Preece Captures First Whelen Tour Title
Pennink Wins 100th Career Start To End Drought
THOMPSON, Conn. – Rowan Pennink won the Sunoco World Series 150 presented by Xtra Mart but it was Ryan Preece who left Thompson Speedway with the heavy hardware on Sunday as he captured the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
Preece, from Berlin, Conn., capped off a stellar season highlighted by four wins for his first NASCAR touring series title. To do it, he had to dethrone defending champion Doug Coby, who entered Sunday as Preece’s lone competition.
With a 26-point lead, however, Preece only had to finish 22nd or better to secure his first title. For good measure, Preece led 33 laps late in the race in the No. 16 East West Marine/Sophie’s Rest Ford and cruised to the crown with his seventh podium finish of the campaign.
Photo Galleries:
[October 19] by Paul Fohlin
[October 20] by Paul Fohlin
Preece had a stated goal heading into the day of being the only driver in Victory Lane as both the champion and race winner. Although he wasn’t able to accomplish both, Preece was nonetheless ecstatic following the event.
“We definitely had a really good car,” Preece said. “Things didn’t work out our way [to win the race], but the championship – the big picture – did and that’s what it’s all about. We race all year for this big crown at the end.”
Preece, whose first Whelen Modified Tour victory came at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 2008, looked forward to adding the tour’s sizeable championship trophy to his collection.
“Now I get to have this nice trophy in my room along with the [Martinsville] grandfather clock and everything else, so it’s awesome,” Preece said. “It’s just amazing right now.”
Sunday’s checkered flag went to Rowan Pennink, who drove the No. 93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet around Donny Lia on Lap 133 and held the lead through the 150th and final circuit for his second Whelen Modified Tour victory in what was his 100th career start.
Pennink, from Huntingdon Valley, Pa., ended a 48-race winless drought with the triumph. In between wins he had four runner-up finishes, two of which came at Thompson, and a number of other near misses at the famed .625-mile oval.
“We’ve had so many good cars racing here the last few years and pit strategy and cautions never fell our way,” Pennink said. “Today we pitted earlier than some people and it finally fell right for us. We were able to have a great pit stop, get out in front of a bunch of people and bring this think into Victory Lane.”
Lia crossed the line second followed by Preece, polesitter Bobby Santos and Ron Silk. Max Zachem finished sixth in his Whelen Modified Tour debut while Matt Hirschman, Coby, Todd Szegedy and Justin Bonsignore brought home the top 10.
Coby, who celebrated his first championship following this same race last year at Thompson, had a large deficit to overcome to start the day if he wanted to keep the title. That challenge became even greater when he made contact with the wall on Lap 9 and ended up a lap down. Although he was able to get back on the lead lap and ultimately rally to a top-10 finish, Preece’s performance was too much to overcome.
At 22 years, 11 months and 25 days, Preece – a member of the prestigious NASCAR Next program that highlights up-and-coming drivers – became the youngest champion in the 29-year history of the Whelen Modified Tour. He’s also the sixth different first-time tour champion in the last seven seasons, and the fourth in a row.
The finale of the Whelen Modified Tour’s 14-race schedule featured six lead changes among five different drivers and was slowed by 10 caution periods.
The Sunoco World Series 150 presented by Xtra Mart will be telecast on Fox Sports 1 on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 12 p.m. ET.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: WINNER ROWAN PENNINK | AUDIO: NWMT 2013 CHAMPION RYAN PREECE
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NWMT Thompson 10/20/13 Unofficial Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Thompson 10/20/13
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 3 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 150 47 4 Running
2 10 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine Dodge 150 43 1 Running
3 5 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Sophie’s Rest Ford 150 42 1 Running
4 1 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 150 42 2 Running
5 18 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 150 39 Running
6 8 20 Max Zachem * Dunleavy Rpr./Hitchcock Pool Water Ford 150 38 Running
7 7 60 Matt Hirschman B.C. Brennenstuhl/LI Mod Maniac Chevrolet 150 38 1 Running
8 11 52 Doug Coby Furnace & Duct/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet 150 36 Running
9 13 2 Todd Szegedy UNOH/Dunleavy Repair Chevrolet 150 35 Running
10 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 150 34 Running
11 12 89 Timmy Solomito * Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet 150 33 Running
12 17 72 Chuck Hossfeld Jerry Gradl Motors Chevrolet 150 32 Running
13 14 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet 150 31 Running
14 20 79 Woody Pitkat Mr. Rooter/Coors Light/Hill Ent. Pontiac 150 30 Running
15 16 46 Keith Rocco Cape Cod Aggregates/Pettit Engines Chevrolet 150 29 Running
16 2 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving Ford 150 28 Running
17 27 8 Glen Reen Sypher Const./North 1 Steakhouse Chevrolet 150 27 Running
18 22 71 Jimmy Zacharias * Vista-PPO Automotive Chevrolet 150 26 Running
19 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Mfg./Van Wickle NAPA Chevrolet 150 25 Running
20 23 11 John Beatty, Jr. * Freeport Collision/N. Shore Recycling Chevrolet 150 24 Running
21 29 38 Dave Salzarulo * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet 150 23 Running
22 28 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet 150 22 Running
23 19 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const./Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 144 21 Running
24 26 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/Mehner Racing Ford 116 20 Running
25 25 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet 106 19 Accident
26 21 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 85 18 Accident
27 15 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 74 17 Accident
28 9 15 Rob Fuller 15-40 Connection Chevrolet 37 16 Accident
29 6 73 Cole Powell * Copps BuildAll/Tricar Developments Chevrolet 22 15 Engine
RACE STATISTICS
Race Notes: Rowan Pennink won the Sunoco World Series 150 pres. by Xtra Mart for his second career win and Ryan Preece captured the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
Fastest Qualifier: Bobby Santos, Time: 18.712 Seconds, Speed: 120.244 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 16 mins, 17 secs Average Speed: 73.738 mph Margin of Victory: 0.971 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 10-13 (Car #52 accident Turn 1); 38-41 (Car #15 accident Frontstretch ); 70-74 (Car #79 accident Turn 2 ); 75-79 (Car #88 accident Turn 2 ); 86-89 (Car #58 accident Turn 2 ); 94-99 (Cars #46 & 18 accident Backstretch, Cars #22 & 60 accident Frontstretch ); 102-104 (Car #22 accident Turn 2 ); 107-109 (Cars #3 & 28 accident Turn 2 ); 121-123 (Car #2 spin Turn 4 ); 130-132 (Cars #79, 8, 18 accident Turn 4 ). 10 for 40 laps.
Lap Leaders: Bobby Santos 1-66, Matt Hirschman 67-70, Ryan Preece 71, Bobby Santos 72-92, Ryan Preece 93-124, Donny Lia 125-132, Rowan Pennink 133-150.
Total Laps Led: Bobby Santos 87, Ryan Preece 33, Rowan Pennink 18, Donny Lia 8, Matt Hirschman 4. 6 changes involving 5 drivers.
Photos by Crystal Snape & Nicholas Teto