The Late Models will run a expanded 10 race schedule which is actually 11 plus a 10 lap sprint on June 1 when for the third year Thompson will host the fan friendly 20/20 plus 10 lap sprint. This may create a back to back championship night at the World Series like last year when Brian Tagg claimed the championship on a last lap low groove pass to beat out Keith Rocco by 1 point for his first championship. Tagg and the Rocco twins stumbled in race one and may be the biggest beneficiary of just a little longer points season. Very good car count of 21 to start the Ice Breaker feature. Strange not to see the #3 of Glenn Boss after his retirement
The season opener for the Late Model series provided a familiar sight as the Rocco brothers, Keith and Jeff, fought for the lead for much of the 25-lap event before making contact on lap 18, taking each other out of the race. The incident caused substantial damage to both cars, including removing much of Keith Rocco’s roof. The two brothers shared some choice words on the track as safety officials responded to the crash and later continued their dispute in the infield while the race continued.
The front of the field continued to be the worst place to be for drivers in that event with Ernie LaRose, who inherited the lead after the restart, making hard contact with the turn one wall and also saw a potential race win fade away. Another caution would soon follow when Rick Gentes spun out from second place, causing a chain reaction involving several other cars including reigning champion Brian Tagg, who was running third.
One driver who did manage to find success at the front was William Wall, who turned a pole position start into his first victory in the series. “This is definitely the biggest win of my career right now,” Wall said. “Just getting this together, all the ducks finally fell in a row. It was awesome. Words can’t describe it. The cautions helped me out a little bit. I had a real bad push the whole race so every time the caution came out if I could get to the outside I knew I’d have a real good chance of getting a position. The cautions fell in my favor today and that’s what it took.”
With a full season under his belt driving the Eric Grant owned entry at Thompson Speedway, Jeff Rocco’s name ranks high on the list of contenders in 2016. Rocco drove to victory lane 4 times last season, in addition to winning the special Late Model 20/20 Sprint comprised of 3 distinct segment of racing on one night. It was the 14th, 16th, and 17th place efforts that spelled misfortune for Rocco that made him fade from the spotlight at the Sunoco World Series.
“It was a lot less pressure last year coming into a new series,” said Rocco. “If we ran in the top-5 it was a success for us. Now we have set the bar high to go back and achieve that. If you look at where we stacked up against touring competition (American-Canadian Tour) that set the bar of where we need to be. As good as we were for weekly competition we wanted to get better.”
Rocco’s team is one of several that take advantage of Thompson’s Late Model rules aligning with the American-Canadian Tour rules. Defending champion Brian Tagg honed his craft on the ACT circuit for a year before winning the title in his rookie season.
“The biggest thing for us and me is the confidence; having the confidence of what happened last year and rebuilding the car throughout the winter, everything was a positive note,” said Tagg. “It made the winter go through kind of slow because we want to repeat what we did.”
It won’t be easy to repeat in a division of so much talent. Keith Rocco returns for a full season after losing the championship by virtue of a last lap pass made by Tagg in the 2015 finale.
Six time division champion, Rick Gentes returns with a new engine package for 2016. After running a blue oval power plant last season, Gentes made the switch back to the bowtie seeking that competitive edge. Looking back on his years of racing at Thompson, he recalled the competition as being the same as it was back in the 1990's when there were 10-12 cars on the track who could win any given night.
“It is tough just to finish in the top-5 now let alone winning and we have probably fallen behind a little,” said Gentes. “We used to be right on top of it. We need to step of our game to get back to where we were.”
During the open test in March, Gentes backed his car into the outside wall forcing him to rebuild the car in time for the season opener.
While names like Rocco, Gentes, and Tagg are just a few of the proven winners in the division, there will be some interesting newcomers to the class this season. Well, relative newcomers that is. William Wall was among one of the first names Tagg noted as one to watch in 2016. Wall led laps last season as a rookie and is back for his sophomore season. A graduate of the Limited Sportsman ranks, Wall is looking for late run speed to propel him to his first victory.
A lot of times I would get a good start and pick off a few cars in the early stages of the race,” said Wall. As it went the car tended to fall off and I wouldn’t be able to complete a pass and you need to have it fast at the end.”
After the open test, Wall was confident in the speed his team gained in the off-season.
Returning to Thompson as a rookie is Corey Fanning who began racing in the Limited Sportsman division before spending two years racing at Seekonk Speedway. Fanning is back and for the first time will compete in a late model. Fanning finished 3rd in the standings during his last full season at the Big T in 2013. Last season, he managed a 4th in points at Seekonk after a dismal start backed by a late season charge that saw 7 consecutive runner-up finishes.
Michael Bennett will be running a three race schedule this season which includes the Icebreaker. Bennett is the defending Late Model champion at Stafford Speedway coming off a 7 win season and this year will be his first time competing on Thompson’s high banks. Bennett plans to run the Late Model 20/20 Sprint and the World Series, in addition to a slate of ACT events.
| 1 | 4 | William Wall | 25 |
| 2 | 91 | Larry Gelinas | 25 |
| 3 | 17 | Matt Lowinski-Loh | 25 |
| 4 | 27 | Marc Curtis | 25 |
| 5 | 6 | Nick Johnson | 25 |
| 6 | 70 | Rick Gentes | 25 |
| 7 | 78 | Walt Sutcliffe | 25 |
| 8 | 16 | Michael Bennett | 25 |
| 9 | 22 | James Banfield | 25 |
| 10 | 5 | Tom Carey III | 25 |
| 11 | 11RI | Corey Fanning | 25 |
| 12 | 55 | Brandon Warren | 25 |
| 13 | 81 | Paul Charette | 24 |
| 14 | 9MA | Brian Tagg | 20 |
| 15 | 97 | Ernie LaRose | 19 |
| 16 | 68 | Jeff Rocco | 18 |
| 17 | 88 | Keith Rocco | 18 |
| 18 | 23CT | Lloyd Anderson Jr. | 18 |
| 19 | 21 | Ryan Lineham | 18 |
| 20 | 00 | Thomas Moresheaf | 18 |
| 21 | 13 | Jared Materas | 5 |
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