Stafford, CT: The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series made a bittersweet return to competition on Wednesday night at the Stafford Motor Speedway for the New England Dodge Dealers 150, originally slated for August 11, 2004. The event, which had to be rescheduled due to rain, was the first for the Series since the death of long-time competitor Tom Baldwin. Chuck Hossfeld, like his fellow competitors, headed to the track with a heavy heart but determined to compete in the hard-charging spirit of "Tiger" Tom Baldwin.

At the end of the night, the Series had made a fitting tribute to their fallen friend with a competitive race. Hossfeld came home with a ninth place finish.

The evening started well for the Buffalo, NY driver with an excellent run in Bud Pole qualifying. A lap of 18.592 seconds at 96.816 miles per hour was good enough to earn Hossfeld the fifth fastest qualifying spot. After the redraw the Mystic Missile sat fourth on the starting grid.

Playing it conservative in the opening stages, Hossfeld settled in line behind third-place Todd Szegedy. The front pack ran nose-to-tail through the first caution, which flew on lap 22. Hossfeld had a great restart in the outside groove and after a lap on the outside of Szegedy was able to make the pass into third. He then began to work on John Blewett III for second.

Over the next portion of the event, it was 'chase' or 'be chased' for Hossfeld. First Hossfeld would gain on Blewett, who would then get away slightly. In turn, Szegedy would gain on Hossfeld in third. Hossfeld began to enjoy some breathing room over Szegedy when Donny Lia entered the mix.

The second caution of the event flew on lap 44. The Mystic Missile Racing team took the opportunity to head down pit road for fresh tires on lap 46. Hossfeld was the first of the lead pack to come in for service. On the restart at lap 55, Hossfeld lined up in the 15th position.

It did not take long for Hossfeld to begin his march back to the front. By the completion of lap 55 he had moved into thirteenth and by lap 56 he was eleventh. His momentum was stopped by two quick cautions-the first at lap 56 and the second on lap 66. By that time, Hossfeld had moved back into the top-ten.

During a caution period, several of the front-runners headed down pit road on lap 68 putting Hossfeld sixth in line on the restart on lap 71. During the green flag run it appeared that Hossfeld had the car to beat. He quickly moved from the sixth position into third.

In a strange twist, Hossfeld saw a wisp of tire smoke coming off his front tire and suddenly felt his car sailing toward the outside wall. He was able to gather it in and avoid any contact but had fallen back to twelfth.

"I thought I had a tire going down," said Hossfeld. "But the crew checked it out and said everything was fine. It was really strange."

Under a caution on lap 77, Hossfeld and the crew decided to stay out on the track. With another batch of pit stops, Hossfeld restarted eighth.

"I was like a sitting duck," said Hossfeld of the last half of the race. "I was holding on but I could not race for position."

The restart found Hossfeld in a large pack of cars. At lap 85, he started to backslide as cars with fresher tires made their way through the pack. By lap 92, Hossfeld was in the eleventh. He ran comfortably just outside the top ten through lap 100.

On lap 103, Hossfeld made his way by Doug Coby for the tenth position. A hard-charging Tom Bolles began to work over Hossfeld on lap 108. He was able to maintain the position until lap 118 when Bolles made a great move to go underneath the Mystic Missile to take away tenth.

A scary moment came on lap 120 when contact between Bolles and ninth-place Zach Sylvester sent Sylvester spinning directly in front of Hossfeld, who maneuvered cleanly through. The ensuing restart gave Ken Barry a shot at Hossfeld in ninth. The two battled hard for a number of laps before Barry claimed the spot. On lap 144, Bobby Santos, III drove by Hossfeld for eleventh.

On the final lap, Eddie Flemke spun with a flat tire collecting Santos. Hossfeld, again, was able to avoid the incident that had unfolded right in front of him. He came to the checkers in the ninth position. It was a combination of perseverance and little bit of luck that helped Hossfeld and his crew to salvage a top-ten finish.

"It is disappointing to have such a strong car early and then have to settle for a ninth place finish," said Hossfeld. "We had a strange night with the tires. The two sets that we used today reacted differently. One time the stagger grew and the next it shrunk."

It will not be long before Chuck and the Mystic Missile Racing Team get their opportunity to put that strong race car back on the track. This Sunday, August 29, 2004, the NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series will resume the Bud Racing 150 at Thompson International Speedway.

For more information on Sunday's event at Thompson visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. For a comprehensive look into Chuck Hossfeld's career visit www.chuckhossfeld.com.