TC was really looking forward to last Friday. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was returning to his “home” track, Stafford Motor Speedway, for the New England Dodge Dealers 150 and Teddy was taking dead aim on the Series point lead. He was also doing double duty, driving the DiPisa #81 in the 40-lap SK Modified feature. It had all the makings of a sweet return home.
But as is often the case, the anticipation was better than the results. The day began with a disappointing qualifying effort in the Al-Lee Installations #36 Tour Mod, 24th fastest in the final tally. In the SK Modified feature, TC drove a smart, steady race and found himself up to second before a late caution set up a green-white-checkered flag finish. On the restart Teddy got shuffled back to third behind race winner Kenny Horton and runner-up Chris Jones. Then in the WMT race, he patiently worked his way up into the top-ten before making a pit stop. Then a multi-car crash on a lap 74 restart sent the #36 to the pits for some lengthy repairs. TC was credited with a 22nd place finish in the final rundown.
“It was a disappointing day all around,” explained Teddy. “We had a good-handling car in the SK’s although we were still having some motor Issues. I was running second when a late caution came out and I got hung up on the outside on the restart and got shuffled back to third. But we are gaining ground each week and if we can resolve the motor problems the car is good enough to make it to Victory Lane.
“In the Tour Modified we were good in practice but we went out for time trials with a half-inch too much stagger and we timed 24th fastest. The car was good in the race and we had raced up into the top-ten before we made our pit stop. Then on a restart someone got into the back of Tony Hirschman and he turned right toward the outside wall. I had no place to go and the car got pretty torn up. We took a hit in the points but we will just have to work harder to make up for it in the next few races.”
This week it was announced that veteran crew chief Brad LaFontaine will be joining the #36 team for the rest of WMT season. Everyone is very excited to have someone with LaFontaine’s credentials on board. Teddy hopes it will be the final piece of the puzzle needed to win the 2006 Tour championship.
“Brad is going to be with us for the rest of the year,” said TC. “Richie Niemiec has been running things back in the shop the past few weeks and doing a fantastic job, but what we really needed was a leader up on the toolbox during the race. Brad is a great manager as well as a good chassis man and his organizational skills will be a big help, especially on pit stops. I am looking forward to working with him at the rest of the races. I think he might be what we’ve been looking for to complete the team.”
It will be another busy week for Teddy. On Thursday the Tour heads back to Thompson for the Budweiser 150. Friday night he will return to Stafford in the DiPisa #81 SK Modified.
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