After a disappointing weekend at Thompson, Teddy was anxious to get back to the track. He was especially excited about going to New Hampshire International Speedway, where he has enjoyed tremendous achievement over the past couple of seasons, including a sweep of the four events run in 2004-2005. He was also scheduled to drive for Kirk Shelmerdine in Sunday’s Nextel Cup race. Past success often leads to more success.
The Eddie Whelan team brought out a brand new car at Loudon. The crew worked some late hours in the days leading up to the race getting the car finished. In the early Thursday practice session the crew was busy sorting things out and they were optimistic headed into qualifying. Unfortunately rain showers hit the area just after noon and qualifying was cancelled. The field was lined up by car owner points, which meant the Al-Lee Installations #36 would start the Whelen Modified Tour race from the seventh position.
Friday started out on a good note as Teddy was the fastest car in the morning’s final WMT practice session. He then jumped into the #27 Lilly Trucking of Virginia Chevy and made the 43-car starting field for Sunday’s Cup race. In the late afternoon the 41 Modifieds on hand lined up on pit road to begin the New Hampshire 100.
The #36 was very fast in the early laps of the race and drove right to the front, with TC taking the lead for the first time on lap 11. He remained in the top-five and was the race leader when he pitted on lap 49 under caution. The crew, led by Brad LaFontaine, worked quickly and returned Teddy to the track with the leaders. He ran up front and finally regained the lead on the 76th circuit. He led 16 of the next 17 laps before John Blewett took command on lap 93 and led the remaining laps to pick up the win. TC remained in the top-three until being shuffled out of the lead group on the white flag lap, ending up sixth at the finish.
After the long week leading up to the race, the team decided not to head to Oswego for the Race of Champions as originally planned.
In Sunday’s Sylvania 300, TC was scheduled to start from the 43rd position. A problem with the team’s scorer arriving late saw the #27 held on pit road for the first five laps of the race. Teddy eventually completed 123 laps before brake problems sidelined him, credited with a 41st place finish.
“After what happened at Thompson we needed a good race,” noted TC. “We brought a brand new car to Loudon and worked on it almost right up to the time we left for the track getting it finished. We had a few problems getting it dialed in with a limited amount of practice. I think we would have been strong in qualifying, but it was rained out and we lined up by points. The car was strong in the race and we drove right to the front. We got caught up in an early wreck that bent the front air dam and the car was tight after that. We were in contention right up to the last lap when we got knocked out of the way and ended up sixth. We deserved better, but we led a bunch of laps and got a good finish so it ended up being a decent run for us.”
TC’s plans for the coming weekend include driving the DiPisa #81 SK Modified at Stafford on Friday night, then heading to Waterford for Sunday’s Whelen VFD 150 for the WMT, part of the Town Fair Tire Finale Weekend.
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