Timmy Solomito Captures Turkey Derby 150 Victory After Wild Finish

Timmy Solomito wasn't the dominant driver by any means in Saturday's Turkey Derby 150 at Wall Stadium Speedway, but after catching a pair of good breaks, the nine-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner found himself in contention.

"It's unreal, we've been close the last couple of years and we finally made it," Solomito said post-race. "I wanted to win one for my family and I wanted to win one more Tour race before I was done and just happy to be here. This is just as big as a Tour event, we beat the best today."

The Islip, New York-native spent the vast majority of the 150-lap contest running inside the top five in his family-owned No. 66 entry, but couldn't quite break the stranglehold that Matt Hirschman, the race's polesitter, had on the field.

Hirschman dominated the Thanksgiving weekend event, leading more than 100 laps, and appeared to be well on his way to a ninth Turkey Derby victory, when a late-race caution for Jared DiGiantomasso triggered a shakeup.

With the field only permitted to change two tires during the entire 150-lap contest, it was time for many of the front-runners to make a decision -- stay out on older tires, and be a sitting duck, or come into the pits and risk losing track position.

Hirschman, Jimmy Blewett, and several of the leaders chose to come down pit road, while Andy Jankowiak, Mark Stewart, and others, who had pitted earlier in the event, chose to stay on track and attempt to hold the field back for eight laps.

Jankowiak was nearly successful in holding on to win the Turkey Derby 150, holding back both Hirschman and Blewett in the closing laps, until contact between his two main competitors sent the race dominator spinning to the infield.

That set up a green-white-checkered duel between Jankowiak, Blewett, and several others, which ultimately devolved into chaos after the two leaders made contact and crashed mere feet after the start-finish line.

Enter Timmy Solomito.

Solomito was able to sneak through the carnage and put his family-owned entry into the race lead, then holding off a late challenge from Eddie McCarthy and Max Zachem to win at Wall Stadium Speedway.

"I mean, hard racing obviously," Solomito added. "The deal with Andy [Jankowiak], I mean, history repeats itself -- he did the same thing to me last year, so we were kinda ready for it, and just drove straight through the smoke like Days of Thunder, and here we are. Front bumper is straight, kind of, and we're in one piece and we're Turkey Derby winners."

McCarthy came home in second place, with Zachem in third. Andrew Krause and Luke Baldwin completed the top five. Jack Baldwin was sixth, with Matt Hirschman finishing a disappointing seventh place in the No. 60.

"Honestly, this one might be at the top for me. I've been coming here since I was a little kid watching, and just happy to be here man. I just can't believe - I've got nine Tour wins, I'd like to make it 10 before I'm done, especially winning with my family."

"This is a cool one, I won the Turkey Derby in the Legends, got lucky with the SK Wall [Modifieds] last year, and tonight we were there all night, so this one feels good."

Photo Credit: Tom Morris