Preece Charges Late For Whelen Mod Tour Win At Thompson

Story By: KYLE SOUZA / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – The wave of momentum for Ryan Preece continued on Wednesday night at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

Preece charged to the front of the 28th Annual Bud “King of Beers” 150 for his second straight NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory and fourth of the season.

The Berlin, Connecticut, driver passed defending champion Doug Coby with just 16 laps remaining en route to the win. In his last six Whelen Modified Tour starts, he has four wins, a second and a fourth. It was his 19th career tour victory.

“Doug put a lot more pressure on me at the end then I thought he was going too,” Preece said following his win. “I have to keep winning races. My career depends on that. We had a really good car tonight.”

Wednesday’s drive was filled with plenty of drama. While some of the top challengers pitted before the haflway point, Preece decided to wait things out and make a late pit stop for fresh rubber. However, on Lap 114, his No. 6 TS Haulers/Hoosier Tire of Calverton Chevrolet went spinning in Turn 2. Preece fired the car before going a lap down and pitted for tires two laps later.

From there, it was a hard charge to the front.

Preece worked his way into the top five and then passed leader Coby with just 16 laps remaining. While Preece showed the way for the final laps, Coby was not about to let him get away. However, on the final lap, Coby made contact with the Turn 1 wall. Coby was able to continue on and was scored as the runner-up as the race ended under caution. The yellow flag froze the field on the final lap, and NASCAR officials ruled Coby maintained a reasonable speed under caution given the track conditions.

Ted Christopher finished third, followed by Timmy Solomito and Bobby Santos.

Andrew Krause was sixth, followed by Rowan Pennink, Eric Goodale, Jon McKennedy and Woody Pitkat.

Solomito increased his championship points lead to 10 over Pennink, while Preece moved up to third — 19 back of Solomito — despite missing a race earlier in the season to get married. Coby and Goodale are each 11 points back of Preece.

The Bud “King of Beers” 150 will air on NBCSN on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track next Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway with the running of the Bush’s Beans 150.

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 3 6 Ryan Preece TS Haulers Inc/Hoosier Tire of Calverton Chevrolet 150 48 5 Running
2 7 2 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools/Dunleavy/AJ Romano Chevrolet 150 43 1 Running
3 5 82 Ted Christopher Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet 150 41 Running
4 2 16 Timmy Solomito Starrett Tools Ford 150 41 1 Running
5 8 44 Bobby Santos Sully Tinio/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 150 39 Running
6 6 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 150 38 Running
7 1 3 Rowan Pennink Cape Cod Copper/USNE Chevrolet 150 38 1 Running
8 15 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing Chevrolet 150 36 Running
9 4 0 Jon McKennedy Copeland Toyota & Chevrolet/True City Auto Sales 150 35 Running
10 13 52 Woody Pitkat Gunsmoke Stebbins Racing Chevrolet 150 34 Running
11 14 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet 150 34 1 Running
12 12 46 Craig Lutz Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 150 32 Running
13 18 29 Brendon Bock Meadow Brook Collision Chevrolet 150 31 Running
14 9 15 Chase Dowling 15-40 Connection Chevrolet 150 30 Running
15 10 20 Max Zachem Anytime Rental/u-Macs Chevrolet 149 29 Running
16 11 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprise Chevrolet 149 28 Running
17 16 89 Matt Swanson Starrett Tools Ford 149 27 Running
18 23 64 Rob Summers Hoosier Tire East/Fast Track Elect/Hughes Motors 147 26 Running
19 17 74 CJ Lehmann * IGA Food Markets Chevrolet 146 25 Running
20 20 39 Calvin Carroll * Power with Prestige/Cruising w/Betty Chevrolet 145 24 Running
21 22 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet 143 23 Running
22 21 45 Dillon Steuer * Coram Materials Chevrolet 125 22 Running
23 19 85 Jeff Rocco * Stuarts Automotiive/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet 100 21 Power Steering
24 26 78 Walter Sutcliffe Jr. * Last Minute Racing Chevrolet 83 20 Clutch
25 24 1 Melissa Fifield Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet 55 19 Power Steering
26 25 38 Dave Salzarulo Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Chevrolet 12 18 Handling

RACE STATISTICS

Fastest Qualifier: Rowan Pennink, Time: 18.697 Seconds, Speed: 120.340 mph

Time of Race: 0 hrs., 59 mins, 35 secs Average Speed: 94.406 mph Margin of Victory: Under caution

Caution Flags: Laps 58-64; 75-80; 114-118; 150. 4 for 19 laps.

Lap Leaders: Rowan Pennink 1-6, Ryan Preece 7-82, Justin Bonsignore 83-87, Timmy Solomito 88-126, Doug Coby 127-133, Ryan Preece 134-150.

Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 93, Timmy Solomito 39, Doug Coby 7, Rowan Pennink 6, Justin Bonsignore 5. 5 changes involving 5 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

Top 10 Driver Points: Timmy Solomito 351, Rowan Pennink 341, Ryan Preece 332, Doug Coby 321, Eric Goodale 321, Justin Bonsignore 319, Max

Zachem 301, Dave Sapienza 289, Woody Pitkat 283, Rob Summers 275

Top 5 Rookie Points:

Next Race: Bristol Motor Speedway

* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender