Barrett Powers to Bristol Victory
Rookie Takes Whelen Modified Checkers In Bush’s Beans 150
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Rookie Tommy Barrett Jr. out-muscled veterans Bobby Santos and Justin Bonsignore with a dozen laps to go and drove on to his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in Wednesday’s Bush’s Beans 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Barrett, from Millis, Massachusetts, was running third in the late stages of the hotly-contested race when he drove through and by Bonsignore and Santos – who had been the dominant cars of the night – on Lap 139. The 19-year-old held on to the lead in his No. 22 Canto Paving/Ferguson Waterworks Chevrolet through one final restart on Lap 146 for the milestone first victory.
“The car was real good on the bottom, so I just drove it in and it stuck,” Barrett said. “I got by Justin and drove under Bobby. We were driving away and didn’t want to see that last caution, but I got a good restart and just drove away again.”
It was just his 10th career start, and first time competing at Bristol in the sixth annual combination race between the Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours.
“To get my first win here is amazing, it’s so exciting,” Barrett said. “I hadn’t even seen the track before today. My first time out [in practice] I didn’t even know what to think, it was crazy. This place is just so fast, so banked, the g-forces in the turns, there’s nothing like it.”
Santos held on for a runner-up finish and Ron Silk joined him on the podium in third. Whelen Modified points leader Doug Coby crossed the line fourth and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman was fifth.
Bonsignore, the event’s Coors Light Pole Award winner, slipped to sixth in the final running order followed by Eric Goodale, Timmy Solomito, Patrick Emerling and Ryan Preece.
It was a missed opportunity or Santos, who came 12 laps shy of at what would have been a fourth victory this year. He led a race-high 70 circuits.
“Those last 15 laps we just got really tight, and a couple other drivers said they did too,” Santos said. “The track – I felt it getting tighter as the race went along – and we were just a little bit off.”
JR Bertuccio ended up as the highest-finishing Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver in the event, 13th overall, and was credited with a victory for that tour. Southern tour points leader Andy Seuss was scored 28th in the final rundown after a last-lap accident.
With Barrett’s effort Wednesday, his Our Racing team has won at Bristol two years in a row after Mike Stefanik drove the No. 22 to Victory Lane in 2013.
Barrett became the first Whelen Modified Tour driver to win in his rookie season since James Civali in 2006. He also became the first teenager to garner a victory on the tour since Preece and Erick Rudolph won at ages 18 and 17, respectively, in 2009.
Wednesday saw an event record established for lead changes with nine, as well as for the most caution periods with 12. Thirty cars finished on the lead lap, also an event record.
With four events remaining on the Whelen Modified Tour schedule, Coby leads Bonsignore 407-403 in the championship standings with Ted Christopher in third at 374. The Whelen Southern Modified Tour has seven events remaining and Seuss now leads George Brunnhoelzl III 301-286 with Bertuccio ranked third at 274.
The Bush’s Beans 150 will air on Fox Sports 1 on Aug. 31 at 12 p.m. EDT.
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will return to action with the Bayport Credit Union 150 on Aug. 30 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia, while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be idle until the Riverhead 200 on Sept. 13 at Riverhead Raceway on New York’s Long Island.
