Patience Pays Off for Preece
Wins Delayed, Rain-Shortened NASCAR Whelen Modified Race At Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. (Aug. 19, 2015) – Ryan Preece positioned himself in the right place at the right time, and took home the Bush’s Beans 150 trophy Wednesday in the annual combination race for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours.
On a night that saw rain pause, and ultimately shorten the Bush’s Beans 150, Preece grabbed the lead on Lap 75 just before the midway break and held the position during a subsequent caution on Lap 96. As rain and severe thunderstorms loomed during track clean-up, NASCAR officials threw the yellow-checkered flag on Lap 103, sending Preece’s No. 6 TS Haulers/East West Marine Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
Promptly, during those Victory Lane ceremonies, the deluge ensued.
It marked Preece’s 15th career Whelen Modified Tour victory, and first at the famed .533-mile Tennessee oval. The Berlin, Connecticut, native’s fourth win of the campaign also moved him back into the lead in the season standings.
Coors Light Pole Award winner Woody Pitkat – who entered the day one championship point ahead of Preece – finished second after leading the majority of the first half of the race and Donny Lia joined him on the podium in third. Ryan Newman and Bobby Santos brought home the top five.
Andy Seuss, Jeff Goodale, Chase Dowling, Timmy Solomito and Patrick Emerling completed the top 10.
Seuss was the highest-finishing Whelen Southern Modified Tour entry, and received credit for a victory for that tour.
The Bush’s Beans 150 originally went green as scheduled just after 6 p.m., but Lap 2 accident that took out three potential checkered flag contenders in Justin Bonsignore, Doug Coby and Todd Szegedy proved to be the first hurdle of the evening. While under caution for clean-up, rain arrived, which forced the resumption of the Bush’s Beans 150 to after the conclusion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.
The Whelen Modifieds returned to green flag action nearly five hours later just after 11 p.m.
The Bush’s Beans 150 will air on NBCSN on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. ET.
The Whelen Modified Tour will return to action on Aug. 29 at New York’s Riverhead Raceway while the Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s schedule will resume on Sept. 5 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NASCAR Whelen Modified – Whelen Southern Modified Tours-Bush’s Beans 150 Results
Wednesday
At Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tenn.
Lap length: 0.533 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 103 laps, 53.720 mph.
2. (1) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
3. (12) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 103.
4. (27) Ryan Newman, South Bend, Ind., Chevrolet, 103.
5. (9) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 103.
6. (28) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 103.
7. (3) Jeff Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 103.
8. (7) Chase Dowling, Roxbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
9. (8) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Ford, 103.
10. (10) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 103.
11. (17) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
12. (13) Anthony Nocella, Woburn, Mass., Chevrolet, 103.
13. (22) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
14. (33) Max Zachem, Preston, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
15. (26) George Brunnhoelzl III, West Babylon, N.Y., Chevrolet, 103.
16. (20) Frank Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C., Chevrolet, 103.
17. (18) Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 103.
18. (19) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 103.
19. (23) Joe Ryan Osborne, Holland, Pa., Chevrolet, 103.
20. (11) Gary Putnam, Vernon, Conn., Chevrolet, 103.
21. (29) Jeremy Gerstner, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Chevrolet, 103.
22. (24) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 103.
23. (30) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 102.
24. (35) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 101.
25. (21) Bobby Measmer Jr., Concord, N.C., Chevrolet, 101.
26. (34) Kyle Ebersole, Hummelstown, Pa., Ford, 95, engine.
27. (25) David Calabrese, Toms River, N.J., Chevrolet, 92.
28. (4) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 91.
29. (31) Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, N.Y., Chevrolet, 90, handling.
30. (32) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 74, engine.
31. (36) JR Bertuccio, Centereach, N.Y., Chevrolet, 40.
32. (14) Kyle Bonsignore, Bay Shore, N.Y., Chevrolet, 10, handling.
33. (16) Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, N.Y., Ford, 3, accident.
34. (5) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 2, accident.
35. (6) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Dodge, 2, accident.
36. (15) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 2, accident.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 1 minute 19 seconds
Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Fastest Qualifier: W.Pitkat (130.940 mph, 14.654 seconds)
Caution Flags: 7 for 45 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: W. Pitkat 1-33; R. Preece 34; W. Pitkat 35-40; R. Preece 41-57; W. Pitkat 58-74; R. Preece 75-103.