Szegedy Battles Back for Win at Lime Rock
Earns Road Course Win In NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99 Presented By Town Fair Tire
Lakeville, CT — Todd Szegedy battled back after losing the lead during on a pit stop and then making an off-track excursion to win the NASCAR Whelen Modified 66/99 presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park on Saturday.
It was a sweet win for the Ridgefield, Conn., driver – who led all but the last four laps before being relegated to second in last year’s inaugural tour visit to the 1.5-mile, eight-turn road course. With his victory on Saturday, he took over the lead in the championship standings.
Szegedy, who had experience at LRP in other racing series prior to his NASCAR career, dominated the early action on Saturday. He started from the pole in his No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford and opened up a lead of more than two seconds early. However, he fell to fourth following a pit stop during a caution on Lap 44. He later went off course, but quickly recovered and set out after the leaders.
After moving up to second on Lap 60, Szegedy took the lead from Mike Stefanik a lap later and then pulled away from the field to win by a margin of 1.796 seconds.
Stefanik finished second followed by Justin Bonsignore, Richie Pallai, and Ted Christopher. Rowan Pennink, Erick Rudolph, Eric Beers, Kevin Goodale and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top 10.
Previous race winner Doug Coby looked poised to go back-to-back but wrecked while in the lead on Lap 55 and finished 18th.
The race featured seven lead changes among five drivers. Szegedy led a race-high 49 circuits.
The win was Szegedy’s 17th career victory and the third this season for the 2003 tour champion. Three wins and podium finishes in six of the last eight events have propelled him to the top of the standings, with 2,004 points over 1,992 for Ron Silk, who finished 15th on Saturday.
The Lime Rock race marked the fourth of six-consecutive weeks of racing for the Whelen Modified Tour. The busiest portion of the 2011 schedule started at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 24 and will get a break following Stafford (Conn,) Motor Speedway on Oct. 2, a stretch of six races in 40 days.
The next event on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the New Hampshire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Whelen Modified 66/99 pres. by Town Fair Tire Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Lime Rock Park
Lakeville, Conn.
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 66 laps, 67.989 mph.
2. (5) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Ford, 66.
3. (4) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 66.
4. (7) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet, 66.
5. (9) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 66.
6. (8) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 66.
7. (3) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 66.
8. (17) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 66.
9. (12) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 66.
10. (11) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 66.
11. (16) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 66.
12. (15) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 66.
13. (18) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 66.
14. (19) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 66.
15. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 65.
16. (20) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 63.
17. (6) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 61.
18. (14) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 54, accident.
19. (13) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 50.
20. (10) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 46, accident.
21. (21) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 3, transmission.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 27 minutes 22 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.796 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Szegedy (100.182 mph, 53.902 seconds)
Caution Flags: 5 for 19 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Szegedy 1-43; J. Tomaino 44; E. Flemke,Jr. 45-46; D. Coby 47; E. Flemke,Jr. 48-51; D. Coby 52-54; M. Stefanik 55-60; T. Szegedy 61-66.
Standings: 1. T. Szegedy, 2004; 2. R. Silk, 1992; 3. R. Pennink, 1911; 4. E. Beers, 1843; 5. D. Coby, 1833; 6. B. Santos, 1767; 7. J. Bonsignore, 1727; 8. M. Hirschman, 1718; 9. J. Civali, 1674; 10. E. Rudolph, 1620.