Timmy Solomito celebrates victory in the Whelen Modified Tour Anytime Realty 150 Saturday at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway (Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Timmy Solomito opened the 2016 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season in living a dream style with his first career series victory in April at Thompson Speedway.
And that dream ride has continued on and on through the year.
Saturday at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway Solomito was back landing in victory lane once again.
Solomito, of Islip, N.Y., held off Justin Bonsignore and Doug Coby on a green-white-checkered finish to score victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Anytime Realty 150 Saturday at Seekonk Speedway.
It was the fourth victory of the season for Solomito, matching reigning series champion Doug Coby for the series lead in victories this year.
Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, N.Y. was second and Coby, of Milford, third.
Solomito used a daring move to go by Coby for the lead on lap 114 and never trailed again. The race was extended to 151 laps because of the final caution.
Solomito started was second to Coby on a lap 112 restart. After riding the outside for a lap Solomito ducked behind Coby on lap 113. Going into turn one on lap 114 Solomito got his tires into the grass low under Coby and came out of turn two with the lead.
“It was time to go,” Solomito said in a release of the race-winning pass. “There was 30-something laps to go and you’re racing on a tight track. Yea, I got down on the grass there, got a little sideways. But we were able to sneak by him. That’s all that mattered. At the end of the day, we were able to do it.”
Matt Hirschman (Northampton, Pa.) and Bobby Santos III (Franklin, Mass.) rounded out the top-five respectively Saturday.
Another great event at the cement palace. This article doesn’t do Timmy justice. The crossover pass in the grass was the move of the year. The place went nuts when he pulled that off. The Riverhead Gang is for real. They stalked the black duece all night. Although the points remained about the same for another week. Advantage Coby. Let’s just put Seekonk back on the schedule for 2017 right now. Awesome race!
I thought Nascar let too many laps tick off under yellow towards the end. For what, I don’t know. Weather wasn’t an issue . I was back in NH before 11PM. That was nice. The race was done 3hrs earlier than the June event.
Let’s see if Mod Man admits he was wrong about Coby now. Won the pole, led most laps and never ran lower than 3rd. Would have won without the crazy insane move by Tim. Just what everyone told him would happen.
Imagine that a driver going balls out right on the edge trying to win! Like the old days! Not too popular with today’s drivers and “teams” but great for the fans. Remember the people that the tour used to RACE for and the ones that paid to see it, the ones that compelled business to sponsor cars and races before it became a rich owners club.
Mark,I couldn’t make the race but looking at some photos it seems the crowd was small.Is that the case?
I thought the crowd at race time was very good. About equal to the June event. The area had a deep fog roll in during the evening which may have scared a few folks off. Rain was never really a threat though. $35 gate is what it is. I’m glad I went. The top 5 really put on a show. The 3 and the 60 came from further back. Good stuff.
I haven’t seen the photos. I was there. The place was packed. Seekonk did a great job in moving the show along. The modified race was over at 9:00pm.
Im amazed at how fast the race went by, I was waiting for my ride to come pick me up at the end lol
I was also there (Obviously), and it was pretty packed for Seekonk. Might have been the biggest crowd I’ve seen there, and I’ve been going there since 2006. There were a few drops of rain but I dont think anyone left because of it, but you could definitely tell that there was a lot of fog because the air just felt wet. I hope they come gain next year and don’t leave us hanging for another decade, that was a really good race and I bet there will be even more people here next year if they come, and hopefully some advertising that actually has clips from the track
What a great pass by Timmy Stolimoto to take the lead least night! Made for a most exciting race! I thought Melissa ran well too. She looked to be tracking for a top 25 finish until those gremlins came back again.
I was very busy the past few days, but I did get to the Hampton Inn in time to watch a few of you ‘living the dream’ on the go-kart track over at Seekonk Grand Prix.
Albeit I couldn’t quite see the whole track from my room, I could see enough to figure out who channeled their best Ursan Bolt immitation to sprint out of the gate to get the kart with the best carburetor! I bet Carburetors Rule is the name of a dareallygood fantasy football team!
