Santos Drives to the Victory
Passes Lia To Claim Whelen Modified Tour Win At Waterford
WATERFORD, Conn. – Bobby Santos followed Donny Lia for much of the first half of Saturday night’s race. But Santos wasn’t content to finish second.
So Santos, from Franklin, Massachusetts, wrestled the lead away and went on to claim the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in the Mr. Rooter 161 at Waterford Speedbowl.
It was Santos’ second win of the season and 12th of his career. It was his first tour win at Waterford, the fourth different track he’s registered a victory at during his Whelen Modified Tour tenure.
[Photo Gallery] by Ed Martin
A green-white-checkered finish pushed the race to 165 laps. Lia, who earlier in the night won the Coors Light Pole Award, finished second.
Ted Christopher rallied back to finish third. Justin Bonsignore and Patrick Emerling were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Defending race winner and tour champion Ryan Preece finished sixth, followed by Woody Pitkat, Keith Rocco, Ron Yuhas Jr. and Doug Coby.
What proved to be the eventual winning move for Santos in his No. 44 Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet came on Lap 133. Santos dove under Lia through Turn 3, and with some contact, came out of Turn 4 will the lead thanks to his “bottom shot.”
“We had a great car,” Santos said. “I followed Donny [Lia] the whole first half of the race and I tried multiple times to pass him as clean as could be. He roughed me up a little bit I felt like, and I just saved it until the end of the race when it counted.”
The runner-up effort for Lia was his best finish through four races this year. He seemed to take some exception to Santos’ winning move, however.
“We just got a little free and Bobby’s [Santos] car was just better than ours there at the end,” Lia said. “There were a couple things there – I’m not quite sure what was going on the way he raced us a little bit – but we’ll see what happens going forward.”
The podium for Christopher was his first in nine starts. He’s finished in the top 10 each race this year with his new No. 13 team.
“We had to pit and come from last, so I’m pretty happy with it,” Christopher said of his third place finish. “The car ran good. It’s still a work in progress, but each week we get better and better.”
Bonsignore took over the points lead from Coby by two tallies. Santos is third, three more points back of the leader. Coby, who had finished on the podium in each of the first three races in 2014, was slowed by two different incidents Saturday night.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race at Riverhead (New York) Raceway on Saturday, June 28.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH WINNER BOBBY SANTOS | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH SECOND-PLACE DONNY LIA | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH THIRD-PLACE TED CHRISTOPHER
Sources: Jason Christley & Jason Cunningham/NASCAR
NWMT Waterford 6/21/14 Official Results
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet 165 47 4 Running
2 1 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing Dodge 165 44 2 Running
3 12 13 Ted Christopher J&R Pre-Cast/Cape Cod Aggregates Chevrolet 165 41 Running
4 5 51 Justin Bonsignore chem3.com Chevrolet 165 40 Running
5 16 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Inc. Chevrolet 165 39 Running
6 13 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 165 38 Running
7 10 88 Woody Pitkat Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Restaurant 165 37 Running
8 15 48 Keith Rocco Wheelers Auto/Mr. Rooter Chevrolet 165 36 Running
9 9 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet 165 35 Running
10 8 2 Doug Coby Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance Chevrolet 165 34 Running
11 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s Repair/N.A. Contractors Chevrolet 165 33 Running
12 25 8 Glen Reen Reflex Energy/Baja Construction Chevrolet 165 32 Running
13 26 38 Dave Salzarulo * Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet 165 31 Running
14 20 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Ford 165 30 Running
15 21 33 Wade Cole Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet 165 29 Running
16 22 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 164 28 Running
17 19 3 Jimmy Zacharias * Cape Cod Copper/Central States Chevrolet 163 27 Running
18 28 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac 163 26 Running
19 4 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 162 25 Running
20 6 35 Derek Ramstrom * Matthew’s Truck Svc./Seekonk GP Chevrolet 161 24 Running
21 23 75 Timmy Solomito * Eastport Feeds/Alex Anderson Inc. Chevrolet 156 23 Steering
22 18 89 Shawn Solomito * Cystic Fibrosis Fdn./Acme Sanitary Chevrolet 155 22 Accident
23 14 22 Tommy Barrett, Jr. * Canto Paving/Ferguson Waterworks Chevrolet 154 21 Accident
24 11 52 Matt Hirschman Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk GP Chevrolet 154 20 Running
25 3 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet 72 19 Bell Housing
26 17 79 Spencer Davis * Hillbilly Racing/Coors 21 Means 21 Pontiac 70 18 Steering
27 27 01 Melissa Fifield * Allstate Insurance Chevrolet 66 17 Brakes
28 7 71 Craig Lutz * Team Critical/L.I. Performance Fuel Chevrolet 33 16 Steering
RACE STATISTICS
Race Comments: Bobby Santos won the Mr. Rooter 161, his 12th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory overall and first at Waterford Speedbowl.
Fastest Qualifier: Donny Lia, Time: 13.869 Seconds, Speed: 97.339 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 8 mins, 4 secs Average Speed: 54.542 mph Margin of Victory: 0.389 Seconds
Caution Flags: [Beneficiary] Laps 29-33 (Car #01 spinout (Turn 4) [26]); 65-80 (Car #3 spinout (Turn 4) (Red Flag 15 mins.) [none]); 89-92 (Car #52 stalled (Backstretch) [26]); 111-115 (Cars # 26, 2, 64 accident (Turn 1) [none]); 146-152 (Cars #6, 75 accident (Turn 3) (Red Flag 3 mins.) [18]); 155-162 (Car #22 accident (Turn 1) [8]). 6 for 45 laps.
Lap Leaders: Donny Lia 1-115, Bobby Santos 116, Donny Lia 117-132, Bobby Santos 133-165.
Total Laps Led: Donny Lia 131, Bobby Santos 34. 3 changes involving 2 drivers.
CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Jamie Tomaino, 99 Dunleavy’s Repair/N.A. Contractors Chevrolet
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Donny Lia, 4 Mystic Missile Racing Dodge
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Dave Salzarulo *, 38 Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Bobby Santos, 44 Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet