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RYAN PREECE MAKES IT TWO FOR TWO WITH TSI HARLEY-DAVIDSON 125 WIN
Stand by Me, Put the Puzzle Pieces Together and Win!  by Denise DuPont

Ryan Preece captured his second straight 2015 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) victory Friday June 5th in the “TSI Harley-Davidson 125” at Stafford Motor Speedway.

The 24-year-old from Berlin, CT., was the quickest in practice, started on the outside pole then took the lead on Lap 2 from Doug Coby. Preece then went forward to lead all but six laps.

Woody Pitkat and Timmy Solomito finished second and third, respectively. Preece finished 0.728 seconds in front of Pitkat to earn his thirteenth NWMT victory. Todd Szegedy finished fourth and Bobby Santos in fifth. Ted Christopher, Rowan Pennink, Keith Rocco, Patrick Emerling and Tom Rogers Jr. rounded out the top ten.

The laps were clicking off fast as it looked like Ryan Preece had a runaway race. Then on lap 100 the caution flag flew when Wade Cole spun in turn three on his own blocking the track. Bonsignore took evasive action to avoid Cole’s car but impact occurred bringing an end to both Cole and Bonsignore’s night.

The incident also brought to an end the long stretch of green lap racing as the yellow turned to red due to a blocked turn three. The race resumed on lap 106 but came to an abrupt halt when two laps later Ted Christopher’s #13 machine snapped around in turn one. On the restart Preece took the lead away from Bobby Santos but the hard racing stopped fast once again. Eric Goodale had something break and he ran into the turn three outside wall hard. The #58 modified’s oil pan broke leaking oil all over the track. The race went red while track crew cleaned up.

Keith Rocco went around in turn one after Doug Coby made the field three wide. This brought out the last caution of the night. The field had its final green for on lap 118 for a short shoot out to lap 125. Preece managed to hold off the challenges of Woody Pitkat and Timmy Solomito to capture his thirteenth NWMT career victory.

All those late race caution puts pressure on the crew of the #6 TS Haulers/East West Coast Marine Ed Partridge team. But they got the job done. “I was happy that that late race caution came out,” confessed Preece. “Doug was real strong in the long run. We are still figuring this new car out but man this thing is stout here on the short run and on a 30 to 60 lap run. We were able to go from fifth to first in what was in about a lap and a half. As soon as I got to the lead I said: ‘Wahoo boys this is awesome. Great job guys you got me out!’”

Woody Pitkat came across the finish line second after deftly making his way through lapped traffic. “I was pretty free at the end and with the lapped traffic being on the outside groove I was freer. I just tried to continue to battle, that was all you could do and stay with him (Ryan Preece). And wait see if they were going to wear their stuff out or crash or something. “

“The end of the race must have been good for the fans with the leaders coming up through the pack after the pit stop,” expressed Pitkat. “Man that was nerve racking.”

Capturing the runner up position in the end though made his night of racing worth it all. “All in all it was a good night. Congratulations to the TS Haulers Partridge team. They are on fire right now and we are just trying to keep up with them. We are working on it and week after week we are just learning and getting better and better.”

At the end of the race Timmy Solomito from Riverhead, NY., had to earn his third place finish and keep the #16 Diversified Metal/R.B. Enterprise Ford straight to capture a third place finish. “That was a royal battle at the end between Woody and I at the end.” Solomito said about race end. “Sly took a gamble on two tires and it worked out for a better track position.” Solomito was the first of the lead cars out during the caution. “Then it was all up to the driver after that. The team did a great job on the pit stop and I just had to make my restart good.”

Before the last yellow came out it looked like the #16 modified was going to make a hard charge for the lead position. “We were just a little too tight but I was trying it with all I had,” stated Solomito. “I tried to hang on out there to get a good run but we were just a little bit too tight. I think if we freed it up a little bit I think we would have been better. Taking the two tires at the end was a gamble because the stagger does not come up right away. So I had to wait for it. We definitely had a second place car. Woody made a pretty bold move there at the end. We just hung on after a hard fought battle with Woody. And I respect that. We just came up a little short for second.”