I hope Seekonk is on the schedule next year, perhaps with a wine garden in that empty area in turn two!
NH MOUTH…..DOUG Drove dirty when the heat was on is all i am gonna say. Don’t like people like you who call out others on-line. would love to chat at LOUDON. Your the type of guy i can’t stand. TIMMY toasted him and DOUGY ran him in the grass…..he also ran Justin up almost into the wall. IF you think he is the best i guess your right. Hey LIZ…MELISSA made it 94 laps, CHEERS . Nice getting out of there early. Far from packed, nice crowd. Seen way more people years ago. Hey NH MOUTH, when your bitch doesn’t win it you better own up to it and buy beers…….
It looks like we might need a beer summit amongst a few unnamed protagonists here. I’ll try to contact Sargeant James Crowley to see if he is avaliable to lead a summit. Crackers with Colby-Jack cheese will certainly be on the menu!
Every prediction you made last week was wrong and you are calling me out? Take your own advice. You were wrong, admit it. You should also read post race quotes. Timmy said Doug probably didn’t know he was there. Hard to label a guy as dirty when the guy he was racing against said it wasnt. He also said Doug running him high was racing.Also, the champ didn’t cry about the pass either. Took his points and moves on to Loudon.
Earth to Mod Man, even Timmy said in the post race he had to get 2 wheels in the grass to pass Coby, said nothing of being pushed down there, Coby was trying to defend 2 lanes at one time.
I don’t know if you always go to the races with your eyes closed but, ALL tracks and all races had way more people years ago.
I was there and witnessed Queen Melissa being lapped every 4 laps.She was a major hazard riding around in the second groove.Too bad someone did not punt her like Coby did when he was about to get into lapped traffic.Coby is a dirty driver,but as the leader he has every right to keep that position.It would not have been right if he ran the outside into the wall.
The crowd was much larger than a usual Saturday night at Seekonk. Many people stand up in back of the seating area at Seekonk Speedway. Hopefully this will be an annual event at Seekonk.
Liz ? Hello ? You need wine and a man !!! Lol… It’s ok there out there … Most at track aren’t good just keep looking ! Would love to come to your wedding !
NH MOUTH AND SEEKONK / DONK FAN ….. Joke both of you . Stop talking crap … COBY WAS WIDE AND GOT TOASTED ! Simple
Great race. I was in Turns 1 and 2, so I saw Solomito make the pass for the lead, coming right at me. My jaw literally dropped.
Shoutout to Rowan Pennink and the Boehler crew. Started deep in the field and rode the outside groove up to 6th, at one point. Ultimately lost a couple spots in the final restarts.
Thought it was a great crowd. Need to remember there’s seating around the entire track, plus the new seating area behind turns 1 and 2. Seemed to me the seats were filled, except for the lowest rows.
Nice quick show… 3 local divisions plus the Tour. Pretty sure I was on the road by 9.
ModMan, no gum flapping about Matt Hirschy this week? Good thing for Coby NASCAR count cautions cause the 60 was going by. Scared my butt.
Liz,It’s Kolbee-Jack cheese.Nobody gets this right
Mike86, the 4 needs a similar shout-out. The 4 started 17th and finished 7th, the 3 started 18th and finished 8th.
The race went by fast…. about 15 mins for the first 48 laps. Think that included two quick yellows.
On the subject of shout-outs, how about the Santos/Tinio Team #44? While everyone else was practicing, they had to change an engine. The only pre-race track time they had was three laps during qualifying!! AND they finished 5th!! Great effort and run by the 44 team!!
Earth to Liz. What gremlins are you talking about? Getting lapped every 4 laps is not a gremlin. SPAFCO chassis did not work, LFR not working. What is next Troyer, CD? They won’t make a difference either. Top 25 finish and you think that is an accomplishment? The only time you will ever see her lead a field of modifieds to the green is if she is driving the pace car. Just calling it as I see it.
Wish they would bring back the redraw.
Liz, GREMLINS???!!?!?!?
If that is so, that car needs an exorcism.