Bobby Santos III: 2010 Season Review

When Bobby Santos III takes the green flag for the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) season finale, everything is on the line. Santos sits 37 points ahead of NWMT veteran Mike Stefanik. He looks to drive the No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge to his first championship. Although Santos has never competed for a championship, the Mystic Missile team came into the 2010 season as the returning champions, as Donny Lia took the title in 2009 while driving for the team.

Fast out of the Gate:
Santos joined the No. 4 Mystic Missile team very late in the off-season but quickly found success at the beginning of the NWMT season. In the first four races, the team collected three wins, two poles and four top-two finishes. They swept the first race of the season pacing practice, winning the pole, beating the track qualifying record and taking the checkered flag. "The Thompson weekend couldn't have possibly gone any better than it did," explained Santos. "We were the fastest car in practice, and we won everything that weekend. That was a perfect weekend. It felt too good to be true."

The next two races at Stafford Motor Speedway brought more success. In the first race at Stafford, Santos drove the No. 4 Dodge to the fastest time in practice and set the track qualifying record for the second week in a row. "The way Stafford went, we actually should have won the race too," said Santos. "A lapped car ended up costing us the win there. We got hit at the end of the race. That was still another track record. The start of the season felt too good to be true. It was really exciting and a lot of fun getting to know all of the team." Santos returned to Stafford Motor Speedway and left with his second win of the season, his career-first at the track. He also tied the record held by Ted Christopher, winning the pole in the first three races.

Winning the Clock:
Santos felt the first three races were too good to be true. Although he knew bad luck was looming, he went into Martinsville with the image of his grandfather Bob Santos' grandfather clock from his 1972 Cardinal Classic win at Martinsville Speedway. "To the point of Martinsville, it was an unbelievable start to the season," the Franklin, Mass., native commented. "I couldn't have asked for the start to go any better. It just felt like we couldn't do any wrong."

Santos went in to the historical track with quiet intensity. Making his second-career NWMT start at Martinsville, he started the Made in America Whelen 200 from the fourth spot. The third-generation driver endured 18 caution flags and took the checkered flag of the 204-lap race, fulfilling his dream of winning his own Martinsville clock. "Winning at Martinsville meant a lot because my grandfather won there a long time ago," remarked the 2010 Martinsville winner. "It meant a lot to get a clock like he has. It is just one of those trophies that, as a driver, you want to win."

Summer Days:
With luck on their side so far, the Mystic Missile team continued to look ahead and prepare for inevitable bad luck. "We had fast cars, but we knew that our luck was going to run out eventually and that it was going to get harder," Santos observed. "We kept saying that eventually it was going to get harder here and everyone else is going to step up. Our luck was going to hit us a little bit, which it ended up doing."

The next stop on the schedule was New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where the NWMT got the first of three opportunities to compete in conjunction with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The field included NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman. Santos qualified with the second-fastest time, trailing only Newman, and wheeled the Mystic Missile Dodge to a solid fourth place finish, marking their fifth consecutive top-five finish. "That was another great run for us," explained the 25-year-old. "If it wasn't for Newman, we would have had another pole. We were competitive to win the race until about 10 to go. We just got tight and fell back a little bit. We were competitive and had a great car. We were good right until the end."

Lime Rock Park brought the Mystic Missile team's first brush with bad luck. A lap 47 incident caused a cut tire on the No. 4 Mystic Missile machine. More bad luck hit on lap 62 when the motor broke. They settled for a 17th-place finish, their first finish of the season outside the top-five. "Lime Rock was a lot of fun. It was exciting racing there. We were going to come away with a third or fourth. We ended up getting spun out, and from there, it all went bad. We ended up breaking a motor with a few laps to go. That was the first hiccup of the season."

Short Track Racing:
Next up on the NWMT schedule was a double-header of short track racing at Monadnock Speedway and Riverhead Raceway. Santos started second at his Monadnock Speedway NWMT debut. He drove the Mystic Missile Dodge to a hard-fought fifth-place finish. He then headed to Riverhead Raceway, where he made his track debut. The Mass., native drove the No. 4 Dodge to a ninth-place finish. "We ran well at both short tracks," explained Santos. "At Monadnock, we were very competitive, and we had a shot at winning right until the very end. We had a good finish. We actually got into a crash right at the beginning of the race at Riverhead that set us behind from the beginning. That was an awesome team effort to fight to get a top-10 finish. I think we were in and out of the pits a few times. That was a good sign of the team really sticking together to get a good finish. After a rough night, we still got a top-10."

Bad Luck Hits Again:
The Mystic Missile team returned to Stafford Motor Speedway for their third of four visits. They won and finished second in their first two starts. Unfortunately, bad luck reared its ugly head once again. A lap 90 incident led to a second blown motor and the team's worse finish of the season (23rd). "That was another blown motor," explained the third-generation driver. "We were fast again there, but we had a blown motor. We knew we weren't going to get through the entire season without bad luck. I guess it is good that 23rd was by far our worse finish of the season."

Solid Finishes and Teamwork:
The next two races brought comfort and a first for Santos. He made his second start of the season at Thompson International Speedway, where he won earlier in the year. At Thompson, he paced practice and put up the fourth-fastest qualifying time. He led 14 laps and finished third. "Thompson was a good run," said Santos. "We were very competitive. We just weren't quite as good as we were there in the spring. We were off just a little bit. Teddy had a dominant car that day. When he is like that, he is hard to beat. We were still happy with a third place finish."

For the only time this season, Santos went into his Bristol Motor Speedway debut without the point lead. During the race, the Mystic Missile team fought brake problems early and took advantage of the five-minute brake to fix the problem. With the team's effort, Santos was able to drive the No. 4 Dodge to a third-place finish. "Bristol was a lot of fun," Santos commented. "I think we had a better car than third place. We just had a brake problem the first half of the race. That was another race where the team effort from the guys kept us in the championship because we lost the brakes in the first half of the race. There was a five-minute break, and the guys got together and fixed the brakes enough so that I could drive it and finish the race. For me, that third place was like a win with the job that everybody did. I think it was another defining part of the season."

Tight Championship Battle:
The No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge started in the fourth spot at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. They led early and then held steady in the sixth spot, waiting for the laps to click off. After the first half of the race, Santos looked to drive to the front. Inside the top-10 with three laps to go, contact from another car in turn three sent Santos into the wall. The incident ended his race and relegated him to a 19th-place finish. Both Santos' and Christopher's finishes allowed for Mike Stefanik to make up ground in the point standings. Although Santos regained the point lead, he was only seven points ahead of Stefanik. "We had a good car at Loudon and were going to get another top-five," Santos commented. We just got run over. It was disappointing everything that happened there. It was too bad because the guys worked so hard and had a torn up racecar. We were on our way to another top-five finish."

Redemption:
Headed into the second to last race of the season, the Mystic Missile team looked to pull ahead of Stefanik in the championship standings. In their fourth stop at Stafford Motor Speedway, Santos posted the second-fastest lap time in practice and qualified 10th. With seven laps to go, the No. 4 Dodge was in the second position. The 25-year-old drove around Ryan Preece for the win, his fourth of the season. "We qualified 10th, and for the first half of the race, we just tried to stay out of trouble," explained Santos. "The guys had an awesome pit stop. Then, we just went for it every restart after that. It was exciting that we won and got the maximum points at Stafford."

With only the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing left on the NWMT schedule, Santos and the Mystic Missile team look to add to their 37 point lead in the championship standings. "Thanks to the team, we have been consistent all season," Santos commented. "The four wins we have this year is what has us in the championship battle. We just have to go to Thompson and aim for maximum points again."

As the season comes to a close, Santos will make personal history by completing his first full season and competing for his first championship. Whether he takes the trophy or not, he has shown he can compete with veterans, battle adversity and put together a solid season. He has grown from the driver who jumped in and out of every kind of car and competed for the race win to working together with the Mystic Missile team to put together a solid season.