RIVERHEAD, N — Y. – Ryan Preece dominated the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action Saturday at Riverhead Raceway and earned his second career win in the Riverhead 175.
Preece (No. 3 Mizzy Construction/Reynold’s Auto Wrecking Chevrolet), who earned the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Light during afternoon qualifying, led start-to-finish in Saturday night’s main for his first win of the season, and his first at Riverhead.
Preece, who had previously won at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 2008, held off Ted Christopher (No. 36 Al-Lee Installation Chevrolet), Howie Brode (No. 96 Freightliner Chevrolet) and Dave Brigati (No. 98 Integra Shocks Chevrolet) on a number of restarts on the quarter-mile track for the win.
Brigati came home second followed by Brode, Justin Bonsignore (No. 51 Freightliner Chevrolet) and Glen Reen (No. 17 Reen Orthodontics/Pep Boys Chevrolet). It was a new career-best finish for Reen.
Eric Beers, Jamie Tomaino, Todd Szegedy, Chris Pasteryak and Rowan Pennink rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Christopher, who ran neck-and-neck with Preece early on, made contact with the wall on Lap 83 and was forced out of the race. Consequently, he lost the points lead to Szegedy for the first time this year with an unofficial finish of 20th. Szegedy now leads Christopher by 22 points heading into the seventh race of the season.
Next up for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be the Town Fair Tire 150 on Friday, August 7 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Riverhead 175 Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 42.600 mph, $5,300.
2. (9) Dave Brigati, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,900.
3. (3) Howie Brode, East Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,600.
4. (11) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,400.
5. (22) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $2,250.
6. (26) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $2,150.
7. (27) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,250.
8. (24) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 150, $1,200.
9. (8) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $1,175.
10. (25) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 150, $1,150.
11. (5) Bill Park, Manorville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $925.
12. (6) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 150, $1,000.
13. (15) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $900.
14. (23) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $850.
15. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $800.
16. (12) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 149, $775.
17. (18) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 149, $1,025.
18. (28) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 144, $700.
19. (16) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 117, radiator, $675.
20. (2) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 83, suspension, $1,225.
21. (17) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 79, $600.
22. (20) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 79, $550.
23. (19) Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet, 74, $527.
24. (10) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 73, engine, $500.
25. (4) Chuck Steuer, Bohemia, N.Y., Chevrolet, 47, spindle, $300.
26. (7) John Fortin, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 38, overheating, $300.
27. (14) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Pontiac, 20, engine, $500.
28. (13) Frank Vigarolio, Jr., Mt. Sinai, N.Y., Dodge, 2, front end, $300.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 52 minutes 49 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.872 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Preece (74.994 mph, 12.001 seconds)
Caution Flags: 7 for 48 laps.
Lead Changes: 0 changes among 1 driver.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1-150.
Standings: 1. T. Szegedy, 944; 2. T. Christopher, 922; 3. R. Preece, 885; 4. D. Lia, 854; 5. R. Pennink, 823; 6. M. Stefanik, 812; 7. J. Blewett, 791; 8. W. Pitkat, 774; 9. R. Silk, 768; 10. E. Flemke,Jr., 764.
