The Chrome Horn - NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

   8/19/2009

LIA STORMS TO VICTORY AT BRISTOL
Second Win Of 2009 Comes In Combo Race

   Donny Lia overcame a late-race miscue to capture the inaugural UNOH Perfect Storm 150 in front of an estimated 46,000 fans at Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night.
   Lia led 40 of the final 43 laps en route to his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season. He jumped a restart on lap 138 and briefly lost the lead to Ted Christopher when race officials ordered him to give his advantage back. However, Lia drove back by Christopher three laps later to take the lead for good.
   “We had a great car all day, and for that I cannot thank my guys enough,” Lia said. “For me it was all about not making any mistakes. Because we had such a good race car, it was very easy to give it away – which I almost did – but we were able to fight back around Teddy [Christopher] there to get the win.”
   Lia, who won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June, beat Christopher to the line by 3.126 seconds in the first event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile.” It also marked Lia’s second win in a combination race following a triumph at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway during his 2007 championship campaign.
   It appeared to be Christopher’s race to win the majority of the night. Fastest in the first two practice sessions, the defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion led the first 107 circuits. Heading into the five-minute halftime break, Christopher and Todd Szegedy appeared to be the class of the field, but Lia was confident that the No. 4 Mystic Missile team would make the proper adjustments to get to the front.
   “I was really loose early, on the right rear pretty hard, hung out there,” Lia said. “So for me it was just about getting to the halfway break. I knew how much better we could make our race car, so I didn’t want to give anything away [track position]. We made some adjustments and it really came on in the second half.”
   For Christopher, the adjustments the No. 36 Al-Le Installations team made at the break might have been counter-productive.
   “It was a good run [overall], just that the second set they tightened it up too much,” Christopher said. “It was real tight up off the turn, and that’s where Donny had the good run and got by me.”
   Coming off two-straight wins, Ryan Preece finished third at Bristol to continue his pursuit of Christopher in the championship standings. George Brunnhoelzl III crossed the line in fourth place and was the top finishing NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver in the combination race. Woody Pitkat rounded out the top five.
   The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour proved once again to be strong in the combination race format, which sees both Tours compete for one purse, but receive points based on their finish against other drivers on their tour. Including Lia and Christopher, eight of the top 10 cars across the line were from the Whelen Modified Tour.
   Brunnhoelzl will be credited with first-place points and a win for the Whelen Southern Modified Tour standings.
   The rest of the top 10 consisted of Szegedy, Rowan Pennink, Ed Flemke Jr., Burt Myers and Erick Rudolph.
   NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman finished 28th and 37th, respectively. Newman was caught in an accident on the second lap of the race and Kahne retired on Lap 100 with engine failure.
   Midway through their respective seasons, the points races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours continued to remain competitive following Bristol. Christopher is 29 points ahead of Szegedy and 33 up on Preece with six dates remaining. With the win, Lia gained 10 points on Christopher, and is now 82 back.
   Brunnhoelzl now leads Andy Seuss in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour standings by 81 points with eight events left to run while defending champion Brian Loftin is 124 points back in third.
   The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will next race Saturday, Aug, 29 at Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome. The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified will also return to the track Saturday, Aug. 29 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro , N.C.



