Story By: KYLE SOUZA / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – For the third time this season, Ronnie Williams will start on the front row when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour takes the green flag on Sunday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Williams, who scored his second pole of the season in qualifying for the Sunoco World Series 150, put down a quick time of 18.664 seconds at the Connecticut oval.
He scored the pole for the Icebreaker 150 in April, but crashed and finished 19th. He also started second for the Thompson 125 in June, but fell through the field and finished 20th. He will look to end the 2018 season with his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Preece, who recently announced plans to run full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019, qualified second. Preece drove the No. 6 TS Haulers Chevrolet to the second spot with a lap of 18.723 seconds in the group qualifying session.
He picks up his second #NWMT Pole Award and will lead the field to green in tomorrow’s #SunocoWorldSeries feature event.@ronniewilliams_ takes the Pole Award here @ThompsonSpdwy. pic.twitter.com/iYhkJ4xtRB
— NASCAR Regional & Local Series (@NASCARHomeTrack) October 13, 2018
Justin Bonsignore, who has already clinched the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, was third and will look to sweep the four Whelen Modified Tour events at Thompson this season.
Doug Coby and Jon McKennedy completed the top five, while Chase Dowling was sixth, followed by Burt Myers, Craig Lutz, Ron Silk and Bobby Santos III.
In the second group of cars, Timmy Solomito spun off turn two and hit the wall. The team immediately moved the backup car from the Flamingo Motorsports trailer, and Solomito will start at the tail end of the field for the Sunoco World Series 150.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track on Sunday afternoon, when the Sunoco World Series takes the green flag at 3:30 p.m.