MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Throughout Martinsville Speedway‘s long history, some of Modified racing‘s best have found their way to Victory Lane.
Richie Evans. Mike Ewanitsko. Reggie Ruggiero. Tony Hirschman. Justin Bonsignore. They‘ve all won in a Modified at Martinsville.
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On Saturday, a new name was added to the exclusive list.
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.
RELATED: Complete race results from Martinsville
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.
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“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.
Stephen Kopcik
Kopcik, who started 12th, took the lead with 50 laps left during a cycle of pit stops. From that point forward, the path to victory ran through him.
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.
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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.
Polesitter Patrick Emerling, Kyle Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Timmy Solomito and Ryan Newman were sixth through 10th, respectively.
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The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season continues with its annual spring trip to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Sunday, April 12. Fans unable to attend in person can watch the race live on FloRacing at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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