06/30/06

Szegedy Scores First Win Of The Season at Thompson

    Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, Conn. earned his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in two years in the New England Dodge Dealers 100 at Thompson International Speedway. Szegedy passed Eddie Flemke of Southington, Conn. on lap 66 and went on to a 1.8 second margin of victory over Flemke.
    It was the 9th career victory for Szegedy, the 2003 series champ, and his first for car owner Mike Smeriglio and the Wisk/Snuggle Ford race team. He started the race 8th, was sixth after a lap 56 restart and then quickly worked his way to the front to take the lead 10 laps later.
    “It’s great to be back on the series,” said Szegedy. “I wasn’t sure what kind of car we had at the beginning of the race but at the end it was just perfect.”
    Flemke scored his second consecutive Top-3 finish in the Red Line Oil Ron Bouchard Chevrolet. James Civali of Meriden Conn., the current Sunoco Rookie of the year point leader was third in the Ramar-Hall Chevrolet. Eric Beers of Northampton, Pa. finished fourth in the Roby’s Propane/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet. Defending series champion Tony Hirschman finished fifth in the Kamco Supply Chevrolet.
    Mike Stefanik regained the point lead unofficially by finishing sixth. Stefanik leads Hirschman by two points (620-618). Reggie Ruggiero won the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award. Steve Whitt earned the Powerade Power Move of the Race. Jimmy Blewett was the fast qualifier to collect the Bud Pole Award.

    Unofficial Finish of Thursday’s $84,213.00 New England Dodge Dealers 100 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour stock car race with driver's starting position in parentheses, hometown, make and model of car, laps completed, winner's average speed, reason out (if any) and prize money.

1. (8) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield Conn., Ford, 100, 79.702 mph, $6,800
2. (4) Eddie Flemke, Southington Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $3,500
3. (1) James Civali, Meriden Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $3,300
4. (2) Eric Beers, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $2,800
5. (3) Tony Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Chevrolet, 100, $3,100
6. (11) Mike Stefanik, Coventry R.I., Chevrolet, 100, $2,300
7. (20) Reggie Ruggiero, Rocky Hill Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $2,500
8. (34) Steve Whitt, Farmingdale N.J., Dodge, 100, $2,500
9. (9) Ron Yuhas, Groton Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,550
10. (23) Ken Barry, Griswold Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,800
11. (21) John Blewett, III, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $1,070
12. (6) Donny Lia, Jericho N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $1,850
13. (27) Jamie Tomaino, Howell N.J., Ford, 100, $1,740
14. (5) Jimmy Blewett, Howell N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $2,170
15. (30) Anthony Sesley, Matawan N.J., Chevrolet, 100, $1,010
16. (31) Dick Houlihan, Bridgewater Mass., Chevrolet, 100, $1,700
17. (18) Doug Coby, Milford Conn., Pontiac, 100, $1,775
18. (10) Zach Sylvester, Lebanon Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,350
19. (22) Ronnie Silk, Norwalk Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $1,225
20. (25) Joseph Hartmann, Calverton N.Y., Chevrolet, 100, $900
21. (28) Dave Etheridge, Portland Conn., Chevrolet, 100, $875
22. (19) Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury Conn., Chevrolet, 99, $850
23. (26) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead N.Y., Chevrolet, 98, $1,225
24. (32) Glen Tyler, Hampton Bays N.Y., Chevrolet, 95, $800
25. (24) Jimmy Storace, Kingston N.H., Chevrolet, 86, Battery, $790
26. (35) Chuck Hossfeld, Buffalo N.Y., Pontiac, 79, $1,540
27. (12) Danny Sammons, Trenton N.J., Chevrolet, 78, $730
28. (33) Wade Cole, Riverton Conn., Chevrolet, 71, Fuel Leak, $1,125
29. (29) Ted Christopher, Plainville Conn., Chevrolet, 68, Accident, $1,225
30. (16) Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon Conn., Chevrolet, 68, Accident, $725
31. (7) Richard Savary, Canton Mass., Chevrolet, 49, Handling, $725
32. (14) Jerry Marquis, Broad Brook Conn., Dodge, 48, Accident, $1,425
33. (17) Matt Hirschman, Northampton Pa., Dodge, 47, Accident, $1,425
34. (13) Anthony Ferrante, Jr, Franklin Square, Chevrolet, 47, Accident, $725
35. (15) Rob Summers, Manchester Conn., Pontiac, 10, Rear End, $1,025

    Failed to Qualify: (9) Ken Bouchard (#55), Dennis Charette (#03), Ken Heagy * (#38), Joseph Mongeau (#49), Jake Marosz (#9), Jon McKennedy * (#73), Thomas Bolles (#76), Eric Berndt * (#64), Roy Seidell, Jr (#27).
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 47 mins, 3 secs Average Speed: 79.702 mph Margin of Victory:1.8 Seconds
BUD POLE AWARD: Jimmy Blewett, 12 T.S. Haulers Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Reggie Ruggiero, 41 Atlantic Sprinklers Chevrolet
POWERADE POWER MOVE OF THE RACE: Steve Whitt, 06 Greenfield Dodge Dodge
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: James Civali *, 28 Ramar-Hall/Liberty Limousine Chevrolet
Caution Flags: Laps 41-45; 48-56; 69-75. 3 for 21 laps.
Lap Leaders: Eric Beers 1-3, Eddie Flemke 4-9, Eric Beers 10-47, Eddie Flemke 48-65, Todd Szegedy 66-100.
Total Laps Led: Eric Beers 41, Todd Szegedy 35, Eddie Flemke 24. 4 changes involving 3 drivers.

    Top 20 Driver Points: Mike Stefanik 620, Tony Hirschman 618, James Civali * 588, Eric Beers 585, Donny Lia 570, Ted Christopher 566, Todd Szegedy 561, Doug Coby 545, Eddie Flemke 526, Reggie Ruggiero 526, Chuck Hossfeld 519, Dick Houlihan 489, Jamie Tomaino 466, Ken Barry 434, Steve Whitt 430, Jimmy Blewett 412, Jerry Marquis 411, Rob Summers 404, Matt Hirschman * 385, Zach Sylvester 382
Next Race:Stafford Springs, CT
* Denotes Rookie of the Year Contender

    The next event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the rescheduled Connecticut Classic at Stafford Motor Speedway on July 4th.

LongIslandJam 2006 WMT Season Coverage

THE END

Source: nascartouring.com//NASCAR WMT PR
Posted:  June 30, 2006