It was a homecoming for TC at Stafford last weekend with the 36th annual Spring Sizzler at Stafford. It had the potential on Sunday to be a glorious day. But potential never quite lived up to reality.
In the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 200-lapper, Teddy dominated early on in the Eddie Whelan #36. Starting from the sixth position, he quickly moved up to third. On a lap 27 restart he powered past Tony Hirschman to take the lead. He dominated the race from that point while most of the competition pitted for tires around lap 75. The Whelan crew opted to pit later as TC continued to lead. Mike Stefanik used his fresh tires to close in tight but Teddy was able to pull away despite his worn rubber. After a caution on the 110th circuit he headed to pit road for service and fell in at the rear of the field. He was charging his way back to the front in forceful fashion. But a tangle with Kevin Goodale and Matt Hirschman on the 148th circuit derailed his charge. After pitting for some repairs he nursed the car home to finish 19th, nine laps down.
“We hard a really strong racecar today,” recalled TC. “I got to the lead pretty easily and just stayed out there. The car stayed good and wasn’t backing up, so we stuck with our plan to pit late. Stefanik was able to run me down on his fresh tires but I was able to pull away again and maintain a comfortable lead. We finally pitted for tires and I was moving back to the front. Looking back now, I wish we had stayed out even longer before pitting because there would have been fewer cars to deal with. I had the fastest car but we got caught in a tangle and it messed up the front end. All I could do after that was just ride it out to the finish.”
Teddy debuted his brand new #13 SK Modified at Stafford. Starting in the 14th position, he charged toward the front but got banged around and suffered some damage to the right front. He hung on the best he could with an ill-handling racecar to finish a respectable fifth.
This weekend will be a busy one for TC. On Friday night he will return to Stafford with the SK for the first regular show of the season. He plans to make Stafford his regular Friday night home in 2007. Saturday night he will head to Monadnock with the Czarnecki Brothers team for the twice postponed True Value Modified Racing Series 100-lapper. On Sunday the WMT heads to Wall Township Speedway in New Jersey for the inaugural “Flash” race, a new format featuring heat races and a 50-lap feature.
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