LOUDON – The longest race in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was decided on the final quarter-mile of the 250-lap marathon.
Chase Dowling steered his No. 15 Chevrolet away from the smoke and sparks as the leaders wrecked between turns 3 and 4 on the final lap and emerged as the winner of the first Musket 250 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, capping its inaugural Full Throttle Fall weekend.
It also happened to be the first Whelen Modified Tour win for the 20-year-old from Roxbury, Conn., and it came with the biggest purse in the tour’s history at $25,000, plus $100 for each lap led.
“That was a crazy race,” Dowling said. “I wanted to be leading at the end, but it’s really hard when the first two cars are battling like that.”
Modified points leader Justin Bonsignore was fending off Xfinity racer Ryan Preece on the final lap. Coming down the backstretch and headed into Turn 3, Preece tried to sneak underneath the No. 51 Chevrolet of Bonsignore but their tires tangled as Bonsignore tried to block, sending both cars into the wall.
“It’s New Hampshire, just trying to win,” Preece said. “Ended up getting the big run, I pulled down, saw grass, checked up, saw a hole and ended up on his left rear nerf bar. … It’s not the way I wanted to end and I’m sure it’s not the way (Dowling) wanted to win, but at the end of the day it is what it is.”
Bonsignore’s ride was out of commission, but Preece managed to restart his and limp across the granite stripe at the start/finish line for fifth place, behind Dowling, second-place Patrick Emerling, third-place Burt Myers and fourth-place Andy Seuss.
Saturday’s race was the first time Preece got into the No. 77 car this weekend as he spent Friday night racing in the Xfinity Series in Richmond, Va., while Gary Putman piloted the car in practice and qualifying in Loudon. It was the same car that Ryan Newman drove in July’s Modified race.
Dowling shared his first visit to Victory Lane with his crew chief and high school pal Stephen Kopcik, who was a Modified driver himself until Dowling invited him to be pit boss at a race in June.
The duo immediately began stacking season points and has the Rob Fuller Motorsports team second in the standings but could not capture a checkered flag. They came close at NHMS in July, finishing 0.014 seconds behind Massachusetts native Bobby Santos III for his third consecutive win at the track.
Santos was not so fortunate Saturday as he had to abandon his damaged No. 44 Chevy on pit road with 34 laps to go.
“I think we blew out the rear end,” said Santos, who runs a part-time schedule in the series. “Disappointing, but that’s how it goes.”
Seuss, a Hampstead native, had his best finish of the season and placed fourth for the second time in his career at the Magic Mile in Loudon.
“I’m so happy NASCAR is still living in New England in the fall and I think it was amazing,” Seuss said. “I hope they spread the word and pack this place next year because I had a blast all weekend.”
The long-term plans are for the Full Throttle Weekend to continue in place of the September Cup Series event that came to New Hampshire each fall for 20 years before Speedway Motorsports Inc., the parent company of NHMS, shifted that race to Las Vegas beginning this year. The 250-lap Modified race is the marquee event and carries the highest stakes of the tour’s season.
The Cup Series will continue to visit Loudon in the summer – the next race is July 19, a Sunday – where the Modifieds run a 100-lap race as one of the undercard events on Saturday. They also hold their annual all-star race on that Friday to kick off the July weekend.
Even before Saturday’s 250-lap chase, the 100-lap events at Loudon are the longest on the Modified schedule at 106 miles. These drivers are used to running between 50 and 80 miles with a few longer runs sprinkled in. As for the teams, they typically prepare the car for that distance, which requires one or two replacement tires.
Everything was new on Saturday. Never before have teams had to pit under the green flag, which requires drivers to get the car down to 45 mph, the speed limit on pit road, and still reach their stall quickly and pit in the right place. Instead of managing a few extra tires, teams had as many as 12 at their disposal.
And, of course, there is the physical toll it takes on the drivers by adding 150 laps. The race lasted about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it was hardly a relaxing cruise with 30 lead changes, including about 20 in the first half.
That didn’t shake Myers, the 42-year-old who finished third.
“I could do this every weekend,” Myers said. “It was a blast, but I could do another 250 if you wanted to.”
Derek Kraus took the lead from Brandon McReynolds with five laps to go. A late caution two laps later gave it right back.
Kraus, the pole winner, spun his tires on the restart and came off the throttle as contact lifted his rear wheels from the track, steering him momentarily into the outside wall. As Kraus tried to recover in his No. 1 David Gilliland-owned Toyota, McReynolds slid by in his No. 74 Chevrolet to retake the lead and rolled away to win the Apple Barrel 125.
“It was pretty wild,” said McReynolds, of Mooresville, N.C. “Derek was hauling ass at the end. … Luckily we had that restart at the end and we took advantage of it.”
It was McReynolds’s first win of the season in K&N Pro Series East racing.
The series will wrap its season Oct. 5 at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, but Saturday’s action at NHMS also decided the season champion with Tyler Ankrum finishing 13th to lock up the title.
Ankrum, 17 of San Bernardino, Calif., has won four races out of 13 this season, including the July race in Loudon.
“I don’t really know how to put my head around it,” Ankrum said. “I’ve had a blast all year.”
Kevin Lacroix took an early lead and won the Visit New Hampshire 100, the first NASCAR Pinty’s Series race in the United States.
Pole-winner Cole Powell led the first few turns around the Magic Mile before Lacroix made a pass and took the lead for good.
The Pinty’s Series’ foray into racing stateside also meant racing on a larger track and at higher speeds. The Canadian NASCAR circuit usually visits local short tracks.
“This is a short track for the Cup guys, but for us, it’s super nice, and it was a great feeling to drive here,” Lacroix said. “We’re not used to getting to high speeds, but after a few laps, I got comfortable in the car, and the bumper-to-bumper car was so good. It was an easy way to victory lane.”
Andrew Ranger challenged Lacroix for much of the race but his No. 27 Dodge ended up on pit road with equipment issues with 29 laps to go.
Drivers will race for the Pinty’s Series championship next weekend at Jukasa Motor Speedway in Hamilton, Ontario.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3321 or nstoico@cmonitor.com.)