Preece Scores Comeback Win at Riverhead
Wins Third Consecutive Whelen Modified Tour Event
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Ryan Preece is officially on a roll. The young driver scored his third consecutive NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season Saturday night in the Hoosier Tire 200 at Riverhead Raceway.
The Berlin, Conn., driver began the race on the front row, overtaking pole winner Ron Silk on Lap 44. A wreck on lap 95, however, knocked him out of the top 10, eventually forcing him to pit row for damage. Preece would battle back in the second half, working his way back up to the front row on Lap 183, alongside then race leader Ted Christopher. The two would battle it out over the next 10 laps until a late spin-out by Christopher on lap 195 would give Preece the lead for good, pushing the race to 207 laps on the quarter-mile.
With the win, Preece becomes the first Whelen Modified Tour driver to win three races in a row since Christopher did it spanning the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He’s the first driver to pull the feat off in the same season since Donny Lia did it in 2007.
Saturday also marked the second consecutive Whelen Modified Tour victory for Preece at Riverhead. He also won in the tour’s lone trip to the track last season. It’s Preece’s third career victory overall at Riverhead.
Eric Goodale crossed the finish line behind Preece, recording his first top five of 2013 and second of his career. John Beatty Jr., Shawn Solomito and Mike Stefanik round out the top five finishers.
Woody Pitkat, Ken Heagy, Frank Vigliarolo Jr., Bryon Chew and Ed Flemke Jr. completed the top 10.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race next in the Town Fair Tire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 13.
Sources: John Tejeda/NASCAR WMT PR
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR-Hoosier Tire 200
Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Sophie’s Rest Ford 207 48 5 Running
2 4 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 207 42 Running
3 5 14 John Beatty, Jr. Freeport Collision/N. Shore Rcyclg. Chevrolet 207 42 1 Running
4 8 89 Shawn Solomito * Cystic Fibrosis Foundation/Acme Sanitary Chevrolet 207 40 Running
5 21 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving Ford 207 39 Running
6 19 79 Woody Pitkat Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 207 38 Running
7 26 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/ Mehner Racing Chevrolet 207 37 Running
8 16 5 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. Frankie’s Towing Chevrolet 207 36 Running
9 18 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 207 35 Running
10 22 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet 207 34 Running
11 13 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 207 33 Running
12 6 44 Matt Hirschman Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 206 32 Running
13 24 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 206 31 Running
14 25 73 Cole Powell * Copps BuildAll/Dr. Jackie Smiles Chevrolet 206 30 Running
15 3 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine Dodge 205 29 Running
16 15 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Aggts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 205 28 Running
17 27 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil,/Ryan’s Chevrolet 205 27 Running
18 11 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 200 27 1 Running
19 14 2 Todd Szegedy Delicacies Gourmet/Dunleavy Repair Ford 181 25 Running
20 1 6 Ron Silk TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 179 25 1 Running
21 23 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet 117 23 Running
22 28 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric Pontiac 112 22 Running
23 9 15 Timmy Solomito Eastport Feeds/LLL Industries Chevrolet 97 21 Overheating
24 10 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 93 20 Suspension
25 17 98 David Brigati JDL Environmental/Oval Speed Chevrolet 52 19 Throttle
26 20 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet 49 18 Mechanical
27 12 13 David Roys * Angela’s House Chevrolet 29 17 Accident
28 7 52 Doug Coby Red Roof Inn/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet 0 16 DNS
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ron Silk, Time: 11.89 Seconds, Speed: 75.694 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 25 mins, 5 secs
Average Speed: 36.494 mph
Margin of Victory: 0.736 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 11-16; 22-28; 30-37; 50-55; 69-75; 81-92; 94-106; 114-124; 182-193; 195-204. 10 for 92 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ron Silk 1-43, Ryan Preece 44-93, John Beatty, Jr. 94-135, Ted Christopher 136-193, Ryan Preece 194-207.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 64, Ted Christopher 58, Ron Silk 43, John Beatty, Jr. 42. 4 changes involving 4 drivers.
Standings: 1. R. Preece, 225; 2. R. Pennink, 193; 3. M. Stefanik, 190; 4. J. Bonsignore, 175; 5. D. Coby, 172; 6. R. Silk, 171; 7. D. Lia, 165; 8. T. Christopher, 158; 9. E. Goodale, 156; 10. B. Santos, 152.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH RACE WINNER RYAN PREECE | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH ERIC GOODALE & JOHN BEATTY JR.
