Fall Flyer Ronnie Silk Wins World Series Sunco Mod Race
Victory Goes Nicely With Recent NHMS Mod Tour Win
By Mike Twist
Things have gone pretty well for Ronnie Silk this fall.
The Connecticut driver parted ways with the #79 Hillbilly Racing team on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back in the late summer, which led to Silk joining up with the TS Haulers team owned by Long Islander Eddie Partridge as one of the replacements for Jimmy Blewett (Keith Ruocco, Eric Beers and Zach Sylvester have also driven various TS Haulers entries since Blewett left the team to devote more time to his family's scarp metal business).
Last month, Silk drove one of the team's cars to victory on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This Sunday, he drove one of the team's entries to victory in one of the biggest Sunoco Modified races all season long at Thompson International Speedway. Silk was the winner of the Sunoco Modified portion of the World Series weekend.
To have even survived the 30-lap feature was an accomplishment. Within just the first two official laps, there were four cautions and one restart that was called off. Rowan Pennink led from the front row, but something broke on his car while he was coming around for one of the early restarts. Eric Beers was also out of the race in the first few laps and Ted Christopher spun and found himself at the back of the pack early on.
A few more green flag laps (at one point, the race ran 11 laps caution free), cemented the lead that Silk inherited from Pennink. But on a lap 15 restart, Christopher had found his way back to the front and challenged hard for the top spot.
Silk and Christopher fought a very physical battle for the next several laps. On lap 18, Silk hammered on Christopher to retake the lead, but Christopher crossed him back over to regain the spot. Silk then dove under Christopher going into turn three and this time, there was no looking back. Silk won the race over Christopher, Bert Marvin, Mike Sullivan and Woody Pitkat.
“We were racing each other pretty hard out there,” said Silk. “We had a little bit better car than him (Christopher) today. The guys have been working really hard to get this car good enough to win and it was today.”
Sunoco Modified Finish
World Series of Speedway Racing
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Finish 
CAR # FIRST NAME LAST NAME
CAR # FIRST NAME LAST NAME1 12 RONNIE SILK
12 RONNIE SILK2 00 TED CHRISTOPHER
00 TED CHRISTOPHER3 07 BERT MARVIN
07 BERT MARVIN4 36 TIM SULLIVAN
36 TIM SULLIVAN5 81 WOODY PITKAT
81 WOODY PITKAT6 20 ERIC GOODALE
20 ERIC GOODALE7 24 DANNY CATES
24 DANNY CATES8 8 RICH SHAWN
8 RICH SHAWN9 11 DAVID LaCROIX
11 DAVID LaCROIX10 67 FRANK HIRT III
67 FRANK HIRT III11 33 HENRY STAMPFL
33 HENRY STAMPFL12 2 ROBERT HYER
2 ROBERT HYER13 17 RUSSELL SAVOY
17 RUSSELL SAVOY14 47X RICHARD CARMEN
47X RICHARD CARMEN15 40 JEFFREY GALLUP
40 JEFFREY GALLUP16 63 MIKE ZUKOWSKI
63 MIKE ZUKOWSKI17 89 TIMMY SOLOMITO
89 TIMMY SOLOMITO18 46 ANDY GASPER
46 ANDY GASPER19 6X ERIC LECLAIR
6X ERIC LECLAIR20 79 KERRY MALONE
79 KERRY MALONE21 5 MARK BAKAJ
5 MARK BAKAJ22 53X DAVID SALZARULO
53X DAVID SALZARULO23 15 HARRY RHEAUME
15 HARRY RHEAUME24 31 ROWAN PENNINK
31 ROWAN PENNINK25 27 TYLER CHADWICK
27 TYLER CHADWICK26 9 ERIC BEERS
9 ERIC BEERS27 76 BUTCH PERRY
76 BUTCH PERRY
Ronnie Silk in victory lane at Thompson. (Rick Ibsen Photos)
Ronnie Silk and Ted Christopher swap the lead at Thompson.
