THOMPSON, Connecticut — For the second race in a row and the third time this year Donny Lia earned a trip to Victory Lane with his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour triumph Thursday night in the Budweiser 150 presented by New England Dodge Dealers at Thompson International Speedway.
Following a win last time out at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 19, Lia once again had a dominant car at Thompson. The Jericho, N.Y., native led three-different times Thursday night for 49 laps and got past Ted Christopher for the final time on Lap 140 after an intense back-and-fourth battle to earn his third win of the season.
Lia, the 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, also won this year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of the next race on the schedule. Thursday’s win was the 14th of his career overall, and his second at Thompson. Earlier in the day Lia also earned his 14th career Coors Light Pole Award.
Christopher, who led a race-high 50 laps, settled for a second-place finish and extended his season points lead to 34 on Todd Szegedy, who crossed the line third Thursday night. Rowan Pennink and Keith Rocco rounded out the top five.
Eric Beers, Eric Berndt, Bobby Grigas III, Glen Reen and Erick Rudolph brought home the top 10.
With the win, Lia moved past Ryan Preece in the season standings and is now 72 points behind Christopher. Preece led eight laps early in the race Thursday, but suffered two spins and had to settle for 18th place.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will hold its 10th race of the 2009 campaign at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 19.
| NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour |
|---|
| 1 9 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Dodge 150 180 $7,900 Running 2 1 36 Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 150 170 4,000 Running 3 14 2 Todd Szegedy Wisk/Snuggle Ford 150 165 2,900 Running 4 13 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanic Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 150 160 2,600 Running 5 11 12 Keith Rocco TS Haulers/United Crane Chevrolet 150 155 2,300 Running 6 27 46 Eric Beers Cape Cod Aggregates/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet 150 150 2,800 Running 7 12 54 Eric Berndt North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 150 146 1,450 Running 8 21 09 Bobby Grigas, III Triple-G Scaffold Services Chevrolet 150 142 1,725 Running 9 5 17 Glen Reen Reen Orthodontics/Pep Boys Chevrolet 150 138 2,350 Running 10 8 59 Erick Rudolph Ed Bennett Properties Chevrolet 150 134 1,550 Running 11 7 21 Richard Savary Alloy Wheel Repair/Wizz Kids Chevrolet 150 130 1,525 Running 12 20 99 Jamie Tomaino Ideal Racing Chevrolet 150 127 1,488 Running 13 17 52 Chris Pasteryak Dawley's Auto Center/Sunoco Chevrolet 150 124 1,575 Running 14 3 8 Glenn Tyler Sypher Const./Financial Fed. Credit Chevrolet 150 121 1,450 Running 15 18 70 Andy Seuss Stuart's Auto/Rockingham Boats Chevrolet 150 118 1,036 Running 16 28 05 Joe Hartmann Charlie's Quality Collision Chevrolet 150 115 1,000 Running 17 10 10 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard Autos/Kleer Trimboards Chev. 150 112 1,475 Running 18 4 3 Ryan Preece Mizzy Const./Reynold's Auto Wrecking Chev. 149 109 1,450 Running 19 32 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Chevrolet 147 106 1,325 Running 20 29 58 Eric Goodale * Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 132 103 1,600 Accident 21 22 28 Woody Pitkat TSI Harley-Davidson/Ramar-Hall Chevrolet 132 100 1,375 Running 22 31 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape/RC Electric Chevrolet 124 97 850 Running 23 30 9 Jake Marosz Middlesex Auto Center Chevrolet 120 94 1,225 Running 24 23 31 Tony Ferrante, Jr. Sunoco Chevrolet 107 91 800 Accident 25 26 79 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light/Sunoco Pontiac 107 88 1,190 Carburetor 26 16 0 Tim Arre Cliff Nelson/Earle's Asphalt Chevrolet 98 85 750 Suspension 27 19 1 Rob Summers Frasco Fuel Chevrolet 92 82 750 Accident 28 6 90 Renee Dupuis UIG/SFI Chevrolet 92 79 750 Accident 29 15 50 Kevin Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 92 76 1,150 Accident 30 24 68 Johnny Bush J.B. Stone Setters/Mehner Racing Chevrolet 91 73 1,150 Accident 31 25 19 Doug Coby Major Motion Trans./Family Auto Ctr. Chevrolet 77 70 1,150 Clutch 32 2 16 Mike Stefanik Diversified Metals/Sanderson-MacLeod Pontiac 32 67 1,150 Accident 33 33 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 26 64 1,150 Axle |
