Steve Park Wins Wild UNOH Battle at the Beach

The last lap provided all the drama for the second consecutive night at the UNOH Battle At The Beach.  As a result, NASCAR veteran Steve Park walked off with the winner’s trophy Tuesday in the inaugural non-points event at Daytona International Speedway.

Thanks to a bump from behind from Park, Mike Stefanik looped his car off of Turn 2 on the final circuit of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race. That enabled as Park of East Northport, N.Y., drove off to his first career Daytona win Tuesday night. It was the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner’s first Modified victory since 1996.

“It was just short-track racing. He probably had a car capable of winning, but we had the luckiest car. I’m just glad we won,” Park said. “It’s huge. You can win races all over this country, but you’re not going to have a Daytona trophy like we have here.”

Former Modified Tour champion and event pole sitter Todd Szegedy led most of the way before suspension woes sidelined him just a few dozen laps from the finish, while Danny Bohn, last year’s Whelen Southern Modified Tour runner-up, had his race end on his roof following a frontstretch wreck.

But the real drama came in the final lap in the Modified race, when leaders Stefanik, Park and Eric Goodale freight-trained their way through Turns 1 and 2 on the tight oval. Park got into the back of Stefanik to send him spinning, though he felt he’d gotten too much of a push from Goodale.

“I don’t know what happened there on those last laps. I just know that guys got aggressive,” Park said. “Mike Stefanik’s a good friend of mine, and I got into the back of him but I was getting it from the guy behind me who never lifted through the corner.”

Stefanik wasn’t as diplomatic – or as unclear – about what took place. Nor was he buying Park’s explanation.

“Yeah, right,” Stefanik said when apprised of Park’s summation. “I don’t want to say anything. I’m just going to say the wrong thing here.”

Goodale came home second, while Ted Christopher took third following and ending that was similar to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model finish on Monday night. In that race, Kyle Larson moved leader C.E. Falk III out of the way off the final turn en route to victory.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour kicks off its points season on March 16 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour gets underway on April 14 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway

Finish

1     20     Steve Park     UNOH     151
2     58     Eric Goodale     RBS Design Showroom     151
3     3     Ted Christopher     Cape Cod Copper/Silver Dollar Const.     151
4     52     Doug Coby     Seekonk Grand Prix/Sypher Const     151
5     07     Patrick Emerling     Emerling Chevrolet Dealership     151
6     51     Justin Bonsignore     M3 Technology     151
7     23     Brian Loftin     L & R Transmission     151
8     73     Cole Powell*     Copp’s Buildall/Tricar     151
9     18     Ken Heagy     Buoy One Seafood     151
10     8     Dalton Baldwin*     Woman 2 Woman Breast Cancer Fdn     151
11     6     Ron Silk     T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm     151
12     79     Woody Pitkat     Hill Enterprises/Coors Light     151
13     22     Mike Stefanik     Robert B Our Co/John H Canto & Sons Paving     150
14     21     J.R. Bertuccio     Gershow Recycling     148
15     1     Burt Myers     CitruSafe/Budget Sales & Licensing     147
16     7     Kyle Larson*     Menards/McDonald’s/Curb Records     145
17     33     Gary Fountain, Sr.     APR/Brunns Racing/Uncle Kenny’s BBQ     145
18     97     Bryan Dauzat     OB Builders Inc     143
19     40     Luke Fleming*     Jerry Hunt Auto Sales/Koma Unwind     140
20     4     Jason Myers     Westbend Vineyard & Brewhouse     139
21     2     Todd Szegedy     UNOH/Dunleavy Repair     135
22     70     Jeremy Gerstner*     GMR Complete Lawn Care/MagneGas     133
23     41     Donny Lia     Mystic Missile Racing     124
24     44     Bobby Santos     Robert B. Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving     123
25     65     Danny Bohn     Rustoleum/Rifenburg Construction     117
26     16     Ryan Preece     East West Marine/Diversified Metals     117
27     25     John Smith     G-Oil     112
28     60     Matt Hirschman     B.C. Brennenstuhl/L.I. Mod Maniac     108
29     99     Jamie Tomaino     Supreme Manufacturing     97
30     14     Brandon Ward     Kevin Powell Mtspts/Crane & Rigging     86
31     11     Andy Seuss     Phoenix Pre-Owned Motors/RAMOD Engines     59
32     98     Dave Brigati*     JDL Environmental/Rubble Master     42
33     80     Jimmy Zacharias*     WRC Incorporated/Wilbur Auto Sales     21

RACE STATISTICS
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 35 mins, 28 secs    Average Speed: 38.610 mph    Margin of Victory: 0.281 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 2-4; 10-13; 15-24; 27-31; 35-39; 47-50; 56-60; 63-69; 73-79; 88-90; 99-105; 109-116; 119-122; 124-130-; 133-135; 141-144; 146-148. 17 for 89 laps.
Lap Leaders: Todd Szegedy 1-126, Mike Stefanik 127-150, Steve Park 151.
Total Laps Led: Todd Szegedy 126, Mike Stefanik 24, Steve Park 1. 2 changes involving 3 drivers.

Source: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR PR (edited for accuracy by LongIslandJam.com)