RIVERHEAD, NY :: It took 76 races, but Eric Goodale is finally a winner in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. And he couldn’t have picked a better place for that first win to come as he did it in front of family and friends at his home track of Riverhead Raceway.

Goodale, a Riverhead native, has come close to scoring that first win on numerous occasions but just couldn’t finish it off. But this time he did and he said doing it at home made it much more special.

“It just feels so good to finally be able to cross that line first,” said Goodale. “It doesn’t get any better.”

When he took the lead from Ted Christopher with 25 laps to go there was no way he would be denied this time.

He started fifth and stayed near the front all race long as mayhem ensued all around him. There were crashes in front of him and crashes behind him but he was able to avoid it all. He saved his tires throughout the race so that he would have something for the leaders at the end. Goodale said that he would run hard for the first couple of laps after a restart and then back off to save his tires.

Goodale took the lead from Christopher coming out of turn four on lap 174 after Christopher got a bit loose going into turn one.

“My plan was to follow him for a bunch of laps there until it really got down to the nitty-gritty with about 10 to go,” said Goodale. “But he bobbled going into one and opened the door for me. There was no way I could sit there and not take it. I got underneath him and spun the tires pretty much all the way down the backstretch to make sure I stayed underneath him.”

From there he said he never looked back.

Earlier in the race it appeared that it would be a showdown between Christopher, polesitter John Beatty Jr., and perhaps Ryan Preece who was flying through the field.

Christopher and Beatty battled hard all race long before “TC” got the advantage on Beatty. Christopher used the outside to his advantage to grab the top spot. Christopher was so strong on the outside that he actually chose the outside lane on a restart, something that is almost never done at Riverhead.

But the outside was strong all night long and the drivers gave plenty of room to those who ventured out there. Perhaps no driver used the outside more than Preece who made his way from 21st to fourth on the high side almost exclusively. However it was the outside lane that actually cost Preece in the end.

Preece was caught behind Beatty on the outside as Goodale got under Beatty for second. Matt Hirschman got underneath Beatty and Preece as Beatty’s tires wore out. Preece got stuck behind Beatty on the outside and both started to backslide. Preece didn’t get back to the inside until he fell back to seventh.

He was able to get back to fourth, but his Riverhead win streak has come to an end at three.

Results:

1. Eric Goodale

2. Ted Christopher

3. Matt Hirschman

4. Ryan Preece

5. Timmy Solomito

6. Doug Coby

7. Ron Silk

8. Tom Rogers Jr.

9. Shawn Solomito

10. Bobby Santos

11. Ken Heagy

12. John Beatty Jr.

13. Jamie Tomaino

14. Glen Reen

15. Patrick Emerling

16. Justin Bonsignore

17. Jimmy Zacharias

18. Wade Cole

19. Dave Brigati

20. Woody Pitkat

21. Donny Lia

22. Rowan Pennink

23. Ron Yuhas Jr.

24. Frank Vigliarolo

25. Gary McDonald

26. Kyle Ellwood

27. Tommy Barrett Jr.

28. Todd Szegedy

29. Dave Salzarulo

30. Melissa Fifield