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RYAN PREECE
WINS THE "RICHIE EVANS MEMORIAL 100" RACE
“Preece Lightening” Captures 2016 World Series Modified
Championship
by
Denise DuPont |
With
a compressed race week the modifieds had two good
shoot out race and two longer feature events. Ron
Silk started the week off winning the inaugural Joe
Brady 50 Memorial race. Eric Goodale then captured
the ninth John Blewett III 76 Memorial race on
Wednesday night. Ryan Preece finally broke his
second place streak and won Thursday night’s 35 lap
shoot out.
The coveted race for the World Series of Asphalt
Stock car Racing has always been the 100 lap feature
event that ends the modifieds race week. Over the
years several different drivers have taken some the
trophy and prestige rights to say that they have won
the “Richie Evans Memorial 100” feature race. Among
these are Jimmy Spencer, Tony Jankowiak, Tom
Baldwin, Mike Ewanitsko, Rick Fuller, Steve Park,
Jamie Tomaino, John Blewett III. Tonight’s winner,
Ryan Preece, added his name to the impressive list
as a repeat winner.
Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT was fastest in practice,
fourth in qualifying and started the race fifth. He
quickly made his move and was in the lead on lap 6.
Preece ran in the lead from there until the first
caution flag flew on lap 59 and brought the entire
field into the pits. The yellow flag was thrown when
Tommy Catalano spun the #54 modified in between turn
one and two. This action ended his night.
With
a fast turnaround in the pits, Justin Bonsignore was
the first car out followed by Chuck Hossfeld,
Preece, Jimmy Zacharias, Eric Goodale, JR Bertuccio,
Gary Putnam, Austin Pickens, Tyler Rypkema, Ron
Silk, Jeremy Gerstner, and Amy Catalano. (Cars on
track.)
Preece wasted no time passing Hossfeld and then
Bonsignore to recapture the top position. The race
had only one more caution on lap 66 for debris in
turn four. Lap after lap Preece continue to bring
the filed around to the checkers to capture his
second consecutive “Richie Evan Memorial 100” race
win.
Once again car owner, Eddie Partridge was in Victory
Lane with a smile as big as they come.
“Tonight was great.” Exclaimed Partridge as he
soaked in all the victory activity around the #6 TS
Haulers modified and his team. “We have a good car.
The last two nights the car has been hooked up. The
first two nights we struggled. We figured it out and
when we did the car was good. I am glad that we won
the championship. I am glad for Ryan and what this
does to his stats.”
But winning the race week was not as easy as it
seemed tonight. The crew of the #6 spent the entire
week tweaking and adjusting an ill handling car. The
team brought the car to Bronson Speedway on Saturday
night and brought home the first modified victory
ever there. Returning to New Smyrna Speedway, The
crew just could not dial in the new TA2 Troyer
chassis. “Earlier in the week the car was loose,
then it was tight. That was the problem that we had
last year and it was eating up the right rear tire.
And we dealt with it once again with the first race
this year.” Partridge stated. “And then the team
figured it out. The next night they just went a
little overboard for the second race. For the 76
lapper it was from the start too tight and the car
was pushing. Then we just went in the middle and now
the tire wear is perfect. We could have won the
whole 100 lapper without changing tires. That is how
good it (the car) was.”
Summarizing
his experience at New Smyrna Speedway Partridge
looked around at his team, the track, the grandstand
and the crowd: “It is just really great. I have
always loved New Smyrna Speedway. We have had bad
luck here and we have had a lot of luck here. I just
like coming here.”
In victory lane for the second time this week,
Preece was soaking in all the activity around him
with his signature smile. He had done what he had
come to do – Capture the World Series Championship
and “Richie Evan Memorial 100” race. “The strategy
tonight was not to do what we did in the 76 lapper-
Go to the back and find out when it is go time, the
car was too tight.” Stated Preece. “So we kind of
just left the car alone. Believe it or not we did
not turn anything from last night to tonight for the
100 lapper. We did not change a thing. This car has
been really solid. You could take it right out of
the trailer and it would be solid like it was
tonight.”
