Eric Goodale wins the first race of the season at Martinsville Speedway

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour kicked off the 2021 season Thursday night at Martinsville Speedway for the first time in eleven years. Qualifying took place earlier in the day, and Ryan Preece won the pole. Qualifying second was Ryan Newman. Justin Bonsignore qualified seventh but would have to start in the back for an unapproved adjustment.

We are 🟢 for the 2021 #NWMT season! Get to @_trackpass!@MartinsvilleSwy | #VARacingLovers200 pic.twitter.com/MWywSDY8jo — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

Preece led the opening two laps before the first caution came out when Gary Byington and Walter Sutcliffe Jr. went around at turn four, battling for the 33rd position. Byington got his car going while Sutcliffe sat on the track. Track crews were able to help get Sutcliffe going again. Just as the field was about to restart the race, rain began to pour, putting the race under red flag conditions.

After an hour-long rain delay, the race resumed on lap 13, with Ryan Preece still in the lead. The restart lasted three laps before Ryan Newman, who was having trouble getting off the corners, caused the field to back up. This resulted in a multiple car crash to bring out the second caution. Among those involved were Craig Lutz and Jeff Foltz.

The 🟢 is back out at @MartinsvilleSwy … And the 🟡 … And the 🔴 … MASSIVE pile-up on Lap 16@_TrackPass | #NWMT pic.twitter.com/1Fh4ri7Zu0 — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

The race would go under a red flag for cleanup. Once the cleanup was complete, the race resumed on lap 22. Preece and Tommy Catalano pulled away from the rest of the field until Kyle Bonsignore hit Dave Sapienza, damaging his suspension to bring out the race’s third caution. Sapienza let Bonsignore how he felt about the incident.

Dave was not happy with Kyle Bonsignore pic.twitter.com/hIFcOj6bcg — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

            The track crews got Sapienza car out of the way, and the race resumed on lap 40. Once again, Preece and Catalano pulled away from the field. In the back, Justin Bonsignore, who started in the back, made his way to eighth place by lap 55. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman had problems and took his car behind the wall and was done for the night with engine problems.

On lap 79, the fourth caution would come out for a spin at turn one by Bryan Dauzat. Teams went to pit road during the caution. Once pit stops were complete, Preece was still the leader, and Kyle Ebersole in second as the race resumed on lap 89.

On lap 98, Justin Bonsignore passed Ebersole for second place and was chasing Preece. Just as Bonsignore caught Preece, the fifth caution came out for a spin at turn four by Tyler Rypkema. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 107. Preece was still the leader and led the first 110 laps before Bonsignore used the inside lane off of turn one to take the lead. Preece would lose two more spots to Jon McKennedy and Eric Goodale.

🔁 Lead change 🔁@JBonsignore takes P1 from @RyanPreece_ JUST before a caution for Tyler Rypkema 99 laps to go@_TrackPass | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/3F9QiyIm5s — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

Preece would lose one more spot to drop to fourth place. With 52 laps to go, Patrick Emerling spun at turn two to bring out the race’s sixth caution. Everyone went to pit road for their final stops of the night. When the race resumed on lap 159, Max McLaughlin was the new leader, with Jon McKennedy in second and Justin Bonsignore third.

Two laps into the restart, Bonsignore got by both McKennedy and McLaughlin to retake the lead. Bonsignore led an additional ten laps before Eric Goodale, who restarted fourth, used the inside lane off turn one to take the lead. Ten laps later, Gary McDonald’s car went straight into the inside wall at the start/finish line to bring out the race’s seventh caution. His night was done and would finish in 20th place.

New leader: @GoodieMOD58 30 laps to go@_TrackPass | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/OBGxXBQgcL — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

Caution with 20 laps to go at @MartinsvilleSwy Gary McDonald slams the inside wall#NWMT | #VARacingLovers200 pic.twitter.com/t05oBJhFSO — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed with eleven laps to go. Both Goodale and Tyler Rypkema would pull away from the field. Goodale led the last eleven laps to win the race by .254 seconds over Rypkema.

CHAOS 😳@GoodieMOD58 holds off Tyler Rypkema for the WIN at @MartinsvilleSwy as multiple cars crash on the last lap#NWMT pic.twitter.com/TZWPLo3Ea4 — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) April 9, 2021

The rest of the top ten finishers were Justin Bonsignore third, Max McLaughlin fourth, Kyle Bonsignore fifth, Doug Coby sixth, Tommy Catalano seventh, Patrick Emerling eighth, Woody Pitkat ninth, and Jamie Tomaino tenth. Ryan Preece finished in twelfth, and Ryan Newman finished twenty-ninth. Ryan Preece led 110 laps. There were seven cautions for 57 laps and four lead changes.

The Whelen Modified Tour now heads to Stafford Motor Speedway, located in Stafford Springs, CT, on Sunday, April 25th, at 6 pm on NBC Sports Gold Track Pass.

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