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Thompson, CT: Ted Christopher earned his 97th
career victory at Thompson International Speedway when he scored the
checkers in the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series event. NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series wins were captured by Ryan Preece in the
Sunoco Modifieds, John Falconi in the Late Models, Cam McDermott in
the Lite Modifieds, John Lowinski-Loh in the Thompson Modifieds,
Scott Sundeen in the Limited Sportsman, and Steve Violette in the
Mini-Stocks.
Ted Christopher survived a caution-filled 75-lap Valenti Modified
Racing Series event to take the victory behind the wheel of the No.
00 Joe Brady-owned machine. It was his second win of the season in
the division. Christopher came from deep in the field to earn the
win. Christopher inherited the lead after Rowan Pennink was black
flagged for a leak.
“I was behind him and I could never get throttle up and off and then
I saw him spraying the water,” said Christopher about Pennink.
Rowan Pennink took the early lead, but had to prove it all over
again after Todd Owen made contact with Chris Pasteryak and sent him
spinning into the infield grass to bring out the caution with only
one lap completed. Pennink drove straight to the front again on the
restart followed by Jon McKennedy and Louie Mechalides. Owen was
quickly approaching and drove by Max Zachem on lap six for the
fourth position, and didn’t have any signs of slowing down. The
action came to a quick halt on lap nine, however, when four cars
were involved in a tangle that put Steve Masse and Doug Coby into
the backstretch wall. Todd Szegedy, who was also involved, stopped
in turn three and also had to be towed off the track.
Pennink and McKennedy dragged raced into turn one, but it was all
Pennink in the turns followed by Mechalides and Owen. By lap 20, the
top-four – Pennink, Mechalides, Owen, and McKennedy – remained the
same, but Ted Christopher, who had started 30th in the 34-car field,
had broken into the top-10. The top four maneuvered through lapped
traffic, and began to spread out as the race approached the 30-lap
mark. Caution emerged at lap 43 after Les Hinckley hit an inside
retaining wall on the backstretch.
Pennink, Mechalides, Owen, McKennedy, and Richard Savary made up the
top five for the restart with Pennink holding on to the lead at the
drop of the green. McKennedy drove by Owen for the third spot before
caution flew again for Tommy Barrett at lap 44. Mechalides
challenged Pennink when racing resumed, but could not hold off the
momentum of Pennink and his No. 25 machine. Owen, meanwhile, drove
by Mechalides for second but could never get a run on Pennink as the
caution flew for Stefanik, who hit the turn-one wall.
Owen took the lead on the restart, but Pennink wasn’t giving it up
easily. Pennink dove to the bottom and reclaimed the top spot before
a seven-car pile-up happened in turn four behind him. The accident
started when Savary broke loose, spun, and took up the real estate
in the corner.
The race resumed at lap 46 with Pennink still leading the charge,
but behind him, Christopher used the outside to get by Mechalides
for the fourth position. On lap 58, Christopher went underneath
McKennedy to challenge for the third spot and contact was made. At
the same time, Dave Etheridge slid into the infield grass on the
front stretch and caution flew allowing McKennedy to retain his
third place position.
Owen had momentum at the line when the race resumed, but Pennink
fought hard to hold on to the lead and drive comfortably ahead when
Christopher made a charge on Owen and drove by for second. Officials
threw the black flag to Pennink on the 64th circuit because his No.
25 machine was leaking and took him off the scoreboard at lap 66
handing the lead to Christopher. Caution flew for the final time at
lap 69 when Melissa Fifield slowed on the track.
Christopher led the field to a single-file restart, but caution was
out almost immediately when Max Zachem backed his machine into the
turn one wall. Christopher led the charge when the race resumed with
Timmy Jordan and Jon McKennedy in tow. Tommy Barrett challenged
McKennedy on lap 71 coming down the backstretch and took over the
third spot coming out of turn three. Christopher, meanwhile, went on
to take the checkers unchallenged.
