Late Model Standings 7-31-15 Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

5 down and three 25 lap races to go !

1	9	BRIAN TAGG	230	0
2	88 MA	KEITH ROCCO	228-	2
3	70	RICK GENTES	217-	13
4	91	LARRY GELINAS	197-	33
5	4	WILLIAM WALL	188-	42
6	68	JEFF ROCCO	192-	38
7	15	JEFF SMITH	184-	46
8	3	GLENN BOSS	172-	58
9	2	ANTHONY RYAN	163-	67
10	97	ERNEST LaROSE	156-	74
11	44	CHAD LaBASTIE	146	84
12	27	MARC CURTIS	137	93
13	13	JARED MATERAS	107	123
14	20	JOHN P. LOWINSKI-LOH	98	132
15	96	ART MORAN III	96	134
16	62	LESLIE ROSE, JR	74	156
17		ROBERT HANLEY	66	164
18	17	PARENT RAY	60	170
19	45	DAMON TINIO	52	178
20	26	CHRIS CURTIS	51	179
21	0	ZACHARY FISHER	44	186

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Sunoco Sk Mod. Points 7-29-15

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & Photo by Wayne. G. Barber Collection

             5 Down & 4 Point Races left in 2015

1	6	WOODY PITKAT	247	0
2	31	RYAN PREECE	221	-26
3	16	KEITH ROCCO	221	-26
4	79	KERRY MALONE	208	-39
5	8	RYAN MORGAN	195	-52
6	5	KEITH McDERMOTT	191	-56
7	38	NICHOLAS LADYGA	189	-58
8	36	JASON SUNDEEN	172	-75
9	1 M	ADAM NORTON	175	-72
10	7	ANDREW CHARON	162

Thompson Speedway Sunoco Modified Results from the 20/20+10

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & Photos from Wayne G. Barber Collection

The SK Mod division has never been tighter at the mid point of the 2015 racing season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Woody Pitkat driving the hot rod #6 for Stan Mertz comes in as the leader without a victory in 2015. Ryan Preece has two and Cam McDermott has 1

Tonight the Whelen Sunoco Modified 20/20 Sprint, presented by King Cadillac GMC. The three-segment race served as the ultimate event of the night and was the second one of these being held at Thompson throughout the 2015 season.  The event challenged drivers to finish in the best position possible through two 20-lap and one 10-lap segments, earning fewer points the closer they were to the front. The driver with the lowest number of points after the three events claimed the overall win. In addition the first two segments acted as regular points-paying Sunoco Modified events.

 The first segment saw the first big caution of the night to that point after a battle for the lead resulted in a five car melee when Keith Rocco caught the left rear quarter panel of Nick Ladyga in turn four after leader Jason Sundeen attempted a block, collecting at least three other cars in the process including points leader Woody Pitkat.
 The incident worked to the benefit of  Ryan Preece who took the lead after the restart, after starting deep into the top ten. He would go on to win segment one while Eric Berndt finished second and Pitkat recovered from the mid-race incident to finish a strong third.
Finish Segment 1
 Ryan Preece, Eric Berndt, Woody Pitkat ,Adam Norton, Ryan Morgan, Keith Rocco, Nick Ladyga, Cam McDermott Kerry Malone,  Jason Sundeen,  Andrew Charron ,Nicki Ouellette, John Studley, Joey Parker

The field was shifted for the second segment, sending Preece to the rear of the field and while he had made his way to the top five within the first three laps Preece’s luck would run out when mechanical failure caused from a bad distributor had him losing power and forced him to retire only a handful of laps into the segment. He would return for the third and final segment.
 Pitkat’s luck would continue however as the seasoned veteran and points leader led much of the second segment, despite his involvement in the crash in segment one. Following a crash with four laps to go when Ladyga encountered more trouble, slamming the outside wall when his suspension sway bar broke free in a one car incident, Pitkat saw his lead disappear after teammates Berndt, who had been involved in an incident early in segment two, and Rocco took over the top two spots and never looked back. Pitkat would settle for third for the second consecutive segment while Berndt followed up his runner-up finish in segment one with a win, carrying only three points, one for his win and two for his runner up, into the final segment. Pitkat had the second lowest amount of points going into the final segment with six followed by Keith Rocco who had accumulated eight points.
 Winner Berndt, the 2003 SK Thompson track champion was in a second SK back up race car for the Keith Rocco Ceravolo's Auto to increase the car count for the national points battle which Keith the 2010 national champ knows how the game is played to well. The count was so low tonight the owner gave Berndt the green to go and try to win one or all three.
 The racing critics will say that Rocco did the same as last years national champion by adding a car to the field but in this situation the other car beat him, not just

