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Civali Wins First Coors Light Pole

Thompson, Conn. – James Civali may have been as surprised as anybody with his qualifying effort Saturday. Civali translated fast times in practice into his first career Coors Light Pole on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

“I didn’t think we’d be able to get it,” said Civali, who posted a time of 18.585 seconds (120.097 mph) around the .625-mile oval in his No. 28 Ramar-Hall Inc./Genesis Shocks Chevrolet. “We were fast all day but the track changes so much. You can go from one tenth to another. You never think you’re going to get a pole. I never get a pole.”

Civali bumped Bobby Grigas III (No. 09 Triple-G Scafford Services Chevrolet) off the top spot, but Grigas regained it following the post-qualifying redraw of the top six spots. Civali will start fifth in the race he won last season.

“I never thought I’d ever get a pole,” Civali said. “Maybe we’re that good this week. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Grigas’ time of 18.613 seconds (119.916 mph) withstood challenges of track-record holder Todd Szegedy (18.759/118.983) and consistently fast qualifier Jimmy Blewett (18.798/118.736). But along came Civali, a notoriously bad qualifier, to take away the pole. Grigas, though, was still ecstatic with his qualifying run.

“The way the car felt, I thought I had time trialed 20th,” Grigas said. “I didn’t think I qualified up there. I never expect anything. I hope. I’m psyched.”

Ronnie Silk (No. 79 Hill Enterprises/Coors Light/Sunoco Pontiac) will start on the outside of the front row. Blewett and Szegedy will start in the second row.

While Civali won last year’s Icebreaker, Silk (Sept. 23) and Szegedy (Aug. 16) also won at Thompson last season. Bobby Santos III, who won last season’s World Series in October at Thompson, got a ride with Joe Brady’s No. 00 Saturday morning and posted the seventh fastest qualifying time.

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