 Ron
Silk appeared to have a game plan that even a
48-minute rain delay could not derail. He patiently
waited for the right moment on Sunday at Delaware
Speedway and won the Delaware 150 in NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour action.
In the tour’s inaugural race beyond the borders of
the United States, Silk, out of Norwalk, Conn.,
started from the outside pole position and held on
to that track position until it was time make his
move. That time came with a Lap 107 pass of Erick
Rudolph, who led the race’s first 106 circuits after
earning his second career pole position on Saturday
afternoon.
From there, it looked as if it was going to be
smooth sailing for the season points leader Silk
behind the wheel No. 6 T.S. Haulers/Calverton Tree
Farm Chevrolet. By Lap 132, he built a 1.222-second
lead on Rudolph, but a spin in Turn 4 by fellow
championship contender Rowan Pennink brought out the
caution flag and allowed weather into the equation.
Pennink’s broken oil line forced NASCAR officials to
display the red flag to allow the clean-up crew
easier access to the spill which trailed from Turn 1
all the way into Turn 3 on the half-mile track. In
the meantime, rain began to fall on the track. The
weather coupled with the clean up sent the cars to
pit road on Lap 143.
After the weather delay, Silk survived two
green-white-checkered finish attempts before beating
Doug Coby to the finish line. The second was a
result of Coby making contact with Silk coming
through Turn 1. Silk and Coby both saved their cars
from spinning out, but when the field checked up,
others were not so lucky.
For Silk, it was his second win of 2011, having
emerged victorious on May 27 at Stafford (Conn.)
Motor Speedway, and the sixth of his tour career.
“This place is a really cool track,” Silk said.
“First time here and I didn’t know what to expect,
but it’s definitely one of the funner track’s I’ve
ever raced on. We’d definitely come back.”
Todd Szegedy picked up third to finish on the podium
for the fifth time in the last six races. James
Civali and Eric Beers crossed the line in fourth and
fifth, respectively.
Eric Berndt, Justin Bonsignore, D.J. Kennington,
Jaime Tomaino and Patrick Emerling rounded out the
top 10.
Kennington, the reigning NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
champion hailing from nearby St. Thomas, Ont., was
making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at his
home track. He was running as high as third on the
race’s final restart.
The dominant car the first two-thirds of the event,
Rudolph cut a tire just after the rain delay and was
relegated to a 14th-place finish.
Pennink’s DNF caused him to drop from second to
third in the season standings with 11 of 16 races
complete. Silk now leads Szegedy by 77 points and
Pennink by 117.
The race was slowed due to caution a season-high 13
times including a competition caution midway break,
the red flag for rain and two more for track
clean-up.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to familiar
territory for the next outing to take on its
counterparts from the NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour on Sunday, Sept. 11 at Thompson
(Conn.) International Speedway in the UNOH Showdown.
Each tour will have a 125-lap feature event followed
by a 50-lap exhibition event with competitors from
each tour pitted against one another.
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NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour-Delaware 150 Unofficial Results
Sunday At Delaware Speedway, Delaware, Ont.
Lap length: 0.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 159 laps, 58.828
mph.
2. (5) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
3. (8) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Ford, 159.
4. (7) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Pontiac, 159.
5. (4) Eric Beers, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
6. (10) Eric Berndt, Cromwell, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
7. (18) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
8. (6) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 159.
9. (16) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 159.
10. (13) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ford, 159.
11. (3) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Dodge, 159.
12. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, Pa., Chevrolet, 159.
13. (12) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
14. (1) Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 159.
15. (17) Wade Cole, Riverton, Conn., Chevrolet, 159.
16. (15) Cole Powell, Mt. Brydges, Ont., Chevrolet, 156.
17. (11) Ed Flemke, Jr., Southington, Conn., Pontiac, 153, accident.
18. (14) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 133, accident.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 21 minutes 5 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.362 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: E.Rudolph (102.360 mph, 17.585 seconds)
Caution Flags: 13 for 67 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Rudolph 1-105; R. Silk 106-159.
Standings: 1. R. Silk, 1736; 2. T. Szegedy, 1659; 3. R. Pennink,
1619; 4. E. Beers, 1589; 5. B. Santos, 1531; 6. D. Coby, 1529; 7. M.
Hirschman, 1473; 8. J. Bonsignore, 1428; 9. J. Civali, 1401; 10. E. Rudolph,
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