One last restart was all Ron Silk needed.
The Norwalk, Connecticut, driver lined up to the inside of Burt Myers
with 18 laps to go in the South Boston 150 at South Boston Speedway,
and the veteran took advantage of his opportunity to get back to the
top.
Silk captured his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win since May of 2016 by taking down the checkered flag in the second race of the season. It was the 11th career win for the 2011 series champion, and his first in his first start at the Virginia oval.
“It’s always good to win,” Silk said. “Last year, we had some good finishes, and the guys have been working hard and building towards this. Hopefully we can keep being competitive going forward.”
Silk started third, and although he ran at the front of the pack for much of the early stint, pitting for tires put him back in traffic, forcing him to slice his way back to the front.
He passed Kyle Bonsignore for second, and was starting to run down Myers for the lead, but a caution with 24 laps to go set him up in perfect position to make a move on Myers, who hadn’t pitted for tires. He drove the No. 85 Stuart’s Automotive Chevrolet to the point and never looked back.
“I got a good launch and tried to the hook the bottom through turns one and two to keep up the speed,” Silk said. “I was really loose on the first run, but I knew once we pitted and changed tires we would be in pretty good shape.”
Chase Dowling, who made his first start of the season driving for veteran Jamie Tomaino, moved around Myers on the late restart, but couldn’t chase down Silk. The second place effort for the Roxbury, Connecticut, driver was his fifth career runner up finish.
“We spent time this winter putting the car together, and obviously we are really happy with it,” Dowling said. “We unloaded fast and just tweaked throughout the day.”
Jimmy Blewett finished third, scoring his second podium in two races, and positioning himself second, just one point off Doug Coby in the series points standings. Kyle Bonsignore was fourth and Myers finished fifth.
Chris Pasteryak was sixth, followed by Patrick Emerling, Doug Coby, Timmy Solomito and Craig Lutz.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track on April 7 as part of the 45th annual Icebreaker weekend at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
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