QUALIFYING: Preece On the Pole at Daytona
Earns Top Whelen Modified Qualifying Spot
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – An owner of 15 Coors Light Pole Awards during his NASCAR Whelen Modified career, reigning tour champion Ryan Preece once again drove to the top qualifying spot for tonight’s UNOH Battle At The Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway.
Preece, from Berlin, Conn., topped the speed chart in time trials Tuesday evening for the non-points Whelen Modified-Whelen Southern Modified Tour event at the .37-mile oval with a fast qualifying lap of 76.490 mph.
The defending Whelen Modified Tour titlist, Preece has 12 career poles in that tour, and earned three in Whelen Southern Modified Tour competition in 2013.
Donny Lia will join Preece in the front row for the 150-lap feature thanks to a fast lap of 75.768. Timmy Solomito, Eric Goodale and Doug Coby brought home the top five qualifiers. The rest of the top 10 in the 26-car field will be Jason Myers, Patrick Emerling, Justin Bonsignore, Luke Fleming and Kyle Benjamin.
The Whelen Modifieds will begin tonight’s twinbill, followed by the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Live race coverage on FOX Sports 2 will begin at 7 p.m. while radio coverage on the Motor Racing Network will stream live on MRN.com and SiriusXM NASCAR Ch. 90 gets underway at 6:45 p.m.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
NWMT-NWSMT Daytona 2/18/14 Qualifying Results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals 17.414 76.490
2 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing 17.580 75.768
3 75 Timmy Solomito* Eastport Feeds 17.613 75.626
4 58 Eric Goodale RBSCorp.com/Heritage Flooring 17.648 75.476
5 2 Doug Coby Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair 17.706 75.229
6 14 Jason Myers Southern VapesLLC.com E-Cigs 17.770 74.958
7 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership 17.780 74.916
8 51 Justin Bonsignore chem3.com 17.828 74.714
9 40 Luke Fleming AutosByNelson.com/K. Powell 17.846 74.639
10 7 Kyle Benjamin* RainEater Wiper Blades/Menards 17.865 74.559
11 88 John Beatty Jr.* Meadowbrook Collision 17.871 74.534
12 73 Cole Powell Copps/Tricar/Chester’s Goat Milk 17.879 74.501
13 31 Cody Ware* RaceTrac 17.883 74.484
14 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Spdwy Auto Auction/Adam’s 17.893 74.443
15 22 Thomas Barrett Jr.* Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons 17.905 74.393
16 70 Jeremy Gerstner Hog Wild TranspGMR Lawn Care 17.907 74.384
17 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm 17.909 74.376
18 46 Jonathan Kievman A-Best Forklift 17.948 74.214
19 79 David Brigati Coors Light/JDL/Monster 17.968 74.132
20 00 A J Winstead Health Diagnostic/Gator’s Dockside 17.970 74.124
21 21 J R Bertuccio Gershow Recycling 17.984 74.066
22 36 David Sapienza* Frankie’s Towing 18.047 73.807
23 71 Jimmy Zacharias* Cental States Used Clothing 18.305 72.767
24 15 Rob Fuller 15-40 Connection 18.306 72.763
25 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing 18.343 72.616
26 33 Gary Fountain Sr.* Andy Petree Racing/Fountain Mtspts 18.417 72.324
27 09 Matt Montineri* Hisco Pump South 18.481 72.074
28 8 Dalton Baldwin* Children’s Dream Racer 18.582 71.682
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR