(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
Ryan Preece celebrates victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Bush’s Beans 150 at Bristol Motor Speedway (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ryan Preece positioned himself in the right place at the right time, and took home the Bush’s Beans 150 trophy Wednesday in the annual combination race for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and Whelen Southern Modified Tours.
On a night that saw rain pause, and ultimately shorten the Bush’s Beans 150, Preece grabbed the lead on Lap 75 just before the midway break and held the position during a subsequent caution on Lap 96. As rain and severe thunderstorms loomed during track clean-up, NASCAR officials threw the yellow-checkered flag on Lap 103, sending Preece’s No. 6 TS Haulers/East West Marine Chevrolet to Victory Lane.
Promptly, during those Victory Lane ceremonies, the deluge ensued.
It marked Preece’s 15th career Whelen Modified Tour victory, and first at the famed .533-mile Tennessee oval. The Berlin, Connecticut, native’s fourth win of the campaign also moved him back into the lead in the season standings.
Coors Light Pole Award winner Woody Pitkat – who entered the day one championship point ahead of Preece – finished second after leading the majority of the first half of the race and Donny Lia joined him on the podium in third. Ryan Newman and Bobby Santos brought home the top five.
Andy Seuss, Jeff Goodale, Chase Dowling, Timmy Solomito and Patrick Emerling completed the top 10.
Seuss was the highest-finishing Whelen Southern Modified Tour entry, and received credit for a victory for that tour.
The Bush’s Beans 150 originally went green as scheduled just after 6 p.m., but Lap 2 accident that took out three potential checkered flag contenders in Justin Bonsignore, Doug Coby and Todd Szegedy proved to be the first hurdle of the evening. While under caution for clean-up, rain arrived, which forced the resumption of the Bush’s Beans 150 to after the conclusion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.
The Whelen Modifieds returned to green flag action nearly five hours later just after 11 p.m.
The Bush’s Beans 150 will air on NBCSN on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. ET.
The Whelen Modified Tour will return to action on Aug. 29 at New York’s Riverhead Raceway while the Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s schedule will resume on Sept. 5 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia.
I feel sorry for anyone who went to Bristol to see the Mod Tour race. I know you can’t stop mother nature, but for the Mods to have to wait around so the trucks could get their race in, while totally expected and predictable, would be enough to make me sorry I went…as a fan or competitor. Side note: Johnny Bush in the #13??? Really??? I guess some people just like throwing their money away.
Does it ever not rain in Bristol? Looks like the point race is a 2 team dual now. Southern teams appear to be overmatched against their northern brethren. I thought for sure some of the southern LFR cars would contend.
It appears the only team that has the LFR car figured out is the 2 team with Phil Moran, Lia’s team is starting to get it figured out, they are getting better each time out. As for the rest of the LFR cars, don’t see much to get too excited about, including the LFR house car that Silk is in. Through the years if a car builder had a house car it was usually a front running car, not the case with LFR, it seems that the 2 team and the 8 team are figuring it out on their own. Again, just my thoughts…
how much fun is it to race in front of no one??
I went to race and you are correct, it’s a damn joke! Fox Sports 1 never show’s nothing but damn UFC, Poker or Soccer. It wouldn’t have hurt for the rich kid’s to have to wait another 30 minutes to race. I’m from the south and we wait all year for 1 good modified race and this is the kind of B.S. you have to put up with. As far as the southern drivers go, never had but 1 or 2 that could compete. Maybe they are correct, TV does make all the rules$$$$$$
Race should not have started they knew weather was coming but you know what happens to NASCAR stepchildren. Feel bad for 2 and 4 big holes to climb now should have waited to Thursday am.