Ryan Preece earned the victory in the caution-filled Sunoco Modified
feature event after initially taking the lead from Kerry Malone on
lap two. Preece had to reclaim the lead on a lap 12 restart, and
from that point on dominated the event despite a late-race caution.
Malone shot to the lead at the start of the race with Preece
attached to his back bumper. On lap two, Preece shot to the inside
and drove by Malone in the middle of turns three and four to take
over the top spot. Ted Christopher used his infamous bottom shot in
turn three to challenge Malone for the second spot, and completed
the pass on lap five in turn two. Caution flew at lap six when Adam
Norton hit the wall in turn one. Christopher gave up his second
place position to pit with Woody Pitkat inheriting the spot for the
restart. Preece remained out front as the race resumed, but Pitkat
was anxious to get out front. On lap seven, Pitkat dropped to the
bottom and made his move, but Preece shut the door. Pitkat went low
again on lap nine, but like before, Preece closed the door. On lap
11, Pitkat and Preece were side-by-side heading into turns one and
two when Preece went high in turn two allowing Pitkat to capitalize
and drive to the front.
Caution followed and set up Preece and Pitkat side-by-side for the
restart. Preece wasted no time and drove back out front when the
race resumed. Todd Ceravolo took over the second position from
Pitkat and set his sights on Preece. Ceravolo kept the pressure on
Preece, whose torrid pace was slowed at lap 21 by a caution for
Nikki Ouellette. Preece jumped to the front, but behind him the
field bunched up when Ceravolo apparently had mechanical issues.
Ceravolo pulled to the infield immediately and Malone’s car was
towed off the track during the caution period. Preece and Pitkat
were back together again for the restart with Preece leading the
charge to the front. Preece pulled ahead to a commanding lead as
Pitkat, Dennis Perry and Ted Christopher ran nose-to-tail a full
second behind him. Preece continued his dominating ways throughout
the remainder of the event and extended his point lead by claiming
the checkered flag.
John Falconi earned his first season win after a late race charge on
Mike Scorzelli paid off with the lead and eventual checkers. Randy
Tucker jumped out front at the start of the Late Model feature, but
Mike Scorzelli used the bottom groove to get by for the lead coming
out of turn two. Falconi followed Scorzelli’s line as Tucker had to
contend with the challenge of Tommy O’Sullivan. Once by Tucker,
O’Sullivan picked up the second spot by using the bottom groove to
get by Falconi. Damon Tinio made a charge on Tucker on lap four, but
Tucker closed the door on his challenge. O’Sullivan chipped away at
Scorzelli’s lead and, just as he began a challenge out of turn four
on lap seven, the caution flew and slowed his progress. Scorzelli
and O’Sullivan were side-by-side for the restart with Scorzelli
pulling ahead coming out of turn two. O’Sullivan wasn’t letting up
and challenged for the lead from the bottom. The two banged doors
around the speedway with Scorzelli holding on to the top spot.
Falconi sat patiently in third as O’Sullivan pressured Scorzelli for
the lead. O’Sullivan continued to pressure Scorzelli at every single
lap, but Scorzelli wasn’t giving it up. On lap 17, the two made
brief contact coming out of turn two allowing Falconi to get by for
second. Tinio closed in on the battling O’Sullivan and Falconi as
Scorzelli put a comfortable three-car lengths advantage over the
rest of the field. On lap 21, O’Sullivan made another run on Falconi
for the second position, but like the previous attempts, Falconi
shut the door. On lap 23, Falconi found his momentum and challenged
Scorzelli on the inside coming out of turn two and took over the
lead to drive to the checkered flag.
