Limited Sportsman Fireworks from Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park 7-27-16

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

The Super Stars of this division took a back seat to a pair of hard nose brothers tonight to the delight of the faithful crowd at Thompson on a beautiful summers night of classic short track full fender racing. The fireworks continued with the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman series as two and three-wide action was commonplace throughout that event. Several drivers found themselves fighting hard for position throughout the 20-lap feature, but it was the #25 car of Jesse Gleason, a car he borrowed from the Waterman family, that held on for the win after leading most of the event despite several strong runs from his competition to take the victory, including a late race push from his brother Brent Gleason who held on for a second place finish. Last year Jesse won a race in the #81 without a un-damaged corner on it and then ran out of gas in victory lane. His racing story telling talent was a Jewel on our RACE CHATTER radio program.

  I was in attendance with two of my many grandchildren and we were watching Cory Hutchings #38, a frequent guest on the Race Chatter slice thru the field like a surgeon along with Larry Barnett #73 picking off the opposition every lap marching towards the front

“This is short track racing. The first one up front is the guy who has the advantage. Maybe you don’t win it on lap one, but maybe on lap two or three,” Gleason said in victory lane. “You’ve got to stab me to get by me. That’s about it.” Gleason added that he was proud to race alongside his brother for the win and praised Brent for the strides he has made in his own racing career.

While Gleason was celebrating in victory lane other drivers found themselves scratching their heads, especially Corey Hutchings who followed up a strong win in his last race at Thompson with another strong run that ended in an early retirement from the race when a battle for position with Phil Jacques resulted in heavy damage to Hutchings’ car. Jacques was penalized for the incident and sent to the rear of the field but still managed a sixth place finish.

  This put a much overdue for a victory, Larry Barnett in the best re-start position and then the dreaded conversation with his spotter, I think I have a tire going down. This division with the Gleasons, Waterman's, Josh Wood (2 wins), Jacques, Scott Sundeen,( 4 championships) Al Stone Jr. on occasion, Barnett,( 4 championships) Cory Hutchings, ( 6 championships, 2 at Thompson, 4 at New London Waterford Speedbowl) and 36 wins at Thompson is in my opinion the definition of Short Track Racing at it's finest in all New England. This division with 5 points for a heat win and then the rubbing sheet metal feature are worth the price of admission.

XTRAMART LIMITED SPORTSMAN FINISH: 1. Jesse Gleason (Lisbon, CT); 2. Brent Gleason (Griswold, CT); 3. Scott Sundeen (Sutton, MA); 4. Ryan Waterman (Danielson, CT); 5. Ed Puleo (Branford, CT); 6. Phil Jacques (Dudley, MA); 7. Mike Palin (Dudley, MA); 8. Tommy Shea (New London, CT); 9. Troy Waterman (Killingly, CT); 10. Corey Fanning (Mapleville, RI); 11. Hank Stott (Medway, MA); 12. Zack Robinson (Putnam, CT); 13. Nick Anderson (Oxford, MA); 14. . Larry Barnett (Moosup, CT); 15. Corey Hutchings (Salem, CT); 16. Dan Coutu (Canterbury, CT); 17. John Carpenter (North Grosvenordale, CT); 18. James Bendiak (Hopkinton, MA); 19. Joshua Wood (Palmer, MA); 20. Ed Correia (Raynhyam, MA)

1	75	RYAN WATERMAN	292	0
2	36	SCOTT SUNDEEN	284	8
3	01	BRENT GLEASON	246	46
4	38	COREY HUTCHINGS	242	50
5	51	JOSHUA WOOD	235	57
6	73	LAWRENCE BARNETT	227	65
7	77	PHIL JACQUES	222	70
8	55	ED PULEO	219	73
9	88	FRANK L'ETOILE JR	175	117
10	52	AL STONE III	175	117
11	25	JESSE GLEASON	155	137
12	45	THOMAS SHEA, SR	146	146
13	10	CHARLES STOTT	140	152
14	7	TROY WATERMAN	135	157
15	31	JAMES BENDIAK	126	166
16	47	DAN COUTU	110	182
17	11	JACK AQUILINA	101	191
18	27	EDMUND CORREIA, JR	100	192
19	13	JEFF VanPELT	91	201
20	56	DENNIS BLAISE	87	205