings Pontiac) and Jimmy Blewett (No. 19 TS Haulers Chevrolet).Prior to the race, Stefanik was honored as part of NASCAR’s year-long celebration of 60 Years of Modified Champions. Stefanik won seven NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour titles. He started 27th Friday after taking a provisional.Hossfeld won the Coors Light Pole Award and then led the race twice for 86 laps, including the final 46.“I’m just thrilled to be hooked up with my team – my old team,” Hossfeld said. “The car was just a tick too tight at the end, but I don’t care. We won, I’m happy.”Hossfeld’s last victory was July 31, 2004 for car owner Bob Garbarino. Hossfeld parted ways with Garbarino following the 2004 season and drove for two different owners and making just four starts in 2007, before reuniting with Garbarino in the offseason. Garbarino won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title last season with Donny Lia, who is currently driving on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.“It scared me that I wouldn’t have a ride on this tour – this is my home, I love this tour,” Hossfeld said. “I don’t know what I expected, but I’m glad with what’s going on.”Hossfeld leads the points by 35 over Christopher and 61 over Szegedy.On the final restart, which was single-file, Szegedy got a run on Hossfeld going into Turn 1. Hossfeld protected the spot and got a run off Turn 2 that allowed him a little breathing room on the way to the checkered flag.“I probably could have sailed it in there,” Szegedy said, “but I don’t know if we both would have come out of that corner. I’m looking at the big picture and finishing is the way to go.“To be honest, if I did get by him, I think he would have gotten back by. He had a good car.”Christopher, who won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Stafford April 27, was sitting back in third ready to capitalize if the leaders got in trouble.“I thought he was going to hit him a little harder and then it would have been all good,” joked Christopher.Eric Beers was sixth, followed by Ed Flemke Jr., Ryan Preece, James Civali, and Erick Rudolph. The start of the race was delayed nearly two hours because of rain showers.

During post-race technical inspection, possible issues with the No. 19 of Blewett were found. The parts in question will be taken back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further evaluation.

Chuck Hossfeld and the Mystic Missile Take Third at Stafford on 4/27/2008
Chuck Hossfeld and the Mystic Missile Take Second at Thompson on 4/6/2008

CHAMPIONS OF THE 2007 WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR!!!Click here to view photos of the final race of 2007



NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
When NASCAR began more than 50 years ago, teams were permitted to “modify” their passenger cars for better performance. In fact, NASCAR’s very first event, held on the beach-road course in Daytona Beach, Fla., was a Modified race. During the 1950s and 60s, these cars developed innovative suspension systems, better engines, sophisticated bodies and soon, the cars looked and drove like nothing else in NASCAR. That tradition of innovation continued throughout the 70s and 80s, culminating in today’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, which was officially founded in 1985.
Whelen Engineering, a Connecticut-based manufacturer of emergency lighting and signaling devices, becomes this division’s title sponsor in 2005.
As the only open-wheeled division of NASCAR, the cars in this popular tour are unique in many ways. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars weigh 2,610 pounds and have a wheelbase of 107 inches. Whelen Modified Tour cars drive on wide Hoosier bias-play tires, while power is provided by “small block” 350 to 360 cubic-inch engines.
The Whelen Modified Tour has competed throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, on tracks ranging in size from a quarter-mile, to the 1.058-mile oval at New Hampshire International Speedway.


Notable Modified Tour graduates include drivers – Jimmy Spencer, Steve Park, Geoffrey Bodine, Jeff Fuller and Mike McLaughlin, to name a few – and crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr.