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07/16/2011 |
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
F.W. WEBB 100
by
Polly Reid |
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 With
only two short cautions inside the first ten
circuits, it was green flag racing to the checkers
and an impressive finish by Sprint Cup driver Ryan
Newman of South Bend, IN who bested the field to
take the victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour,
F. W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
A last lap pass by Todd Szegedy brought the
Ridgefield, CT across for second with Ron Silk of
Norwalk, CT third, Matt Hirschman and Doug Coby the
top five.
His third consecutive win at the Magic Mile in the
Kevin Manion owned modified, Newman admitted a
caution could have changed things. “I didn’t know
what was going to happen if a yellow came out
whatever lap it was going to be- it was sure going
to changed the complexity of the race. We were
loose, but we were the tightest loose of the top
three up front there. Fortunately it all worked out
for us.”
Setting fast time on Thursday, Newman chose the
outside lane for the green with Silk, Szegedy, Bobby
Santos and Doug Coby the top five. Andy Petree,
expected to make his first NWMT start, suffered
damage in the final practice and did not start.
A caution on the first circuit slowed the pace when
three cars tangled in turns one and two ending the
day for Justin Bonsignore- the field lined up for
another try. Newman again taking the outside, lined
up with Silk, Santos, Szegedy and Rowan Pennink-
only to be reined in again when Andy Seuss spun in
turn four.
Once again under way, it was quick to see who were
the cars to beat as Newman, Szegedy and Silk set the
pace, pulling away from the pack and as the long
green run continued, the top trio continued to
separate themselves from the rest of the field the
circuits clicking off the board - eventually working
lap traffic and before the half, they had put a good
ten seconds between themselves and Ted Christopher
in fourth.
Ryan Preece made his return to the NWMT and had
worked his Bustout/Reynolds Auto Wrecking modified
up to fourth just past the half mark when suddenly
he was down pit row- out with engine issues with 40
to go.
Earlier, engine issues plagued several teams
including Patrick Emerling who was out 16 laps in,
then Jimmy Blewett with only 26 circuits in the
books followed by Dale Quarterly with 29 laps
completed and Mike Stefanik with 30- all pushed
behind the wall.
25 to go, Silk leading, the green flag still out-
only 14 cars remained on the lead lap- with Szegedy
and Newman keeping the T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree
Farm Chevrolet in their sights.
But as the laps ticked down and the green continued,
Newman turned up the wick and moved low in turn
three to nab second from Szegedy on lap 80 and after
a brief side by side battle with Silk, made his pass
in turns one and two, 16 to go on the scoreboard to
secure the lead for the final time- taking the
Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards Chevrolet across the
line for the win.
“This is really special,” said Manion whose regular
job is crew chief for Sprint Cup driver Jamie
McMurray. “This whole program we started with Gary,
myself and Russell, we won here as a team in the
early 90’s when we first started coming up here with
Jeff Fuller then Steve Park. As a kid, to come up
here and race with the Cup guys, it was really
special. We made sure our car looked good because we
had a lot of guys watching, it was one of the best
races up here so 20 years later to come back here
and be part of a team, learning the aspect of owning
a car, the expense of getting up here and all the
expense that goes on, just trying to get a pit crew
together, it’s important to us and it’s special to
win and pretty exciting.” Manion noted they brought
two modifieds and they will be swapping them out
then head to Seekonk on Wednesday, Thompson on
Thursday and Riverhead on Saturday with Gary Putnam
behind the wheel.
Pulling down his fourth top ten finish with six
events to date in 2011, Szegedy was able to
capitalize when Silk went high on the last lap,
making a smooth pass for a second. “Second to me was
kind of a win to me. I mean we beat all the regulars
and we’ve had some bad luck here in the last four or
five races here, so this was definitely a good run-
we had a great car. Towards the end I kind of went
in a fuel conservation mode because we didn’t bank
on knowing how many green laps we were going so I
started backing out of it a little bit.” Referencing
Newman’s recent dominance Szegedy offered this, “I
think we have some work to do. We have to drive the
track a little bit different, set the car up
different- you know, he is not unbeatable. He
definitely can be beat so we just have to work
harder. They got a good car underneath him, he
understands the cars now but anyone one is beatable,
I don’t care if they’re superman.”
Szegedy in the hunt all day in the Wisk Detergent/A.J.
Romano Construction, Mike Smeriglio, III owned Ford
led a handful of laps in the first third of the
event.
Silk continues to be one to watch this season in the
NWMT as the Norwalk, CT driver once again earned a
top three, his fourth podium finish in six races. “I
was surprised how long it went green, I’m sure
everyone was. We had a pretty good car, all my guys
did a great job all weekend, we really made about a
thousand adjustments since we got here. We got a
little bit close to Newman on the last lap there
-Eric Beers gave me like a tow to get me within
range of him and I really tried to sail down there
into turn one on the last lap and I just got up
there in the loose stuff and once you get up there
you can’t get out. That was how Todd was able to get
me on the last lap.” Silk smiling added, “It was a
good day, we’ll work a little harder for the next
race- maybe that 7 won’t be here for the Indy
weekend, maybe we’ll get a break.”
NWMT points leader Rowan Pennink crossed for sixth,
Eric Goodale seventh, Ron Yuhas,Jr who started 24th
crossed for 8th with Ed Flemke, Jr. and Woody Pitkat
the top ten. Ted Christopher faded to 11th the last
car on the lead lap.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway got it right when they
named Rachel Gilbert the Grand Marshal for the F.W.
Webb 100. In April, the 100 year young- yes, 100,
celebrated the milestone by driving the track’s pace
car around the one mile oval. As the Grand Marshal
today, the Laconia, NH resident who came to the
Bryar Motorsports Park in the early 60’s, continues
to make headlines as she gave the command ‘drivers
start your engines.’
From the Magic Mile to the Long Island quarter mile,
the NWMT heads to Riverhead Raceway July 30th. |
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Source: Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: July
16, 2011 |
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