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)