Chase Dowling Tops Thompson Field For Whelen Modified Tour Pole

Story By: KYLE SOUZA / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – Chase Dowling scored his first career 21 Means 21 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour pole award on Saturday at Thompson (Conn.) Speedway Motorsports Park. Driving the 15-40 Connection modified for Rob Fuller, Dowling posted a fast lap of 18.991 seconds (118.477 mph) around the 0.625-mile oval.

Dowling was the only driver to break the 18-second bracket in qualifying and will make his 41st career start on Sunday from the top spot.

Behind Dowling, Whelen Modified Tour points leader Doug Coby was second fastest and will have a front row starting spot in the Sunoco World Series as he seeks a fifth straight series championship. Coby ran a fast lap of 19.035 seconds (118.203 mph) behind the wheel of his No. 2 Mayhew Tools Chevrolet. Coby has five career Thompson victories.

Ryan Preece, who already has two victories at Thompson this season, was third in the qualifying session, posting a lap of 19.037 seconds. Rob Summers and Craig Lutz rounded out the top five.

Positions six through 10 went to Rowan Pennink, Burt Myers, Timmy Solomito, Jimmy Blewett and Ron Silk.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track on Sunday afternoon for the 2017 season-finale, the Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson, where the champion will be crowned.

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff
1	15	Chase Dowling	15-40 Connection	18.991	118.477	2	2
2	2	Doug Coby	Mayhew Tools/Dunleavy/AJ Romano Const	19.035	118.203	2	2	0.044
3	6	Ryan Preece	T.S. Hauler/Hoosier Tire of Calverton	19.037	118.191	2	2	0.046
4	64	Rob Summers	Hoosier Tire East/Fastrock Electric/Hughes Motors	19.055	118.079	2	2	0.064
5	46	Craig Lutz	Riverhead Building Supply	19.056	118.073	2	2	0.065
6	3	Rowan Pennink	Cape Cod Copper/JDL/USNE	19.080	117.925	2	2	0.089
7	11	Burt Myers	Dunleavy Truck & Trailer Repair/LFR/Citrusafe	19.087	117.881	2	2	0.096
8	16	Timmy Solomito	Starrett Tools	19.135	117.586	2	2	0.144
9	76	Jimmy Blewett	Jimmy Blewett Inc./Starrett Tools	19.148	117.506	2	2	0.157
10	85	Ron Silk	Stuarts Automotive/J&R Pre-Cast	19.149	117.500	2	2	0.158
11	44	Bobby Santos	Sully Tinio/Olivas Market	19.159	117.438	2	2	0.168
12	21	Ronnie Williams*	Gershow Recycling	19.178	117.322	2	2	0.187
13	88	Spencer Davis	Danny’s Cesspool Service	19.198	117.200	2	2	0.207
14	51	Justin Bonsignore	Phoenix Communications Inc.	19.223	117.047	2	2	0.232
15	48	Kyle Soper*	Eastport Feeds	19.256	116.847	2	2	0.265
16	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing	19.265	116.792	2	2	0.274
17	77	Gary Putnam	Curb Records	19.268	116.774	2	2	0.277
18	36	Dave Sapienza	Sapienza Enterprise	19.269	116.768	2	2	0.278
19	24	Andrew Krause	Supreme Manufacturing Co.	19.312	116.508	2	2	0.321
20	92	Anthony Nocella	Nocella Paving/Airgas	19.315	116.490	2	2	0.324
21	82	Woody Pitkat	Horton Ave Materials	19.316	116.484	2	2	0.325
22	00	Andy Seuss	Brady Bunch Racing/Copeland Toyota & Chevy	19.327	116.417	2	2	0.336
23	89	Matt Swanson	Starrett Tools	19.476	115.527	2	2	0.485
24	63	Austin Pickens*	West Orange Nurseries	19.537	115.166	2	2	0.546
25	20	Danny Cugini*	Anytime Realty/Lu-Macs	19.706	114.178	2	2	0.715
26	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One	19.825	113.493	2	2	0.834
27	39	Calvin Carroll*	Power with Prestige/Cruising w/Betty	19.835	113.436	2	2	0.844
28	17	John Baker	Staria Automotive	19.880	113.179	2	2	0.889
29	33	Wade Cole	Performance Engines/Kendal Oil	19.935	112.867	2	2	0.944
30	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscaping Supply/TRC Electric	20.107	111.901	2	2	1.116
31	38	Manuel Dias*	Performance Engines/Kendal Oil	20.253	111.095	2	2	1.262
32	01	Melissa Fifield	Eastern Propane & Oil	20.317	110.745	2	2	1.326
33	14	Cory Osslund*	Keith Grimes Excavating	20.497	109.772	2	2	1.506
34	78	Walter Sutcliffe, Jr.*	Last Minute Racing	21.021	107.036	2	2	2.030
35	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy Truck Repair/Atlantic Sprinkler	25.417	88.523	1	1	6.426