QUALIFYING: Lia Adds to Pole Collection
Nineteenth Career Coors Light Pole Is First At Waterford
WATERFORD, Conn. – A two-time champion with double-digit wins and poles in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career, Donny Lia has accomplished most things out there. He knocked one missing item off of the list Saturday with his first Coors Light Pole Award at Waterford Speedbowl.
Lia is a veteran of nine previous Whelen Modified Tour races at Waterford, where he’s captured two checkered flags, but he had yet to grab a pole at the .375-mile oval. That ended Saturday when the Jericho, New York, native posted a fast lap of 13.869 seconds (97.339 mph) during Mr. Rooter 161 qualifying for his 19th career pole.
Lia will be joined on the front row for tonight’s Mr. Rooter 161 by Bobby Santos. Santos’ lap of 14.003 (96.408) stood until the very end when Lia, the last car to take time, knocked him off the provisional pole.
[Photo Gallery] by Ed Martin
Eric Goodale, Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top five qualifiers. The rest of the top 10 in the 28-car field included: Derek Ramstrom, Craig Lutz, Doug Coby, Ron Yuhas Jr. and Woody Pitkat.
Defending race winner and tour titlist Ryan Preece qualified 14th.
The Mr. Rooter 161, the fourth race of the 2014 Whelen Modified Tour season, will go green at approximately 9 p.m.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
NWMT Waterford 6/21/14 Qualifying
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing 13.869 97.339
2 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Imperialcars.com 14.003 96.408
3 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing/RBSCorp. 14.024 96.264
4 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm 14.060 96.017
5 51 Justin Bonsignore chem3.com 14.063 95.997
6 35 Derek Ramstrom* Matthew’s Truck Service/Seekonk Grand Prix 14.079 95.887
7 71 Craig Lutz* Team Critical/L.I. Performance Fuel 14.090 95.813
8 2 Doug Coby Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance 14.119 95.616
9 64 Ron Yuhas Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors 14.132 95.528
10 88 Woody Pitkat Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East 14.160 95.339
11 52 Matt Hirschman Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk GP 14.162 95.326
12 13 Ted Christopher J&R Pre-Cast/Cape Cod Aggregates 14.168 95.285
13 22 Tommy Barrett Jr.* Canto Paving/Ferguson/Waterworks 14.169 95.278
14 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals 14.169 95.278
15 48 Keith Rocco Wheelers Auto/Mr. Rooter 14.172 95.258
16 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Inc. 14.197 95.091
17 79 Spencer Davis* Hillbilly Racing/Coors Light 21 Means 21/Le Bleu 14.281 94.531
18 89 Shawn Solomito* Cystic Gibrosis Foundation/Acme Sanitary Services 14.304 94.379
19 3 Jimmy Zacharias* Cape Cod Copper/Central States 14.314 94.313
20 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood 14.342 94.129
21 33 Wade Cole Perf Engines/Kendall Oil 14.396 93.776
22 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner 14.427 93.575
23 75 Timmy Solomito* Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. 14.442 93.477
24 38 Dave Salzarulo* Perf Eng/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil 14.444 93.464
25 8 Glen Reen Reflex Energy/Baja Construction 14.479 93.238
26 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s Repair/N.A. Contractors 14.540 92.847
27 01 Melissa Fifield* Allstate Insurance 14.969 90.186
28 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric 15.194 88.851
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR