Preece Rolls To Riverhead Victory
Takes 2nd Whelen Modified Tour Win Of The Season
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Ryan Preece rolled to his second win of the season Saturday night in the Riverhead 200 at Riverhead Raceway.
To get it, the Berlin, Conn., driver led 168 laps before he survived a green-white-checkered finish for his fifth career win and second at Riverhead.
A caution on Lap 196 set up Preece in a battle with Jimmy Blewett on the final restart and pushed the race to 203 laps on the quarter-mile. Blewett was penalized to the tail end of the lead lap for jumping the restart and finished 12th.
Justin Bonsignore finished second. Bonsignore was the tour race winner and Riverhead's Modified Division champion last year. Todd Szegedy was third, followed by Riverhead regular Howie Brode and Ted Christopher.
Tom Rogers Jr., Eric Goodale, Donny Lia, Ron Silk and Eric Berndt completed the top 10.
Points leader Doug Coby experienced engine issues and finished 22nd to allow Preece to close to within nine points in the standings with three races remaining. Silk is third, 19 points back of Coby. Earlier in the day, Preece won his sixth Coors Light Pole Award of the season.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race next in the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 22. The race will air live on SPEED.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH RUNNER-UP JUSTIN BONSIGNORE |AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH THIRD-PLACE TODD SZEGEDY
NWMT Riverhead 9/15/12 Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Riverhead 7/28/12
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 1 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 203 48 5 Running
2 10 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 203 42 Running
3 4 2 Todd Szegedy Delicacies Gourmet/Dunleavy Repair Ford 203 41 Running
4 11 96 Howie Brode Long Island Freightliner Chevrolet 203 40 Running
5 12 3 Ted Christopher Eastport Feeds Chevrolet 203 39 Running
6 6 9 Tom Rogers, Jr. Planet Earth Recycling & Recovery Chevrolet 203 38 Running
7 2 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 203 38 1 Running
8 5 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing Dodge 203 36 Running
9 9 6 Ron Silk T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 203 35 Running
10 16 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 203 34 Running
11 18 45 Eric Beers Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc Ford 203 33 Running
12 13 76 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett Inc./T.S. Haulers Chevrolet 203 32 Running
13 17 36 Frank Vigliarolo Frankie's Towing Chevrolet 201 31 Running
14 19 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 201 30 Running
15 22 33 Wade Cole Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Chevrolet 200 29 Running
16 20 0 Ed Brunnhoelzl, III * CLN/AARN/LIModManiac Chevrolet 199 28 Running
17 15 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Raceworks TV Chevrolet 199 27 Running
18 21 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Hughes Motors/Complete Const. Chevrolet 195 26 Suspension
19 23 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 192 25 Suspension
20 14 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet 184 24 Running
21 3 79 Jon McKennedy Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 148 23 Steering
22 7 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Furnace & Duct Chevrolet 60 22 Engine
23 8 18 Ken Heagy Two Brothers Scrap Metal Chevrolet 53 21 Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Preece, Time: 11.904 Seconds, Speed: 75.605 mph
Time of Race: 56 mins, 49 secs Average Speed: 53.593 mph Margin of Victory: 0.448 Seconds
Caution Flags: <Beneficiary> Laps 11-17 (#3 accident Turn 4); 48-53 (Car #18 spin backstretch <99>); 57-63 (Car #18 spin Turn 2 <3>); 151-156 (Car #79 stalled backstretch <64>); 168-174 (Car #28 spin Turn 4 <3>); 180-186 (Car #07 spin Turn 4 <64>); 196-200 (Multi-car accident Turn 1 <45>). 7 for 45 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ryan Preece 1-77, Eric Goodale 78-112, Ryan Preece 113-203.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 168, Eric Goodale 35. 2 changes involving 2 drivers.
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WMT PR