Santos Sweeps NASCAR Whelen Mods At NHMS For Third Career Loudon Win

Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – LOUDON, NH – A 4-Wide Modified salute kicked off the 100-lap F.W. Webb 100, a heartfelt tribute to the late (and widely missed) Ted Christopher. NASCAR Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman started on the pole for the Whelen Modified Tour race on Saturday in his #77 Curb Records Machine after posting the fastest lap times at the top of the leaderboard throughout the race weekend.

After starting the race back in fourth, Timmy Solomito was already battling for the lead by lap 4. On lap 5, he continued his pursuit to the front, stealing the lead from Newman. Rowan Pennink was kicked out of the draft on lap 6, falling back to tenth after starting the race on the outside pole. Donny Lia fell off the pace on lap 10 before a competition yellow came out so teams could evaluate their tires. One member of each team was allowed over the wall to assess tire wear. After starting in the pole, Ryan Newman elected to make an extended pit stop under caution after he lost a handful of spots early in the race.

Doug Coby took the lead on the restart, making his way around Solomito. Coby is searching for his fourth consecutive Whelen Modified Tour championship. Eric Goodale, Anthony Nocella, Matt Swanson, Craig Lutz and a handful of others got caught up in a mess on lap 17 in turn 4, leading to the second caution of the feature. Doug Coby maintained his lead on the restart as Ron Silk powered his way into the runner-up spot. By lap 32, Coby had extended his lead to over 1 second ahead of Silk. Ryan Newman fought his way back to tenth place on lap 38 after facing troubles early in the race. Championship contender Timmy Solomito faced troubles on lap 38, slamming into the outside wall in turn 2 before coming back down the track and hitting the inside tire barrier. This incident led to the third caution of the feature.

Doug Coby maintained his lead on the restart as Patrick Emerling made his way into the runner-up spot. A competition caution came out on lap 50, giving the field a pre-scheduled, 5-minute “halfway break”. Justin Bonsignore powered his way into the third spot on the restart, improving 17 positions from where he started the race back in P20. Ronnie Williams was bumped out of the draft on lap 60, falling back to 14th. Patrick Emerling went back into the lead on lap 63, but Coby had stolen it back by lap 66. Justin Bonsignore began slipping back on lap 70, eventually falling back to fifth on lap 75. Emerling was back in the lead by lap 78, but Doug Coby took advantage of lap traffic on lap 79, powering back into the lead. The #36 of Dave Sapienza went around on lap 181 in turn 2, leading to a late-race caution.

The field took the green with just 15 laps to go, as Doug Coby pulled away with the lead once again. After hitting the wall on lap 186 in turn 4, Ron Silk made his way around Doug Coby for the lead on lap 187. Silk slid up the racetrack on lap 189 in turn 1, powering defending race winner Bobby Santos into the top spot. The #29 of Brendan Bock slammed into the outside wall in turn 2 on lap 192 after making contact with Chase Dowling, leading to yet another late-race caution. The race was then red flagged so the track crew could clean up the track without wasting some of the detrimental final laps.

Bobby Santos elected the inside line for the restart, with the #07 of Emerling to his outside for the final 4-lap shootout. Doug Coby got shuffled to the outside on lap 148, falling back to 12th place. Bobby Santos sailed into victory, sweeping the Whelen Modified Tour races at NHMS in 2017.

This victory was Bobby’s sixteenth career win and his third at NHMS. In his Victory Lane interview, Bobby Santos praised his friends, family and team. “I just love coming here…this is for Teddy. He helped me win this one,” he said, dedicating his victory to the legendary Ted Christopher.

Catch the Whelen Modified Tour’s next event, which is the NAPA Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway on October 1st.

RACE STATISTICS:

Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Newman, Time: 28.952 Seconds, Speed: 131.556 mph

Time of Race: 1 hrs., 17 mins, 10 secs Average Speed: 82.263 mph Margin of Victory: 0.610 Seconds

Caution Flags: Laps 11-14 (Competition caution, no FP); 17-22; 39-43; 51-54 (Competition caution); 81-84; 92-95.  6 for 27 laps.

Lap Leaders: Ryan Newman 1, Timmy Solomito 2, Ryan Newman 3-5, Timmy Solomito 6, Ryan Newman 7-8, Timmy Solomito 9-15, Doug Coby 16,

Timmy Solomito 17, Doug Coby 18-43, Ron Silk 44, Doug Coby 45-63, Patrick Emerling 64-66, Doug Coby 67-76, Patrick Emerling 77-79,

Doug Coby 80-87, Ron Silk 88-89, Bobby Santos 90-95, Patrick Emerling 96, Bobby Santos 97-100.

Total Laps Led: Doug Coby 64, Timmy Solomito 10, Bobby Santos 10, Patrick Emerling 7, Ryan Newman 6, Ron Silk 3.  18 changes involving 6 drivers.

Top 10 Driver Points: Doug Coby 526, Justin Bonsignore 515, Timmy Solomito 512, Rowan Pennink 509, Ryan Preece 500, Eric Goodale 491, Dave Sapienza 443, Matt Swanson 437, Rob Summers 417, Max Zachem 373

Next Race:Stafford Motor Speedway