Ron Silks celebrates victory in last year’s Whelen Modified Tour event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Following the third race of the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, it seemed the future of driver Ron Silk and team owner Danny Watts Jr. couldn’t be any brighter.
It was in the third race of the 2016 season that Silk gave Watts his first win as a series owner when he was victorious on May 14 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
This year the third race of the season proved the end for the pairing.
Watts confirmed exclusively to RaceDayCT Wednesday evening that Silk has decided to leave the team immediately.
“It was just a host of things,” Watts said. “It’s OK, I’m good with it. I just wish him well. He’s got a lot of things on his mind. We couldn’t click. And, I don’t know, I’m fine. I hope everything goes well for him. I’ve already moved on. We’ve got to get ready for the next race. … There are absolutely no hard feelings at all.”
Silk was not immediately available for comment.
Silk, the 2011 Whelen Modified Tour champion, joined forces with Watts, a journeyman driver with the series, prior to the start of the 2016 season.
Silk went on to finish eighth in the series standings last year for Watts with the lone victory at the Speedbowl. He had four top-five’s, nine top-10’s and one pole in 17 events in 2016.
This year the team had a 16th place finish following a wreck in the season opener on March 18 at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway. Silk was 13th in the Icebreaker 150 on April 9 at Thompson Speedway before an eighth place finish in Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler 200 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Watts said he is committed to finishing the season and will have a driver for the next series event on May 13 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va.
“I have two guys on the hook,” Watts said. “I haven’t made my decision. I have some options. I’m just waiting for me to make my decision. I had to step back and catch my breath and talk to my guys and talk to a couple other people and decide what I want to do. … I’m weighing my options. I’ve got to fill the seat for Langley and then in the meantime I’m just kind of regrouping. But I’m not going to stop. Just because one thing didn’t work doesn’t mean another thing won’t work.”
Silk has made 165 Whelen Modified Tour starts dating back to the 2003 season. He has 10 career series victories and 59 top-five finishes along with 10 career poles. He has finished fifth or better in the series standings six times in nine full-time seasons.
Ron Silk is a very good modified driver.
Not good. I had high expectations for Silk this season.
Hope Silk gets back on the Tour soon.
That team needs a crew chief and a driver. Maybe darealgood is abailable.
Burt Meyers in the car for Langley?
Silk is a top talent but there seems to be a problem off the track with all the teams Silk has been on. It’s time for that team to put a different Ronnie in the drivers seat. Watts: call Ronnie Williams !
GBIII…..
You should call a friend that plays video games
I took an sk out and ran around the track and most drivers told me wow your good man
I am also like a crew guy too
I set up cars at star and right now my drivers are all too of points. I wish I was not so busy crushing wall st
Andy Jankowiak
Sorry to see the split; I figured they would get a couple of wins this year. Glad to hear #82 will still be out there racing.
GBIII is driving the TS Haulers #6 at Langley
Put Ronnie Williams in your car
100% still support the watts team. I hope he does great going forward. Good team, good guy. (Coming from a huge silk supporter)
82 is Mike Christopher. Put two seats, wheels, and pedals in car so Ted can drive shotgun.
Don’t rush to decide who you want in the car. Take your time, ponder your decision closely and make the decision that fits best in to your long term goals and plans.
Chase Dowling? And Silk back to the 15
Could Keith Rocco get another shot on the tour? Without Waterford in the mix, he will not be chasing the national points this year.
humphry, this is Modified racing, there’s no such thing as long term goals and plans.
Spencer Davis is in for Langley.
And how do you know that dareal? Ever own one?
humphry, look at the transient roster. More cars/drivers/owners pass through the Tour in a season than people through a McDonalds at lunch time.
Dareal, you answered your own thoughtless comment. That is why a team owner should take his time making a decision that best fits his plans and long term goals to avoid the seat jumping that goes on year after year. The most successful teams have long term relationships between the driver, owner and crew. Daaah!!!!!
Hey humphry, I guess that’s why TC always bounced around from owner to owner to owner to owner to owner …
A handful of owners have been around long term, the drivers get passed around. Probably the only long term successful pairing was Stefanik-Kuhnel.
1) Corky Cookman had an excellent long term relationship with his car owner.
2) Keith Rocco will chase national points by running at Devil’s Bowl – Saturday asphalt late models and Sunday dirt modified. Both tracks at Devil’s Bowl are NASCAR sanctioned.
Oh I might have missed something, I did not know that Kuhnel was an owner……..
Oh, yeah, Beal & Bacon were the owners all that time.
I would dare to say the Evans/Nacewicz pairing was probably the longest most successful there was in modified racing. Taking nothing away from Pete & Charlie and the X6 but the 61 won more national modified championships, track championships and races in the time they were together than anyone else I can think of.
humphry, you made it sound like there was a very long list. It’s actually a very short list. A very short list.
Dareal, don’t see where I said there was a long list. You opened the door about Stefanik-Kuhnel being the longest and I corrected you so let’s not change the subject……