K&N's Bobby Santos III Wins His First NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship

The 24-year-old from Franklin, Massachusetts says that 2010 is clearly one of his best years in racing yet.
The 24-year-old from Franklin, Massachusetts says that 2010 is clearly one of his best years in racing yet.
"I enjoy long distance races, and a lot of cautions seem to be a part of that. I just try to stay focused, and concentrate on the next restart," remarked a low-key Bobby Santos, referring to his win of the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut.
The K&N sponsored Santos won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship in his very first fulltime season of competing in the division.
The K&N sponsored Santos won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship in his very first fulltime season of competing in the division.


Santos was able to get around first place Ryan Preece on the final restart with only six laps remaining in the 150 lap race.

Santos came into the race with a slim seven-point lead in the points standings. He endured the caution-filled final 50 laps to pick up his fourth win of the season, and his first since back in June at Martinsville Speedway. The final one-third of the race saw six cautions, including one red flag after a multi-car accident on Lap 140 forced the track to make repairs to the guardrail.
It was Santos huge victory at Stafford Motor Speedway that all but locked up the title for his team Mystic Missile Racing and owner Bob Garbarino.
It was Santos huge victory at Stafford Motor Speedway that all but locked up the title for his team Mystic Missile Racing and owner Bob Garbarino.


After the race at Stafford only one race remained on the schedule. Santos and his team Mystic Missile Racing now carried a 37-point lead into the season ending race at International Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut, for the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing. Santos won the season opener at Thompson in April.

"After Stafford I felt very confident with our lead going into the last race," said Santos. "Knowing that we run well at Thompson throughout the year and that we just needed to do our job to finish it off, and it turns out it was in our own fate."

Santos finished the race at International Speedway in sixth place, which was all he needed in order to lock up his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Championship. The Whelen Modified Tour title came in Santos' first fulltime season competing in the division.

"The season started really well," said Santos, "Then mid-summer we fell off a little, but we came back strong at Stafford to end the year, which was a huge win for our team in the end. That's what got us the comfortable lead which allowed us to wrap it up at Thompson."

In winning the Whelen Modified Tour Championship, the K&N sponsored driver gave car owner Bob Garbarino his third championship in four years. Garbarino has been owner in the division since 1961, and has now won titles in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

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