STAFFORD, CT :: The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads back up to Stafford Motor Speedway this Friday night to run the rescheduled TSI Harley-Davidson 125. Bobby Santos III took claimed the pole before the rains came. Last year’s Tour champion Ryan Preece qualified 13th, but he knows how to get to victory lane at Stafford and he told Race22 what he feels are the keys to running well there.
“It’s a pretty difficult race track as far as (finding) what you need,” said Preece. “I’m pretty confident going into this week. We didn’t qualify the best, but I think we’ll be alright.”
If you want to have a chance to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship you have to run well at Stafford. As Preece said, it’s a pretty difficult race track, but it’s one that drivers need to figure out since the Tour races there four times in a season. It’s known for being a one-groove race track. So how does a driver move from mid-pack to the front of the field in the shortest race that Stafford runs?
“There’s quite a few different strategies you can play to gain track position and go forward,” he said. “Last year I qualified second but on the first lap we had a left-rear go down and we came from last to first, so I don’t think it’s a problem going forward. You just need your car to be there.”
It’s not often a driver tries the outside lane, but Preece said that it can be done if you have the car to do it.
“If you have a car that can go up there you obviously have a car that can win the race,” he said. “Normally once you get towards the front it gets more difficult to make an outside pass, but going to the outside is definitely where you need to be able to pass people.”
Even though qualifying didn’t show it Preece said that he had a very strong car early on in practice last Friday. He said that if they can get their car back to that point then they can go to the front this week.
“I think we’re going to be alright,” he said. “If we have our car handling like it did when we first started practice then we are going to be in good shape.”
