SOUTH BOSTON, Va. - Ryan Preece attained what often seemed to be an inevitable result when he took the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour checkered flag Saturday at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Va., but it wasn’t without some late-race drama.
Preece led the South Boston 150 throughout en route to his second career Southern Tour victory, the majority of the time comfortably in the perch. Two late-race cautions provided an extra challenge for the Berlin, CT native, but he was able to emerge ahead in both green-white-checkered flag restart attempts for the win.
JR Bertuccio crossed the line second and was joined on the podium by Burt Myers while Eric Goodale and Danny Bohn finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kyle Ebersole, David Calabrese, Trey Hutchens, Gary Putnam and Jason Myers brought home the top 10.
Defending South Boston 150 winner and reigning tour champion Andy Seuss was involved in the first accident caution of the race and relegated to a 16th place finish, 57 laps down.
Preece, the 2013 champion of the northeast-based NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour where he regularly competes, has branched out to the southern sister tour on a limited basis in recent seasons. While he’s consistently had fast cars – he earned his eighth Coors Light Pole Award in 12 career appearances earlier in the day at South Boston – Preece has had defeat snatched from the jaws of victory on multiple occasions due to mechanical failures and accidents.
There were no gremlins for Preece on this sunny Saturday afternoon in the rolling hills of southern Virginia, however. It was a perfect day in the No. 98 Curb Records/Menards Chevrolet: fastest in practice and qualifying, and led the race throughout. If not for his pit box position being behind the start-finish line, Preece would have led all 160 laps, but Bertuccio was credited with one lap led under caution as his box was in front of the line.
Preece’s previous Whelen Southern Modified Tour triumph came in 2013 at Bowman Gray Stadium.
The Whelen Southern Modified Tour will return to the Commonwealth of Virginia on Saturday, April 11 for the Pepsi 150 at Langley Speedway in Hampton.
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour
South Boston Speedway – South Boston, VA
South Boston 150 – April 4, 2015
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 98 | Ryan Preece | 160 | 48 | 5 | Running | |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | JR Bertuccio | Gershow Recycling Chevrolet | 160 | 43 | 1 | Running |
| 3 | 8 | 1 | Burt Myers | Remington SCT/Citrusafe/Speedway Auto Actn. Ford | 160 | 41 | Running | |
| 4 | 9 | 58 | Eric Goodale | GAF Roofing/Supreme Skylights Chevrolet | 160 | 40 | Running | |
| 5 | 11 | 65 | Danny Bohn | Chevrolet | 159 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | Kyle Ebersole | Ebersole Excavating Ford | 159 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 15 | 43 | David Calabrese | Diamond Back Towing Chevrolet | 159 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 17 | 14 | Trey Hutchens, III * | All Star Truck and Trailer Repair Chevrolet | 157 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 13 | 77 | Gary Putnam | Curb Records Chevrolet | 157 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 3 | 4 | Jason Myers | Adams Towing & Recovery Ford | 153 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 7 | 40 | Frank Fleming | Autos By Nelson/Jerry Hunt Auto Sales/Perkins | 152 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 14 | 79 | Spencer Davis | Coors Light 21 Means 21/Hillbilly Racing/LeBlue | 152 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 19 | 37 | Paul Hartwig Jr. | Acasola Farms, Himmer Graphics, Hart Financial | 152 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 10 | 74 | Bobby Measmer, Jr. | Powerhouse Recycling, Lead 2 Real Estate Chevrolet | 151 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 16 | 15 | Jeremy Gerstner | GMR Lawncare/Shady Grady Racing Chevrolet | 151 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 5 | 11 | Andy Seuss | Northeast Race Cars/Ideal Finance Chevrolet | 103 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 12 | 25 | John Smith | Rick’s Home Improvement/Tutterow Surveying Co | 93 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 2 | 28 | George Brunnhoelzl, III | Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair/Comp. Tech | 88 | 26 | Accident | |
| 19 | 18 | 12 | Mike Norman | Speedway Auto Actn/Nationwide Ins./H&H Auto Sales | 85 | 25 | Accident |
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Preece, Time: 14.493 Seconds, Speed: 99.358 mph
Time of Race: 0 hrs., 55 mins, 0 secs Average Speed: 69.818 mph Margin of Victory: 0.361 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 90-95 (#12 Spun Front Stretch, #28 & #11 involved); 147-152 (#37 Spun Back Stretch); 154-157 (#5 Spun Back Stretch, #74, #40, #79, #4, #15 involved). 3 for 16 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ryan Preece 1-91, JR Bertuccio 92, Ryan Preece 93-160.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 159, JR Bertuccio 1. 2 changes involving 2 drivers.
