Turnover: Rowan Pennink Walks Away From Dramatic Flip Late In Whelen Mod Tour Race At Thompson

THOMPSON – Late in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Budweiser 150 Thursday at Thompson International Speedway, Rowan Pennink had designs on making a run at victory.

Rowan Pennink’s car flips late in the Whelen Modified Tour Bud 150 Thursday at Thompson Speedway (Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images for NASCAR)

But when the time came when he thought the shot was there to go after race leader and eventual race winner Bobby Santos III, those plans got turned upside down, very literally.

Running in third place on a lap 148 restart, Pennink got turned and ended up flipped over, doing a dramatic barrel roll down the frontstretch, pulling a concerned collective groan from the fans witnessing the wreck.

Pennink’s car landed on it’s tires after a full rotation.

“It all happened so fast,” Pennink said. “I started on the inside there and was going down the straightaway and at about the start-finish line I just got hooked and turned right into the fence. I was just hanging on from there.

“I didn’t really know what was going on. I’d like to see a video of what happened, what actually started it off. All I know is I got turned into the fence and climbed the fence. I know I was upside down for a while.”

The wreck dropped Pennink from what looked like it would be a sure top-five finish to an 18th place result.

“We had a real good car,” Pennink said. “I was a little too free for the first half but we made the right changes to the car. We got right up there into third. I know I was faster than [Lia] and I was hoping I could get by him and get up there and battle with [Santos] but I didn’t get that far.”