Cam McDermott earned his seventh season victory after a nail-biting
battle with Troy Talman in the Lite Modified 15-lap feature. Eric
Leclair took the early lead with Talman driving by Nikki Ouellette
for the second position. Talman used the bottom groove to take over
the front position on lap two coming out of turn two with McDermott
following his line. On lap four, McDermott dropped to the bottom to
challenge Talman, but Talman shut the door. On lap six, McDermott
used the same move heading into turn three, and again, was
unsuccessful. McDermott challenged Talman lap after lap entering the
third turn, but it wasn’t until lap 10 when McDermott used a
crossover move in turn four to take the lead at the line. Talman
returned the favor to lead lap 12 with McDermott driving out front
at lap 13. Heading into turn two, however, Talman spun and brought
out the first caution. Corey Barry challenged McDermott when racing
resumed, but McDermott rocketed out to the front coming out of turn
two and drove straight to the victory.
John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. extended his point lead in the Thompson
Modified feature division in a late-race bid for the lead. “I didn’t
think I was going to get him,” Lowinski-Loh said about his pass of
Chad LaBastie, who led the most laps of the day. Lowinski-Loh passed
him on the final circuit of the 20-lap race.
Brian Tagg jumped out in front at the drop of the green flag, but
when Chad LaBastie got loose in turn two and brought out the caution
flag, the field was lined back up to do it all over again. Tagg
drove back to the front, but got high in turn two and allowed Danny
Gamache, Jr. to drive by for the lead. Behind them, Corey Barry
wrecked in turn three and brought out the second caution of the
event. LaBastie challenged Tagg on the restart and drove out into
the lead by inches and comfortably settling out front in turns three
and four. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. was fast approaching in third but
his efforts would be slowed at lap four when Jay Sundeen hit the
wall in turn two. LaBastie inched ahead of a hard charging Tagg on
the restart, and quickly pulled ahead to a two-car length advantage
over the rest of the field. Tagg quickly refocused to the pressure
put on him by Lowinski-Loh, who was riding the bumper of his No. 9
machine. On lap eight, Lowinski-Loh made a run on Tagg entering turn
two using the bottom groove, and by lap nine, had secured the
position. LaBastie had pulled away to a commanding lead, and
Lowinski-Loh began to chip away at his lead. With only five laps
left, Lowinski-Loh had closed in to within four car lengths. With
two laps left to go, Lowinski-Loh was in a position to challenge,
and went low coming out of turn four to get side-by-side with
LaBastie as they took the white flag. Lowinski-Loh drove ahead by
inches driving into turn three and took the checkers for the eighth
time this season.
Scott Sundeen held off Jesse Gleason to score his seventh win of the
season in the Limited Sportsman feature. Sundeen took the lead from
Chris Bisson on lap four and never relinquished it for the remainder
of the 20-lap event. Corey Fanning took the lead at the drop of the
green with a fast approaching Steve Kenneway taking second before a
multi-car pile-up involving Art Moran prevented the first lap from
being completed. Bill McNeil took his place back up front for the
restart followed by Fanning, Steve Kenneway, and Lloyd Anderson, Jr.
McNeil won the race into turn one with Kenneway getting by for the
second spot. Kenneway challenged McNeil coming off of turn four and
took the lead, but McNeil fought back and the two were side-by-side
when the No. 45 of Tom Shea got turned around coming out of turn
four of lap two. Kenneway took over the lead on the restart while
Chris Bisson challenged McNeil for the second spot. Bisson completed
his pass at lap four but Scott Sundeen was able to get underneath
him and take over the second position coming out of turn two. McNeil
was spun to the infield grass as the race completed six laps, but he
was able to drive right back out and keep the race going. Up front,
Sundeen was putting a lot of pressure on Kenneway for the lead, and
dove to the bottom heading into turn three to take over the lead at
lap eight. Jesse Gleason also gained momentum to drive by Kenneway
for the second position while Sundeen put some distance over the
battling duo. Sundeen was slowed by caution at lap 16, but even the
hard-charging Gleason couldn’t stop him from driving right back out
front on the restart. Gleason kept his No. 81 machine glued to
Sundeen’s bumper, but couldn’t stop Sundeen from driving to the
checkers.
