Bobby Santos III Battles Back to Score Top-10 Finish at Riverhead Raceway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (August 2, 2010) - After losing a lap early in the race, Bobby Santos III battled back and finished ninth at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday. Santos continues to lead the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings, after earning his seventh top-10 finish in eight races this season.

Despite running a limited amount of laps in practice, Santos was sixth-fastest in the No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge, with a time of 11.912 seconds (75.554 mph). Santos went on to qualify 15th for his first race at the quarter-mile track.

"Practice went well for us, so the day started out good," Santos said. "Unfortunately, we didn't qualify as well as we practiced, which was disappointing."

Once the green flag dropped for the Riverhead 200, Santos began to work his way to the front. He ran into trouble early in the race, however, when he was involved in an accident on lap 15. Originally, the Mystic Missile Racing team chose to stay out, although contact from the incident bent the wheel of the No. 4 machine.

"After the accident, we just kept going," Santos explained. "We figured we would try and see if it was going to work the way it was. After a few laps, we decided to pit and fix the wheel."

While pitting to repair the damage to his car, Santos went a lap down. He returned to the track and continued to run strong times, waiting patiently to get his lap back. Midway through the race, Santos returned to the lead lap and marched his way forward.

Over the course of the 175-lap event, Santos narrowly missed several multi-car accidents. He avoided trouble and raced hard, moving into the top-10 near the end of the race. The Franklin, Mass., native slipped into ninth on the last lap, securing his seventh top-10 finish in eight races this season.

"We really were playing catch up most of the night," the 24-year-old said. "I can't complain, though, because we got really lucky at the end. We got back on the lead lap, and our bad night turned into a top-10."

Santos increased his lead in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings to 67 points over second-place Ted Christopher.

"I generally do not focus on the points, but it turned out to be a pretty decent points night overall," Santos said. "It wasn't looking good for awhile, but it worked out at the end so I'm pretty happy."

Action from the Riverhead 200 will be broadcast on VERSUS this Wednesday, August 4 at 7 p.m. EST.

Santos will return to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action this Friday, August 6 at Stafford Motor Speedway. In two starts at the track this season, Santos has a win, a second-place finish and two pole awards.