Prime example of what happens when NASCAR wants to cram a weekend full of racing in a facility that clearly can’t contain it. The infield isn’t large enough to have four divisions running in one weekend so the WMT is the odd one out when a scheduling conflict arises. If it hadn’t of gotten to halfway the race would have been rushed out the door at 8AM in the morning in front of nobody. It is so unfortunate that the days of standalone events for lower tier divisions like the trucks and this instance the modifieds are gone. Not only are they racing in front of minimal attendance but to put all that time and money into a 75 lap race that isn’t even finished under green must leave a sour taste in the mouths of teams that hauled out to Tennessee during the middle of the week…
Try telling FOX Sports1 that the race they paid to televise live and have advertising for is going to be held up so they can finish a rain delayed race that is being taped for another network to air at a later date.
I think this whole deal sucks especially when these guys spend at least 10k for one race and I wonder with the winner takes home. Never mind the guys that have to take time off from their jobs to crew the cars. Run them Saturday afternoon as an undercard to the cup race. I think the fans would love it!
JMB nailed it. Also, nothing you can do when it rains.I don’t believe there is any on track racing today so a Thursday morning race probably out of the question. In all honestly, what other option was there but to run after trucks? It sucks but I don’t see any other viable option. NASCAR’s hands were tied.
Just what everyone has known all along. The only thing that NASCAR wants from the modifieds is the sanction and license fees. Modified racing needs to break away from NASCAR. Say what you want to about the MRS. But that group was smart enough to do just that.
Chris D, I think but am not sure that Bush’s car was just renumbered 13 for owner points. Same as what the 3 is doing after it got wrecked.
… But hey, at the end of the day the winner can say they won at Bristol!!! Which in this case means about as much as Daytona… It’s just NOT worth it..
What got lost over the years was the appropriate scheduling, payout and respect at tracks like Martinsville and Richmond!!!
What’s the next bright idea NASCAR? Oh I got it, Mods at the Talledega mini half mile!!
rich, you are most likely correct about Bush and the #13. Those oh so valuable “owners points”. Does anyone know what the owner’s point fund pays for say 5th or worse? Does it even make it worthwhile for any 2nd tier car owner to worry about it? It’s like when I get an offer from the casino for a free $10 slot play…It’ll cost me $50.00 in fuel to go redeem my $10 free slot play, what a deal. I know the payouts for the WMT are more top secret than Secretary Clinton’s e-mails, but it would be interesting to see what these teams are getting for all their efforts.
No one makes money at this level of racing. One crash and it costs you everything you made for the year. Not that you made much.
.. and another thing…
The Mod tour really should stand on its own (or partner with other regional series) at premier tracks and not be this novelty act they cram in the (Cup) schedule. It’s just gotten worse and worse and teams continue to support these events. Even to the extent at NHIS where the Mods once had their place on the weekend card, it’s been a patchwork effort to get in practice, TT and the race – getting bumped or shortened for TV coverage of the Trucks or Cup Jr. cars.
Even if Bristol went off on time, it’s still in front of a gutted crowed – I fully understand there is this perceived, exposure element, but the reward here (opportunity) is so narrow and the purse so uncompelling, I can’t see the value in competing. So Preece gets a shot in Baldwin’s car at NHIS – it’s not because Tommy saw him at Daytona or at Bristol, it’s because he’s been kicking ass for several years now and wins, a lot – and it’s networking. Who before him – Lia (in a truck), Hossfeld (for a fleeting moment), Park.. Ronnie Bouchard, Goofrey Bodine?
I just wish NASCAR would stop treating the Mods like their Cup feeder system (lowest tier) and that Mod Owners and Drivers would unite and stand ground together and say enough. This shouldn’t dash anyone’s dreams of being the next Kyle Busch – but get Modified racing back to the top tier, regional series it once was. The K&N Pro Series is perfect for that feeder system, (e.g., Logano, Larson)..
Speaking of fenders – the days of the Mod / Busch North double headers at Thompson, Stafford and NHIS were really a great platform to showcase talent and bring in great crowds, without the teams being pushed around and all (teams and fans) hauling excessive miles to get screwed out of laps, sleep and money.
End of rant.
