Sports

Riverhead Raceway: Preece has the winning touch

Ryan Preece of Berlin, Connecticut, and his team may be hitting their stride at the right time.

Preece roared to victory in the inaugural Modified Touring Series 125 Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway. The win came on the heels of Preece’s triumph last Wednesday night in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 125 at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut.

His team is riding a wave of momentum heading into Saturday night’s Riverhead 200 WMT event at Riverhead Raceway.

This past Saturday’s MTS race was completed despite dismal weather conditions as staffs hustled the show along before the rains arrived right after the final checker flag of the night waved.

Entering the third turn on Lap 83, Preece was able to find a lane under Dillon Steuer to take the lead and hold it for the final 41 circuits. It was Preece’s 15th career Riverhead Raceway win, moving him into sole possession of 27th on the all-time win list.

Steuer of Bohemia was second. Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, raced his way to a third-place finish. Eric Goodale of Riverhead was fourth and Woody Pitkat of Stafford Springs, Connecticut, fifth.

Kyle Soper of Manorville earned his second Late Model victory of 2017 by being in the right place at the right time early in the 25-lap race. Steve Mastro Jr. and Kevin Metzger tussled for the top spot over the first two laps before they made contact on Lap 2, drawing a yellow flag. That moved Soper from third to the lead, which he held to the end, padding his championship lead to 10 points over runner-up Eric Zeh of Selden. Defending Late Model champion Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead rebounded from a heat race crash to rally back for third place.

Four races into the Modified Crate season and defending champion Dave Brigati has already equaled his 2016 win total. The Calverton driver scored his third win in four races with a 25-lap victory. While Brigati pocketed his sixth career win, Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills was second and C.J. Lehmann of Center Moriches third.

It’s not often when defending Super Pro Truck champion Roger Turbush has the lead with less than five laps left in a race and does not come home with the win, but that was the case as teenage talent Owen Grennan of Glen Cove made a pass with four laps left in their 20-lap main event to deny Turbush his 29th career win. Jack Handley Jr. of Medford took second and Brigati was third.

Former Legend Race Car champion Brendon Bock of Franklin Square made a triumphant return to victory lane, winning a 20-lapper. The win was the fifth of Bock’s career at Riverhead. Kevin Nowak of Medford and Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches were second and third, respectively.

The 15-lap School Bus Figure Eight race, run in a light drizzle, saw Michael Rommeney of Bohemia triumph.