The threat of rain certainly did not damper Steve Violette’s mood
Sunday afternoon. The Canterbury, Conn.-native earned his first
career victory in the Mini-Stock division after he inherited the
lead from Eric Bourgeois on lap seven.
Steve Michalski took the early lead with Travis Jurcik and Violette
rounding out the top-three. Bourgeois, however, was fast
approaching, and planted his front fender on Bourgeois’ bumper.
Violette dropped to the bottom and allowed Bourgeois to use the
outside groove to take over the third spot. On lap three, Jurcik
used the bottom in turn three to drive by for the lead. Violette was
quickly alongside him to challenge for the position. The two were
side-by-side, but it was all Jurcik out front as they completed five
laps. Bourgeois challenged Jurcik and took over the lead before
contact between the two on the backstretch brought out the caution
at lap seven. Violette inherited the lead for the restart and
remained out front when the race went back to green. Violette pulled
ahead to a commanding lead as Steve Michalski and Mike Viens rounded
out the top three. Viens had his hands full with Alicia Thatcher on
the inside groove. Joe Baxter muscled his way by Viens and Thatcher
to take over the third position, but Thatcher continued to challenge
on the bottom. On lap 12, Thatcher, however, slow spun into the
infield grass sending her to the rear of the field. Violette was
dominating out front while Dave Trudeau passed Michalski on the
bottom for the second spot. Violette was too far ahead for Trudeau
to make a difference, and Violette drove on to his first victory at
Thompson Speedway.
VALENTI MODIFIED RACING SERIES FEATURE FINISH: 1. Ted Christopher,
Plainville, CT; 2. Tim Jordan, Plainfield, CT; 3. Tom Barrett,
Millis, MA; 4. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA; 5. Doug Coby,
Middletown, CT; 6. Chris Pasteryak, Jewett City, CT; 7. Louie
Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA; 8. Todd Owen, Somers, CT; 9. Norm Wrenn,
Nashua, NH; 10. Mark Bakaj, Lebanon, CT.
SUNOCO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Woody
Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 3. Dennis Perry, Pawcatuck, CT; 4. Ted
Christopher, Plainville, CT; 5. Richie Gallup, Feeding Hills, MA; 6.
Corey Barry, Plainfield, CT; 7. Eric LeClair, Easthampton, MA; 8.
George Wilkinson, Pawcatuck, CT; 9. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT;
10. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA.
LATE MODEL FEATURE FINISH: 1. John Falconi, Oakham, MA; 2. Mike
Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 3. Tommy O’Sullivan, Wilbraham, MA; 4. Damon
Tinio, Mendon, MA; 5. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 6. Jared Materas,
Palmer, MA; 7. Robert Palmer, Lisbon, CT; 8. Robert O’Connell, Jr.,
Wrentham, MA; 9. Ryan Waterman, Danielson, CT.
THOMPSON MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr.,
Milford, MA; 2. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 3. Brian Tagg, Oxford,
MA; 4. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 5. Danny Gamache, Jr., Woonsocket,
RI; 6. Corey Barry, Plainfield, CT.
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.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH: 1. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 2.
Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 3. Steve Kenneway, Lowell, MA; 4. Chris
Bisson, Putnam, CT; 5. Corey Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 6. Lloyd
Anderson, Jr., Wauregan, CT; 7. Mike Palin, Dudley, MA; 8. Tom Shea,
New London, CT; 9. Matt Lowinski-Loh, Milford, MA; 10. Bill McNeil,
Putnam, CT.
MONSTER MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH: 1. Steve Violette, Canterbury,
CT; 2. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, CT; 3. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 4.
Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 5. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 6. Mike
Viens, Seekonk, MA; 7. Eric Bourgeois, East Haddam, CT; 8. Nick
Anderson, Oxford, MA; 9. Brad Caddick, Wyoming, RI; 10. Travis
Jurcik, Chaplin, CT. |