We look forward to seeing you at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the “Mr. Rooter 125” on Thursday June 10th or back with us on TheChromeHorn website for live updates

Our thoughts go out to the Tinio Race team whose hauler was involved in a head on collision with a driver driving wrong-way made impact with the hauler’s front end. After a long day at the track we always hope that everyone makes it back to home base safe.


Notes from Stafford Motor Speedway TSI Harley-Davidson 125 Race:

What are your thoughts on all the back to back racing coming up?


Ryan Preece

“I am a racer and I want to race. My previous team was just strictly the NWMT tour. It was great stuff and car Owner Eric Sanderson was great but this worked out like it was a better fit for me because I can race. Eddie gave me my first World’s Series Asphalt Championship. We won the North South Shootout, we are going southern racing, we are going Bowman Grey, and we are going here and there. I almost feel like we are wearing Tommy (Grasso) out but nights like this make it better. I am just very happy with how everything is right now and hopefully it continues to be this way. I know that I can at least try to lead laps and win races and be consistent.”

Does all this racing keep you fresh behind the wheel?

Ryan Preece

“If you are doing good, it is ok otherwise it gets to you. Racing is a really humbling sport. There are times when you can be winning all the time and you think I am going to go out and win this week. Well then you don’t and you are struggling to get to victory lane. It only goes to show that you are only as good as everybody around you. It takes a whole team to win a race, not just the driver. It takes a good car, a good motor, a good engine builder, chassis builder…it takes everything. I am very grateful that we are hooked up with the people that we are it is just great to be a part of the race teams that we are involved with.”

What went through your mind when the caution came out and it was time to pit?

Ryan Preece

“I am 100% behind my crew chief and will stand by him just like he will stand by me. In the end I did not want to take just two tires and I am glad that we did not I am glad we took three because there were only fourteen car in the end on the lead lap. Tommy made the right call and we took three tires. But what do I know, I am not the crew chief, I am just the driver and I always want tires.”

What are your thoughts now that the nail biting race is over for you?

Woody Pitkat

“We are still trying to figure out this new car. The ride here is a little bit different tonight than last week so we just have to keep working on it. Obviously the #6 is real fat right now and we are just trying to keep up with him. With him taking all those bonus points out there I just had to go for that last position. I did not want to kill him but I had a good run and I got settled up in turn one and two and got a good run down the back straight away, sealed it down there and made eight wheels out of four. We will just now keep the momentum rolling and go to Thompson. In the end the car is in one piece this was a good finish. We will just try to get a little bit better.”

What are your thoughts when the caution comes out with 25 laps to go?

Woody Pitkat

“I did not know what the leader was going to do, but I figured that they were going to pit. I just wanted to know how many cars were in the lead lap and there were about ten at the time. But we were coming in to pit no matter what. Even if they stayed out we were pulling down on pit road and we would be the first one there. I kind of screwed up in the pits and stalled the thing, so we lost a couple of spots there. I knew I had to get them back on the track. I was hoping it was not going to handle like that. I figured we would just pit and make it better. We just had to keep our composure and not wreck and we would have a good place finish.

What went through your mind as the race laps were clicking off and it was a chase to the checkers?

Timmy Solomito

“We knew it was going to be aggressive towards the end there. Sly kept coming on the radio and saying, “You have to get aggressive - you have to get aggressive.” I did the best that I could I am just starting to learn with all these guys on the track. I do not get to race them a lot. Last year we ran fifth through tenth, but this year we are starting to run up towards the front. We are starting to learn a lot more – who we can race and who we can’t race and how they drive up front. We are getting on there. We are working on it. I have learnt from Riverhead that you have to get aggressive, but you just have to take it in strides and keep doing a good job.”

What are your thoughts on your third place finish?

Timmy Solomito

“It was good to run up front with these guys that have a lot of experience here. I come from a short track at Riverhead Raceway so I am just getting use to the bigger tracks and we are getting better and better on them. Hopefully one of these days we will be standing behind me where Ryan is in Victory Lane. I cannot say enough about my team. The Flamingo Motorsports race team has stood behind me after a few tough weeks in the beginning of the year. I am happy that we turn it around and finished on the podium.”
 
Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted
: June 6, 2015

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