Pennink Puts ‘Ole Blue’ Back In Victory Lane; Wins Icebreaker At Thompson

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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