Hometown hero Mark Stewart wins first ever Whelen Modifed Tour race at Riverhead

A dream come true moment occured for Mark Stewart when he won at his hometrack of Riverhead Raceway for his first win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Stewart won the Miller Lite Salutes Don Howe 200 at Riverhead after battling hard with series veteran Justin Bonsignore all race. It was only his ninth start on the tour and sixth at Riverhead.

Stewart drove the #36 car for Turbush Racing using owner points from Dave Sapienza instead of his normal #81 car. Speaking of Turbush Racing, Stewart’s uncle Roger Turbush won the pole for the race in his own #88 car. However, he was caught up in an incident on lap two with point leader Stephen Kopcik on the second lap.

Stewart is also a regular competitor at Riverhead in the Tour Modifieds Division. He was joined in the field by multiple other regulars such as Turbush, Matthew Brode, Chris Rogers Jr., and brothers Owen and Chase Grennan. Stewart also won the Super Pro Truck race at the track earlier in the day.

In victory lane, Stewart also shotgunned beers in similar fashion to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as he climbed out of his car.

Describing his win to FloRacing, he said, “Oh man it just means everything running the tour race with these guys who are the best of the best.” “It means everything for a small team like this, I mean there;s nothing better than this at your hometrack, winning on the tour I mean its just incredible.”

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return next week on June 6, for the All States Materials Group 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine. The series’ first race at the track in 35 years.

Results

1. 36 Mark Stewart
2. 51 Justin Bonsignore
3. 38 Owen Grennan
4. 54 Tommy Catalano
5. 1 Patrick Emerling
6. 16 Ron Silk
7. 64 Austin Beers
8. 79 Jon McKennedy
9. 21 Stephen Kopcik
10. 58 Eric Goodale
11. 2 Chase Grennan
12. 73 Paulie Hartwig
13. 56 Trevor Catalano
14. 82 Andrew Molleur
15. 88 Roger Turbush
16. 05 Teddy Hodgdon
17. 60 Matt Hirschman
18. 18 Ken Heagy -1 Lap
19. 31 Mike Christopher Jr. -2 Laps
20. 8 John-Michael Shenette -3 Laps
21. 95 Cory Plummer -4 Laps
22. 96 Matthew Brode -4 Laps
23. 46 Craig Lutz OUT
24. 3 Tyler Rypkema OUT
25. 00 Chris Rogers Jr. OUT

NOTE: Timmy Solomito was entered in his own #66 car but withdrew due to a family emergency.