The 40 greatest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers: Part 1
The Modified division, NASCAR's oldest class, ran its first race on Feb. 15, 1948, predating the NASCAR Cup Series by a full season.
From 1948 through 1984, some of NASCAR's greatest drivers raced and won in Modifieds. They include legends like Bobby Allison, Richie Evans, Red Farmer, Red Byron, Bugsy Stevens, Jerry Cook and Fonty Flock. But as the sport continued to evolve, so did the division.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was formed in 1985. Having since transitioned from a national championship format to a season-long championship format, the Tour now hosts more than a dozen events at tracks up and down the East Coast.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the modern Whelen Modified Tour, NASCAR Regional has named the 40 greatest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers, selected based on their accomplishments on the Tour beginning in 1985. Accomplishments from the NASCAR Modified National Championship era (1948-84) were not used to determine this list.
The 40 drivers will be revealed in no particular order throughout the summer in groups of 10. Below are the first 10 drivers on the list of the 40 greatest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers.
PART 1
- 453 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion (most all time)
- 74 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins (most all time)
- 223 top fives and 301 top 10s (most all time)
- 2022 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee
Any conversation about the greatest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers has to include Mike Stefanik.
The driver with the most wins? That's Stefanik. The driver with the most championships? Yeah, that's also Stefanik. The driver with the most top fives and the most top 10s? You guessed it -- Stefanik.
He made his first Tour start on April 14, 1985 at Connecticut's Stafford Motor Speedway and grabbed his first series win one season later at New York's Riverhead Raceway on July 9, 1986. That was the first of 74 Tour wins during a career that spanned 29 seasons.
A seven-time Modified Tour champion, Stefanik won races and championships for a variety of team owners, including Jack Koszela, Mario Fiore, William Calicchio, Peter Beal and Charlie Bacon, Gary Cretty, Art Barry, Eric Sanderson, Ed Marceau and Christopher Our. His final victory came on Aug. 21, 2003 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
His accomplishments not only make him one of the 40 greatest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers; he was also elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2022.
- 268 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
- 27 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins
- 117 top fives and 183 top 10s
Calm. Cool. Collected. Champion. These are words that perfectly describe Ron Silk.
The native of Norwalk, Conneticut made his Modified Tour debut in 2003 at the age of 20 at Stafford Motor Speedway. A few years later, in 2007, he captured his first series victory when he bested series legend Reggie Ruggiero at Stafford.
Between a mixture of full- time and part-time seasons, Silk has proven to be one of the best Tour drivers of his generation. He scored three wins en route to his first championship in 2011 while driving for the late Eddie Partridge.
It took him more than a decade to return to the top of the pylon, but in 2023 while driving for Haydt Yannone Racing, Silk scored a career-best five wins on his way to his second title. In the last three seasons, Silk hasn't finished worse than second in the standings.
In 268 starts, Silk has 27 Modified Tour victories, ninth all-time. Only 42, odds are Silk still has a few more wins and maybe even championships left in him.
- 166 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Three NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins
- 38 top-five and 86 top-10 finishes
- Best championship finish of fourth
Hailing from Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Rowan Pennink was always a threat to win when he showed up at a race track.
Making his Modified Tour debut in 2007 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park at the age of 21, Pennink was a familiar face with the series for 12 seasons.
Driving mostly for his family-owned team, Pennink secured his first Tour victory at Riverhead Raceway on July 31, 2010. He added a second victory in 2013 at Thompson during the annual World Series of Stock Car Racing.
Pennink made the jump from his family team to the historic Boehler Racing Enterprises Ole Blue No. 3 in 2016. His best season statistically came in 2017, when he scored his third and final series win at Thompson, the only pole of his career, four top fives and a career-best 12 top 10 finishes.
He finished a career-best fourth in the Modified Tour standings four times before bring forced to retire midway through the 2018 season due to a back injury.
- 197 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
- 17 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories
- 64 top-five and 100 top-10 finishes
During his prime, there were few better on the race track than Donny Lia.
From Jericho, New York, Lia spent a few years racing locally at tracks like Wall Stadium and Riverhead Raceway before making his Modified Tour debut in 2001 at the age of 22. His first full season came two years later, and he scored his first series victory at Riverhead driving his family-owned No. 18.
After spending four years racing his family-owned car and scoring five Modified Tour wins, Lia joined the legendary Mystic Missile team owned by Robert Garbarino. In his first season with the team in 2007, he won six times and captured the Tour championship.
In 2008, he departed the Modified Tour to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, winning a race at Mansfield Motorsports Park. He returned to his roots and the Mystic Missile team in 2009 and didn't miss a beat, winning four times on his way to his second Tour championship in three years.
In all, Lia scored 17 victories during 17 years of racing. Through 197 starts, Lia earned 64 top-five and 100 top-10 finishes.
- 240 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- 1992 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
- 31 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories
- 90 top fives and 144 top 10s
One of the earliest stars of the Modified Tour, Jeff Fuller raced full-time during the series' inaugural season in 1985 and scored wins at Star Speedway and Holland International Speedway.
Between 1985 and 1989, he scored five Tour victories, but he turned a corner in 1990 when he became the pilot of the No. 8 for car owners Scott and Patricia Bandzul.
Fuller scored an impressive 26 victories between 1990 and 1994 and captured the 1992 Tour championship. He used his success on the Tour to move up the NASCAR ranks, racing regularly and winning in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
In 240 Modified Tour races, Fuller scored 31 victories to go along with 90 top-five and 146 top-10 finishes. His 31 triumphs rank seventh all time on the Modified Tour.
- 438 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- 1993 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
- 20 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories
- 146 top fives and 232 top 10s
Following in the footsteps of his older brother Jeff, Rick Fuller also made a name for himself racing with the Modified Tour.
Competing in 14 races during the series' inaugural season in 1985, the younger Fuller brother nabbed his first victory in 1988 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. He didn't wait long to win his second race, capturing the very next stop on the schedule at North Carolina's Orange County Speedway.
During a career that spanned 24 years and 438 races, Fuller scored 20 Modified Tour wins for a variety of team owners. His lone championship came in 1993, one season after brother Jeff won the title. He scored one win that season driving for Curt Chase in the No. 77, but 11 top fives and 14 top 10s in 17 races was enough to give him the championship by 93 points over Reggie Ruggiero.
His final Tour victory came in 2003 at the Waterford Speedbowl, more than 14 years after his first victory in 1988.
- 162 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Seven NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories
- 52 top fives and 90 top 10s
- Best championship finish of second
One of several drivers to drive the legendary Mystic Missile for team owner Robert Garbarino, Chuck Hossfeld made the most of his time aboard the yellow and red No. 4.
After making his Modified Tour debut with a one-off start in 1999 at Martinsville Speedway, Garbarino signed Hossfeld as his full-time driver in 2002, and the two quickly found success. The pair scored their first Tour win together that same season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first of seven wins for the pairing.
The 2003 season proved to be Hossfeld's best. In 18 events that year, Hossfeld won three races, including a second time at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His 11 top fives and 15 top 10s in 17 races that year propelled him to second in the final standings.
Hossfeld is perhaps best known for being the victor in the closest finish in Modified Tour history when he beat Ted Christopher by .001 seconds to win for the third time at New Hampshire in 2008.
His final full season of racing with the Modified Tour came in 2010, but Hossfeld continued to make occassional starts with the series through 2023. In his 162 starts, Hossfeld registered seven wins to go along with 52 top fives and 90 top 10s.
- 194 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Four NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins
- 31 top fives and 90 top 10s
- Best championship finish of third
Woody Pitkat has been a familiar face in the Modified Tour garage for almost 20 years. The native of Stafford, Connecticut made his debut during the 2007 season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, earning a 10th-place finish.
A regular weekly competitor at tracks across the Northeast, Pitkat ran his first full Tour season in 2009 but didn't earn his first series victory until the 2014 season when he scored a victory at his home track, Stafford Motor Speedway.
The 2014 season proved to be just the appetizer. One year later, Pitkat delivered his best overall season to date. He won once at Stafford and registered career bests in top fives (11) and top 10s (14) to finish a career-best third in the final Tour standings.
In 194 starts spread across 18 years, Pitkat has scored four victories, his most recent coming in 2019.
- 210 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- Nine NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins
- 48 top fives and 90 top 10s
- Best championship finish of second
An All-State quarterback at New York’s Ithaca College, Tim Connolly got bit by the racing bug and never looked back.
After racing locally at New York's Tioga Speedway, Connolly quickly set his sights on the Modified Tour. He made his first start in 1988 and scored his first victory in 1993 at Pennsylvania's Nazareth Speedway.
However, his greatest success came behind the wheel of Robert Garbarino's Mystic Missile. Taking the wheel of the No. 4 for Garbarino in 1996, Connolly went on to win seven races in four years at tracks like Watkins Glen International, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
The 1997 season was Connolly's best. He scored four wins that year to go along with a season-high nine poles on his way to a career-best runner-up finish in the standings.
After two decades away, Connolly returned to the series in 2022 and has once again become a regular face in the garage. In all, Connolly has made 210 starts and earned nine wins across 16 years.
- 28 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts
- 1985 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion
- 12 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins
- 17 top fives and 21 top 10s
- 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee
Some would argue that when discussing the best NASCAR Modified drivers of all time, there's Richie Evans, and then there's everyone else.
Evans dominated the old NASCAR Modified National Championship, winning eight titles during the 1970s and 80s. Even more impressive: Seven of those championships came consecutively.
When the NASCAR Modified National Championship was rebranded and reorganized into the Modified Tour, Evans was determined to maintain the status quo. He won the first Tour race held at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in 1985 and went on to win 12 races that year on his way to the inaugural series championship.
Evans never got the chance to defend his championship. During practice for the season finale at Martinsville Speedway, Evans was involved in a crash that ended his life. He was 44.
His accomplishments, including nine championships racing NASCAR Modifieds, led to his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the 2012 class.