Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Monster Mini Results 6-7-18

Posted by Wayne G. Barber & Photos Property of Wayne G. Barber

After getting rained out on Sunday May 20 the track by popular demand from e-mails, social media and race teams re-scheduled the Limited Long-Distance and Military night to Thursday June 7 presented by Pepsi and the weather gods answered our prayers for 70 degree weather and blue bird skies. Nice pre-race ceremony and then the pa system lost the national anthem so track announcer Matt Buckler asked the crowd to join him in singing it live and we had a ball doing it.
 The Monster Mini's heat race ran their 8 laps with the top drivers at Thompson dominating. Ice Breaker winner and the 2013 division champion Eric Bourgeois #87 took the checkered with a fast lap of 24.525 and was hounded by veteran driver Dave Trudeau #97 2015 division champion with a fast time of 24.695 early in the heat race.

 The 15-lap feature also gave an opportunity for title contenders to gain an early advantage on the season with two-time defending champion Wayne Burroughs unable to attend the event. He scheduled a cruise after the rain-out and was committed. The race car drivers( about 10) took a group photo of them self's and sent it to him and said they were ready to rumble and where the hell are you Wayne ? While 2015 champion Dave Trudeau led the early segments of the race it didn’t take long for another familiar name to make his way to the front of the pack. After taking the checkered flag in the Icebreaker on April 7,2018,

Track Announcer led the crowd in singing our National Anthem on Veterans Night at Thompson Speedway.

MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH: 1. Eric Bourgeois (East Haddam, CT) ( 2 in 2018); 2. Dave Trudeau (Mansfield, CT); 3. Jared Roy (Sterling, CT); 4. Doug Curry (Norwich, CT); 5. Chris Taylor (East Lyme, CT); 6. Dave Trudeau, Jr. (Mansfield, CT); 7. Steve Michalski (Brooklyn, CT); 8. Keith Ballou (Pascoag, RI); 9. Evan Bourgeois (East Haddam, CT); 10. Tommy Silva (Gales Ferry, CT)

Eric Bourgeois further solidified himself as a contender for the 2017 title with his second win to start the season. In victory lane, a very emotional Bourgeois took the time to thank the members of the military present for the race keeping in spirit with the theme of the night.

“I have to say thank you to all the veterans,” Bourgeois said. “I can’t be here to race if it wasn’t for those guys keeping us free. Thank you to them. This means a lot to me and I’m so glad they made this up for them.” He young son Evan Bourgeois #78 was by his side in victory lane learning the ropes from his dad on the track and off to begin his I hope long driving career at Thompson Speedway. Eric Bourgeois has lost a few victories by way of tech failures and always rectifies the problems and comes back to prove his prowess behind the wheel of this hot rod Monster Mini. Nice to see two father/ sons combinations in this race.