YankeeRacer.com

Bob Garbarino’s main concern Saturday morning was getting his RV fixed.Sure, his crew and driver Donny Lia were at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway getting the car ready for the night’s Made In America Whelen 300. But Garbarino knew the work that was done in the shop long before the car hauler even arrived at the track was what was going to decide their fate. And that Lia was fully capable of putting that car in Victory Lane.

So Garbarino spent much of the day working to get the exhaust manifold leak corrected so that he and his wife, Joan, could drive back home after the race. They had taken the RV out to Mansfield (Ohio) for the previous race and spent the week between visiting friends and seeing the sights in West Virginia and Virginia.

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High Point, NC — Bill Davis Racing announced today that Donny Lia, one of NASCAR’s Modified Superstars, will drive a fourth truck for the team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at [Loudon] New Hampshire International Speedway Sept. 15.

The Jericho, N.Y., native has competed in many different series over the years, including the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.  Lia had already tamed two of the three most hallowed tracks on the Tour (Stafford [Conn.] Motor Speedway and New Hampshire International Speedway) this season, and he completed the sweep Saturday night when he captured the pole and a win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.  It was his sixth victory of the season.

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Martinsville, VA — Donny Lia is in the middle of a career-defining season. He got the victory of a lifetime Saturday night in the Made In American Whelen 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

“It’s the biggest one of my career so far,” said Lia. “It means a lot for me to win here.”

Lia held off Ted Christopher for the win in the race – the annual combination event between the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. Not only did the victory further solidify Lia’s Whelen Modified Tour points lead, it comes two weeks after his friend and fellow driver John Blewett III passed away following a racing accident.

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Jamie Tomaino can look around the race track and see drivers who were in diapers when he was starting his first race in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

He watches as racing at all levels continues to trend to a younger demographic.

And yet, in his 23rd year on the Tour and having made more starts than anybody in the its history, Tomaino continues to keep pace.

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Mansfield, OH — James Civali can thank his older brother for his third victory of the season.

With Joey Civali serving as spotter and tracking the weather on his cell phone, James Civali elected not to pit with the leaders and was out front when NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour officials called the rain-shortened Mansfield 150 Saturday at Mansfield Motorsports Park.

“He knew it was going to rain – he just didn’t know how much or when,” said James Civali of his brother.

The race was called after 108 laps following several attempts to dry the track.

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Daytona Beach, FL — Todd Szegedy was declared the winner of the New England Dodge Dealers 150 presented by Budweiser at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race, which took place Thursday, Aug. 16, was halted after 107 of the scheduled 150 laps due to a multi-car accident.Driver John Blewett III died at Hubbard Regional Hospital as a result of injuries suffered in the incident.

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Thompson, CT — John Blewett III, 33, died after an accident involving a car driven by his brother, Jimmy Blewett, 26, during the New England Dodge Dealers 150 August 16th at Thompson International Speedway. On lap 107, the brothers, from Howell, N.J., were racing for the lead following a restart.

The crowd of about 8,000 went silent as safety crews rushed to the accident, which occurred between turns 1 and 2. At 10:20 p.m., John Blewett was taken by ambulance to Hubbard Regional Hospital in Webster, Mass., where he was pronounced dead.

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Like the golfer getting the birdie on the 18th hole after a disastrous round, Ronnie Silk capped a difficult 2006 season with a ninth-place finish at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

“We didn’t have the greatest season last year,” Silk said. “We had a good car at a lot of tracks, but just couldn’t put together the finishes.”

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Stafford Springs, CT — Mike Stefanik used pit strategy to put himself in position for a third place finish in Saturday night’s Whelen Modified Tour New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway. The seven-time champion pitted earlier than a majority of the field and put himself out front of the field and in contention despite having handling problems with the #16 Diversified Metals Pontiac.

“We were really happy with the car in practice, but it didn’t drive quite as good as it did in the race. We had to come up with something to put us up front,” said Stefanik of his strategy. “We got the lead, but we weren’t quite strong enough to stay there. We were pretty fortunate to get third.”

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Stafford Springs, CT — With a motor that overpowered clutch problems, Ted Christopher broke a year-long winless streak on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour by holding off Todd Szegedy to win the the New England Dodge Dealers 150 Saturday night at Stafford Motor Speedway.

It was Christopher’s seventh win at the track where he is the all-time winningest driver and the points leader in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series’ SK Modified Division. But it was his first trip to Victory Lane on the Whelen Modified Tour since Aug. 17, 2006 at Thompson (Conn.).

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Bobby Santos has spent his entire racing career bouncing between different types of cars. So it’ll be no big deal for the 21-year-old from Franklin, Mass. when – less than a week after running in the ARCA race at Pocono Raceway – he’s back in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car.

“I’m so used to it, I guess, because it’s all I’ve ever done,” said Santos, who will be back behind the wheel of the No. 3 Roby’s Propane/ Cape Cod Copper Ford for Friday’s New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

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Huntington, NY — It’s always been said that it is better for a racecar driver to be lucky than good. Even better still is to be both.

On Saturday, Donny Lia was lucky on his way to winning at Riverhead Raceway (NY) when the two leaders wrecked in front of him with only a handful of laps remaining in the race. Later this week, he’ll head to a track where he has been exceptionally good this year – Stafford Motor Speedway. Lia enters the Friday night NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race there having swept both events at the Connecticut track so far this season.

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Riverhead, NY — Mike Stefanik is confident he has the car to beat in the No. 16 Diversified Metals Chevrolet.

Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway, the Whelen Modified Tour defending Champion was well on his way to proving that fact after leading 116 laps of the Miller Lite 140. On lap 139, an accident took Stefanik out of contention and the Flamingo Motorsports team was forced to settle with an 11^th place finish.

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Claremont, NH — James Civali became the second multiple winner this year on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with a victory in the Allstate 100 at Twin State Speedway Sunday night. Civali and Matt Hirschman waged a torrid battle over the final thirty laps before Civali took the lead for good from Hirschman on lap 93 of the 117-lap event.

It was the second victory for the Meriden, Conn. driver this season. He also won the season opener at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway in April and it was the third win of his career. Civali, who drives the Don King owned Ramar Hall Chevrolet also earned the Featherlite Most Improved Driver award. Civali took the lead on lap 27 from Ronnie Silk and led all but one of the next 90 laps
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