Driver Point Standings
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Ryan Preece 225 5 3 5 5
2 Rowan Pennink 193 5 0 3 4
3 Mike Stefanik 190 5 1 2 4
4 Justin Bonsignore 175 5 0 2 4
5 Doug Coby 172 5 0 1 4
6 Ron Silk 171 5 0 2 3
7 Donny Lia 165 5 0 2 3
8 Ted Christopher 158 5 0 2 2
9 Eric Goodale 156 5 0 1 2
10 Bobby Santos 152 4 1 3 3
11 Todd Szegedy 150 5 0 0 1
12 Woody Pitkat 145 5 0 0 2
13 Bryon Chew 142 5 0 0 2
14 Jimmy Blewett 141 4 0 0 3
15 Ken Heagy 141 5 0 0 1
16 Ron Yuhas, Jr. 139 5 0 0 1
17 Ed Flemke, Jr. 137 5 0 0 1
18 Jamie Tomaino 136 5 0 0 0
19 Cole Powell * 135 5 0 0 0
20 Eric Berndt 131 5 0 0 0
21 Patrick Emerling 130 5 0 0 0
22 Wade Cole 117 5 0 0 0
23 Gary McDonald 114 5 0 0 0
24 Richie Pallai,, Jr. 92 4 0 0 0
25 Brian Schofield 83 4 0 0 0
26 Timmy Solomito 72 3 0 0 1
27 Shawn Solomito * 68 2 0 1 1
28 Chuck Hossfeld 54 2 0 0 1
29 John Beatty, Jr. 42 1 0 1 1
30 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. 36 1 0 0 1
31 Matt Hirschman 32 1 0 0 0
32 Zane Zeiner 29 1 0 0 0
33 Jimmy Zacharias 23 1 0 0 0
34 David Brigati 19 1 0 0 0
35 Rob Summers 17 1 0 0 0
36 David Roys * 17 1 0 0 0
37 Rob Fuller 16 1 0 0 0
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
Owner Point Standings
Pos Owner Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 Eric Sanderson #16 225 5 3 5 5 5
2 Mark Pennink #93 193 5 0 3 4 5
3 Christopher Our #22 190 5 1 2 4 5
4 Mike Curb #44 184 5 1 3 3 5
5 Ken Massa #51 175 5 0 2 4 5
6 Wayne Darling #52 172 5 0 1 4 5
7 Ed Partridge #6 171 5 0 2 3 5
8 Robert Garbarino #4 165 5 0 2 3 5
9 Jan Boehler #3 158 5 0 2 2 5
10 Edgar Goodale #58 156 5 0 1 2 5
11 Mike Smeriglio, III #2 150 5 0 0 1 5
12 Sandra Hill #79 145 5 0 0 2 5
13 Buzz Chew #88 142 5 0 0 2 5
14 John Blewett, Sr #76 141 4 0 0 3 4
15 Robert Pollifrone #18 141 5 0 0 1 5
16 Mike Murphy #64 139 5 0 0 1 5
17 Don King #28 137 5 0 0 1 5
18 Trey Tomaino #99 136 5 0 0 0 5
19 Todd Powell #73 135 5 0 0 0 5
20 Robert Katon, Jr. #46 131 5 0 0 0 5
21 Jennifer Emerling #07 130 5 0 0 0 5
22 Jerry Solomito #89 119 4 0 1 2 4
23 Beth Cole #33 117 5 0 0 0 5
24 Sean McDonald #26 114 5 0 0 0 5
25 Rich Pallai #39 92 4 0 0 0 4
26 Linda Rodenbaugh #38 83 4 0 0 0 4
27 Chuck Hossfeld #72 54 2 0 0 1 2
28 William Deakin #14 42 1 0 1 1 1
29 Dave Sapienza #5 36 1 0 0 1 1
30 Gary Cretty #25 29 1 0 0 0 1
31 Dave Delange #45 23 1 0 0 0 1
32 Wayne Anderson #15 21 1 0 0 0 1
33 Brian Schwarz #98 19 1 0 0 0 1
34 Kelly Iverson #5 17 1 0 0 0 1
35 Darren Krantz #13 17 1 0 0 0 1
36 Rob Fuller #15 16 1 0 0 0 1