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE OF TOP THREE FINISHERS BARRETT-SANTOS-SILK | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE WITH NWSMT WINNER JR BERTUCCIO
NWMT Bristol 8/20/14 Unofficial Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Bristol 8/20/14
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 18 22 Tommy Barrett, Jr. * Canto Paving/Ferguson Waterworks Chevrolet 150 47N 4 Running
2 3 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet 150 44N 2 Running
3 24 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 150 41N Running
4 7 2 Doug Coby Dunleavy’s Repair/HEX Performance Ford 150 40N Running
5 8 7 Ryan Newman Menards/Wix Filters Chevrolet 150 39N Running
6 1 51 Justin Bonsignore chem3.com Chevrolet 150 39N 1 Running
7 9 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet 150 37N Running
8 12 75 Timmy Solomito * Eastport Feeds Chevrolet 150 36N Running
9 23 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevy/Buffalo Auto Auction Chevrolet 150 35N Running
10 4 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 150 35N 1 Running
11 19 3 Jimmy Zacharias * Cape Cod Copper/Central States Chevrolet 150 33N Running
12 11 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet 150 32N Running
13 28 21 JR Bertuccio Gershow Recycling/Hagerman Systems Chevrolet 150 43S Running
14 16 28 George Brunnhoelzl III Composite Tech./Performance Tech. Chevrolet 150 42S Running
15 2 1 Burt Myers Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Auction/Adam’s Ford 150 41S Running
16 22 40 Luke Fleming AutosByNelson.com/Koma Unwind Ford 150 40S Running
17 29 73 Cole Powell Copps BuildAll/Tricar Developments Chevrolet 150 31N Running
18 33 79 Spencer Davis * Hillbilly Racing/Coors 21 Means 21 Pontiac 150 39S Running
19 10 88 Woody Pitkat Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 150 30N Running
20 27 65 Danny Bohn Rustoleum/Cedar Peaks Enterprises Chevrolet 150 38S Running
21 32 8 Glen Reen Reflex Energy/Baja Construction Chevrolet 150 29N Running
22 15 13 Ted Christopher Tick Free Organic Tick Control/CT&E Chevrolet 150 28N Running
23 6 52 Matt Hirschman Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk GP Chevrolet 150 27N Running
24 35 43 David Calabrese Diamond Back Towing Chevrolet 150 37S Running
25 20 15 Joe Ryan Osborne * Pinnacle Trucking/Osborne Const. Chevrolet 150 36S Running
26 34 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s Repair/N.A. Contractors Chevrolet 150 26N Running
27 17 97 Bryan Dauzat O.B. Builders Chevrolet 149 35S Running
28 14 11 Andy Seuss NE Race Cars & Parts/Ideal Finance Chevrolet 149 34S Running
29 21 77 Gary Putnam Curb Records Chevrolet 148 33S Running
30 39 54 Jeff Fultz Red Bull/FireAde Chevrolet 128 32S Handling
31 25 76 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * Haas Automation Chevrolet 107 31S Electrical
32 38 95 Cale Gale Rheem Chevrolet 95 30S Mechanical
33 37 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet 94 25N Accident
34 13 05 Todd Szegedy 15-40 Connection Chevrolet 79 24N Rear End
35 5 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing Dodge 62 24N 1 Engine
36 26 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Ford 54 29S Engine
37 36 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet 38 23N Overheating
38 30 12 Jeremy Gerstner McPherson Archery/Hog Wild Transport Chevrolet 28 28S Accident
39 31 03 Jason Myers Fountain Motorsports/Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 3 27S Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Justin Bonsignore, Time: 14.925 Seconds, Speed: 128.563 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 22 mins, 5 secs Average Speed: 58.441 mph Margin of Victory: 1.189 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 10-14; 21-22; 29-34; 44-47; 62-65; 76-77 (Midway Break); 80-86; 95-102; 110-114; 119-121; 131-133; 139-150. 12 for 61 laps.
Lap Leaders: Justin Bonsignore 1-35, Ryan Preece 36-55, Donny Lia 56-57, Ryan Preece 58-60, Bobby Santos 61-63, Ryan Preece 64-70, Bobby Santos 71-135, Justin Bonsignore 136, Bobby Santos 137-138, Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 139-150.
Total Laps Led: Bobby Santos 70, Justin Bonsignore 36, Ryan Preece 30, Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 12, Donny Lia 2. 9 changes involving 5 drivers.
