PRESS RELEASE
CATALANO RIDING STRONG 2021 WMT SEASON INTO LANCASTER
Lancaster, NY (July 21, 2021): Now in his fourth full-season of competition on the NASCAR Whelen Tour, Tommy Catalano of Ontario, NY, is a bona fide contender. Highlighted by a third-place finish in Stafford Motor Speedway’s prestigious Spring Sizzler and a front row qualifying effort at Riverhead Raceway, Catalano believes the next stop on the Tour is his best shot at winning. Should he win the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150, scheduled for Saturday, July 31, at his home track at New York International Raceway Park’s (NYIRP) Lancaster Speedway, it would be his first career Modified Tour win.
In seven starts this season, Catalano has scored four top-ten finishes. Despite an early end to his day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past Saturday, Catalano is not discouraged. The FX Caprara entry was solidly inside the top five before retiring from the event with mechanical woes. In a hotly contested points chase, Catalano sits sixth in points; only seven points out of third position in the standings.
And, the 23-year-old driver is taking it all in stride.
“Things are going really smoothly so far,” said Catalano. “Hopefully the bad luck at New Hampshire was a one and done! But, really this is the best we’ve run since joining the tour.”
There’s no better place to ‘rebound’ than at your home track, where you’ve experienced triumph in the past. Catalano, while still searching for his first tour-type Modified win, has three Sportsman victories at the Speedway and some memorable battles with Chuck Hossfeld.
“Some of my fondest memories at Lancaster were US Open Sportsman races,” said Catalano. “Three years in a row we battled Chuck for the win; going three wide to split lapped cars and just duking it out for the win.”
Catalano hopes to do battle with Hossfeld again -this time in the ‘big mod’ on a bigger stage. And, this time to come away with the trophy.
Media Contact: Dale Wolbrink, 508.847.0565, racinprvet@gmail.com