QUALIFYING: Santos Earns Tenth Pole Award
Series Veteran To Try For Third Consecutive Win At Stafford
STAFFORD, Conn. – Bobby Santos edged Ryan Preece to win his 10th Coors Light Pole Award in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday.
Santos, of Franklin, Mass., turned a fast-lap of 18.301 seconds (98.355 mph) in his No. 44 Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet, as the 27-car field was set for tonight’s TSI Harley-Davidson 125 presented by G-Oil on Stafford’s half-mile oval. He now moves into a tie with Jerry Marquis for 15th on the all-time series list for pole awards. Santos also moves into a tie with Tony Hirschman for third most pole awards at the track.
Preece will join Santos on the front row for tonight’s Stafford 150 after his qualifying run of 18.338 seconds (98.157 mph). Ron Silk was third quickest, followed by Justin Bonsignore, Todd Szegedy, Jimmy Blewett, Eric Berndt, Eric Goodale, Rowan Pennink and Doug Coby completed the top 10.
This is the third race of the season and the second of four events this year at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Santos is winner of five of the last 11 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Stafford, including the previous two. He captured his second consecutive pole award after being the quickest car during practice. After claiming his second consecutive pole award at this event, Santos will now look to push his current win streak at the track to three.
The green flag for the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 is slated to wave at 9:15 p.m. ET
QUALIFYING RESULTS
NWMT Stafford 6/14/13 Qualifying
STARTING LINEUP (PDF)
Pos No. Name Sponsor Time Speed In Lap Laps Diff
1 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music 18.301 98.355 2 2
2 16 Ryan Preece East West Marines/Diversified Metals 18.338 98.157 2 2 0.037
3 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm 18.380 97.933 2 2 0.079
4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology 18.404 97.805 2 2 0.103
5 2 Todd Szegedy Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. 18.418 97.730 2 2 0.117
6 76 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett Inc/TS Haulers 18.440 97.614 2 2 0.139
7 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Aggts/North End Auto Parts 18.451 97.556 2 2 0.150
8 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply 18.451 97.556 2 2 0.150
9 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner 18.459 97.513 1 2 0.158
10 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrecking & Furnace & Duct Supply 18.468 97.466 2 2 0.167
11 25 Zane Zeiner ATC 18.491 97.345 2 2 0.190
12 64 Ron Yuhas Jr. Fast Track Electric/Scorpion Const 18.540 97.087 2 2 0.239
13 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving 18.547 97.051 2 2 0.246
14 79 Woody Pitkat TSI Harley-Davidson/Coors Light 18.555 97.009 1 2 0.254
15 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka 18.567 96.946 2 2 0.266
16 73 Cole Powell* Copps BuildAll/Tricar 18.637 96.582 1 1 0.336
17 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine 18.665 96.437 2 2 0.364
18 39 Richie Pallai Jr. MAHLE Performance/Lucas Oil 18.665 96.437 2 2 0.364
19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing 18.669 96.417 2 2 0.368
20 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const/Cape Cod Copper 18.699 96.262 1 2 0.398
21 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchards Auto Stores 18.712 96.195 2 3 0.411
22 89 Timmy Solomito EM Power/Eastport Feeds 18.759 95.954 2 2 0.458
23 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/Mehner Racing 18.785 95.821 1 2 0.484
24 33 Wade Cole Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s 18.892 95.278 2 2 0.591
25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape Supply/TRC Elec 18.944 95.017 2 2 0.643
26 38 Brian Schofield Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s 19.176 93.867 2 2 0.875
Sources: John Tejeda/NASCAR PR