Santos Powers To 100-Lap Whelen Modified Tour Win At NHMS

Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – LOUDON, NH – After their morning qualifying session got rained out, the Whelen Modified Tour drivers took to NHMS for the Eastern Propane & Oil 100. Besides an early morning scuff session, this was the Whelen Modified Tour drivers’ first real feel of the racing surface on the day. Ryan Preece, yesterday’s winner, started on the pole for the feature. Following him were Bobby Santos, Todd Szegedy, Ryan Newman and Max Zachem.

The #6 of Ryan Preece, who’s pulling double duty this weekend with the XFINITY Series, pulled away with the early lead. But, Ryan Newman was plowing through the field, finding his way to Preece’s back bumper on lap 1 in turn 3. Newman proved strong, clearing Preece for the lead on lap 2 in turn 1. But, Ryan Preece was still all over the back bumper of Newman’s #77 Menard’s machine. Eric Goodale and Andy Seuss went around on lap 3 in turn 2, drawing out the day’s first caution. This caution lasted for only 2 laps, with Newman electing the outside line for the restart.

On the restart, Ryan Preece lost the runner-up spot to the #85 of Todd Szegedy, who went on to clear the lead from Ryan Newman on lap 9 in turn 1. Newman quickly made his way back around Szegedy, with Preece then clearing Szegedy for the runner-up spot on lap 10 in turn 4. Preece was on a mission, clearing Newman for the top spot on lap 11 in turn 4. A competition caution was brought out on lap 13, with all drivers coming down pit road for an observational pit stop, where 1 crew member from each team could come out to assess their car. Most team members were looking at the tire wear on the RF tires. Todd Szegedy faced his first troubles of the race during this caution, having the wrecker push him back onto the track. This sent him to the back of the pack on lap 15, causing him to restart in 31st.

Ryan Preece elected the outside line for the restart. Doug Coby pulled to the inside of him on the restart, but we wasn’t able to seal the deal. Lap 19 was met with a huge accident in turn 4, which carried over to the start/finish line. Doug Coby got into the left front tire on Timmy Solomito’s #16 machine in turn 4, turning him around. A slew of other drivers got caught up in the incident, including Dave Sapienza, Donny Lia, Ron Silk and others.

Preece once again elected the outside line for the restart. Doug Coby decided to push the envelope, making it a 3-way battle for the top spot on lap 23 in turn 2 with Preece and Newman. Newman took the lead once again in turn 4 on lap 23, leading the pack. By lap 35, Preece had captured the lead once again, but Newman was still at his heels. Newman briefly stole away the lead, but Preece stole it away from him again on lap 44 in turn 4. Rowan Pennink was making moves, making his way around Doug Coby for the 3rd spot on lap 48. By halfway, Newman had found his way to the front once again. Lap 51 was met with a competition caution, where all drivers made their way down pit road. Szegedy needed a push once again during this caution, losing his track position.

Newman elected the outside line for the restart, but Preece made his way to his inside for the lead once again on lap 54 in turn 2. Newman had stolen back the lead by lap 57, but then swapped it back to Preece on lap 54 in turn 2. It was a back & forth swap meet between Newman and Preece all race, with Newman back to the front on lap 57 and Preece back to the front on lap 63. Brendon Bock showed strength throughout the race, battling his way up to P3 on lap 63 after starting the race in the 18th position. Former Whelen Modified champion Szegedy slowed on the track on lap 69, coming down to the pits with clear mechanical issues. This ended his night, sending the #85 machine to the garage.

Newman was hanging back on lap 72, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He was back to Preece’s bumper on lap 73, battling for the top spot for seemingly the hundredth time. He made his way to the inside of the #6 machine, clearing him on lap 75 in turn 2. Meanwhile, the #36 of Dave Sapienza, who started the race in 17th, broke into the top-5 on lap 77. Doug Coby was also charging, making his way back up to third on lap 79. Doug Coby and Ryan Preece nearly took each other out on lap 80 in turn 4, but both drivers managed to save their cars. Coby took the position and then made his way past Newman for the lead on lap 81 in turn 2. Newman briefly took back the lead, but the top drivers were approaching the slower cars at the rear of the field. Preece made his way under Newman on lap 82 in turn 4, taking the runner-up spot. He then made his way to Coby’s door on lap 84, passing him for the lead. Preece briefly lost the lead to Newman again on lap 85, but regained it on lap 86 in turn 1. Coby then passed Newman for the runner-up spot, setting his eyes on Preece. He made a risky crossover move to pass Preece on lap 87 in turn 4, capturing the lead. By lap 88, the top 2 drivers had pulled away from the rest of the pack.

By lap 96, the #44 of Bobby Santos had caught up to the front of the pack, with Ryan Preece and Santos making their way to the inside of Doug Coby in turn 3. Preece captured the lead while danger was on the horizon behind him. On lap 98, Newman and Coby got into each other, sending both cars into the wall in turn 4. Newman’s right front tire had made contact with Coby’s left rear tire when he was trying to go 3-wide for position, taking both he and Coby out of contention. This made it a completely new race for the rest of the field.

