Preece Comes From Behind at Stafford
Sixth Career Whelen Modified Tour Victory, Second At Stafford
STAFFORD, Conn. – Call Ryan Preece the comeback kid.
The 21-year-old driver fought his way up from the back of the field to overtake Ron Silk in the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 presented by G-Oil Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway en route to capturing his sixth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory.
Preece, who was second-fastest in qualifying earlier in the evening, had to start the race shotgun on the field instead of the front row. Before the completion of the first official lap of the race, he made slight contact with polesitter Bobby Santos and went spinning with a cut tire that brought out the caution.
But in the shortest of the four races on the schedule this year at Stafford, Preece patiently worked his way up through the 27-car field. Silk dominated the race for the first 106 laps, but he couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Preece, who took the top spot and held it through the final 18 circuits.
“Sometimes it’s better to come from the back to the front – you know what kind of race car you have,” Preece said. “I had a really good race car. I could pass on the outside, I could pass on the inside. We were really good.”
For Preece of nearby Berlin, Conn., it ended a 13-race winless streak in Whelen Modified Tour action at his home track.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been in Victory Lane here in a tour modified,” Preece said. “I was just waiting for something [bad] to happen and it never did. I just can’t explain how happy I am right now. This is unreal.”
It was Preece’s second come-from-behind win of the night. In the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified event earlier in the evening, Preece found himself behind the rest of the field after spinning out on Lap 2. In similar fashion, he worked his way back up to the front and captured the lead in the final laps.
Silk finished in the runner-up spot followed by Rowan Pennink, Donny Lia and Santos. Doug Coby, Justin Bonsignore, Mike Stefanik, Jimmy Blewett and Woody Pitkat completed the top 10.
The runner-up finish was the best for Silk since his win at Bristol Motor Speedway last August, a span of seven races.
“We had a good car, the guys did a great job,” Silk said. “It’s disappointing to lead that many laps and not win, but Ryan [Preece] was really flying there at the end.”
With his pair of wins Friday at Stafford, Preece is not only the Whelen Modified Tour points leader, but the track’s SK Modified division frontman as well. On the tour he holds a six-point lead on Pennink through three races.
Friday’s TSI Harley-Davidson 125 presented by G-Oil was twice postponed due to rain. It had been 50 days since the previous race that the Whelen Modified Tour had been in action, the longest in-season layoff since 2006. The tour will next head to Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl for the Mr. Rooter 161 on June 22.
RACE RESULTS | LAP BY LAP RECAP | AUDIO: Winner Ryan Preece | AUDIO: Runner-Up Ron Silk | AUDIO: Third Place Rowan Pennink
NWMT Stafford 6/14/13 Unoffocial Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Stafford 6/14/13
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 125 47 4 Running
2 3 6 Ron Silk T S Haulers/ Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 125 44 2 Running
3 9 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 125 41 Running
4 17 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine Dodge 125 40 Running
5 1 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 125 39 Running
6 10 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Furnace & Duct Chevrolet 125 38 Running
7 4 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 125 37 Running
8 13 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving Chevrolet 125 36 Running
9 6 76 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett Inc./TS Haulers Chevrolet 125 35 Running
10 14 79 Woody Pitkat TSI Harley-Davidson/Coors Light Pontiac 125 34 Running
11 12 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Scorpion Const Chevrolet 125 33 Running
12 15 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/GT Vodka Chevrolet 125 32 Running
13 5 2 Todd Szegedy Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const Ford 125 31 Running
14 20 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 125 30 Running
15 11 25 Zane Zeiner ATC Chevrolet 125 29 Running
16 8 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Aggts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 125 28 Running
17 19 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 125 27 Running
18 25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric Pontiac 125 26 Running
19 24 33 Wade Cole Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil Chevrolet 124 25 Running
20 16 73 Cole Powell * Copps BuildAll/Tricar Chevrolet 120 24 Running
21 18 39 Richie Pallai,, Jr. MAHLE Performance/Lucas Oil Chevrolet 119 23 Running
22 21 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet 96 22 Suspension
23 7 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 86 21 Running
24 27 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet 76 20 Accident
25 26 38 Brian Schofield Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil Chevrolet 48 19 Overheating
26 23 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/ Mehner Racing Ford 45 18 Rear End
27 22 89 Timmy Solomito * EMPower/Eastport Feeds Chevrolet 21 17 Accident
RACE STATISTICS
Race Comments: Ryan Preece won the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 pres. by G-Oil, his sixth career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory overall and second at Stafford Motor Speedway. Prior to green flag there were two cautions that did not count prior to the official start of the race.
Fastest Qualifier: Bobby Santos, Time: 18.301 Seconds, Speed: 98.355 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 51 mins, 21 secs Average Speed: 33.678 mph Margin of Victory: 2.056 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 19-23 (Cars #39, 33, 28, 73, 38, 89 accident Turn 1); 30-35 (Cars #25, 28, 33, 38 accident Turn 1); 48-56 (Car #18 stalled Backstretch); 73-75 (Car #79 accident Turn 2 ); 77-80 (Cars #28, 07, 2, 26 accident Backstretch [Red Flag 2 mins.]); 83-87 (Cars #58, 73, 39 accident Turn 3 [Red Flag 8 mins.]); 89-91 (Car #3 spin Turn 1). 7 for 35 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ron Silk 1-106, Ryan Preece 107-125. Total Laps Led: Ron Silk 106, Ryan Preece 19. 1 changes involving 2 drivers.
Sources: John Tejeda & Jason Cunningham/NASCAR WMT PR