“The Rocket Man” is coming.
Ryan Newman, an 18-time winner within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, is returning to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this week for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway (6:25 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
The 2008 Daytona 500 winner has made 30 earlier NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour begins and scored 4 wins, two every at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
Nonetheless, Friday’s race will likely be his debut with the brand new SS Racing crew that’s co-owned by veteran racer Hermie Sadler and Virginia Senator Invoice Stanley. Newman will pilot the No. 39 automobile, which is being maintained by Phil Stefanelli of PSR Merchandise. Neal Cantor will act as crew chief for the crew.
RELATED: Ryan Newman’s career statistics
This can hardly be Newman’s first rodeo at Richmond. Over his prolonged NASCAR Cup Sequence profession, he has made 39 begins on the 0.75-mile, D-shaped oval. In these begins, he scored one victory in 2003 in addition to eight top-five and 20 top-10 finishes.
He additionally competed within the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s return to Richmond final September, driving the No. 53 for Mike Curb. He led six laps throughout that race, finally ending fourth.
That race at Richmond final 12 months was one in all three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour begins for Newman final season, and it was additionally his finest end of the season with the Tour.
With out a NASCAR Cup Sequence alternative this season following his departure from RFK Racing, Newman previously stated he planned to focus more on grassroots racing this 12 months in his free time.
Whereas it’s at the moment unknown what number of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour begins Newman will make this season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him compete in a number of extra occasions later this 12 months.
Anytime Bobby Santos III exhibits up at a race monitor, he must be thought of a contender to win.
That’s no totally different this week at Richmond, the place the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion is making his first begin of the season with the Tour.
Although he not often makes greater than a handful of begins every season, Santos at all times convey his finest when he competes with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
In 153 sequence begins since 2001, Santos has earned 19 victories. He hasn’t run the complete sequence schedule since 2016 and has solely contested the whole Tour schedule 4 occasions throughout his profession. A kind of seasons was the aforementioned 2010 marketing campaign, when he piloted the well-known Mystic Missile No. 4 owned by Robert Garbarino to 4 victories and the sequence championship.
He’ll be piloting the No. 44 for the Tinio household Friday at Richmond, the identical No. 44 he has pushed to 11 of his 19 sequence victories throughout his spectacular profession.
Santos hasn’t visited victory lane for the reason that 2020 season, when, whereas driving as a teammate to Tour veteran Dave Sapienza, he led the ultimate 10 laps at New Hampshire. Final 12 months he made 4 begins within the Tinio No. 44, however solely managed a finest end of sixth at New York’s Oswego Speedway.
Probably unhappy along with his efforts final 12 months, Santos must be thought of a severe contender when the inexperienced flag waves Friday night.
Previous to final September’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Richmond, Eric Goodale had by no means laid eyes on the favored Virginia brief monitor.
The native of Riverhead, New York, a winner of 4 Tour races throughout his profession, has no drawback admitting he was caught a little bit off guard at how shortly he wore out his tires through the race final season. The consequence was an Thirteenth-place end, hardly a super consequence for the 36-year-old.
“Last year was the first time I have ever been there. Never even seen a Cup race or anything there. So it was a totally new experience for me,” Goodale told FloRacing this week. “It was definitely different from thinking I knew what I was getting into watching racing on TV. It was certainly a different experience than what I was expecting.”
Whereas Goodale struggled final 12 months at Richmond, he has loved success up to now on the bigger venues on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule. The truth is, of his 4 sequence victories, three have come on tracks a half-mile in measurement or bigger.
“You need a little bit more finesse in your driving,” Goodale stated about racing at bigger tracks like Richmond. “It’s not such hard on the gas, hard on the break like I grew up learning at Riverhead Raceway. You were either or full on the gas to get off the corner or smashing on the brake to get your car slowed down to make the corner.
“It’s just a lot of foot work and finesse with the steering wheel that you really need to pay attention to when you go to these bigger tracks. If you’re just a little harder on the brakes at corner entry, that can kill two or three tenths off your lap. If you’re a little too hard on the gas with a track like Richmond and you’re burning the rubber up off the rear tires, you get 20, 25, 30 laps into a run and you are hanging on out there.”
After his expertise final 12 months at Richmond, Goodale believes he and his GAF Roofing crew have a setup ready that can assist them contend for a victory after 150 laps Friday night time.
“Ultimately I think we’ve got a good plan to go back there and be very competitive and compete for a win,” Goodale stated.
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Donny Lia makes his return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour this weekend driving the Ole Blue No. 3 for Boehler Racing Enterprises. It’s one in all an anticipated six begins Lia will make for the crew this 12 months.
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Defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore enters Friday’s race at Richmond on the again foot after a mechanical concern pressured him out of the opener in February at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. He led eight laps final 12 months at Richmond and can look to get again on the profitable monitor through the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150.
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Max McLaughlin makes his return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Friday in Mike Curb’s No. 77. It’ll be a busy weekend for the 22-year-old, who can also be scheduled to race a big-block modified Saturday at Orange County Truthful Speedway, a 0.625-mile grime monitor in Middletown, New York.
