Szegedy Ends Slump In Style
Last-Lap Pass Claims Whelen Modified Win At NHMS
LOUDON, N.H. — Todd Szegedy didn’t want to wait any longer.
The Ridgefield, Conn., driver dove underneath Donny Lia for the lead heading into Turn 3 of the white-flag lap and emerged with the victory Saturday afternoon in the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In the process, he ended a career-long 28-race winless streak on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman made a late bid for the lead coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap but settled for second. Lia, Bobby Santos and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top five.
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Mike Stefanik finished sixth, followed by Eric Goodale, Ron Silk, Woody Pitkat and Ed Flemke Jr.
Ryan Preece finished 12th but was able to extend his points lead over Doug Coby to 41 (480-439) with two races remaining. Coby, the defending tour champion, finished 13th.
It was a frantic pace at the front in the first half of the race as the lead changed hands 15 times in the first 48 laps between the polesitter Newman, Preece and Santos. After the midway break Szegedy and Lia emerged as the frontrunners. The duo swapped the lead six times down the stretch, including Szegedy’s decisive pass between Turns 3 & 4 coming to the checkers.
The F.W. Webb 100 triumph was the 18th of Szegedy’s career and his third at the “Magic Mile.”
“It’s been tough. It’s been a struggle with racing on and off the track for me, so there’s a lot of emotion,” Szegedy said of ending the drought. “When you have a couple bad years it wears on you.
“It’s just nice to win. It’s why we do it. I don’t come here to run second or third, I come here to win, and when you don’t win it puts a lot of wear on you.”
Following the race Szegedy acknowledged the contact he made with Lia to make the last-lap pass, but the desire to end that winless drought provided the motivation to do whatever it took.
“I sent it in and drove it in as hard as I could,” Szegedy said. “I tried not to hit him, but I knew that we were going to hit.
“I don’t knock guys out of the way to get victories, but I needed this one really bad.”
Often the leader on the white flag lap at New Hampshire is in a precarious position. Lia found himself there on Saturday, knowing that he’d have to endure a hard charge from Szegedy on Lap 100.
“I stayed out front knowing that if I stayed out front, that was pretty much going to be the deal on the last lap,” Lia said. “I thought we’d just race that last corner out rather than doing what he [Szegedy] did, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“You live and learn. I just won’t give that benefit of the doubt again, no matter who it is.”
The race, which aired live on Fox Sports 2, featured 23 lead changes among five drivers and was slowed by just three cautions.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track Sunday, Sept. 29 for the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH RACE WINNER TODD SZEGEDY | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH SECOND-PLACE RYAN NEWMAN | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THIRD-PLACE DONNY LIA
NWMT NHMS 9/21/13 Unofficial Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT New Hampshire 9/21/13
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 4 2 Todd Szegedy UNOH/Dunleavy Repair Chevrolet 100 47 4 Running
2 1 7 Ryan Newman Menards/Wix Filters Chevrolet 100 44 2 Running
3 2 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine Dodge 100 42 1 Running
4 5 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 100 41 1 Running
5 17 7 Patrick Emerling Buffalo Auto Auction/Emerling Chevrolet 100 39 Running
6 7 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B. Our Co./Canto & Sons Paving Chevrolet 100 38 Running
7 11 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 100 37 Running
8 10 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 100 36 Running
9 13 79 Woody Pitkat Mr. Rooter/Coors Light/Hill Enterprises Pontiac 100 35 Running
10 20 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet 100 34 Running
11 12 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 100 33 Running
12 3 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 100 33 1 Running
13 6 52 Doug Coby Furnace & Duct/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet 100 31 Running
14 14 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 100 30 Running
15 18 73 Cole Powell * Copps BuildAll/Tricar Developments Chevrolet 100 29 Running
16 19 39 Richie Pallai, Jr. MAHLE Performance/Lucas Oil Chevrolet 100 28 Running
17 15 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet 100 27 Running
18 23 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Mfg./Van Wickle NAPA Chevrolet 100 26 Running
19 22 19 Jacob Dore * Harold Estes Lumber/Perkins Paving Chevrolet 100 25 Running
20 24 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/Mehner Racing Ford 99 24 Running
21 21 15 Rob Fuller 15-40 Connection Chevrolet 99 23 Running
22 25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac 99 22 Running
23 26 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet 99 21 Running
24 8 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const./Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 67 20 Running
25 9 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 60 19 Accident
26 16 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agrgts./North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 23 18 Electrical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Newman, Time: 29.475 Seconds, Speed: 129.221 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 7 mins, 36 secs Average Speed: 93.905 mph Margin of Victory: 0.084 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 51 (Competition caution midway break); 54-57 (Cars #39 &73 spin Turn 3 ); 61-66 (Cars #93 & 3 accident Turn 1 ). 3 for 11 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ryan Newman 1-3, Ryan Preece 4, Ryan Newman 5-6, Ryan Preece 7, Ryan Newman 8-9, Ryan Preece 10, Ryan Newman 11-12, Ryan Preece 13, Ryan Newman 14-17, Bobby Santos 18, Ryan Newman 19, Bobby Santos 20, Ryan Newman 21-41, Bobby Santos 42-43, Ryan Newman 44-45, Bobby Santos 46-47, Ryan Newman 48-57, Todd Szegedy 58-67, Donny Lia 68-69, Todd Szegedy 70-71, Donny Lia 72-78, Todd Szegedy 79-86, Donny Lia 87-99, Todd Szegedy 100.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Newman 47, Donny Lia 22, Todd Szegedy 21, Bobby Santos 6, Ryan Preece 4. 23 changes involving 5 drivers.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WMT PR