This paved way for a G-W-C finish, with the overtime line in effect, meaning that if the top driver passed the overtime line in turn 4 by the time a caution came out, the race would be over. Bobby Santos stole the top spot away on the restart, running away with a surprise win. Ryan Preece, Dave Sapienza, Brendon Bock and Chase Dowling followed. Santos, a driver from Franklin, Massachusetts, has been running part-time in the Whelen Modified division this season, focusing mainly on racing dirt races in the Midwest. This was his first win of the season. “We had an awesome car in the long run…I found the line on the bottom…that’s what won us the race right there.” he said, explaining the formula that led him to victory. He thanked his team, friends and family in Victory Lane, singling out his father, who just happens to be his crew chief.

The Eastern Propane & Oil 100 was filled with excitement, lead changes and surprises for not only the fans, but the drivers as well. New England native Bobby Santos was able to lock in the victory, but drivers like Ryan Preece and Dave Sapienza showed strength as well, making the 100-lap race an enjoyment for everyone.

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team	Laps	Points	B/Points	Status
1	2	44	Bobby Santos	Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet	105	47	4	Running
2	1	6	Ryan Preece	Simoniz Wax Chevrolet	105	44	2	Running
3	17	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprise Chevrolet	105	41		Running
4	18	29	Brendon Bock	Meadow Brook Collision Chevrolet	105	40		Running
5	9	15	Chase Dowling	15-40 Connection Chevrolet	105	39		Running
6	15	70	Andy Seuss	Rockingham Boat Chevrolet	105	38		Running
7	20	82	Ted Christopher	Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet	105	37		Running
8	5	20	Max Zachem	Course Legend/Robert B Our Chevrolet	105	36		Running
9	7	3	Rowan Pennink	Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet	105	35		Running
10	22	48	Shawn Solomito	Eastport Feeds Chevrolet	105	34		Running
11	8	2	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools/Dunleavy/AJ Romano Chevrolet	105	34	1	Running
12	19	21	Ronnie Williams *	Gershow Recycling Chevrolet	105	32		Running
13	23	46	Woody Pitkat	Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet	105	31		Running
14	24	5	Kyle Ebersole	Ebersole Excavating Chevrolet	105	30		Running
15	13	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing Chevrolet	105	29		Running
16	25	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet	105	28		Running
17	10	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet	104	27		Running
18	27	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy’s Repair/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet	104	26		Running
19	28	39	Calvin Carroll *	Power with Prestige/Cruising w/Betty Chevrolet	104	25		Running
20	26	97	Bryan Dauzat	O.B. Builders Chevrolet	104	24		Running
21	21	64	Rob Summers	Hoosier Tire East/Fast Track Elect/Hughes Motors	104	23		Running
22	30	1	Melissa Fifield	Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet	100	22		Running
23	4	77	Ryan Newman	Curb Records Chevrolet	98	22	1	Accident
24	31	38	Dave Salzarulo	Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet	98	20		Handling
25	3	85	Todd Szegedy	Stuarts Automotive/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet	69	19		Battery
26	14	7	Donny Lia	Bardahl Chevrolet	59	18		Engine
27	29	33	Wade Cole	Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	45	17		Transmission
28	16	89	Matt Swanson	Starrett Tools Ford	43	16		Engine
29	12	16	Timmy Solomito	Starrett Tools Ford	19	15		Accident
30	11	00	Ron Silk	Brady Bunch Racing Chevrolet	18	14		Accident
31	6	07	Patrick Emerling	Buffalo Auto Auction Chevrolet	18	13		Accident

RACE STATISTICS

Fastest Qualifier: None. Qualifying rained out.
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 16 mins, 27 secs Average Speed: 87.186 mph Margin of Victory: 0.652 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 4-6 (Car #48/#70 turn 1 & 2, no FP); 13-16 (Competition caution, no FP); 19-22 (Multiple car frontstretch, no FP); 51-53 (Competition caustion, FP#15); 99-102 (Car #77/#2 turn 4, FP #24). 5 for 18 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ryan Preece 1-2, Ryan Newman 3-11, Ryan Preece 12-23, Ryan Newman 24-29, Ryan Preece 30-44, Ryan Newman 45-54, Ryan Preece 55-56, Ryan Newman 57-61, Ryan Preece 62-75, Ryan Newman 76-81, Doug Coby 82-84, Ryan Preece 85, Ryan Newman 86, Ryan Preece 87, Doug Coby 88-96, Ryan Preece 97-103, Bobby Santos 104-105.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 54, Ryan Newman 37, Doug Coby 12, Bobby Santos 2. 16 changes involving 4 drivers.

Top 10 Driver Points: Rowan Pennink 276, Timmy Solomito 269, Eric Goodale 254, Max Zachem 247, Justin Bonsignore 243, Ryan Preece 237, Doug Coby 234, Dave Sapienza 224, Woody Pitkat 223, Matt Swanson 213

Next Race:Stafford Motor Speedway

* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender