Ryan Preece keeps on winning with Spring Sizzler victory

Two weeks after winning the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Preece returns to his roots winning the NASCAR Whelen Modiifed race at Stafford Springs Speedway.

Preece was able to pass Chase Dowling on Lap 171 and remained out front the rest of the way to win the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

Preece scored his 21st NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win two weeks after scoring his second Xfinity Series victory driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Preece pitted for tires on Lap 158 and restarted the race in sixth. He quickly made his way through the top-five to challenge Dowling on Lap 168 for the lead and finally made the pass three laps later to claim the top spot.

Rowan Pennink finished third with Patrick Emerling and Craig Lutz completing the top five. Jon McKennedy, who won the season-opening modified race at Myrtle Beach Speedway, was sixth with Matt Swanson seventh and Thompson race winner Justin Bonsignore coming home eighth.

Timmy Solomito and Shawn Solomito rounded out the top 10.

Tyler Dippel scores K&N win at Langley

Tyler Dippel had a weekend to remember at Langley (Va.) Speedway.

After leading both practice sessions and starting from the pole, he held off a hard-charging Anthony Alfredo in a five-lap sprint to the finish to score his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win and first since 2016.

For the first half of the race, Dippel almost fell a lap down after he and teammate Tyler Ankrum decided to fade back and save their tires.

After a break on Lap 75, Dippel worked his way up into the top five and was watching Ankrum challenge Alfredo for the lead late in the race.

With 11 laps to go, Ankrum squeezed underneath Alfredo for the top spot, before giving it right back in Turn 1 of the ensuing lap after overshooting the corner.

That allowed Dippel to close in on Alfredo’s bumper and he was scored the leader when the final caution came out moments later when Ankrum spun as he attempted to pass Alfredo once again.

On the final restart of the race, Dippel was able to clear Alfredo and cruise to Victory Lane.

“Man, I mean it was just unreal,” Dippel said. “Honestly, if it went green, I didn’t know if we were going to get him. But then we caught lapped traffic and that kind of helped us there. We got really, really loose on that run there and we were able to play with our fans under caution. And after that we just checked out after the caution.”

Alfredo collected a podium finish with Ankrum, Dillon Bassett and Grant Quinlan rounding out the top five.