STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. – NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece charged his way through the field during the final 31 laps after coming out of the pits during a caution period outside the top-10 to win the Lincoln Tech Open Modified 80 Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Ryan Preece led the field to the green and he took the lead at the green flag Noah Korner and Patrick Emerling going side by side for second. Korner took second on lap two with Chris Pasteryak now side by side with Emerling for third. Pasteryak took third and then went by Preece to move into the lead on lap four. Michael Christopher Jr. was up to second with Andrew Molleur and Preece side by side for third on lap six. Molleur took third on lap seven and Woody Pitkat took fourth as Korner and Preece were side by side for fifth place on lap eight.
Pitkat made a move to the inside of Christopher on lap nine to take over third place as Molleur was giving chase to Pasteryak for the lead. With 15 laps on the board, it was still Pasteryak in command followed by Molleur, Pitkat, Christopher, Korner, Preece, Emerling, Bobby Santos, III, Ronnie Williams, and Dana DiMatteo. Korner made a move to take fourth place from Christopher on lap 21.
Korner fell back to sixth as Preece moved into fourth and Christopher took fifth as Pasteryak still held the lead with Molleur in second and Pitkat in third with 34 laps complete.
At the halfway point of the race, it was still Pasteryak in the lead with Molleur in second. Pitkat, Preece, and Christopher made up the remainder of the top-five cars with Korner, Santos, Emerling, Williams, and Chase Dowling rounding out the top-10. The caution came out with 49 laps complete for a spin in turn four by Robert Bloxsom III.
Under the caution, everyone came to pit road for a fresh tire and adjustments. Pasteryak won the race off pit road followed by Christopher, Pitkat, Santos, Eric Goodale, Emerling, Chase Dowling, Todd Owen, Marcello Rufrano, and Joey Cipriano.
Back under green, Pasteryak took the lead with Christopher in second. Santos took third with Pitkat in fourth and Dowling in fifth. Dowling worked his way around Pitkat to move into fourth on lap 53 while Pasteryak continued to hold the lead. Christopher was starting to apply heavy pressure to Pasteryak but Pasteryak was able to hold him off on lap 57.Â
Christopher made a bottom shot move going into turn 1 on lap-60 to take the lead from Pasteryak. Santos was third followed by Dowling with Pitkat leading a train of cars including Emerling, Rufrano, and Owen several car lengths behind the four lead cars. The caution flew with 69 laps complete for Earl Paules, who spun in the middle of turns three and four.
Christopher took the lead on the restart with Rufrano taking second from Santos on lap 71. Preece followed Rufrano by Santos and he then took second from Rufrano on lap 72. With six laps to go, the order was Christopher, Preece, Rufrano, Santos, and Pasteryak. Dowling was sixth followed by Owen, Molleur, Emerling, and Kopcik. Several cars, including Cipriano, Dave Etheridge, and Bloxsom all spun coming off turn 4 to bring the caution flag back out with 76 laps complete.
The restart saw Christopher and Preece race side by side for a lap before the caution came back out for spins by Cipriano, Korner, Nick Anglace, and Jeff Gallup on the backstretch with 77 laps complete. The caution allowed Preece to take the lead for the restart as Preece led Christopher by a nose at the line to complete lap 77.
Preece took the lead on the restart with Christopher in second. Rufrano was third with Santos in fourth and Dowling in fifth. Preece lead Christopher to the checkered flag to win the Lincoln Tech 80. Rufrano finished third with Santos and Owen rounding out the top-five.
Andrew Molleur picked up his first win of the season in the SK Modified feature, Michael Bennett took down his fourth win of the year in the Late Model feature, George Bessette Jr. scored his second win of the season in the SK Light feature, Devon Jencik notched his third win of the season in the Limited Late Model feature, and Travis Hydar scored his third win of the year in the Street Stock feature.