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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.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
June 6, 2015 |
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