With all the regional star power gathered at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend, Bobby Santos is the undisputed man to beat.
Justin Bonsignore is in prime position to capture the season championship with seven wins, five-time series champ Doug Coby is stalking his fifth career win at the track and Ryan Preece will hustle back from Richmond, Va., where he’ll compete in an Xfinity Series race the day before, to challenge for a victory in the Musket 250, this new crown jewel of the Whelen Modified Tour schedule. But none boasts the recent success Santos has had at NHMS.
Santos, who has run a partial schedule in the series since 2016, has won the last three races at the track, which is likened to the modified tour’s equivalent of Daytona International Speedway or Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only two other racers — Reggie Ruggiero and Ted Christopher — have taken at least four consecutive checkered flags there.
But this one — the inaugural “Full Throttle Weekend,” added to the schedule after NHMS lost its fall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this year — might outshine all the rest.
“It’d be awesome (to win),” Santos told Kyle Souza of NASCAR Home Tracks. “It’s a huge race and it’s definitely going to be our biggest race of the year. It’s pretty neat that New Hampshire is putting this deal together, even without the (Cup) guys being there, still able to run there twice a year.
“It’s going to mean a lot for our team, and I feel that we have as good of a shot as anyone.”
Unlike in past events, there will be no Cup, Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series race to overshadow the modifieds. The Musket 250, which boasts an incredibly cool haul for the winner, will be the main event, following the Visit New Hampshire 100 (the Canadian tour’s first U.S. race) and the Apple Barrel 125 (a combined K&N Pro Series race) earlier Saturday.
So if Santos continues his recent run of success and wins on Saturday, not only would he make history, he’d also have the moment all to himself.
