Bobby Santos Wins Whelen Modified Tour Stafford Sizzler

Bobby Santos (44) leads Doug Coby (2) in the final laps of Sunday’s Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway. Santos would go on to score the victory. Photo by Rich Schultz, Getty Images for NASCAR

No one needed to show Bobby Santos the way to victory lane at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford, CT; he’s a frequent visitor.

The Franklin, MA driver won the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler 200 on Sunday for his 11th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory, with six of those coming at Stafford, including three of the last four Spring Sizzlers.

Santos, who started in the eighth position, took the lead from rookie Tommy Barrett, Jr. on lap 115 and battled with Doug Coby, who won the 2006 and 2012 Spring Sizzlers, down the stretch to record the win. Coby looked left, right, over and under for a way around Santos in the closing laps, but had to settle for the runner-up finish.

“I knew he was a little better than us, so I was very nervous,” Santos said of the pressure he faced from Coby down the stretch. “The yellows (cautions) definitely helped. I think the race definitely went our way at the end.”

On the last lap of the event, Santos used a lap car through the final turns to essentially set a pick on Coby and get just the space he needed to secure the victory.

“I knew that if he (Coby) was within a bumper of me that he probably could have tried something into turn 3, but the lap car there prevented that from happening,” Santos said. “When I saw the lap car on the bottom, I knew we were pretty safe from there.”

“Bobby did what he was supposed to do, he pulled up to the lap car and used it as a pick,” Coby said. “I’m disappointed, but I’m also happy. It’s two straight top-threes to start the season, and we’ll keep marching on.”

Rowan Pennink crossed the line third followed by Woody Pitkat in the fourth spot while Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top five. The remainder of the top 10 was five-time Spring Sizzler winner Ted Christopher, Donny Lia, Timmy Solomito, Matt Hirschman and Ron Silk.

Santos, the 2010 Whelen Modified Tour champion, led a group of five drivers with top-10 finishes to own at least one tour title. The others were Coby, Christopher, Lia and Silk.

Barrett claimed his first Whelen Modified Tour pole win on Saturday and finished 11th.

NASCAR Next driver and defending tour champion Ryan Preece was looking for his first Spring Sizzler victory, but engine problems spoiled his day and he settled for a 24th-place finish.

The event had seven lead changes among five drivers which is the most in a Stafford race since there were 10 on May 1, 2010.

Sunday’s race was the 29th time the Whelen Modified Tour has headlined NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler weekend. A third win for Santos now has him tied with Rick Fuller for the third-most wins in Stafford’s prestigious opening weekend event. Santos’ trio of triumphs has come in his last three Sizzler appearances. He did not participate in the 2012 race.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Stafford for its next event in just under four weeks. The TSI Harley-Davidson 125 is set for Friday, May 23.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Stafford Motor Speedway – Stafford, CT
NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler 200 – April 27, 2014

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team	Laps	Points	B/Points	Status
1	8	44	Bobby Santos	Tinio Racing/ImperialCars.com Chevrolet	200	48	5	Running
2	4	2	Doug Coby	Dunleavy’s Repair/A&J Romano Const. Chevrolet	200	43	1	Running
3	6	93	Rowan Pennink	Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet	200	42	1	Running
4	2	88	Woody Pitkat	Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet	200	41	1	Running
5	3	51	Justin Bonsignore	chem3.com Chevrolet	200	39		Running
6	13	13	Ted Christopher	J&R Pre-Cast/Cape Cod Aggregates Chevrolet	200	38		Running
7	12	4	Donny Lia	Mystic Missile Racing Dodge	200	37		Running
8	15	75	Timmy Solomito *	Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet	200	36		Running
9	11	52	Matt Hirschman	Furnace & Duct/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet	200	35		Running
10	7	6	Ron Silk	TS Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet	200	34		Running
11	1	22	Tommy Barrett, Jr. *	Canto Paving/Ferguson Water Works Chevrolet	200	34	1	Running
12	18	07	Patrick Emerling	Emerling Chevrolet Inc. Chevrolet	200	32		Running
13	20	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy’s Repair/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet	200	31		Running
14	14	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet	198	30		Running
15	23	33	Wade Cole	Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	198	29		Running
16	10	64	Ron Yuhas, Jr.	Fast Track Electric/Hughes Motors Chevrolet	194	28		Running
17	26	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Pontiac	194	27		Running
18	24	38	Dave Salzarulo *	Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	194	26		Running
19	25	71	T.J. Zacharias *	Central States Used Clothing Chevrolet	191	25		Running
20	27	01	Melissa Fifield *	Allstate Ins./Bob’s Auto Body Chevrolet	182	24		Running
21	22	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Ford	180	23		Accident
22	9	3	Jimmy Zacharias *	Cape Cod Copper/Central States Chevrolet	174	22		Accident
23	21	77	Gary Putnam	Curb Records/R House Family Restaurant Chevrolet	174	21		Accident
24	5	16	Ryan Preece	East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford	170	20		Engine
25	19	8	Glen Reen	Sypher Construction Chevrolet	152	19		Suspension
26	16	48	Keith Rocco	Wheelers Auto/Mr. Rooter Chevrolet	41	18		Oil Leak
27	17	39	Richie Pallai, Jr.	MAHLE Performance/Lucas Oil Chevrolet	17	17		Suspension

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RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Tommy Barrett, Jr. *, Time: 18.221 Seconds, Speed: 98.787 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 29 mins, 35 secs Average Speed: 66.977 mph Margin of Victory: 0.122 Seconds
Caution Flags: [Beneficiary] Laps 22-25 (Car #38 spinout (Backstretch) [01]); 30-33 (Car #71 accident (Turn 4) [01]); 39-42 (Car #71 spinout (Turn 4) [none]); 45-48 (Cars #38, 77, 99 spinout (Backstretch) [none]); 100-106 (Car #26 spinout (Turn 4) [none]); 152-155 (Car #8 spinout Turn 1 [18]); 161-164 (Car #64 spinout (Turn 1) [16]); 171-179 (Cars #3, 4, 71, 77 accident (Turn 4) (Red Flag 5 mins.) [99]); 181-185 (Cars #58, 22, 18 accident (Turn 4) [33]). 9 for 45 laps.
Lap Leaders: Woody Pitkat 1-6, Doug Coby 7-9, Woody Pitkat 10-25, Doug Coby 26-42, Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 43-49, Rowan Pennink 50-113, Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 114, Bobby Santos 115-200.
Total Laps Led:Bobby Santos 86, Rowan Pennink 64, Woody Pitkat 22, Doug Coby 20, Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 8. 7 changes involving 5 drivers.