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By Adam Fenwick
NASCAR.com
A unique doubleheader awaits 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Bobby Santos III this weekend.
Santos will start the weekend racing in a USAC Silver Crown Series event Friday at Wisconsin’s Madison International Speedway. He’ll hopefully end it by competing in Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
The opportunity to compete in both events is something Santos, a six-time Modified Tour winner at New Hampshire, didn’t think was possible when the schedule was released late last year.
“New Hampshire switching from a typical July race to June kind of threw a curveball at me,” Santos said. “New Hampshire in the Modified is one of my favorite races. I was originally pretty disappointed thinking that I was going to miss it and not be able to do it.
“As time went on, I talked to Joe (Stearns) and the guys on the No. 14 team, and they kind of threw an option at me to make it possible to get there in time to run the race.”
BUY TICKETS: Saturday’s Mods race at New Hampshire
As was the case for Kyle Larson’s attempted Indianapolis-Charlotte double last month, there are a variety of unique variables for Santos as he attempts his Madison-New Hampshire double this weekend.
Unlike Larson, Santos won’t be leaving directly from Madison International Speedway to jump on a private jet. He’ll instead pile into a car with his parents to make the two-hour drive to Chicago once his duties with DJ Racing at Madison are complete.
Then, first thing Saturday morning, Santos will board a flight from Chicago to Boston, where he will then start the one hour and 23-minute drive to Loudon, New Hampshire, to compete in the Mohegan Sun 100 in the No. 14 Advantage Motorsports Modified.
If everything goes according to plan, Santos should make it to New Hampshire with plenty of time to spare.
“No private charters for me,” Santos said with a laugh. “We’re definitely relying on commercial airlines.”
However, even if everything goes perfectly, Santos will face major challenges Saturday evening.
To compete Friday at Madison, Santos will have to forgo practice and qualifying at New Hampshire. Advantage Motorsports will have Jacob Lutz in the No. 14 to practice and qualify the car for Santos. As a result, Santos will be forced to start Saturday’s race from the rear of the field.
Lutz, who finished sixth in his Modified Tour debut in the most recent event at Seekonk Speedway, will remain on standby just in case Santos doesn’t arrive on time.
“I feel like I’m used to driving different race cars,” said Santos, who has raced and won in a variety of different cars ranging from Modifieds to Sprint Cars and everything in between. “From that side of it, I’m pretty confident. From the other side of it, I’m very confident in Joe’s team and (crew chief) Billy Putney and Jacob Lutz and all those guys to bring a well-prepared race car to where hopefully I can just hop in and run well and pass cars.”
Santos is no stranger to New Hampshire; his six Modified Tour wins at the track are more than any other active driver. He’s tied with Reggie Ruggiero for third overall at New Hampshire, with only Tony Hirschman (seven wins) and Mike Stefanik (eight) ahead of him.
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In fact, six of Santos’ last seven Modified Tour victories dating back to 2014 came at New Hampshire. His most recent New Hampshire win was in 2020, with that victory doubling as his most recent Modified Tour triumph.
The 38-year-old from Franklin, Massachusetts is a 12-time feature winner in USAC Silver Crown Series competition to go along with his 19 wins with the Modified Tour.
Currently ranked seventh in the USAC Silver Crown Series standings, Santos believes he has a real chance at winning one or both races this weekend. If he didn’t think he could win, he says, then he wouldn’t be traveling more than 1,100 miles in 24 hours.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if that wasn’t the goal or the expectations,” Santos said. “I feel like these are both tracks that I’m capable of winning at. I have capable teams on both sides. Capable people around me on both sides. Again, we wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t feel we could run both races and have shots at winning both races.
“If the situation is right, I think that you can pass cars and potentially win the race from the back (at New Hampshire). A lot of other race tracks I feel like it probably wouldn’t make sense, but being New Hampshire, a place where you can race and pass well, it’s a place where I think we can make it work.”