Goldy, have you been to a race this year?Probably the best racing in 20yrs. Best car counts in 7 or 8 yrs. Also, the mods are at Bristol because Burton Smith wanted them there. NASCAR had nothing to do with Bristol being on the schedule when the mods first started going there. Again, when it rains you have to go to Plan B. NASCAR did the best they could here.
Agree with both count Mark, WMT at Bristol on weds with trucks since 2009, rain happens and u can’t honestly expect a PAID SERIES TV RACE ON FOX FOR THE TRUCKS to be pushed aside for WMT, I am happy they decided to race after the trucks and not just cancel altogether, yes the racing and car counts best in many years on the tour so STOP COMPLAINING!!!!!
No I haven’t but I have 3 legit chances left – I recognize that the racing has been good, the car counts up and there has been an infusion of new faces that will help carry the tour forward – I’ve commented on such previously, very positive I might add, but I think you’re missing my point. I’m tired of the Mods getting crammed into Cup schedules where they often get bumped into undesirable days, timeslots; race 20 laps and finish the rest after the other race that’s on live TV. I’ve been to those races before and that makes for a long day. 8:00am start times, finishing laps after Trucks or Cup Jr. cars only to be called by darkness – been there pal.
I think it’s great Burton Smith is a fan of the Mods, I just wish they would get their own card vs. being at the bottom of an already packed schedule. NHIS is a mainstay on the Mod schedule and that can be dealt with – but hauls to Bristol and that Daytona nonsense, I for one could do without.
NH Mark, If Bruton looooves the modifieds so much, why is the purse for such a supposedly big race so lousy. The first race they ran there, the total purse was only $90K.
For a race that’s supposed to be this prestigious, and for the amount of travel and time off that the teams have to go through just to go there, there’s no reason why it can’t be a 20K to win race.
Of course, we’re talking about Bruton Smith here… the billionaire that was throwing a hissy fit because he didn’t want to reimburse the Loudon police and fire dept 174K for their work during race weekends.
Is there any video available of the incident that took out the #2?
The race was suppose to be televised and shown on a later date.
Another complaint I have with Nascar, why not start all 40 cars that took time? We all know the 33 (Wade Cole), 01 (Melissa Fifield), or 36 (Dave Sapienza) wouldn’t have been a threat to win, but just think of all the money they spent for basically nothing. Would 4 more cars have made a difference on the track? (4th DNQ was Cale Gale, 126.420 to Johnny Bush 122.411… guess those owner points are worth something Rich and Chris.) Anyway, I’d bet everyone at Nascar management could care less, but I just feel there should be some loyalty to teams that show up every race. I couldn’t find anywhere what the purse was for the race (figure of $90K listed above for 2008 or 2009), but compare this to the 8/23/14 cup race at Bristol, Dave Blaney ran 37 laps and finished 43rd…. $37, 665.
My short answer is I don’t know why the purse is low. Bruton also lowered the NHMS a few years back during the recession. He’s a business man. I agree it should/could be higher. Bruton needed a division to fill the schedule with the trucks back in 2009. The mods fit the bill. Believe me, I wish they ran on Friday with the Busch cars or on Saturday in the spring. I also don’t understand why Bristol runs on Wednesday in August then shuts the track down for a day and resumes racing on Friday. I think there is just a lot of disappointment with the bad weather and what not on Wednesday, Had the weather been nice and the race been great none of this would be coming up.
They shut down the track for day because Food City, who is a major sponsor of the track, has a racing festival in downtown Bristol on the Thursday before the August Cup race. And they have been doing that for close to 30 years, well before the track tried to add a third night of racing to the weekend.
Bristol has DOWNTOWN RACEFEST on thrus of night race with parade and a whole day of food music and driver appearance in downtown so I assume that’s why track is silent, why does Thompson run of Wednesday??
as for the purses, NASCAR SETS the minimum and tracks go to NASCAR to get a race and sure they can go above the minimum but their choice and while not in the same category, the ARUTE’s and Hoenig’s are not getting food stamps