        NWMT/NWSMT Bristol 8/19/09
                   Unofficial Results

               Whelen Modified Tour

         Race: NWMT August 19, 2009
              Bristol Motor Speedway


         Fin / Str / Car / Driver / Team / Laps / Points / Total Award / Status
  1.   7   4  Donny Lia Mystic Missile Dodge 150 180 $9,500 Running
  2.   1 36  Ted Christopher Al-Lee Installations Chevrolet 150 170 5,100 Running
  3.   5   3  Ryan Preece Reynolds Auto Wrecking Chevrolet 150 165 3,500 Running
  4.   2 28  George Brunnhoelzl, III Oval Speed/Fibrwrap/PT Ford 150 S180 2,500 Running
  5. 13 88  Woody Pitkat Ramar-Hall/TSI Harley-Davidson Chevrolet 150 160 3,000 Running
  6.   3   2  Todd Szegedy UNOH/Wisk/Snuggle Ford 150 155 2,500 Running
  7.   9 93  Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanic Hand/N.E. Race Fuels 150 150 2,250 Running
  8. 17 10  Ed Flemke, Jr Ron Bouchard Autos/Kleer Trimboards 150 146 2,000 Running
  9. 12   1  Burt Myers Capital Bank/JRC Investments Ford 150 S170 1,650 Running
10. 21 59  Erick Rudolph Original Pizza Logs/Prime Tyme Chevrolet 150 142 1,664 Running
11.   4 47  Andy Seuss Advance Auto Parts/Q Racing Oil/Stuart Auto 150 S165 1,000 Running
12. 30 58  Eric Goodale * Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 150 138 1,400 Running
13. 10 38  L W Miller John Baker Plumbing & Heating/Sink Tower 150 S160 975 Running
14. 15 46  Eric Beers Cape Cod Aggregates/J&R Pre-Cast Chevrolet 150 134 1,750 Running
15. 31 09  Bobby Grigas, III Triple-G Scaffold Services Chevrolet 150 130 1,875 Running
16. 23 52  Chris Pasteryak Furnace & Duct Supply Chevrolet 150 127 1,300 Running
17. 22 99  Jamie Tomaino Ideal Racing Chevrolet 148 124 1,275 Running
18. 28 14  Bobby Hutchens, Jr Team Texas Driving School Chevrolet 147 S155 850 Running
19.   6 23  Brian Loftin L&R Transmissions/QMF Metal Chevrolet 147 S150 825 Running
20. 37 21  Richard Savary Alloy Wheel Repair/Pine Hill Service Chevrolet 147 121 1,950 Running
21.   8 40 Frank Fleming Nelson Ford/Pro Health Center Ford 146 S146 800 Running
22. 36 68 Johnny Bush J.B. Stone Setters/Mehner Racing Chevrolet 146 118 1,200 Running
23. 18 25 John Smith Tutterow Surveying/Rick's Home Chevrolet 146 S142 800 Running
24. 24 44 Rich Kuiken, Jr Flowmasters Testing & Balancing Chevrolet 145 S138 800 Running
25. 19 16 Michael Stefanik Diversified Metals/Sanderson-MacLeon Pontiac 123 115 1,300 Engine
26. 32 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Chevrolet 108 112 1,200 Clutch
27. 14   6 Jason Myers Capital Bank/Moorefield & Trantham Ford 103 S134 800 Engine
28. 39 98 Kasey Kahne Mowhawk Northeast/N.E. Race Fuels Chevrolet 100 109 800 Engine
29. 16 31 Gene Pack Comtech Solutions/Wings-N-Things Chevrolet 88 S130 800 Accident
30. 26 97 Bryan Dauzat O.B. Builders/Intrafitt Chevrolet 85 S127 800 Accident
31. 11 12 Jimmy Blewett TS Haulers/Blewett Recycling Chevrolet 74 106 1,250 Vibration
32. 27 17 Glen Reen Reen Orthodontics/Pep Boys Chevrolet 73 103 1,650 Accident
33. 25 79 Ronnie Silk Hill Enterprises/Coors Light/Sunoco Pontiac 39 100 1,150 Engine
34. 33 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan's Oil Chevrolet 37 97 1,150 Overheating
35. 29   8 Glenn Tyler Sypher Const./Financial Fed. Credit Chevrolet 24 94 1,150 Engine
36. 35   9 Jake Marosz Middlesex Auto Center Chevrolet 20 91 1,150 Engine
37. 38   7 Ryan Newman Aggressive Hydraulics Chevrolet 1 88 1,150 Accident
38. 20 02 Buddy Emory RCS Construction/Ship On Site Chevrolet 1 S124 750 Accident
39. 34 50 Matt Hirschman RBS Corp./DMC Auto Exchange Chevrolet 1 85 1,150 Accident
40. 40 91 James Civali Hill Enterprises/Coors Light/Sunoco Pontiac 1 82 750 Accident
* Denotes Rookie of the Year Contender

RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: None, Qualifying Rained Out
Failed to Qualify: None
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 3 mins, 18 secs Average Speed: 75.782 mph Margin of Victory: 3.126 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 2-13 (Multi-car accident in Turn 3); 74-79 (Car #17 spins on backstretch); 88-96 (Car #31 spin in Turn 2); 131-137 (Rain). 4 for 3 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ted Christopher 1-107, Donny Lia 108-139, Ted Christopher 140-142, Donny Lia 143-150.
Total Laps Led: Ted Christopher 110, Donny Lia 40. 3 changes involving 2 drivers.

CONTINGENCY AWARDS
NWMT COCA COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Eric Goodale, 58 Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet
NWMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Bobby Grigas, III, 09 Triple-G Scaffold Services Chevrolet
NWMT SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD: Eric Goodale, 58 Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet
NWMT WHELEN ENGINEERING WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD: Donny Lia, 4 Mystic Missile Dodge
NWSMT COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Bobby Hutchens, 14 Team Texas Driving School Chevrolet
NWSMT FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD: Burt Myers, 1 Capital Bank/JRC Investments Ford
 

Source: Jason Christley / NASCAR
Posted: August 19, 2009

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