Eric Berndt
The Cromwell driver left the field deep in his wake on the way to his first win of the season in the 40-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature.
“Time runs out fast,” Berndt said. “As long as this season has been, we’ve had decent cars, but nothing good enough to compete with [Rowan Pennink, Ronnie Williams and Ryan Preece]. But tonight, I’ve had some good cars up here in my years, but that’s probably the number one car I’ve ever driven up here. It was unbelievable.”
Michael Gervais Jr. of Southbury was second and Dan Avery of Somers third in the caution-free event.
“We’ve been fighting to get a good car all year,” Berndt said. “We hit upon a little something. That was probably one of the best cars I’ve ever driven up here. It’s definitely been a long year but a win’s a win. To go green to checkered and have a car that’s as good in the end as it was in the beginning, that’s something to say. I’ve got to thank my guys for sticking with me. … It’s been a long year. This is a great way to end Friday nights.”
Berndt went by Avery for the lead on lap 13 and then checked out on the field.
“After the heat race we knew we had a pretty good car and it was just a matter of finding the right time to get there but not wait to long and somebody gets by you and you can’t get by them,” Berndt said. “I finally got a good run on Dan and it stuck going down, I got him coming off of [turn] four. From there it was a car length here and there and the car got better and better as the run went on and I just stretched it out.”
Ryan Preece finished fifth and for the second consecutive week took a big bite out of Rowan Pennink’s points lead in the division. Preece’s fifth place, coupled with a 17th place for Pennink meant Pennink’s 36 point lead coming into the night was cut to 12 points with one event remaining at the NAPA Fall Final on Oct. 4.
Any word on what the issue on the #99 was?
I heard they took off all the cheating stuff … Lol
Looked to me like he was getting banged around in traffic, maybe the toe got knocked out…can’t adjust when there are no cautions. I bet if there had been a caution or two, the top five would have been completely different.
Congratulations to the 66 team for a great run that was a great run that was fun to watch!