New Ride for Timmy Solomito
‘The Natural’ in Flamingo Motorsports Car for 2015
Timmy Solomito of Islip, NY will drive the No. 16 Modified for Eric Sanderson on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour next season. The rumor mill has been churning since Ryan Preece announced his departure from Flamingo Motorsports on October 20, one day after winning the Sunoco World Series. One year removed from winning a championship, Preece is moving to Eddie Partridge’s No. 6 TS Haulers Motorsports car.
Solomito did not have anything set going into the season finale at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. He expected to return to Anderson’s No. 75 car or at least run part time.
Flamingo Motorsports Crew Chief Sly Szaban asked Solomito’s car owner Wayne Anderson within days of the season finale about their plans for 2015. Szaban expressed interest in Solomito driving for Flamingo Motorsports. Anderson, the 1994 series champion, was supportive of the 22-year-old driver’s opportunity.
“Wayn
e extended his thoughts out to me and told me that he thought it would be a good opportunity and that he’s behind whatever I thought 100 percent,” Solomito said. “(He) told me to see what they had to offer and he said that’s a good established team and he was behind me 110 percent.”
Solomito began this season planning to run at Riverhead (NY) Raceway full-time and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as time permitted. The focus changed to a full Whelen Modified campaign after a strong start to the season. At season’s end, Solomito won the Sunoco Rookie of the Year with two top fives and six top 10s in 13 starts. Solomito’s 10.8 average finish was the best by a Rookie of the Year since the award began in 1999, eclipsing Todd Szegedy’s 11.9 in 2002.
“If it wasn’t for Wayne, the opportunity probably would’ve never came about,” Solomito said. “He really put everything into the operation this year and really put me out there and on the map to be recognized. In all honesty, I can’t thank Wayne Anderson enough for everything that he’s done and I’m really looking forward to next year with Flamingo Motorsports and looking forward to seeing what we can do together.”
“For a startup team and a bunch of guys that we kind of put together at the last minute, we operated well,” Solomito said. “In the same token I’m excited for next year, but I’m upset to leave Wayne. But this also opens up the opportunity for my brother to step in and my brother is going to run the 75 car next year, so kind of its a win win for me to see my brother out there. He sacrificed a lot over the years for my racing career, including this year. He was pretty much the guy behind a lot of it, helping at the track and putting things together when my dad was out from an injury.”
The Flamingo Motorsports team of Palmer, MA won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship with Mike Stefanik (2006) and Preece (2013). Sanderson is one of four owners to win multiple titles since 2000.
“They obviously show that they have good equipment and a good bunch of guys,” Solomito said. “Being that everything clicks, I think we’ll be a really good team together and obviously with the success that they’ve had, you can tell that they have the whole deal going on. So this is one of the best cars on the Whelen Modified Tour and just really lucky and really blessed to be a part of such a good deal.”
Preece was a consistent top 10 finisher during his title defense. Victory lane eluded the team until Preece won the final two races at Stafford and Thompson to finish second in points. In 42 starts (2011-14) for the Flamingo team, Preece won eight races, with 24 top fives, and 30 top 10s. His average finish was seventh. The stint with Sanderson’s team was just shy of the longest of his career (Boehler 2008-10, 43 races).
“I didn’t hear anything about it,” Solomito said. “They were having a pretty good season. They got off to a little bit of a rough start there in the beginning, but it seemed to me like they were running up to par the rest of the season. Toward the end there, it seemed like they were running well. So I don’t think anybody really expected a driver change over there, as well as I don’t know if they expected it themselves.
“So just really happy that they considered me and they’re going to give me the opportunity to get behind the wheel of such a prestigious car that’s on the Whelen Modified Tour and they run well. So to be looked at by them meant a lot to myself and everybody that’s been involved with me thus far. It’s been a lot of people that have put a lot of stuff behind me to get me to where I am and I can’t thank them enough for giving me the opportunity.”
Solomito said his schedule for Flamingo Motorsports would include the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and possibly Daytona. Solomito expects to win races and finish in the top five in the standings. He called getting his first series win “always on the agenda.”
“Obviously the bar gets raised a little bit higher each year that you go out there and having a good experienced team behind you with a good notebook and good crew chief always helps you,” Solomito said. “So certainly I think it will be a confidence booster. It will be a little bit of getting used to, but I’m looking forward to taking the challenge and running with it.
“These opportunities don’t get passed along very often, so when they do you kind of have to jump on them. So I felt like this was one of the opportunities that would better my career and better everybody that I’m around, so just really looking forward to it and really looking forward to seeing what we can do speed-wise and I think everything will pull together good.”
“Wayne’s got a big heart,” Solomito said. “He sacrificed so much to get me to where I am today. Last year he put me in his car and kind of took a gamble on me. I was a young guy coming up just looking to race and he took a liking to me and took a gamble with me and I can’t say enough about Wayne and Joette and his entire family on what they’ve done for me. It means a lot when somebody can tell you that they think that’s a good opportunity. Wayne’s always had a big heart and he’s always been a great guy and I look to continue my friendship.”
Solomito called Anderson’s team “one big, tight family.” Older brother Shawn of Islip worked on Anderson’s team this season. He will drive the Anderson No. 75 next season. Shawn won the 2012 Riverhead Modified championship and has made nine NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts since 2011, with a best finish of fourth in June 2013 at Riverhead.
“It means a lot to me to see him out there,” Solomito said. “He sacrificed a lot for me the last couple of years and kind of put his career on the sidelines for me, so to see him get a shot out there really excites me and I think it’s good for my entire family that he’s going to get an opportunity. He’s definitely got a lot of talent and he’s just never had the chance to showcase it. He’s always been running his own stuff, paying out of his own pocket, so I’m hoping this helps boost him a little bit and puts him out on the track and that means a lot to me as well as to my family, so in a way it was a win win situation for me to make this move and give him the opportunity to be out there and I think when the end of the day is all said and done everybody won on the deal.”
Solomito believes his brother’s familiarity will be beneficial.
“He can kind of come off the momentum that we had this year with the team and carry on with that,” Solomito said. “I think it will be a good year for him and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com