Ron Silk Is Third Driver to Be Crowned “King of the Modifieds”
Column By: Will Battershell / SMART MODIFIED TOUR – SOUTH BOSTON, VA – A redemption story is now etched into the history books. After leading laps, but scoring a DNF in his first attempt at the crown jewel of the SMART Modified Tour, Ron Silk is now the third driver to don the crown and cloak after winning Pace-O-Matic King of the Modifieds powered by Dominion Energy at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.
Silk, a Connecticut native, was able to keep his black-and-orange 16 in position to contend for the win, especially when it mattered most in the 125-lap race. Silk took the lead from Patrick Emerling on lap 83, paced his way through a spree of late race restarts, and fended off challenges from Ryan Newman and Stephen Kopcik to score the $20,000 payday.
“It’s great to come down here and race for this kind of purse. I had a lot of fun coming last year and knew we wanted to get back this year.” said Silk, while standing in the Dominion Energy King’s Court after the race. “We were a little bit too free that first run, but the guys nailed it on the pitstop and got it right when it mattered.”
Silk joins Luke Baldwin and Matt Hirschman as winners of the richest Modified race in the country.
Stephen Kopcik, driver of the 1ct, came away with his second-straight runner-up finish in the King of the Modifieds. Kopcik, who found himself in contention for most of the race, wasn’t able to match Silk’s skills during restarts late in the event.
“I think we had a little too much stagger, once I got rolling, I was okay, (but) I just couldn’t launch. That’s about all we had, and I’m not sure how much he had left,” admitted Kopcik, who was wheeling a brand new modified at SOBO. “Glad to finish runner up to him (Ron Silk); he is the man in the Modifieds right now. I couldn’t be happier with our performance today, and how the guys worked together.”
Ryan Newman, who led the field to the green after the redraw, brought the Bass Pro Shops number 2 car to a third-place finish, after leading 39 laps.
“The problem is that (Ron) Silk had the same strategy and he pulled it off,” said Newman, who is now second in SMART points. “Ultimately, we had a really good car… we just missed it a little bit, got a little bit too loose there that last run. Stagger opened up and I think it was kind of our own fault, and we learned from it.”
Fellow NASCAR Cup Series winner Elliott Sadler, in his modified debut, finished fifth in the SS Racing number-16 modified. The STOKE Shoes number-7ny of Jack Baldwin finished fourth.
Danny Bohn, who finished 16th in the King of the Modifieds, continues to be the SMART point leader.
The SMART Modified Tour will remain in Virginia for race number four of the season. Dominion Raceway, in Spotsylvania, Virginia, will play host to the Flying VA Classic at, on Saturday, April 4th. For more information regarding the The Flying VA Classic, please visit the EVENT HUB on the SMART Modified Tour website.
All races are streamed live on FloRacing, the official streaming broadcast partner of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic.
For updates on the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: SMART Modified Tour| Twitter: @SMARTMods_ | IG: @smartmods_), as well as visiting the official series website.
