On Wednesday, August 18 NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour traveled to Bristol Motor Speedway for the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 event.

For the number No. 90 team – it was the first time any of the team members had visited the track rightfully dubbed as the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile.’ Regardless, after completing registration and inspection a day earlier, the team began race day with almost three hours of practice.

“I watched the first 15 minutes of practice – because we knew we were going to run out of tires before the end of the session,” explained Renee. “I watched a bunch of experienced drivers spin – so that made the place even more intimidating.”

Regardless, after logging lots of track time, the team participated in qualifying – turning their fastest lap of the day. With the car sent to impound, the team readied for the race – in the interim entertaining their union guests from Boilermakers Local 154 (Pittsburgh, PA).

At 6 PM the green flag fell in front of a sizable crowd – including those watching SPEED’s live television broadcast. Off the initial start and an additional restart, Renee was able to gain five spots. But, on just lap 28 her car began to puff smoke from under the hood and she pulled the car to pit road – trailing oil along the way. When the car stopped on pit road, a large puddle of oil began to form under the engine and in the driver’s compartment. With no obvious signs of engine damage, the team searched for the source of the massive oil leak.

“In the end, the guys found that the alternator wire shorted out and blew a hole in the oil pressure gauge line. I’m not sure how to feel. Obviously, I’m relieved to learn that we didn’t hurt the engine. On the other hand, to be taken out by the proverbial 25-cent part type of deal is another in a string of frustrations.”

With a much needed break in the schedule, the team will next be in action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH) on Saturday, September 18.

Today, NASCAR announced the ‘UNOH Perfect Storm 150′ at Bristol Motor Speedway will be broadcast live on SPEED. The NASCAR Whelen Modified and Southern Modified Tour combination race will be carried live starting at 6 PM ET on Wednesday, August 18.

The UNOH Perfect Storm 150 will run just prior to NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series ‘O’Reilly 200′ – which will also air on SPEED.

As it turns out, it will be a big week for the Whelen Modified Tour on SPEED: A day after the Bristol telecast, the New England 100 – which was contested back on June 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – will premier on Thursday, August 19 at 6 PM ET.

Looking forward, on Saturday, September 18 SPEED will also carry same-day broadcast coverage of the Whelen Modified Tour ‘F.W. Webb 100‘ at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

UIG Recognized on NASCAR’s website

Just prior to the running of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s New England 100, NASCAR posted the news release ‘UNION Insurance Group Goes Full-Time in NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour’ to the Home Tracks section of their website. The release marked some much anticipated publicity for the Chicago-based insurance agency.

UNION Insurance Group President Chris DeCaigny – who was standing on Loudon’s pit road when the release was published – was pleased to see his agency receive recognition for their support of the lone-female in one of NASCAR’s most competitive Series.

Boilermaker Reporter

The team received even more press in the Boilermaker Reporter – the official publication of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. Renee is a third generation Boilermaker – working in the office of the Northeast Area Apprenticeship Program since graduating with honors from the University of Connecticut.

The story appears in both the print and on-line versions of the Reporter.

Make-A-Wish Foundation

When leaving the Driver’s Meeting at NHMS, Renee was approached by NASCAR with an opportunity to spend some time with a visiting Make-A-Wish family. She jumped at the chance – meeting the Full family from Minnesota. Renee Full (it turns out the two shared the same first name) had traveled half way across the country to have her wish of meeting Sprint Cup Champion Jimmy Johnson fulfilled.

The group – escorted by two State Police officers – walked out on to pit road, where Renee spoke with the family – answering questions and bantering back and forth about racing in general. Together they watched some qualifying runs for the Nationwide Series. Renee then enlisted the help of Phil Kurze (Whelen Engineering’s Motorsports Director) to help her new friend obtain Danica Patrick’s autograph.

“I had a wonderful time with the Renee and the Full Family,” said Renee. “I’ve never had the chance to work with Make-A-Wish before, but it’s something I would like to continue doing. It was a really powerful experience. Knowing she is a Jimmy Johnson fan, I was happy to see him win on Sunday – I hope the family made it down to victory lane. We exchanged contact information – I plan to stay in touch.”

To learn more about Renee’s journey, please click here.

The UIG No. 90 heads under the bridge at Lime Rock. Hodge Photo.

Lime Rock Park Test Session

On Tuesday, June 29, the No. 90 team headed out to Lime Rock Park (Lakeville, CT) to participate in an open-test session – in anticipation of the race to be held there on July 3.

The team ran several laps, despite having clutch/transmission issues.

“We had some mechanical issues – but that’s part of the reason we went. Obviously, it was important to run laps, but we also wanted to make sure we had the car sorted out. I’ve spent a number of days out at Lime Rock this spring – trying to learn how to run a road course – but it was pretty different in a Modified. I’m glad we went.”

A specially-prepared car (with a chrome-nose) was ready for action at NHMS. The car never made it to the big-show on Saturday. Hodge Photo.

This past weekend, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour traveled to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first of two visits to the facility during the 2010 season.

For the Tour, the event began on Thursday with a late-morning practice session. Not too deep into practice, Renee backed her UNION Insurance Group Chevrolet into the second turn wall. With significant chassis damage, the team was forced to return to their Connecticut-based race shop to retrieve their second car.

“I put us behind the 8-ball by wrecking in practice,” said Renee. “I hate that it happened – the whole crew had to hustle to get the second car back to Loudon. It was a lot of long hours in the shop and, in the end, it wasn’t the combination we wanted to run there. We had to do what we had to do to salvage some type of finish.”

Starting from a provisional starting position of 35^th, Renee moved up several positions during the course of the event – eventually crossing the finish line in 20^th position. The team remains ranked 19^th in the season-long points battle.

Please take a moment to view photos from New Hampshire in our on-line gallery.

Next up, NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour heads to Lime Rock Park Speedway (Lakeville, CT) for the Series’ only road course appearance on the schedule. In advance of the race, the team will participate in an open test at Lime Rock on Tuesday, June 29.

NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour made the second of two stops to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH) on Saturday, September 19^th. The 100-lap race aired from 1-2:30 PM on SPEED (garnering a .5 rating; meaning 349,000 total households – or 442,000 viewers – tuned in).

A field of 40 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars take the green at NHMS. Dupuis Photo.

Long before the cameras rolled, after arriving at the Speedway on Wednesday evening, for the WMT faithful, the extended event began at the crack of dawn on Thursday; after registration and inspection, an early afternoon practice session was followed by qualifying. In the end, Renee qualified the No. 90 UNION Insurance Group/SpaceFitters Chevrolet to the 17^th position (in total, 40 cars participated in time trials).

With no WMT activity scheduled for Friday, the team returned to the track on Saturday – for an 8:30 AM practice and 12:45 PM green flag. The No. 90 machine started the caution-filled race from the inside of the ninth row. When the caution flew on lap 35, the No. 90 was scored in the 13^th position. On lap 50, when some of the leaders pitted, they restarted from the 9^th spot.

“After the caution we started to get loose and began dropping like a stone,” explained Renee. “There had been so many cautions, I figured we would quickly catch another and pit for tires. However, the race went green for 20 laps.”

When the caution finally flew on lap 70 the team brought the No. 90 car into the pits for a three tire change and fuel. During the caution just a few cars pitted so, despite a great stop by the pit crew, the car returned to the track all the way back in the 28^th position.

The crew enjoyed a traditional New England treat - courtesy of Crew Chief Jason and City Fish (Wethersfield, CT) - on Friday.

“Donnie (Clifford – the team’s tire expert) came across the radio and told me that – with just 8½ pounds in the left rear – we clearly had a tire going down. As a result, the stagger had drastically opened up to 4¼ inches. I guess we got lucky because, in my opinion, losing a tire here would be catastrophic. Regardless, the 4¼ inches made it pretty clear why we had gotten so loose.”

With their problem solved, Renee began to pick off spots and by the time the caution waved again on lap 87 she had made it back to the 16^th position. When the checkered flag was unfurled Ronnie Silk was credited with the win, with Renee crossing the line 14^th.

“There were three or four really big wrecks that happened right in front of us today and I have to hand it to Brian (Kingsbury – the team’s spotter) – for keeping us out of those accidents. I had a pretty good seat to see all the action, but I’m looking forward to watching the SPEED coverage to see just how close some of those actually were.”

While the WMT will next be in action at Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA) on Sunday, September 27, the No. 90 team will return to action on Sunday, October 4 for Stafford Motor Speedway’s (Stafford Springs, CT) annual Fall Final event.

In the meantime, please be sure to visit our gallery for photos from the New Hampshire event.

When the Whelen Modified Tour returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH), on Saturday, September 19^th, the cameras from SPEED will again be rolling.

