Pennink Puts ‘Ole Blue’ Back In Victory Lane; Wins Icebreaker At Thompson
Story By: JASON CUNNINGHAM / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – Rowan Pennink outdueled Bobby Santos on a restart with three laps to go and drove on to victory in the Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Sunday marked the third career victory for Pennink, and first since the 2013 season, which also came at Thompson. It was also the first points race victory for the famed “Ole Blue” No. 3 Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet since 2009. The Boehler Racing team, which has six NASCAR Modified championships, is celebrating its 60th season.
Coors Light Polesitter Timmy Solomito rallied in the closing laps to finish second and Max Zachem crossed the line third. Santos, who was leading the race on the Lap 147 restart, settled for fourth with Patrick Emerling fifth.
Eric Goodale, Matt Swanson, Woody Pitkat, Justin Bonsignore and Todd Szegedy brought home the top 10.
Pennink led a race-high 109 laps. The race was slowed by caution five times for 35 laps.
Solomito leads Pennink by four points (90-80) in the championship standings after two races, and Zachem is third — 10 points back of Solomito.
The Whelen Modified Tour will return to action April 30 at Stafford (Connecticut) Motor Speedway.
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | Rowan Pennink | Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet | 150 | 48 | 5 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 16 | Timmy Solomito | Starrett Racing Ford | 150 | 43 | 1 | Running |
| 3 | 13 | 20 | Max Zachem | MPZ Motorsports/Lu-Macs Chevrolet | 150 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 8 | 44 | Bobby Santos | Tinio Corp./Worldband Chevrolet | 150 | 41 | 1 | Running |
| 5 | 9 | 7 | Patrick Emerling | Buffalo Auto Auction/Emerling Ford Chevrolet | 150 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 12 | 58 | Eric Goodale | GAF Roofing Chevrolet | 150 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 19 | 89 | Matt Swanson | Starrett Tools Ford | 150 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 16 | 46 | Woody Pitkat | Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet | 150 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 11 | 51 | Justin Bonsignore | Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet | 150 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 15 | 85 | Todd Szegedy | Montanari Fuel/Stuarts Auto/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet | 150 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 14 | 36 | Dave Sapienza | Sapienza Enterprise Chevrolet | 150 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 10 | 29 | Brendon Bock | Meadow Brook Collision Chevrolet | 149 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 21 | 82 | Ron Silk | Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet | 149 | 32 | 1 | Running |
| 14 | 23 | 17 | Kyle Ellwood | First Data/Clover Chevrolet | 147 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 28 | 97 | Bryan Dauzat | O.B. Builders Chevrolet | 147 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 22 | 24 | Andrew Krause | Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet | 146 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 6 | 11 | Andy Seuss | LFR Chassis Chevrolet | 144 | 27 | Accident | |
| 18 | 26 | 39 | Calvin Carroll * | Power with Prestige/Cruising w/Betty Chevrolet | 144 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 5 | 56 | Craig Lutz | Lutz Motorsports Chevrolet | 143 | 25 | Accident | |
| 20 | 25 | 33 | Wade Cole | Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet | 143 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 24 | 9 | Brad Vanhouten * | Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet | 141 | 23 | Accident | |
| 22 | 31 | 78 | Walter Sutcliffe Jr. * | Last Minute Racing Chevrolet | 141 | 22 | Running | |
| 23 | 29 | 1 | Melissa Fifield | Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet | 141 | 21 | Running | |
| 24 | 18 | 76 | Jimmy Blewett | John Blewett Inc/Blewett Mtrsp/TS Haulers/Starrett | 134 | 20 | Accident | |
| 25 | 2 | 15 | Chase Dowling | 15-40 Connection Chevrolet | 133 | 19 | Electrical | |
| 26 | 27 | 26 | Gary McDonald | Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric Chevrolet | 125 | 18 | Running | |
| 27 | 20 | 64 | Rob Summers | Hoosier Tire East/Fast Track Elect/Hughes Motors | 119 | 17 | Rear End | |
| 28 | 17 | 6 | Ryan Preece | TS Hauler Chevrolet | 58 | 16 | Running | |
| 29 | 7 | 75 | Shawn Solomito | Eastport Feeds Chevrolet | 56 | 15 | Accident | |
| 30 | 30 | 38 | Gary Byington * | Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet | 31 | 14 | Handling | |
| 31 | 3 | 2 | Doug Coby | Mayhew Tools Chevrolet | 0 | 13 | Accident |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Timmy Solomito, Time: 18.868 Seconds, Speed: 119.250 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 23 mins, 49 secs Average Speed: 67.111 mph Margin of Victory: 0.813 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 1-8; 58-65; 123-131; 136-143; 145-146. 5 for 35 laps.
Lap Leaders: Timmy Solomito 1-20, Rowan Pennink 21-126, Ron Silk 127-134, Bobby Santos 135-147, Rowan Pennink 148-150.
Total Laps Led: Rowan Pennink 109, Timmy Solomito 20, Bobby Santos 13, Ron Silk 8. 4 changes involving 4 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Timmy Solomito 90, Rowan Pennink 86, Max Zachem 80, Justin Bonsignore 73, Woody Pitkat 72, Matt Swanson 70, Andy Seuss 69, Eric Goodale 64, Rob Summers 61, Ron Silk 60
Next Race: Stafford Speedway, April 30
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
