MARTINSVILLE, Va. — On Saturday, a new name was added to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winners list at Martinsville Speedway.
Stephen Kopcik held off Ron Silk during a late restart to win Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, which was postponed one day due to inclement weather.
The victory, which came in his 23rd career start, was the first of Kopcik’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career. He is the 82nd driver to win a series event since the formation of the modern Tour in 1985.
“I knew I had a car capable of winning. It was up to me to not screw anything up on every restart,” Kopcik said. “It’s crazy. I knew I had a good car, but Ron also had a good car. He got by me earlier in the race, and I wasn’t sure what he had left.
“You never know; he had a great car tonight too. Just glad we could come out on top.”
Before the green flag even waved for the 200-lap event, Kopcik and his Wanick Motorsports team had a plan. The goal was to stay off cycle with the other leaders, which the team hoped would allow Kopcik to maintain track position and, hopefully, control of the race.
The plan worked perfectly.
Kopcik, who started 12th, took the lead with 50 laps left during a cycle of pit stops.
The driver from Newtown, Connecticut survived three more restarts, including the final green flag with four laps left, to etch his name in history as a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner at Martinsville Speedway.
Now he just needs figure out where to put his new grandfather clock.
“Probably the biggest win of my career at this point,” Kopcik said. “Coolest trophy, biggest win, coolest place to win at. I would say this tops most all of them.
“We’ll remember this one forever.”
Silk finished second, a career best at Martinsville for the two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion. Tyler Rypkema drove the Ole Blue No. 3 to a third-place finish, followed by Eric Goodale and defending series champion Austin Beers.
The finish:
Stephen Kopcik, Ron Silk, Tyler rypkema, Eric Goodale, Austin Beers, Patrick Emerling, Kyle Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Timmy Solomito, Ryan Newman, Trevor Catalano, Matt Hirschman, Andrew Molleur, Craig Lutz, Michael Cristopher Jr., Danny Bohn, Jack Baldwin, Jimmy Zacharias, Jeremy Gerstner, John-Michael Shenette, Luke Fleming, Cory Plummer, Luke Baldwin, Justin Bonsignore, Ken Heagy, Andy Seuss, Jonathan McKennedy, Teddy Hodgdon IV, Paulie Hartwig III, Andrew Krause.
