THOMPSON, Conn. — Ronnie Silk reached victory lane for the second time in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career when he took the checkered flag in the New England Dodge Dealers 75 Thursday night at Thompson Int’l Speedway.
In a race that counted only green flag laps, Silk took the lead from Ted Christopher on lap 53 and never relinquished it en route to his first victory of the season. His previous victory also came at Thompson’s five-eighths-mile oval on Sept. 23, 2007.
“We had a really good car and it never really changed much all night,” Silk said. “We kind of took it easy in the beginning and saved as much as we could, and by the end, we were right about where we wanted to be.”
Christopher wound up with a second-place finish and drew to within 26 points of Chuck Hossfeld in the standings. Mike Stefanik, Hossfeld and Tony Ferrante, Jr. rounded out the top five.
Bobby Grigas III looked strong early in the race as he led 20 of the first 27 laps. On lap 28, with Ed Flemke, Jr. battling Grigas for the lead, the two tangled in turn four and Grigas slid into the infield. Flemke was penalized to the end of the lead lap and Christopher assumed the lead.
Earlier in the evening Grigas nabbed his first-career pole.
The finish:
Ronnie Silk, Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik, Chuck Hossfeld, Tony Ferrante, Jr., Todd Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Bobby Santos, Kevin Goodale, Ryan Preece, Renee Dupuis, Rick Fuller, Richard Savary, Eric Beers, Ken Heagy, Wade Cole, Carl Pasteryak, Tom Abele, Jr., Rowan Pennink, Charles Pasteryak, Bobby Grigas III, Jake Marosz, Glen Reen, Joe Hartmann, Glenn Tyler, Ed Flemke, Jr., Anthony Sesely, James Civali, Jimmy Blewett, Tommy Farrell, Billy Pauch, Jr., Eric Berndt, Andy Seuss, Danny Sammons, Jamie Tomaino.