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Thompson, CT: Duane Noll dominated the 20-lap New
England Truck Series race at Thompson International Speedway
Thursday night while Chad LaBastie earned his first career Thompson
Modified win in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. Other
winners included Ryan Preece in the Sunoco Modifieds, Cam McDermott
in the Lite Modifieds, John Falconi in the Late Model division,
Steve Kenneway in the Limited Sportsman division, and Scott
Michalski in the Monster Mini Stocks. Paul LaPlante won the Antique
Racers feature event.
Duane Noll put his Thompson experience to use as he dominated the
20-lap New England Truck Series race to take the checkers and extend
his point lead in the division. Noll took the early lead from Nate
Bubello at the start of the New England Truck Series race with Jason
Lafayette close behind in third. The trio pulled away from the rest
of the field as Corey Coates moved into the fourth spot more than a
second behind them. The first caution flew at lap eight when Mike
Ledoux and Daniel McGouran made contact on the front stretch. Noll
drove right back out front as Lafayette used the bottom groove to
get by Bubello for second. Coates moved into third as Bubello fought
unsuccessfully to hold on to fourth. Noll dominated out front as
Coates looked for a way around Lafayette – first looking high, and
then low. Finally, at lap 17, Coates dropped to the bottom and tried
to maneuver his No. 75 machine in alongside Lafayette, but Lafayette
shut the door. Noll went unchallenged at the checkers while
Lafayette held on for second and Coates in third.
Ryan Preece earned his sixth win of the season after driving out to
almost a half a lap lead over the rest of the field. Dennis Perry
took the top spot at the start with Kerry Malone attached to his
bumper and Ryan Preece in third. On lap four, Todd Ceravolo
challenged Preece by diving to the bottom. Preece retaliated by
going high and drove around Malone for the second spot. Preece’s
charge wasn’t finished, however, and on lap five, he drove by Perry
for the lead. Perry held on to second while Ceravolo took over
third. On lap seven, Ceravolo went by Perry for second, but caution
flew just moments later slowing their pace. On the restart, Preece
drove right back out front followed by Ceravolo and Malone. Coming
up through the field, however, was Bobby Santos running in the sixth
place. Preece stretched out his lead over Ceravolo as Santos charged
by Malone on lap 16 to take over the third spot. Preece was on fire
and, despite lapped traffic, continued to hold a dominating
advantage over the rest of the field and went on to the checkers
unchallenged.
John Falconi battled a loose racecar in the final laps of the Late
Model feature, but held off a hard charging Tommy O’Sullivan to
checker the division for the second straight week. Damon Tinio shot
out to the lead at the start of the 25-lap feature while a spin in
turn four brought the field under caution. Tinio repeated his
performance and went back out to the front on the restart with a
determined Falconi on his tail. Entering turn one of lap two,
Falconi dropped to the bottom and drove by for the lead with Tinio
holding off O’Sullivan for the second spot. Tinio kept the nose of
his No. 45 machine on Falconi’s bumper as O’Sullivan was able to
find a hole and use the bottom groove to get by on lap four for
second. O’Sullivan closed in on Falconi as the laps ticked off, and
on lap 11 dropped to the bottom to challenge for the lead. Falconi
shut the door and O’Sullivan settled back in behind him with Tinio
about five car lengths behind in third. On lap 15, O’Sullivan got
underneath Falconi, but like before, Falconi held him off and
continued to lead. O’Sullivan continued his efforts lap after lap as
Larry Gelinas put the pressure on Tinio for third. On lap 22,
Gelinas went low and maneuvered his way into the third position. Up
front, O’Sullivan continued to try and find away around Falconi, but
Falconi was too strong and drove on to the victory.
Chad LaBastie earned his first career win in the Thompson Modified
division after holding off John Lowinski-Loh in the final laps of
the 20-lap feature. Brian Tagg led the field into turn one at the
start of the race, but LaBastie used the outside groove to drive by
for the lead coming out of turn two. Danny Gamache, Jr. drove by
Tagg for second as Jay Sundeen took over third. Lowinski-Loh was
quickly approaching as he emerged from a three-car battle in the
fourth spot. Lowinski-Loh challenged Sundeen for third using the
outside groove, but Sundeen held him off. On lap seven, Lowinski-Loh
tried on the bottom, but Sundeen, again, shut the door. LaBastie
continued to pull away as the battle for third continued between
Sundeen and Lowinski-Loh, with Lowinski-Loh getting up alongside
Sundeen on lap 11. Sundeen inched head entering the third turn, but
Lowinski-Loh pulled ahead to take over the spot coming out of turn
two of lap 12. The first caution flew at lap 13 when Sundeen got
into the wall in turn one. LaBastie had to fight hard at the drop of
the green as Gamache game him a run heading into turns one and two.
