Santos Struggles to a 15th-Place Finish at Monadnock Speedway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 27, 2011) – Tommy Baldwin Racing development driver Bobby Santos battled a tight car and a late-race accident to finish 15th in the Monadnock 200 at Monadnock Speedway. The 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) Champion now sits eighth in the NWMT point standings.

Santos struggled with the handling of the No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge from the start of practice. The car was tight throughout the session, and the team tried a variety of adjustments to improve the car's handling. Towards the end of practice, Santos described the car as decent and felt he had the handling where he wanted it. The Franklin, Mass., native qualified thirteenth for the Monadnock 200 with a time of 12.734 seconds.

Disappointed in the qualifying run, Santos was hopeful the car would perform better during the race. Unfortunately, the tight condition returned at the drop of the green flag. Santos fought the handling of the Mystic Missile for the first 100 laps of the Monadnock 200 before finally entering the top-10 at lap 109.

"It was a struggle from the moment we unloaded the car," Santos said. "We struggled through practice and fought a tight car all race. I thought we got the handling where we wanted it, but as soon as the race started, I could tell we were off. We just missed the set-up a little bit."

Just as he fought his way into the eighth position, Santos got caught up in an accident. On lap 116, Ted Christopher spun the No. 64 of Ron Yuhas, Jr. on the frontstretch. Unable to avoid the spinning car, Santos hit wheels with Yuhas. The contact knocked the front wheels out of alignment, leaving Santos with an even worse handling car. Santos was able to limp the No. 4 Dodge home, finishing a disappointing 15th.

"It was a really frustrating weekend," Santos said. "We've had a really good car all year long, but I guess you can't be perfect every weekend. We were probably a fifth-to eighth-place car, and that's probably where we were going to end up, but we got caught up in that little wreck. As bad as the car was, that damage just made the car worse. It was a disappointing day."

The 15th-place finish dropped Santos two spots in the NWMT point standings to eighth. Santos now sits four points behind seventh and 102 points behind first.

Santos's next race will be the 2011 CARQUEST Champions for Charities Challenge on Tuesday, June 28th at Stafford Motor Speedway. The race will pair charitable organizations with open-wheel drivers, and Santos will be paired with the USAC Benevolent Fund to benefit Eric Saunders. Fans will be given the chance to donate to their favorite driver's charity and the drivers with the most funds raised will receive better starting positions. For more information, visit http://staffordspeedway.com/Pages/News/2011-EXT-TUES-CHAMPS-CHARITY-ENTRY.htm.

Santos will return to the NWMT on Thursday, June 30th in the Budweiser 'King of Beers' 150 at Thompson International Speedway.

Media Contact:
Heather Lumpp
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