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TODD
SZEGEDY'S MAGIC MOMENTS REOCCUR AT THE "MAGIC MILE"
Szegedy Wins First 2015 NHMS Race In The Mystic Missile
by
Denise DuPont |
 The
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) returned to the
‘Magic Mile’ at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS)
to run what they call their ‘Daytona’ race. There
were thirty-five teams to qualify and thirty-four
that took the green flag. The format was fifty laps,
five minute competition yellow and then a green flag
to complete the 100 lap race.
The drivers ran a conservative race the first fifty
laps shaking out their modifieds to get ready for
the nerve wracking second half of the race. The
field stopped around lap 52 when the competition
yellow flag flew. Doug Coby of Milford, CT. was then
leading, followed by Woody Pitkat from Stafford, CT.
in second, Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT. in third,
Donny Lia from Jericho, NY. in fourth and Ron Silk,
of Norwalk, CT fifth.
On the mid-race restart, Lia made contact with the
leader, Coby, and sent him spinning into Pitkat. The
wreck ended Coby’s day. Szegedy inherited the lead
followed by Lia in second, Silk in third and Preece
for fourth. From there, the top four drafted and put
on a typical NHMS modified show by lead swapping
over the final 40 laps. Szegedy made the final lead
pass on lap 90 and led the rest of the way.
 A
caution/red flag was thrown on lap 97 which brought
up the race intensity a notch. There were three
drivers that had been taking their turn with the
lead and each one of them wanted the special NHMS
modified win. Sitting in their cars drivers planned
their final strategies in anticipation of a green,
white, checkered finish. Spotters worked to calm
down their drivers along with psyching them up for
the final shootout. The green flag flew and there
were three hard charging laps of racing. In the end,
Szegedy brought the Mystic Missile #4 across the
finish line by a nose ahead of second place
finisher, Lia.
“This win means a lot to our team.” Stated Szegedy
about his win. “The first half of the race I was way
too tight. We knew we had to free it up but not too
much. Halfway through that second half my car was
neutral and I knew if I could get to the lead it was
going to be tough for them to get around me. I feel
we have a lot of great race cars out there now and
we are all pretty equal. And this is what it is
going to come down to every time we come here.”
“Everyone ran me real clean today. Donny could have
drove it in, but he didn’t. I have to thank
everybody…the Mystic Missile Team, Bob Garbarino and
Don Barker. We all have such a great relationship.”
Donny Lia finished the NH modified race where he
started, in second. He ran with the leaders all day
long and kept the #8 Sypher Construction/Barrdahl
Chevrolet clear of incidents. “We ran our race
pretty much as planned, “said Lia.
 Lia
had the perfect position to describe what unfolded
during the wreck that took out leader Doug Coby. “I
was just on his bumper hard trying to stay square
with him. At the same time I was hit so hard from
the back that it took my rear tires off the ground
with the engine revving.” Lia said about the race
half-way start. “At that point there was nothing
that you could do. I continued to try to stay square
with Doug and then he got out of shape. And when you
are the guy in the middle like that there is nothing
that you can do especially on the restart when
everybody is accelerating. Luckily I was able to get
out of that and still have a good run.”
As the last 10 laps clicked off, Lia was ready for
any late race action. “We were just trying to
position ourselves for when the red flag came out
and we did it. That restart it kind of fell into our
hands and put us in a good position. Running fourth
and on the outside was really not the place to be.
So we knew I had to make the most of it and I did.”
In the end Lia pulled a second place finish from his
last charge. “I just could not put a good run
together through turn one and two. On the last lap I
could not get a good run on the top. It was just not
as nearly a good enough run, so I could not get any
rhythm. All and all it was a really good day for
us.”
 Bobby
Santos scathed major damage early on in the race and
survive the last incident. He was on the bottom on
the final race restart where every driver knows the
odds are against you. But he gave it his all and
hung on to finish third. “We had a good run there.”
Stated Santos about his podium finish. “I was happy
with our run and I did not want to see that last
yellow. I think that I was running second then and I
was starting to make progress on Todd. I was hoping
that would play right out until the end because I
thought that it was in our favor. Then we got the
yellow and I was in second place which is not the
place to be, stuck on the bottom. Luckily I got back
up in line in third. We were I needed a couple of
laps to get going and then I could make my move.
Todd and Donny had a good run on the outside. We
will go home with a solid third.’
Patrick Emerling and Ron Silk rounded out the top
five. While Ryan Preece finished sixth ahead of
Woody Pitkat, Eric Goodale, Keith Rocco and Chase
Dowling.
The “Andy Blacksmith 100” presented by Donate Life
New England NWMT race will premiere on NBCSN on
Thursday, July 23 at 6 p.m. ET.
The NWMT returns to action Saturday, July 25, for
the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Monadnock Speedway.
Notes from
New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
What went through your mid as you sat in your car
during the last yellow/red flag situation?
Todd Szegedy
“I knew if I could get to the lead and get a good
run while driving defensively I was going to win
that race,” confessed Szegedy. “When we crossed the
line with the white flag going into turn two I said
to myself, “Was that actually the white flag or
not?’ Then I just drove as hard as I could while
protecting the bottom. We put in a new spec engine
this weekend and it really paid off.”
Last year ended on an uncertain note. What
happened between then and now?
Todd Szegedy
Szegedy spent last year running only part-time on
the NWMT for Rob Fuller Motorsports team. He also
competed for Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS)
for owner Kevin Stuart. “My future was uncertain and
Rob put me in a car and gave me an opportunity.
During the off season I did not know what I was
going to do. I drove in the MRS series for Kevin
Stuart to keep me active. This deal with the #4 team
came very, very late, a couple of weeks before the
first race. Then Don Baker got involved and I knew
with Don and the great relationship that we have
together it would be good move. I do not have to say
much and Don knows what I want.”
“I took a victory from the #4 the last time that we
run here and now I gave him one so it is a good
deal. This win also put them in a category here. If
I am not mistaken it places them in the highest
winning category here. The amount of guys that have
driven this race car is amazing and I am just
honored to be a part of the team.”
“I think that everybody has to go through some tough
times to appreciate victory, team work and patience.
Just when you think times are tough just keep going
forward and there is a light at the end of the
tunnel. You just have to keep just a good positive
attitude.”
What did you see when
the caution came out on the mid-race start?
Donny Lia
“We were running third and what occurred on that
restart is kind of typical at this place. Everyone
kind of got squirrelly and pile in. We just had some
cosmetic damage but we pitted to make sure that we
did not have any radiator damage or anything. Then
we got it back out. And actually we did not lose
anything by pitting and getting back out.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
July 19, 2015 |
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