Troy Talman Scores First SK Modified Victory at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park 6-14-17

Posted by Wayne G. Barber  Photos from Wayne G. Barber Library

 New England short track racing is heating up in June and Thompson scheduled a great NASCAR Whelen 125 tonight to be the only racing card in New England. The schedule worked out with perfect weather and a race fan hungry sold out crowd. Car counts were up and some outstanding qualifying heats as a prelude to the feature action. The track's premier racing division is the Sunoco Modifieds
and the group were scheduled last tonight on the racing card. 24 race teams qualified for the 30 lap feature.
  The starting pole positions had Bellingham, Mass. hot shoe Stephan Masse driving a white #87 owned by Justin Albernaz and on his side Troy Talman #3 who hails from nearby Oxford, Mass.  Talman sat out the April Icebreaker and had a ride wanted for any division plea in the racing fraternity and Hall of Famer Keith Rocco (KRR Racing)  sat down and worked out a 2017 Sunoco SK proposal in Ronnie Williams #59 2016 car that Rocco set up for Thompson.
  Both race cars looked very good in warm-ups and their heats and both young shoes have a lot of Modified driving experience in their young careers. Steve Masse has won big money races throughout New England in Open Modified races and in the Valenti Tour Series and is always in Dale Earnhardt mode of getting the most out of every lap.

 I first started noticing young Talman driving a blue #3 in the SK Lites and I put him on my radar for a young shoe to watch. This was not his first win tonight though. The SK'S yes but on May 10th, 2013 Talman scored a impressive SK Lite victory at nearby Stafford Speedway. In 2014 at the age of 19 he qualified for his first NASCAR Whelen race and got a big break in 2015 to pilot Ole Blue # 3 in the NASCAR Whelen tour. In 2016 Talman entered one NASCAR Whelen race and after three years had 1810 Whelen laps under his 5 point harness.9 starts in Ole Blue, 1 start for Hillbilly Racing and also ran on the big track in Loudon, NH.
 The start had the pair attached at the nerf bar that did not last long with a 4 car pile up in turn three that collected both female drivers in the race. 2006 Thompson Weekly SK Lite Champion Shelly Perry #76 Westerly, RI and Renee Dupuis #90 making her first start in 2017 after moving into her new farm in Massachusetts. Jason Sundeen #36 Douglas, Mass. and Joey Gada #06 from Conn.also were in the carnage. The race had Talman  nosing out Masse on the re-starts and if Masse tried driving high in turn two Talman would force him even higher. If this racing was not enough , everyone in the sold out stands was watching the heated battle just a little further back lurking. Teddy Christopher #13 Plainville, Conn.hungry for win #99 and two others, namely newly-wed Ryan Preece #31 Berlin, Conn. who just one the Nascar Whelen 125 and Keith Rocco #57, who also hails from Berlin, Conn.( must be in the water) who is on the top of every Fantasy Modified pool in the Northeast. First two events of 2017 had these two 1,2 or flip flopped.
 Few more re-starts had Talman holding point and only once did Masse out-fox Talman and then the flag came down to re-start and Masse must have thought it was a re-play of the North-South shootout a few years back when it was in his grasp for a win and was sent to the rear on a questionable re-start.

Keith Rocco, Driver, Owner, Mentor. certain first round Hall of Famer and Happy Fathers Day !

Tagg Racing Family , Thank You for always putting on a great show.

 By lap 23, Preece, Christopher duking it out and Rocco patiently waiting to pass both race cars and the cream of the SK field were really putting on a driving clinic. On the final lap 30 in turn four contact was made an Chistopher spun out to go from 3rd to 14th . Masse after driving the wheels off his chariot finished 8th. Rocco kept his Kool and finished second to his other race team and just ahead of his closest competition Preece in third. . Woody Pitkat #6 Sturbridge, Mass.driving for owner Stan Mertz worked on the car all day and brought it home in 4th in one piece to stay in the chase and he is also a former track champion in this division that has been dominated by Rocco and Preece. The maturity of Rocco , mentoring young Tolman and

driving for himself at times or other owners and now starting to look to the future with his beautiful family Cassie and two little ones and also lookin out for his father in law Todd Ceravolo who is ill is quite a Hall of Fame racing story unfolding live at our race tracks every week.

Sunoco Modified Feature Top-10 Finish: 1. Troy Talman (Oxford, MA); 2. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 3. Ryan Preece (Berlin, CT); 4. Woody Pitkat (Sturbridge, MA); 5. Timmy Jordan (Brooklyn, CT); 6. Rowan Pennink (New Egypt, NJ); 7. Tod Owen (Somers, CT); 8. Steve Masse (Bellingham, MA); 9. John Studley (Framingham, MA); 10. Andrew Charron (East Greenwich, RI)