LaBastie came out ahead by a nose when Lowinski-Loh made a charge
and passed Gamache for the second spot. LaBastie continued to lead,
but with a rear view mirror full of Lowinski-Loh, and on lap 16,
Lowinski-Loh dropped to the bottom in turn one and made a challenge.
LaBastie held him off, but Lowinski-Loh was not about to make it
easy. Lowinski-Loh kept the heat on over the final two laps as
LaBastie drove on to the victory.
Cam McDermott won for the third straight week and the eighth time
this year in the Lite Modified division after taking the lead from
Troy Talman for the final time at lap 12. Eric LeClair took the lead
from Nikki Ouellette at the start, but caution quickly slowed their
progress when Ouellette spun to the infield grass on the backstretch
on lap one. LeClair went back out front on the restart, but quickly
had to contend with Talman, who took the lead away on lap two.
McDermott followed his line and took over the second position before
the duo pulled away from the rest of the field. On lap three,
McDermott dropped low and took the lead away from Talman, who
quickly retaliated and reclaimed the lead. The two swapped the lead
again before Talman settled in out front at lap seven. McDermott
went low on lap eight in turns three and four to challenge Talman,
but Talman shut the door. McDermott challenged again at lap 10 with
Talman holding him off by a nose at the line. The two continued
their door-to-door battle with McDermott coming out on top at the
completion of lap 12. Once out front, McDermott put some distance
over Talman – stretching it out to ten carlengths before Talman’s
No. 3 machine came out from underneath him and spun in the middle of
turns three and four. McDermott chose the outside lane for the
restart at lap 15 and drove right back out front despite some
pressure from Corey Barry into turn one. Once out front, McDermott
was unstoppable and drove on to the checkered flag.
Steve Kenneway secured his first win of the season in the Limited
Sportsman division after taking the lead on a lap 12 restart. Kevin
Bowe drove out to the lead at the start, but was spun after contact
sent the rear of his machine around. Lloyd Anderson, Jr. inherited
the top spot for the restart with Corey Fanning right beside him.
Fanning had the advantage going into turn one and drove to the lead
as Kenneway got by Anderson for second. Tom Shea and Jason Chicolas
raced side-by-side for the fourth spot with Shea winning the battle
and immediately mounting a challenge on Anderson for third. Jesse
Gleason got in the mix and drove underneath Shea on lap four to take
over third by a nose. Sundeen used his line to take over fourth.
Fanning continued to lead out front, but Kenneway, Gleason, and
Sundeen were closing in quick. At lap 11, Kenneway made his move and
dropped to the bottom to challenge out of turn four. The duo was
side-by-side across the line, but Fanning held the advantage by a
nose as they went through turns one and two. A multi-car crash
occurred in turn two involving Art Moran III and Kevin Mason that
brought out the caution flag at lap 12. Kenneway got some momentum
on Fanning heading into turn one and two on the restart, and drove
out to the lead on the backstretch. Fanning then shifted his focus
to the challenges of Gleason, who took over second coming out of
turn four of lap 14. Gleason was cutting down Kenneway’s lead, but
had a fast-approaching Scott Sundeen to shift his focus to. On lap
18, Sundeen made his move and drove underneath Gleason in attempt to
take over second. Gleason shut the door on his challenge as Kenneway
drove straight to the checkers.
Scott Michalski won the Mini Stock feature event after a last-lap
move on Steve Violette put him out front at the checkers. Steve
Michalski jumped to the lead at the drop of the green with Travis
Jurcik cementing himself in the second position. On lap four, Eric
Bourgeois dove to the bottom to challenge Mike Veins for the third
position. The duo ran side-by-side before Bourgeois went underneath
Jurcik to take over the second position on lap six. On lap seven,
Bourgeois continued his march by using the bottom lane to drive by
Michalski coming out of turn two for the lead. Dave Trudeau, who had
attached himself to Bourgeois’ bumper, came right up through with
him to take over second. On lap nine, coming out of turn four,
Trudeau made his move on Bourgeois and the two made contact allowing
Steve Violette to take over the lead. Trudeau and Bourgeois were
able to continue on without bringing out the caution, but at the
tail end of the field. Scott Michalski pressured Violette for
several laps, and made dove low coming into turn four to challenge.
Michalski made contact with Violette and spun to the infield grass
while Michalski went on to take the checkers.
Paul LaPlante took the lead from pole sitter Ron St. Germain and
went on to win the Antique Racers feature event. St. Germain drove
out to the front at the drop of the green flag, but out of nowhere,
LaPlante bolted ahead into the top spot using the outside groove out
of turn two to officially lead the first lap. Art Chartier used the
same line to take over second place as St. Germain got hung up on
the inside groove in third. Bill Gummins powered by St. Germain and
Chartier to take over the second position and set his sights on
LaPlante, who was running three car lengths ahead at the halfway
mark. On lap nine, LaPlante began to lap the field as Gummins stayed
tight in his rear view mirror. Gummins never got enough momentum to
challenge, however, and LaPlante went on to the checkered flag.
NEW ENGLAND TRUCK SERIES FEATURE FINISH: 1. Duane Noll, Monroe, CT;
2. Jason Lafayette, Somers, CT; 3. Corey Coates, Ledyard, CT; 4. Gee
Perry, Grandby, CT; 5. Nate Bubello, Holliston, MA; 6. Chris Correll,
Montville, CT; 7. Derek Chriss, Averill Park, NY; 8. Roger Turbush,
Riverhead, NY; 9. Bert Ouellette, Dayville, CT; 10. Daniel McGouran,
Westerly, RI.
SUNOCO MODIFIED FEATURE RESULTS: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Todd
Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 3. Bobby Santos, Franklin, MA; 4. Richie
Gallup, Feeding Hills, MA; 5. Dennis Perry, Pawcatuck, CT; 6. Rick
Shawn, Bradford, RI; 7. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 8. Wayne Arute,
Meriden, CT; 9. Ron D’Alessandro, East Hartford, CT; 10. George
Wilkinson, Pawcatuck, CT.
LATE MODEL FEATURE FINISH: 1. John Falconi, Oakham, MA; 2. Tommy
O’Sullivan, Wilbraham, MA; 3. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 4. Damon
Tinio, Mendon, MA; 5. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 6. Jared Materas,
Palmer, MA; 7. Ryan Waterman, Danielson, CT; 8. Robert O’Connell,
Jr., Wrentham, MA; 9. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 10. Wayne Coury,
Milford, CT (DNS).
LITE MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 2.
Corey Barry, Plainfield, CT; 3. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 4. Eric
LeClair, Easthampton, MA; 5. Nikki Ouellette, East Granby, CT; 6.
Shawn Brule, W. Thompson, CT.
THOMPSON MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 2.
John Lowinski-Loh, Milford, MA; 3. Danny Gamache, Jr., Woonsocket,
RI; 4. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 5. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 6. Jay
Sundeen, Douglas, MA.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH: 1. Steve Kenneway, Lowell, MA; 2.
Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 3. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 4. Corey
Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 5. Tom Shea, New London, CT; 6. Jason
Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 7. Mark Jenison, Warwick, RI; 8. Mike Palin,
Dudley, MA; 9. Matt Lowinski-Loh, Milford, MA; 10. Bill McNeil,
Putnam, CT.
MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH: 1. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 2.
Travis Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 3. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 4. Joe
Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 5. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 6. Louis Bellisle
III, Lisbon, CT; 7. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 8. Brad Caddick,
Wyoming, RI; 9. Alicia Thatcher, Pascoag, RI; 10. Nick Anderson,
Oxford, MA.
ANTIQUE RACERS FEATURE FINISH: 1. Paul LaPlante, Cumberland, RI; 2.
Bill Cummins, Clinton, MA; 3. Art Chartier, Douglas, MA; 4. Ron St.
Germain, Rochdale, MA; 5. Charlie Wilcox, Dayville, CT; 6. Fred
Levanie, No. Easton, MA. |
