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​July 28, 2019
Duel of the Ronnies Decides SBM 125 at Star
A www.speed51.com release and photo
 

The SBM 125 VIII was decided in a thrilling 11-lap shootout where Ron Silk emerged victorious in a thrilling Duel of the Ronnies at Star Speedway (NH) on Saturday night.  Silk fended off a hard-charging Ronnie Williams to score his first Tri-Track Open Modified Series win of the 2019 season.  It is also Silk’s first-ever SBM victory.
 
“The state of New Hampshire’s been pretty good to me this week!” said Silk, who also won the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Saturday.  “We had a great car all day but had some problems in the heat and had to run the consi. [That] kind of determined our strategy we were going to try to pit before that caution and it worked out, everyone pitted in front of me and we inherited the lead.
 
“All in all a great run, happy for all the guys on my team and all the hard work they put in, especially my car owner Bob Horn, it feels good to win with him again.  Hopefully we can keep it all going.”
 
Silk started the feature in 21st and climbed up well inside the top ten before coming to the pits for a fresh tire under yellow at Lap 47.  He restarted at the back of the field but inherited the lead when the rest of the field came to the pits on Lap 71 for tires.
 
Silk then had to hold off Williams and Matt Hirschman, who both had fresher tires.  Silk managed to defend the lead for almost 30 laps but had his work cut out for him when the caution flew with just eleven laps to go.  He got the jump on Williams on the restart, but Williams stuck close.
 
On the final lap, Williams dove down into Turn 3 and slammed into the back of Silk, shoving Silk high and allowing Williams to cut underneath him. However, Silk was able to save the car and Williams’ own car broke loose on the bottom, allowing Silk to get the edge coming off the corner and beat Williams to the line.
 
“We had a strong car, and just…Ronnie got us at the end, so two Ronnies finishing 1-2,” Williams said after the race.  “But it is what it is, we’ll move on to the next one.  I’m happy we came home second and these guys gave me an awesome piece today.  I had no intention of trying to wreck him at all, I was just trying to get the win for us. It just didn’t stick like I wanted it to, and congrats to those guys on the win.”
 
Matt Swanson ran inside the top ten the entire evening and was in place to capitalize on any drama between the top two, but a clean fight for the lead meant that Swanson brought Ole Blue home in third.  Polesitter Matt Hirschman had a quiet day, leading the first 71 laps of the race before fading back to fourth place.  Andy Jankowiak scored a solid fifth-place finish.
 
Richard Savary, Cam McDermott, Brad Babb, Woody Pitkat, and Brian Robie completed the top ten.
 
The Tri-Track Open Modified Series’ next race is Saturday, August 24th at Oxford Plains Speedway as part of the Oxford 250 weekend.
 
For a complete race recap and more, visit Trackside Now: https://speed51.com/trackside-now-sbm-125-at-star-speedway/.
 
SBM 125 VIII Full Results (Unofficial):
1          50S      Ron Silk
2          25        Ronnie Williams
3          3MA    Matt Swanson
4          60        Matt Hirschman
5          573      Andy Jankowiak
6          99        Richard Savary
7          8          Cam McDermott
8          71ME  Brad Babb
9          6          Woody Pitkat
10        25NH  Brian Robie
11        27        Anthony Sesely
12        88NH  Russ Hersey
13        25NJ    Calvin Carroll
14        3          Matt Galko
15        82        Mike Holdridge
16        05        Jacob Dore
17        66        Andy Shaw
18        43        Tommy Barrett
19        21        Les Hinckley
20        176      Dana DiMatteo
21        76        Kirk Alexander
22        27PA   Donny Hartzell
23        7MA    Kurt Vigeant
24        92        Anthony Nocella
25        50        Carl Medeiros Jr.
26        48        Jon Keivman
27        81ME  Josh Cantara