Silk Registers Second Career Victory at Thompson
Driver of the No. 79 earns first win of 2008
Thompson, CT — Ronnie Silk reached Victory Lane for the second time in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career when he took the checkered flag in the New England Dodge Dealers 75 Thursday night at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
In a race that counted only green flag laps, Silk took the lead from Ted Christopher on lap 53 and never relinquished it en route to his first win of the season. His previous victory also came at Thompson on Sept. 23, 2007.
“We had a really good car and it never really changed much all night,” Silk said. “We kind of took it easy in the beginning and saved as much as we could, and by the end we were right about where we wanted to be.”
Christopher wound up with a second place finish and drew to within 26 points of Chuck Hossfeld in the season points standings. Mike Stefanik, Hossfeld and Tony Ferrante Jr. rounded out the top five finishers.
Todd Szegedy came home with a sixth place finish in the event and was followed by Matt Hirschman, Bobby Santos, Kevin Goodale and Ryan Preece in the top 10.
Bobby Grigas III looked strong early on the race as he led 20 of the first 27 laps. On lap 28, with Ed Flemke Jr. battling Grigas for the lead, the two tangled in Turn 4 and Grigas slid into the infield. Flemke was penalized to the end of the lead lap and Christopher then assumed the lead when the race went green again.
Earlier in the evening Grigas nabbed his first career Coors Light Pole Award. The second-year driver turned in a time of 18.751 seconds (119.994).
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will make its next stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the New England 100 on Saturday, June 28.
Souces: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR-New England Dodge Dealers 75 presented by Charter
Unofficial Results
Thursday
At Thompson International Speedway
Thompson, CT
Lap length: 0.625 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (5) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Pontiac, 75 laps, 34.105 mph, $5,200.
2. (7) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $2,700.
3. (14) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 75, $2,200.
4. (4) Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y., Dodge, 75, $1,900.
5. (15) Tony Ferrante, Jr., New Hyde Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 75, $1,300.
6. (11) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 75, $1,500.
7. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 75, $1,400.
8. (22) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 75, $975.
9. (2) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 75, $1,125.
10. (16) Ryan Preece, Kensington, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $1,100.
11. (18) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $875.
12. (17) Rick Fuller, Auburn, Mass., 75, $825.
13. (13) Richard Savary, Canton, Mass., Chevrolet, 75, $1,200.
14. (1) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 75, $1,175.
15. (30) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 75, $925.
16. (24) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $918.
17. (34) Carl Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Pontiac, 74, $1,450.
18. (31) Tom Abele, Jr., Norwich, Conn., Chevrolet, 75, $1,200.
19. (27) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 74, $1,100.
20. (12) Charles Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 74, $700.
21. (6) Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 74, $1,700.
22. (35) Jake Marosz, Middletown, Conn., Chevrolet, 0, accident, $700.
23. (33) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 73, $700.
24. (32) Joe Hartmann, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 55, $900.
25. (28) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 52, accident, $900.
26. (8) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 52, accident, $1,100.
27. (23) Anthony Sesely, Matawan, N.J., Dodge, 52, accident, $900.
28. (29) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 50, accident, $1,100.
29. (10) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 35, accident, $900.
30. (20) Tommy Farrell, Neptune, N.J., Chevrolet, 34, accident, $700.
31. (26) Billy Pauch, Jr., Frenchtown, N.J., Dodge, 33, accident, $900.
32. (19) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 33, accident, $700.
33. (25) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 21, clutch, $700.
34. (3) Danny Sammons, Hamilton, N.J., Chevrolet, 2, accident, $900.
35. (21) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 0, accident, $900.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 22 minutes 28 seconds
Margin of Victory: .733 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: B.Grigas (119.994 mph, 18.751 seconds)
Caution Flags: 12 cautions (caution laps did not count)
Lead Changes: 5 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Beers 1; K. Goodale 2; C. Hossfeld 3-6; B. Grigas, III 7-27; T. Christopher 28-52; R. Silk 53-75.
Standings: 1. C. Hossfeld, 675; 2. T. Christopher, 649; 3. T. Szegedy, 604; 4. M. Stefanik, 549; 5. J. Civali, 526; 6. E. Beers, 525; 7. R. Pennink, 524; 8. M. Hirschman, 516; 9. E. Flemke, Jr., 497; 10. K. Heagy, 472.