STANDINGS
2014 Unofficial Driver Standings: Bristol
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Bristol 8/20/14
Print Version (PDF) | Owner Standings | Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins 2nd Top 5 Top 10
1 Doug Coby 407 10 1 2 8 10
2 Justin Bonsignore 403 10 3 1 6 9
3 Ted Christopher 374 10 0 1 3 9
4 Bobby Santos 373 10 3 1 5 6
5 Ron Silk 368 10 0 1 3 9
6 Ryan Preece 362 10 0 1 4 9
7 Timmy Solomito * 340 10 0 0 2 5
8 Eric Goodale 336 10 1 0 4 5
9 Woody Pitkat 333 10 1 1 4 5
10 Matt Hirschman 332 10 0 1 2 5
11 Patrick Emerling 309 10 0 0 1 4
12 Donny Lia 299 10 0 1 2 3
13 Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 291 10 1 0 2 3
14 Glen Reen 290 10 0 0 0 2
15 Ron Yuhas, Jr. 289 10 0 0 0 3
16 Jamie Tomaino 286 10 0 0 0 0
17 Wade Cole 263 10 0 0 0 0
18 Gary McDonald 248 9 0 0 0 0
19 Rowan Pennink 244 8 0 0 2 3
20 Jimmy Zacharias * 226 8 0 0 0 1
21 Dave Salzarulo * 194 7 0 0 0 0
22 Ken Heagy 187 7 0 0 0 0
23 Melissa Fifield * 180 9 0 0 0 0
24 Keith Rocco 162 6 0 0 0 1
25 Todd Szegedy 99 4 0 0 0 1
26 Shawn Solomito * 85 3 0 0 0 1
27 Ryan Newman 79 2 0 0 2 2
28 Spencer Davis * 68 3 0 0 0 1
29 Mike Stefanik 64 3 0 0 0 0
30 Andy Seuss 63 2 0 0 0 1
31 John Beatty, Jr. * 61 2 0 0 0 0
32 Cole Powell 44 1 0 0 0 0
33 T.J. Zacharias * 44 2 0 0 0 0
34 Tom Rogers, Jr. 36 1 0 0 0 1
35 Richie Pallai, Jr. 36 1 0 0 0 0
36 Chuck Hossfeld 34 1 0 0 0 1
37 Rob Fuller 31 1 0 0 0 0
38 Dave Brigati 25 1 0 0 0 0
39 Derek Ramstrom * 24 1 0 0 0 0
40 Gary Putnam 21 1 0 0 0 0
41 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. 20 1 0 0 0 0
42 JR Bertuccio 20 1 0 0 0 0
43 Kyle Ellwood * 18 1 0 0 0 0
44 Craig Lutz * 16 1 0 0 0 0
Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
STANDINGS
2014 Driver Unofficial Standings: Bristol
Whelen Southern Modified Tour
Race:NWSMT Bristol 8/20/14
Print Version (PDF) | Click Here for Owner Standings | Click Here for Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Andy Seuss 301 7 3 6 7
2 George Brunnhoelzl, III 286 7 1 6 6
3 JR Bertuccio 274 7 2 5 5
4 Danny Bohn 267 7 1 3 5
5 Luke Fleming 266 7 0 4 6
6 Burt Myers 257 7 0 3 6
7 Gary Putnam 247 7 0 0 5
8 Spencer Davis * 245 7 0 2 4
9 Kyle Ebersole 239 6 0 2 4
10 Jason Myers 239 7 0 1 4
11 Joe Ryan Osborne * 239 7 0 0 6
12 Bryan Dauzat 227 6 0 0 3
13 David Calabrese 220 7 0 1 3
14 Bobby Measmer, Jr. * 207 7 0 0 1
15 Thomas Stinson 184 6 0 0 1
16 Mike Norman 178 6 0 0 0
17 Brian Loftin 124 4 0 0 1
18 A.J. Winstead 91 3 0 0 1
19 Cole Powell 68 2 0 1 1
20 Jeremy Gerstner * 60 2 0 0 0
21 Ryan Preece 40 1 0 1 1
22 Jeff Fultz 32 1 0 0 0
23 Cody Ware * 31 1 0 0 0
24 Cale Gale 30 1 0 0 0
25 Dalton Baldwin * 28 1 0 0 0
26 Bud McIntyre * 25 1 0 0 0
*Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR