1998 Watkins Glen - NASCAR Modified Tour

NASCAR’s oldest division is the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series. This is the only open-wheel class that NASCAR sanctions.

The NASCAR Modified cars are substantially different from the cars competing in other NASCAR series. These tube chassis cars are entered and identified using North American manufacturers’ current models. However, other than the badging and roofline, they exhibit little to no resemblance to the original model. The bodies are primarily fabricated from sheet metal. Cars weigh about 2610-lbs. and differences in weight can be attributed to engine displacement. They are powered by small-block V-8 engines, which produce over 600-horsepower. The minimum wheelbase is 107-inches and the maximum track width is 84-inches. In 1998, teams also had a choice between Goodyear and Hoosier tires.

The 1998 twenty-two race season begins in late March and ends in October.

March 29 - Riverside Park Speedway
April 5 - Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
April 18 - Martinsville Speedway
May 3 - Stafford Motor Speedway
May 17 - Nazareth Speedway
May 22 - Stafford Motor Speedway
May 30 - Watkins Glen International
June 13 - Jennerstown Speedway
June 20 - Riverhead Raceway
June 28 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 11 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 17 - Lee USA Speedway
July 25 - The Track at Hillside Buffalo
July 29 - Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
August 2 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
August 8 - Riverhead Raceway
August 14 - Stafford Motor Speedway
August 29 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway
September 6 - Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
September 27 - Stafford Motor Speedway
October 18 - Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
October 24 - Flemington Speedway

Race seven was held on Watkin Glen’s 2.45-mile short course. The event was 38-laps or 93.1-miles and the only road course on the 1998 calendar.

Pole-sitter Mike Stefanik in the No. 6 Chevrolet leads the Dodge of second fastest qualifier Tim Connolly. Stefanik would lead the first 37-laps but Connolly led the most important lap – the last one – lap-38 and took the victory. This would be Connolly’s only win of the season but eight top-10 finishes helped him finish fifth in the final standings.

Despite this loss to Connolly, Stefanik would dominate the season capturing thirteen wins in twenty-two starts. In his career Stefanik has registered some impressive statics - seven Modified titles and two Busch North championships. He also became the first driver to win two NASCAR championships in consecutive years – 1997-98 Modified and Busch North titles.

Tony Ferrante started tenth and finished fifth. Watkins Glen was one of this driver’s better finishes. His most impressive result was in the season’s second event at Thompson Speedway where he qualified twenty-sixth and finished third. He also finished third at Stafford Motor Speedway.

The second caution of the race occurred on lap-17 – a very fast section of Watkins Glen between turns one and two. The No. 00 of Tim Arre and Jack Bateman in the No. 47 Chevrolet waits for the Safety Team to remove them from the track.

The Chevrolet of Charlie Pasteryak started eighth and finished eleventh. Pasteryak finished tenth in the final standings – starting all but one race. He was a veteran of the series competing for 22-years – 1985 – 2008. In 1994, he had his only Tour win at Thompson Speedway.

Starting twelfth in a Pontiac was Ed Flemke. Over the 38-laps, Flemke moved up the order for a sixth place finish. Flemke was another series veteran whose first season in Modifieds was 1988. In 1998, he had two wins – Lee USA Speedway and the season’s final race at Flemington Speedway.

The leaders exit turn-one at Watkins Glen. The 38-lap race on Watkins Glen’s short course had thirty-four starters and twenty-five finishers with seventeen of these drivers finished on the lead lap. In the field, there was one Dodge, one Mercury, eight Pontiacs and twenty-four Chevys.

The No. 0 Chevrolet was raced by Ed Kennedy. Kennedy started twenty-eighth and finished fifteenth. 1998 was his best year in the Modifieds – he started nineteen of the twenty-two races and finished fourteenth in the final standings.

The most common power plant in the NASCAR Modifieds was the small block Chevrolet with a four-barrel carburetor and a 1-inch restrictor plate.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	2	Tim Connolly	Dodge	38
2	1	Mike Stefanik	Chevrolet	38
3	4	Chris Kopec	Chevrolet	38
4	9	Frank Broadwick III	Chevrolet	38
5	10	Tony Ferrante Jr.	Chevrolet	38
6	12	Ed Flemke, Jr.	Pontiac	38
7	22	Tom Bolles	Chevrolet	38
8	30	Mike Ewanitsko	Chevrolet	38
9	13	Reggie Ruggiero	Pontiac	38
10	18	Jamie Tomaino	Chevrolet	38
11	8	Charlie Pasteryak	Chevrolet	38
12	11	Zane Zeiner	Chevrolet	38
13	19	Buddy Norton	Mercury	38
14	26	Bert Marvin	Chevrolet	38
15	28	Ed Kennedy	Chevrolet	38
16	5	Tony Hirschman	Chevrolet	38
17	34	Dave Pecko	Pontiac	38
18	21	Doug French	Chevrolet	37
19	25	Dave Berghman	Chevrolet	37
20	33	Bruce Taylor	Chevrolet	37
21	24	Dan Kurzejewski	Chevrolet	37
22	17	Bill Woods	Chevrolet	37
23	27	Kerry Malone	Chevrolet	36
24	20	Carl Pasteryak	Pontiac	35
25	7	Tommy Cravenho, Jr.	Pontiac	35
26	6	Jan Leaty	Pontiac	28
27	29	Bruce Driver	Chevrolet	21
28	16	Tim Arre	Chevrolet	17
29	31	Jack Bateman	Chevrolet	17
30	15	Sam Russo	Chevrolet	7
31	14	Tom Baldwin	Pontiac	7
32	3	Ted Christopher	Chevrolet	6
33	23	T.J. Potrzebowski	Chevrolet	4
34	32	Wade Cole	Pontiac	4

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