What started as a beautiful weather day at Thompson Speedway turned into a beautiful day for Doug Coby in his LFR chassis Doug Dunleavy/HEX sponsored Modified. Doug dominated the 2015 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park today.
Doug had said they were not sure what they had for the race after running so well in practice and setting fast time in time trials. Doug said it’s the first time he can remember sweeping the weekend by being fastest in practice, winning the pole in time trials and winning the race. But after running so strong all day he proved they did had it figured out and no one was touching Doug. After his lap 75 pit stop Doug came out in 11th place with fresh tires and only took a few laps to catch leader Ron Silk who had not pitted for tires and was waiting for a late caution to pit. From there on no one was touching Doug and he cruised to a dominant victory. Dog led the race for a total of 127 out of 150 laps for his 11th NASCAR WMT victory and his second Thompson victory.
Woody Pitkat in the Buzz Chew/Elbow East #88 finished second after discovering a leak and having the car sent to pit road for repairs. His team tightened a loose fitting and got Woody back onto the race track without losing a lap. From there Woody made his way to the front and on a late restart moved to second when his brother in law Bobby Santos spun the tires. Woody tied to catch Doug but this was Doug Coby’s day. Woody could not thank his crew enough for keeping their cool and getting him out of the pits quickly when they had the oil leak and giving him a chance to win.
Third place went to the Curb Records/Tinio Corp/Dan Kelley #44 of Bobby Santos who was in the top 5 all day. When asked if he thought he had anything for Doug Coby, Bobby smiled and said he didn’t think so and that Doug was just playing with everyone.
Ted Christopher in the Mr. Rooter/Cape Cod Aggregates #13 had a good day finishing in the 4th spot and was around the top 5 all day.
Ryan Preece in the TS Haulers/Eat West Marine #6 had a good day get really tough when he ran into steering issues and had to pit several times to make repairs, those stops put Ryan a lap down. He needed a lucky dog to have any chance at a win and finally got it on lap 90. Ryan’s team also had a pit strategy to pit for ties late and have fresh tires at the end but several late race cautions hurt. After Ryan got his lap back he pitted for tires but ran out of laps at the end finishing in the 5th place.
Timmy Solomito was confident that he had a good car today and was strong all day running in second place until on 2 late race restarts it looked like he spun the tires dropping him back a few positions leaving him with a 6th place finish.
Eric Goodale had confidence going in but after losing a lap which he got back with a lucky dog he worked his way up to a 7th place finish.
Donny Lia had a tough start to the weekend scrapping the wall in practice and getting out to time trials late had to start deeper in the pack than he would like but he worked his way through the pack staying out of trouble and finishing in 8th matching his car number.
Ron Silk in his 15-40 LFR chassis #40 led the race for many laps opting for a late race pit so they would have fresher tires was strong all day but too many cautions after he came to pit road relegated him to a 9th place finish. Ron led 23 laps today.
Todd Szegedy was another driver who is wheeling a new car this year. Todd is behind the wheel of the Mystic Missile Racing #4. Todd was near the top 10 most of the day finishing in 10th place.
Other driver’s hos had good and bad days were the Van Wickle Auto Supply of #93 of Rowan Pennink who finished 13th. The M3 Technology #51 of Justin Bonsignore who lost several laps in the pits with motor issues finishing 27th a far cry from last year’s winning effort, Corey LaJoie in the #15 15-40 Connection LFR Chassis car in his first Thompson modified start who had a loose nerf bar and was 28th.
The top finishing Rookie of the race was the Mathews Truck Svc/Seekonk Grand Prix #35 of Derek Ramstrom who finished 15th.
Up next for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is the Spring Sizzler at Stafford Speedway April 25th and 6th
