|
|
TIMMY
SOLOMITO CAPTURES NWMT 'PERFORMANCE PLUS 150' WIN
AT MYRTLE BEACH SPEEDWAY
Sly and the Gang Make Right Chess Move for Unified Series
Win
by Polly Reid |
 Myrtle
Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
rolled out the welcome mat hosting the 2017 NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) season opener and in
NASCAR overtime, Timmy Solomito of Islip, NY in the
Eric Sanderson owned, Starrett Tools sponsored Ford
survived a dash to the finish out pedaling Justin
Bonsignore, Andy Seuss and Rob Summers in the final
restart to take the checkers winning the NWMT
‘Performance Plus 150’ at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Summers surged from fourth on the final restart to
finish second, Andy Seuss third, Ryan Preece fourth
and Max Zachem fifth.
 Tire strategy was a key component in the
‘Performance Plus 150’ as teams were allowed four
tires for the event but could only change one tire
at a time at each pit road stop.
“My team had a great strategy,” said Solomito in
victory lane. “Those guys gave me a great car, great
equipment, it was really a game of chess, the
rotation back to the front with the pit stops, I
just knew I had to be patient and it’s hard to be
patient because usually you want to go up to the
front and lead. But, we were able to come up with
the win. Sly and the gang, Starrett Tools, Starrett
Racing, all the guys that helped get us here, this
is huge.”
Crew chief of the winning team, Sly Szaban smiling
said the unique tire situation called for ‘crazy
strategy.’ “We put on one tire at a time whenever we
felt we needed it to go the next thirty to forty
laps. The cautions had to fly when we needed it to
make it all work and fortunately it did. We gambled
with some things- Lady Luck was on our side for the
cautions to fly our way.”
 Rob Summers of Manchester, CT in the Mike Murphy
owned, Fastrock Electric sponsored modified earned
his first Coors Light Pole Award in sixteen years
and led the field to green with Donny Lia, Rowan
Pennink, Max Zachem and Shawn Solomito the top five.
Timmy Solomito started seventh.
Summers dominated the first run gaining as much as a
half a straight lead from the pack. Just as Rowan
Pennink closed the gap on the leader the first
caution of the night flew on lap 54. The pit
strategy began with the entire field pitting with
the exception of Pennink and Doug Coby, the new
leaders.
Pennink maintained the lead while Coby was shuffled
back and at the half way mark, lap 75 it was
Pennink, Timmy Solomito, Kyle Bonsignore, David
Sapienza and Jeremy Gerstner the top five.
A caution on lap 80 set up another round of pit
stops with Kyle Bonsignore inheriting the lead,
Sapienza, Gerstner, Matt Hirschman and Donny Lia
rounded up the top five.
Gerstner challenged and became the new leader on lap
89 only to be pulled back for a caution the next
circuit around. Again, pit road lit up with action
before the field went green on lap 96. As the field
came around for lap 100, Gerstner still leading with
Hirschman and Kyle Bonsignore the top three, the
next yellow waved for debris on the track.
 The leaders pitted turning the front spot over to
Ryan Preece with Pennink, Max Zachem, Ron Silk and
Eric Goodale for the top five, brought the field to
green on lap 108. Pennink on the outside, took the
lead one circuit later while Silk took over second
and Andy Seuss third. Seuss on a roll, powered on
the outside to become the new leader on lap 116. A
tangle on lap 128 between Todd Szegedy and Melissa
Fifield in turn four closed up the field again,
setting up a round of pit stops as well.
Lap 137, thirteen to go, Rob Summers and Shawn
Solomito brought the field for green only to be
slowed again by a caution on the restart as two cars
were collected up on the back stretch. Trying again,
at the green with five to go, Solomito on the
inside, Summers on the outside, contact between the
leaders sent a chain reaction back through the pack
immediately bringing out the red flag. At least five
cars were involved in the turn one incident
including Les Hinckley III, Shawn Solomito,
Gerstner, Sapienza and Matt Swanson.
Two to go on the restart, Summers, Timmy Solomito,
Justin Bonsignore, Ron Silk and Andy Seuss came
around for the green. A melee on the front stretch
brought out the red flag once again sending the
‘Performance Plus 150’ into NASCAR overtime.
Timmy Solomito, Justin Bonsignore, Andy Seuss, Rob
Summers and Woody Pitkat led the field to green for
the final restart with Solomito capturing the
victory, Summers crossing second, Seuss third, Ryan
Preece fourth, Max Zachem the top five with Justin
Bonsignore, Rowan Pennink, Woody Pitkat, Les
Hinckley and Burt Myers the top ten.
 The win is Solomito’s fifth career NWMT victory, his
second consecutive NWMT season opening victory.
“Flamingo Motorsports is great, there is no doubt
about it,” said Solomito. “They’ve had plenty of
drivers drive this car and plenty of guys win
without me. I’m just the lucky guy that gets to hold
the steering wheel and I’m sure there are twenty
other drivers that would like to be in this seat. It
just goes to show you how great this team is and how
smart they are. We won four races last year- Sly and
Jerry, everybody in the shop worked harder this
winter than they did the winter before to make us
faster. We went down to Speedweeks, we practiced,
tried different things- we didn’t have a win but we
learned a lot and that showed here tonight. It was a
real team effort and the guys did a great job all
night.”
Rob Summers was close to having an exceptional race,
setting fast time earlier in the day and being in
position for victory at the end. “I spun the tires
on the restart and I missed a shift,” said Summers.
“My fault. Then at the end there I still don’t
really understand the call, we didn’t complete a lap
and they put me to fourth. I’m baffled on that but
the team gave me a great car and I think we probably
had the best car right off the trailer. I blew it on
the restart. This is bittersweet, I feel like I gave
that away. If I didn’t miss a shift it wouldn’t have
been an issue. The crew did such a great job today,
Murph, Ronnie Yuhas, the whole team. The pit stops
were great, the car was awesome.”
Andy Seuss from Hampstead, NH qualified fifteenth
and worked his way up to lead for several laps in
the Eddie Harvey owned, LFR Chassis sponsored
modified and in the end, took home a strong third.
“I wish that caution didn’t come out with about 18
to go,” said Seuss. “Then you’re faced with that
decision, do you come in and pit or not, I think we
all made the right decision because the tires got us
back to the front but we had a great long run car,
we showed that when we took the lead. We just needed
more long runs there at the end, we just couldn’t
seem to put two laps together. Overall, real happy,
it’s a brand new car, first time out, we didn’t get
to practice or anything. The crew did a great job
maintaining and prepping the car. Great pit stops
all day, a solid day, Eddie did great calling the
race, Justin Link the crew chief did a great job
with adjustments all day, a very solid day, just a
couple of spots short.”
Rounding out the top ten was Justin Bonsignore
sixth, Rowan Pennink, Woody Pitkat, Les Hinckley III
and Burt Myers tenth.
The unified NWMT heads to Thompson Speedway
Motorsports Park on April 2nd for the Icebreaker
150.
|
Source:
Polly Reid /
TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
March 19, 2017 |
|
|
