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