a field filler like what happened down south in 2014. The lowest point total leader after the first two segments was then interviewed on the track and offered to start last for a extra $500 dollars if he won in ten laps and Berndt declined and said into the mike, NO, I will take the clean air instead. I had Woody Pitkat as our guest caller on our radio show the "Race Chatter" this past Monday and I asked Pitkat the same question if the situation arose and he said that he would take the up-front starting position also instead of trying to pass the field in 10 laps.
 The ten-lap final segment had Berndt and Pitkat starting on the front row, having accumulated the least amount of points and, while a daring dive to the bottom on turn 2 gave Pitkat the lead, a spin would bring out the caution and reset the field as it was at the start due to the field unable to complete a lap. The two leaders also made contact before the caution came out as the entered turn four. Pitkat still had more metal on his bent front Nerf Bar than  Tom Brady's Cell Phone
 Pitkat attempted another daring dive on the restart and Berdnt race car lifted but was unable to pass Berndt, who ran away with the lead and never surrendered. Pitkat took part in a hard fought battle with Keith Rocco who took the second position on lap four. The teammates Berndt and Rocco would finish one-two once again and Pitkat would go on to finish third in all three segments of the 20/20 feature event. Preece finished fourth in segment three after he was sidelined for much of segment two.
 Berndt’s point total of only four points was low enough to give him the overall win while Pitkat finished second with nine points and Rocco finished third with ten. Berndt’s victory proved to be the highlight story of the night as the veteran drove the #76 for the first time during the 20/20 feature. He said he was thrilled to be in victory lane and thanked his team for their hard work and for giving him a shot.

Pos No.
1 76 Eric Berndt Sunoco Modifieds 4
2 6 Woody Pitkat Sunoco Modifieds 9
3 16 Keith Rocco Sunoco Modifieds 10
4 31 Ryan Preece Sunoco Modifieds 18
5 79 Kerry Malone Sunoco Modifieds 19
6 8 Ryan Morgan Sunoco Modifieds 19
7 5r.i. Cam McDermott Sunoco Modifieds 20
8 1m Adam Norton Sunoco Modifieds 20
9 36 Jason Sundeen Sunoco Modifieds 26
10 7 Andrew Charron Sunoco Modifieds 27
11 14 Nicki Ouellette Sunoco Modifieds 33
12 38 Nick Ladyga Sunoco Modifieds 117
13 54 Joey Parker Sunoco Modifieds 125
14 2Ma John Studley Sunoco Modifieds 211

Monster Mini Results from Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park 7-29-15

                   Posted by Wayne G. Barber and photos from the Wayne G. Barber Collection
One competitive division at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park at the midway point of the 2015 racing season. Veteran #97 Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, Conn. in a" Lucky" green race car leads the pack at 237 points down to the sixth place #33 Eric Bourgeois, E.Haddam,Conn. at 202 points.  Yes 35 points between the top 6.
 The Monster Mini's went out last tonight in their 15 lap feature with a good car count of 16 regulars.
 The heats had #24 Joey Baxter from Pascoag, R.I. with a quick time of 24.893 and the #33 Bourgeois at 24.907. #97 Trudeau at 24.917 and Mike Veins at 24.947 The black #19 Nick Matera out of Warwick, R.I. has been improving every event and tonight would be his best career finish at Thompson.
  The front row had #26 Jeff Moffat. Sr. and #19 Matera with #85 Veins and #33 Bourgeois glued to their rear bumpers on a very tight start.

Eric Bourgeois found himself back in victory lane after early leader Jeff Moffat, Sr. suffered mechanical issues causing him to retire from the race. The big story of the event was the career-best run for Nick Matera who finished second. The run was so impressive Bourgeois gave him credit for a good race after pulling into victory lane.
 “Nick’s come a long way. I looked in the mirror the last couple laps and I’m going ‘oh man don’t miss your marks’. I missed it a couple times and he was right there,” said Bourgeois who explained his main strategy was always to lead early and hold his position as long as he could. “I absolutely had no choice (but to take the lead early on). I know there were a lot of good competitors behind me – This class is really close.” I won on Ice Breaker week and received a DQ. I then came back with two victories and got right back into the race to repeat as the division champion. It would be quite a achievement said the very emotional Bourgeois.

MONSTER MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Eric Bourgeois (East Haddam, CT); 2. Nick Matera (Warwick, RI); 3. Mike Veins (Seekonk, MA); 4. Dave Trudeau (Mansfield, CT); 5. Joe Baxter (Pascoag, RI); 6. Louis Bellisle (Lisbon, CT); 7. Scott Michalski (S. Killingly, CT); 8. Steve Michalski (Brooklyn, CT); 9. Christopher Viens (Putnam, CT); 10. Ed Field (Deep River, CT)
 11. Mike Veins,Putnam,Conn. 12. Cory Caddick ,13 Roger Ducharme Glendale, R.I. 14. Nick Anderson,Oxford, Mass. 15. Jeff Moffat Sr. Smithfield, R.I. 16. Keith Ballou, Pascoag,R.I.

