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09/16/2013 |
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RYAN
PREECE GOES WIRE TO WIRE
TO CAPTURE FIRST EVER VMRS VICTORY
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Preece Closes in on His Year to Date Race Win Record
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by
Denise DuPont
/ Polly Reid
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 Friday,
September 13th the Valenti Modified Racing Series headed to Stafford Motor
Speedway for their third and final visit of 2013.Mixing up the race odds
were Stafford champions Ted Christopher, Keith Rocco and Ryan Preece.
Through the luck of the draw Ryan Preece started the race on the outside
pole and wasted no time passing pole sitter Dan Meservey for the lead.
Preece went forward to lead all 80 laps and to take home his first ever VMRS
trophy.
“We have not have much luck here in the past few weeks,” said Preece in
Victory Lane. “The car felt pretty comfortable and I had a pretty good car.
“I cannot thank Mike Paquette enough for this CD Chassis. It had been a
while since a tour car has been in victory lane for Chassis Dynamics and I
cannot thank him enough. This is only the third race with his car and I
cannot be more proud of my crew. And I cannot be more proud of my guys.”
Once Preece took the lead he set his own pace and saved his car for when he
might need it most. “When you have guys like Chris, Ted and Keith behind you
want to set as fast as a pace you can but at the same time you do not want
to burn your stuff up. It was great and we did everything that we needed.
The car was right there. It was awesome. At the end it has been a phenomenal
day. During the race I knew how many car lengths that I had over anybody,
but whether the other drivers were saving it or not I do not know. All I
know is when we crossed the line I did not see any of these guys catching
us. This is definitely the way I want to go out. I will see how we can do at
the Fall Final. “
Veteran VMRS driver Chris Pasteryak was fifth fastest in practice, won his
heat race and went forward to complete his night with a second place finish.
It may not have been a win, but second place is certainly a good finish.
“The car was a little bit too free center off right from lap one. I had to
kind of had to church it around to make sure that I had something at the
end. All I ended up doing is giving Ryan a free pass waiting for a yellow.
That is alright, a second -- we will take it. That is a lot better than we
were here two weeks ago.” Two weeks ago at Stafford Pasteryak struggled all
night finishing the race just outside the top ten.
Richard Savary has had some real good runs in the VMRS this year, including
a win at Thompson in August, which he credits to doing his homework and
building on each success. Starting mid-pack, Savary used what he has learned
so far at Stafford for a podium finish. “We started way back in the field so
we knew we had to be patient. And we thought we would have a late race
caution. When it strung out they said I had to go. So I was just trying to
gain as many spots as I could, which was really good. As the year has been
going on we have
been getting better with these top fives. It feels go to be standing over
here and doing this interview right now. I am happy to be in third after
starting sixteenth.”
Tommy Barrett currently is second in points as he strives to wins his first
VMRS championship. He started tenth, raced hard and finished his night with
a solid fourth.
 VMRS
point leader Rowan Pennink crossed the line for a solid fifth place finish
in the Gary Casella owned modified. “We started mid pack and on the original
start there a bunch of people jammed up and I got hit from behind, jumped
the tire on the guy in front of me- it didn’t seem to affect the car too
bad. The car was a little tight throughout the whole race. I’m not sure that
had anything to do with it or not, it’s hard to say but we still had a
pretty good car. We didn’t have a car to win tonight, but we did have a top
five.” As the 3rd Annual Lincoln Tech 80 ran green from lap 34, Pennink made
the best of his 16th place starting position cracking the top ten by lap 25.
Passing for fifth by lap 47, Pennink held his own to the checkers. “I
definitely could have used a caution because I got caught up there trying to
get by the 21 car and got a little ways back. I think my car would have been
better on the short runs. But that’s the way it goes and we take home
another top five.”
Three events remain on the VMRS schedule and tonight, Pennink talked about
the strategy going forward of the 25 team. “We have to stay focused, go to
Seekonk, Lee and shoot for a couple more top five’s and hopefully by
Thompson we won’t have to worry about points.” The Huntingdon Valley, PA
driver hinted at the long road he has been on with car owner Casella getting
to this point. “I’ve been running for Gary for a while now – he has been as
good of a car owner as I could ask for- he’s more than a car owner, he’s a
best friend. Last year we came close but we had motor issues that took us
out of the championship- so close but in the end it came down to not
finishing a couple of races. Years before we had a shot but had conflicts
with the NASCAR Tour. This year, being able to make all the races,
everything’s gone pretty smooth so far. Hopefully we can get one for Gary,
Kim and the rest of the team.”
The VMRS teams will take some time off and return to racing on Saturday,
October5th for 100 laps of green racing as the Chase for the Tenth Year VMRS
Champion continues at Seekonk Speedway with DAV Memorial race. If you cannot
join us at the track, please join us follow the action on thechromehorn.com
Race Notes from Stafford Motor Speedway:
How did it feel to win a race in another
modified division?
Ryan Preece
“It felt great. A race car is a race car. With this win, this matches
the most wins that I ever had in one year which I believe is seventeen. I do
not know but I may have just tied it with quite a few races left. I am
pretty excited. I am definitely happy for Mike (Paquette) of Chassis
Dynamics. Nothings against Troyer cars because I race them on the tour, but
it goes to show you that if it has four wheels and is capable of turning
laps it can win. And I think that Mike just showed that tonight. It showed
it in the SK ‘s when Dan Avery won. He has been really on his game He has
been really trying to show that these cars are capable of winning. And I
think that we showed that tonight. We definitely had a good tire saving
method and it worked out. I was really hoping that there was not going to be
a caution with less than five to go.”
What have you done to improve your race at
Stafford?
Richard Savary
“I am not very good here. I have admitted said that I am not very good at
passing and to tell you the truth I actually spoke to Teddy during
qualifying. He was out on the back stretch while we were lined up watching
the SK modifieds practice. So I asked him: “So how do you make that pass?”
And he said: “I am not telling you.” He said we race together. I said come
on it will make it more fun here. I said I am just terrible here and I do
not have a feel for it. But I had a good car and so the car basically did
all the work. “
Three time 2013 winner Steve Masse was sidelined while running third due to
issues with the rear end. |
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Source: Denise DuPont/Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: September
16, 2013 |
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