49th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler
Patrick Emerling capitalized on a late race move that saw race leaders Ryan Preece and Ron Silk come together and spin right before rain hit Stafford Motor Speedway to inherit the lead and win the 49th Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler, which was called with 130 of 150 laps complete.
Matt Swanson set the fast time in qualifying and he comfortably held the race lead until lap-52 when Doug Coby took the lead from Swanson. The race action was slowed on lap-62 for a spin on the backstretch by Gary Byington.
The pits opened on lap-66 and Coby led Swanson, Lutz, Pitkat, and Preece down pit road with the remainder of the lead lap cars also coming to pit road. Coby won the race off pit road followed by Swanson, Bonsignore, Preece, McKennedy, Lutz, Pitkat, Goodale, Ronnie Williams, Nocella, and the remainder of the lead lap cars.
Swanson shot into the lead on the restart with Coby in second and Bonsignore and Preece side by side for third. Swanson held the race lead until lap-103 when Ronnie Silk took the lead and Swanson slid all the way back to the rear of the field. The caution came back out on lap-105 for a multicar accident on the backstretch.
The lap-112 restart saw Preece power his way into the lead with Silk slotting into second. The caution came right back out for an incident in turn 2 involving Kyle Bonsignore, Rob Summers, Williams, Matt Galko, and Swanson.
Silk shot into the lead on the restart, but behind him Coby spun in turn 2 and collected the car of J.B. Fortin to bring the caution right back out and put Preece back in the lead for the next restart.
The lap-124 restart saw Preece take the lead on the initial green but he slid up the track in turn 1 and allowed Silk to power his way into the lead. Going into turn 3, Preece and Silk touched with Silk spinning and collecting several other cars to bring the caution back out. The crash put Emerling into the lead with Goodale in second, Tommy Catalano in third, Solomito in fourth and Lutz in fifth. Rain started falling while the race was under caution and eventually the red/checker was shown, making Emerling the winner for the second time in his Whelen Modified Tour career. Goodale finished second with Catalano, Solomito, and Lutz rounding out the top-5.