Limited Sportsman Results from Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park 7-29-15

#75 Ryan Waterman Blown Motor, missed feature

Moose returned the borrowed#12 and drove his familiar blue Ford #39 to stay in the Hunt !

Weekly improvements on the @51 Joshua Wood race team

Got my Nat's power plant back !

Hutchings was a great guest on our Race Chatter radio program.

Scott Sundeen came in to todays event with the points lead

Posted by Wayne G. Barber and all photos from the Wayne G. Barber Collection

#4ri Scott Quinn 5 Victories in 2015 !

  The Vintage Outlaws race group completed their exhibition with a ten lap feature that saw the fifth win of the season for Smithfield, Rhode Island’s Scott Quinn. After starting in the back of the field of seven cars Quinn moved his way through the field quickly, taking the lead into turn one at the start of the third lap of the event. He never looked back and took home the hardware.

“I’d like to just thank my brother, crew chief Rob Quinn, Jr.) for all the work he does and my sponsors,” he said. “We’re winning because we go home every week and we pull the car apart and we just build it right back to new and come back to race - The car is really good and my brother made a good call with a gear change because he knew the track would be slippery tonight so we were able to try something different and it worked.” Thank You, Scott for coming up to the press box on a very hot July evening
and then the Late Models laid down some fresh rubber for the Limited Sportsman to start their 20 lap feature.
 Starting up front would be 01 Brent Gleason, Griswold, Conn. and the #45 of Tommy Shea, New London, Conn. The points leaders #36 Sundeen, #73 Barnett and #38 Hutchings,#39 Douton were mid pack at 8,9,10,11
  The heat races produced some great speeds with Cory Hutchings showing the best time of 23.974
 an 93.852 mph and showing that the last race victory was no fluke. Barnett with the new Nat's racing engine installed turned a awesome time of 24.083 and 93.427 and Douton 24.199 returned to action in his familiar blue #39 with his new Ford power plant and the return of the #12 to the Waterford race team who enabled Moose to stay in the championship hunt in 2015. #36 Sundeen came pre-pared and turned a lap in the heats of 24.072 and the car count was 18 to start the heats. The biggest improvement since the season started has been the #51 Joshua Wood race team and a remarkable time of 24.321
 Yes 7:00 pm and the third feature of the night, the Xtramart Limited Sportsman Series, was full of action as the 20-lap feature saw an intense battle for the lead through much of the race. The biggest battle of the race saw eventual winner Jesse Gleason and runner-up Larry Barnett side by side or nose to tail for much of the race and a battle for second in the first five laps became a battle for the lead after early leader Joshua Wood lost control coming out of turn four. Gleason inherited the lead with Barnett close behind.
 Gleason would go on to claim victory and talked about his run to the win in victory lane.
 “It was a long day and it’s just really really hot out,” he said. “When you’ve got Larry Barnett, Cory Hutchings and Scott Sundeen, a three time track champion behind you then you know you’re in good hands. Barnett and I have raced for almost ten years and we rarely trade paint so I know that he’s a good old school racer like myself.”
 Gleason, who calls Lisbon,Connecticut home had just enough fuel to get to the finish and win the 20-lap Limited Sportsman feature Wednesday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
  Gleason’s car ran out of fuel before he could get to victory lane at the track.



#81 Jesse Gleason cooling down in the press box.

“I asked my brother to put some fuel in the car before we went out but it must have slipped his mind,” Gleason said. “So we had just enough to finish.”
“She was a handful,” Gleason said. “She was a little tight and loose. I was just trying to save the tires. I could see other guys were burning them off about lap 11 or 12. So I would try to get a little distance on Barnett and every time I did I’d get a little wiggly loose. If I could just keep it straight in line it seemed like it would do everything by itself. Thank god there was no cautions.”
Barnett held on for a second place finish while Scott Sundeen and Corey Hutchins finished third and fourth. Wood recovered from his early spin for a fifth place finish.
  Finish:
 Jesse Gleason, Larry Barnett ,Scott  Sundeen, Corey Hutchins, Joshua Wood, Moose Douton , Diego Monahan,  Matt Lowinski-Loh ,Brent Gleason ,Frank LeToile Jr , Mike Palin , Tommy Shea Sr. Tyler Cinamella , Hank Stott,  James Bendiak,  Mike Malbaurn,  DNS Ryan Waterman , DNS Todd Dean, DNS Troy Waterman