Pitkat Captures Coors Light Pole for Thompson’s Icebreaker
It was a run eight years in the making that saw Woody Pitkat capture his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Coors Light Pole Award as he topped the field in qualifying for Icebreaker 150 presented by Town Fair Tire Saturday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Pitkat, from Stafford, Conn., posted a fast lap of 18.724 seconds (120.167 mph) to take the Icebreaker pole in his first race with the Buzz Chew Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet team.
For Pitkat, who has run a mix of part- and full-time schedules since 2007, Saturday’s pole was earned for what will be his 79th career Whelen Modified Tour race.
Justin Bonsignore posted a fast lap of 18.796 (119.706) to earn a front row starting position alongside Pitkat for Sunday’s season opener.
Both Pitkat’s and Bonsignore’s race cars are powered by the NASCAR-approved spec engine.
Donny Lia, reigning tour champion Ryan Preece and Rowan Pennink rounded out the top five qualifiers. Patrick Emerling, Matt Hirschman, Keith Rocco, Eric Goodale and Bobby Santos completed the top 10.
Feature racing in Thompson’s season-opening weekend will begin on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. The Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 presented by Town Fair Tire will go green at approximately 3:45 p.m.
Qualifying Results
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – Icebreaker 150 pres. by Town Fair Tire Lineup
Race Sunday; Qualifying Saturday
at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Thompson, Conn.
Lap Length: 0.625 miles
1. (88) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 120.167
2. (51) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 119.706
3. (4) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Dodge, 119.668
4. (16) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Ford, 119.401
5. (93) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 118.928
6. (07) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 118.884
7. (52) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 118.702
8. (48) Keith Rocco, Wallingford, Conn., Chevrolet, 118.552
9. (58) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 118.521
10. (44) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet, 118.521
11. (13) Ted Christopher, Plainville, Conn., Chevrolet, 118.334
12. (89) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 118.321
13. (64) Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, Conn., Chevrolet, 118.222
14. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 118.210
15. (3) Jimmy Zacharias, Candor, N.Y., Chevrolet, 117.955
16. (15) Rob Fuller, Boylston, Mass., Chevrolet, 117.931
17. (6) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 117.863
18. (1) Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I., Chevrolet, 117.389
19. (8) Glen Reen, Wilbraham, Mass, Chevrolet, 116.901
20. (99) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 116.774
21. (18) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Ford, 115.794
22. (33) Wade Cole, Hartland, Conn., Chevrolet, 113.396
23. (71) T.J. Zacharias, Candor, N.Y., Chevrolet, 112.113
24. (01) Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, N.H., Chevrolet, 110.424
25. (22) Tommy Barrett, Jr., Millis, Mass., Chevrolet, No speed
Did Not Qualify: (26) Gary McDonald, (38) Dave Salzarulo