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SOLOMITO
CHARGES LATE FOR MYRTLE BEACH WIN
First Winner For Newly Unified NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour |
One
year ago, Timmy Solomito captured his first career
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory in the
season-opening Icebreaker at Connecticut's Thompson
Speedway Motorsports Park.
Fast-forward a year later, the Islip, New York,
driver was celebrating a victory in the
season-opening race once again.
Solomito captured the win in the Performance Plus
150 presented by Safety-Kleen on Saturday at another
historic venue, the half-mile Myrtle Beach Speedway,
and became the first winner on the newly formed
unified Whelen Modified Tour.
Solomito's No. 16 Starrett Tools Ford took the lead
for the final time following a late-race caution
that setup the final restart and held off Rob
Summers on a green-white-checkered finish to take
down the victory. The win was Solomito’s fifth
career on the tour after his breakout 2016.
“My team did a great job,” said Solomito. “We knew
we had to ride and save our stuff as much as
possible for the end of the race. I knew the last
five laps we had to run as hard as possible and my
team gave me a car good enough to do that.”
Rob Summers, who scored his first Coors Light Pole
Award since 2001 earlier in the day, led a race-high
72 laps but came up just short of the victory with a
second place finish behind the wheel of his No. 64
Fastrock Electric Chevrolet.
Andy Seuss made a late charge to finish third after
spinning just after the halfway point. Ryan Preece
was also able to climb to the front late and finish
fourth, with Max Zachem rounding out the top five.
Justin Bonsignore was sixth, followed by Rowan
Pennink – who led 38 laps – Woody Pitkat, Les
Hinckley III and Burt Myers.
The race was slowed by eight cautions, with four
coming in the final 30 laps, including one on Lap
145 and a subsequent one on Lap 148 that winnowed
the field and took out several contenders. The final
yellow pushed the race to 155 laps.
In the offseason, NASCAR unified the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified
Tour into one tour that stretches from New Hampshire
to South Carolina.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track
at Thompson for the Icebreaker 150 on Sunday, April
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Performance Plus 150 presented by Safety-Kleen
Results
Saturday At Myrtle Beach Speedway Myrtle Beach, SC
Lap length: 0.53 miles
(Start position in
parentheses)
1. (7) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Ford, 155 laps, 45.373
mph.
2. (1) Rob Summers, Manchester, CT, Chevrolet, 155.
3. (15) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 155.
4. (10) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
5. (4) Max Zachem, Preston, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
6. (16) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, NY, Chevrolet, 155.
7. (3) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 155.
8. (25) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
9. (29) Les Hinckley, III, Windsor Locks, N.C., Chevrolet, 155.
10. (18) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C., Ford, 155.
11. (21) Matt Swanson, Acton, Mass., Ford, 155.
12. (20) Danny Bohn, Freehold, N.J., Chevrolet, 155.
13. (22) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
14. (26) Gary Putnam, Vernon, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
15. (13) Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet,
151.
16. (14) Ron Silk, Norwalk, CT, Chevrolet, 148,
accident.
17. (9) Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA,
Chevrolet, 148, accident.
18. (11) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet,
148, accident.
19. (12) Kyle Bonsignore, Bay Shore, N.Y.,
Chevrolet, 148.
20. (27) Wade Cole, Hartland, Conn., Ford, 148.
21. (5) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y.,
Chevrolet, 145, accident.
22. (8) Jeremy Gerstner, Wesley Chapel,
Fla., Chevrolet, 145, accident.
23. (6) Dave Sapienza, Riverhead, N.Y.,
Chevrolet, 145, accident.
24. (24) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet,
137, accident.
25. (17) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Chevrolet,
128, accident.
26. (28) Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, N.H.,
Chevrolet, 117, accident.
27. (23) Calvin Carroll, Newton, N.J., Chevrolet,
103, rear end.
29. (19) Craig Lutz, Miller Place, N.Y., Toyota, 14,
rear end.
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Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 48 minutes 38 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.244 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: R. Summers (95.267 mph,
20.028 seconds) Caution Flags: 8 for 47 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Summers 1-56; R. Pennink
57-84; K. Bonsignore 85-88; J. Gerstner 89-104;
R. Preece 105-106; R. Pennink 107-115; A. Seuss
116-130; R. Pennink 131; R. Summers 132-147; T.
Solomito 148-155.
Standings: 1. T. Solomito, 47; 2. R. Summers,
44; 3. A. Seuss, 42; 4. R. Preece, 41; 5. J.
Bonsignore, 38; 7. R. Pennink, 38; 8. W. Pitkat, 36;
9. L. Hinckley III, 35; 10. B. Myers, 34.
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Source:
Jason Christley / NASCAR
Posted:
March 18, 2017 |
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