Ron Silk stood tallest in a war of attrition Saturday afternoon at South Boston Speedway, mastering a caution-filled “King of the Modifieds” to claim the crown in the event’s third running.
Silk, a two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified champion, has already proven he’s among the greats of his discipline — but now, he’s officially a king, taking home the $20,000 prize.
“This was a big event today,” said Silk. “A lot of people in the grandstands. SMART Tour, South Boston Speedway — everyone involved did a great job. So to come out of here with a win and twenty grand, it feels pretty good.”
Silk found himself in the middle of it all, trading the lead with the likes of Ryan Newman, Patrick Emerling and the young Carson Loftin. It was a battle against some of the elites of Modified racing to crown a king.
With 42 laps to go, Silk took the lead for the final time. From there, he had to endure several late restarts against a charging Stephen Kopcik, but Silk was flawless when it mattered most.
“My car really fired off great,” said Silk. “It launched perfect every time, and the first two laps of the run I could really open up a bit of breathing room, which was nice. It was nice to not have someone right on top of you — no immediate pressure. You’ve got to stay on your game, but we had a great car there at the end.”
Silk added that he doesn’t know how often he’ll wear the crown, but it will be displayed proudly on the mantle.
Carson Loftin showed early speed, setting fast time in qualifying, but a redraw placed Ryan Newman on the pole for the start. It didn’t take long for Loftin to assert himself, driving past Newman on the initial green flag to take the lead. His time out front was short-lived, however, as Silk powered his way by Loftin not long after to take over the top spot.
From there, the race turned into a grind.
With 12 laps remaining, Jake Crum and Trevor Catalano brought out the final caution of the day. At the time, 1995 South Boston Speedway Late Model Stock champion Elliott Sadler sat just outside the top five. In the closing laps, Sadler was able to squeeze out a fifth-place finish in his first race back behind the wheel since 2019.
- 16 Ron Silk
- 1CT Stephen Kopcik
- 2 Ryan Newman
- 7NY Jack Baldwin
- 16V Elliott Sadler
- 77 William Lambros
- 33 Carsten DiGantomas
- 15 Carson Loftin
- 24 Joey Braun
- 5CT Chris Pasteryak
- 27 Blake Barney
- 48 Jake Christman
- 02 Joey Coulter
- 14 Austin McDaniel
- 99 Sean McElearney
- 25 Danny Bohn
- 1JC Jake Crum
- 45N Max Handley
- 23N Brad Zahensky
- 51 Jayden Harman
- 7VA Luke Baldwin
- 1 Burt Myers
- 1NY Patrick Emerling
- 56 Trevor Catalano
- 40 Carter McMurray
- 20 Paulie Hartwig
- 17 Jimmy Blewett
- 4 Slate Myers
- 22 Jimmy Wallace
- 66 Austin Kochenash
- 04 Brandon Ward