SPEED will air the race from the ‘Magic Mile’ on a slight tape-delay. The race, which is scheduled to go green at 12:50 PM, will air at 1:30 PM – with the ever-knowledgeable Mike Joy and Dick Berggren calling the action from the NHMS booth.

For those that can’t make it to the track, SPEED will provide an excellent opportunity for viewers to catch all the action from the always entertaining race.

With a schedule spread over the course of three long days, on Saturday morning – prior to the start of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s New England 100 – the WMT teams readied for the race by running a 40 minute practice session. Following practice, the line-up of WMT drivers participated in an autograph session for the thousands of fans in attendance.

When the cars rolled off of pit road at 1 PM, the No. 90 team staged from the inside of the 6^th row – in the 11th position. Renee had a good start. As planned, she found an opening and moved up into the outside line going down the front stretch. Meanwhile at the front of the pack, a loose oil line caused the No. 36 car to leak oil and puff smoke. When the pack checked-up coming off of turn four, Renee and several other cars got turned around.

As the WMT cars roll off for the start, the crews on pit road ready for action in front of a large crowd.

“Initially, I thought we maybe just got turned around in Teddy’s oil. But, later, we discovered the bottom of my left rear quarter panel had been folded under – so obviously there was some contact there.”

Regardless, Renee rejoined the race toward the rear of the field – riding for a few laps then passing several cars. However, all the effort was for naught, when on just lap 19 Renee suddenly experienced a loss in power under the hood.

“It’s been a devastating year and this just adds to the pain,” Renee lamented. “To come here with such a fast car and to leave with nothing to show for it is just so disappointing for everyone involved. It’s not just this race – it’s the last three. If we were unprepared, it would be easier to deal with. But we come to each race with all of our ducks in a row and inane things have happened: we clearly get wrecked at the Sizzler; the battery shorts out coming to the green for the 100-lapper; now we lose an engine. This is just heartbreaking.”

Because of the string of poor finishes, the team is undecided about the next two races on the WMT schedule. Likely, the team will return to action at Stafford (CT) on Friday, August 7^th.

The UIG contingent shows off the team's snazzy new shirts while watching practice from pit road.

On Wednesday evening the No. 90 team headed to Loudon, New Hampshire’s 1.056-mile superspeedway to prepare for qualifying for the New England 100.

After an early afternoon practice session on Thursday, 39 cars attempted to qualify for the 38-car field.

“We were pretty fast right off the trailer,” recalls Renee. “We were happy with the car – making just a few minor changes during practice. In fact, at one point, we ran down a fast, three car draft from about 12 car lengths – as a single car. That was a pretty good indicator of how fast the car was,” she continued.

Still, the practice transponder times only listed the car respectably mid-pack. So, the team was quite surprised when Dupuis’ first lap posted to the fourth position on the large infield scoring tower. With about a dozen cars remaining during the early evening time trial run, Renee was eventually credited with the 11^th fastest time of the session – earning a starting position just outside of the top-ten.

“We’re all really happy with how the day went today,” reflected Renee. “It’s pretty obvious that this Billy the Kid engine is a strong piece – you just don’t go fast here without some serious horsepower under the hood. Plus, Ed (Bennett) clearly has stepped up our chassis program. With the combination we’ve been fortunate enough to bring here, I’m excited for the race on Saturday.”

The New England 100 is scheduled to go green on Saturday at 1PM. For event and ticket information, please visit NHMS’s official Web site.

As per a recent release from NASCAR, Modified fans everywhere will be able to follow all the race action from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 27. Those not able to make it to the track will be able to listen to play-by-play audio for the New England 100 as it will be streamed live on www.nascarhometracks.com (the official site for NASCAR’s touring and weekly series).

Loudon, NH's 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Matt Carey and Jay Coffey, hosts of the “Carey & Coffey Show,” and Kyle Rickey will handle the broadcast of the New England 100 on Saturday, June 27 from Loudon, NH.

In addition to the online coverage, fans will be able to tune into the New England 100 on ESPN Radio 940 WINE or 1510 WPUT, the flagship stations of the “Carey & Coffey Show.”

The New England 100, which produced the closest race in NASCAR history last year when Chuck Hossfeld edged Ted Christopher by 0.001 seconds, is set to take the green flag at 1 PM on June 27. The live broadcast will begin with pre-race at 12:30PM and conclude with the post-race press conference.

The New England 100 is the fourth race on the 2009 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule, and the first of two dates for the Tour at New Hampshire. For event and ticket information, please visit New Hampshire’s official Web site, www.nhms.com.