Silk Soars to Stafford Victory
Ron Silk returned to Victory Lane for
the first time in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race since 2009
and he did it in dominating fashion with a wire-to-wire run in
the TSI Harley Davidson 125 Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Silk, who hadn’t taken a checkered flag home since winning at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 19, 2009, led all 125 laps
to collect his fifth career win in his 25th start at Stafford.
Points leader Rowan Pennink followed in second with Bobby Santos
third. Ted Christopher and Erik Rudolph completed the top five.
Silk was able to hold off Santos and Rudolph on the starts and
eventually build his lead to almost two seconds during his
sprint for the finish line.
The last driver on the Tour to win a race leading flag-to-flag
was Ryan Preece at Riverhead Raceway on Aug. 1, 2009.
Todd Szegedy was sixth with Chuck Hossfeld, Doug Coby, James
Civali and Matt Hirschman completing the top 10.
The race was slowed just three times by caution with the red
flag displayed during the second caution on Lap 53 to clean up a
multi-car incident.
Friday was Pennink’s third runner-up finish in a row to start
the season, and it extended his lead in the standings to 51
points over Silk, who moved up to second with the victory.
The Whelen Modified Tour will return to action with the
Monadnock 200 on June 25 at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester,
N.H.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-TSI Harley-Davidson 125 Unofficial
Results
Friday
At Stafford Motor Speedway
Stafford, Conn.
Lap length: 0.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 125 laps, 72.278
mph.
2. (6) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
3. (2) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 125.
4. (4) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
5. (3) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
6. (9) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 125.
7. (19) Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
8. (7) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
9. (18) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 125.
10. (13) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
11. (5) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 125.
12. (15) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
13. (22) Glenn Tyler, Hampton Bays, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
14. (27) Richie Pallai, Jr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Chevrolet,
125.
15. (11) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Pontiac, 125.
16. (17) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 125.
17. (28) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 125.
18. (21) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
19. (12) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 124.
20. (25) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 124.
21. (10) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 124.
22. (24) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 124.
23. (30) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 123.
24. (20) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 120, engine.
25. (14) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 119.
26. (26) Dave Etheridge, Portland, Conn., Chevrolet, 112.
27. (29) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Chevrolet, 109.
28. (23) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 65,
engine.
29. (31) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 58, brakes.
30. (8) Kevin Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 51, accident.
31. (16) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 51,
overheating.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 51 minutes 53 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.475 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R.Silk (99.053 mph, 18.172 seconds)
Caution Flags: 3 for 19 laps.
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Silk 1-125.
Standings: 1. R. Pennink, 510; 2. R. Silk, 459; 3. T.
Christopher, 451; 4. E. Beers, 440; 5. M. Stefanik, 438; 6. B.
Santos, 424; 7. M. Hirschman, 414; 8. E. Rudolph, 408; 9. D.
Coby, 369; 10. R. Preece, 368.
Source:
Jason Cunningham/NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour PR
Posted: May
30, 2011