Once on the track Preece had a plan and he stuck to
it. His first goal was to get to the front and then
from there maintain the top position. “As far as
getting to the front – I just wanted to get out to
the front and leave the guys there. Then every
fifteen laps or so drive hard for two to three laps
and get away from the pack and then let them have to
reel me back in. Then we had that pit stop. I came
in and we changed rears and got right to the front.
We just had tons of forward drive. The car was just
awesome tonight and I think that is what the winning
thing was.”
“This win feels pretty good. I almost thought that
we were going to lose it there with the lapped car,”
confessed Preece. Toward race end the leaders
started to pass lapped traffic and a few cars did
not drop to the bottom of the track. This allowed
cars to catch up to Preece and reduce his lead on
the field.
“It is pretty special to win this race.” Preece
expressed about the Evans 100 lap race. “I did not
grow up in the era, I was not fortunate enough to
race with guys like them (Richie Evans), but I am
racing with my own era. I am winning in it and
hopefully I can make a name for myself. Maybe thirty
years down the road from now kids that are my age
now can say that they were looking up to me. And
wish that they could race with me. The car is just
hooked up this week. It is pretty sporty!”
Summarizing
his week, Preece looked very solemn: “I have to
thank Eddie and Connie Partridge and TS Haulers. It
has been a great week and it has been fun. I won
three race and had two seconds. The car was a tick
tight at the end and it just had massive amounts of
forward drive. I have to thank everybody
particularly my crew that did a lot of hard work
today when I was not here. We just had a flawless
car. I cannot thank everybody enough and I am
looking forward to Daytona tomorrow.”
Eric Goodale from Riverhead, NY was second in
practice times, at the top of the chart in
qualifying and at the end was one spot off to
captured the 100 lap feature event. Goodale was not
far behind Preece all night but just could not get
the luck that he needed to get the top position.
“Ryan got out in front of us in the pits. We had
very similar cars and we did not have enough to get
by him. We were running very similar lap times out
there,” expressed Goodale. “In the end it is what it
is. We had a fast car all week and I really would
have loved to win this race. I gave it everything
that I had the last fifteen to sixteen laps. I just
came up a bit short tonight.”
JR Bertuccio from Centereach, NY had an impressively
fast car all week. He was second in qualifying and
started the race seventh after the invert. He did
not remain back in that spot for long. He soon let
the rest of the field know he was there to contend
for the win. In the end though, he was just a little
too short to capture that illusive top spot. “A
third place finish in the 100 lapper feels good. We
are happy. We brought a brand new car here and it
did it’s job. I just came up a little short.”
With their racing done at New Smyrna Speedway, the
teams will head back north and survive through the
rest of the winter knowing that 2016 race season is
just one step closer. Some teams though already are
formulating their plans to return to New Smyrna for
the 51st World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing
competition. On Friday night, Robert Hart announced
that the purse for next year’s Richie Evans memorial
will be $5,000 to win. So packing up their modifieds
in the haulers in the warm winter night, teams have
2016 World Series behind them and are already
dreaming of 2017 and their visit to the beach again!
Notes from New
Smyrna Speedway:
What are your thoughts
after returning to a modified after practicing all
day in an Xfinity car?
Ryan Preece
“Eddie has been joking with me that once you go to
run stock cars you better not slow down and not
drive as hard. I told him that I wouldn’t. I told
him that I was going to drive twice as hard. And I
think that it what we have been doing. It is really
exciting to be part of this team. This is a brand
new car that we brought down here and we had two
wins and two seconds. I really feel that we have a
really good handle on this race car. I am excited
for the rest of the year and we will see what we
have ahead of us.”
What are the plans for
the #6 TS Hauler Machine in 2016?
Eddie Partridge
“Ryan has a full ride on the Xfiinity series. We are
happy for him that is what he wants to do. And any
modified shows that he can get to, he will run our
modified. I know that he is going to the Ice Breaker
and I know we are going to the Spring Sizzler at
Stafford Speedway with somebody else qualifying the
car. And after that I do not know because I do not
think that he know his schedule because as far as
what they have going on as far as practices and
getting to tracks. So you do not really know. I
think that we are planning on doing nine races.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
February 20, 2016 |
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