It was a hot one at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in more ways than one as race fans braved near triple-digit temperatures for another afternoon of great racing action at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, July 29th.
The evening included five feature events, including the main event, the Whelen Sunoco Modified 20/20 Sprint, presented by King Cadillac GMC. The three-segment race served as the penultimate 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.
“I’d like to just thank my brother (and Crew Chief Rob Quinn, Jr.) for all the work he does and my sponsors,” he said. “We’re winning because we go home every week and we pull the car apart and we just build it right back to new and come back to race – The car is really good and my brother made a good call with a gear change because he knew the track would be slippery tonight so we were able to try something different and it worked.”
Next in line were the Late Models, which ran caution free for a 25-lap feature dominated by Mark Curtis who started on the front row. The race featured bumping and banging by several drivers as they worked their way to the front, however Curtis never blinked in his quest for his second Thompson victory of the season.
Curtis said, “We got that good start up front – We had just a really good car. We made some wholesale adjustment to tighten it up with the slippery conditions out there today and I just paced myself trying to hit my marks.”
Curtis was later disqualified after Tech inspection, giving Jeff Rocco the win for the night, followed by Keith Rocco as well as Rick Gentes and Brian Tagg.
The third feature of the night, the Xtramart Limited Sportsman Series, was full of action as the 20-lap feature saw an intense battle for the lead through much of the race. The biggest battle of the race saw eventual winner Jesse Gleason and runner-up Larry Barnett side by side or nose to tail for much of the race and a battle for second in the first five laps became a battle for the lead after early leader Joshua Wood lost control coming out of turn four. Gleason inherited the lead with Barnett close behind.
Gleason would go on to claim victory and talked about his run to the win in victory lane.
“It was a long day and it’s just really really hot out,” he said. “When you’ve got Larry (Barnett) behind you then you know you’re in good hands. He and I have raced for almost ten years and we rarely trade paint so I know that he’s a good old school racer like myself.”
Barnett held on for a second place finish while Scott Sundeen and Corey Hutchins finished third and fourth. Wood recovered from his early spin for a fifth place finish.
The final event of the night featured the Monster Mini Stocks with an experienced veteran taking the win while the runner-up saw the best finish of his career in the series. Eric Bourgeois found himself back in victory lane after early leader Jeff Moffat, Sr. suffered mechanical issues causing him to retire from the race. The big story of the event was the career-best run for Nick Matera who finished second. The run was so impressive Bourgeois gave him credit for a good race after pulling into victory lane.
“Nick’s come a long way. I looked in the mirror the last couple laps and I’m going ‘oh man don’t miss your marks’. I missed it a couple times and he was right there,” said Bourgeois who explained his main strategy was always to lead early and hold his position as long as he could. “I absolutely had no choice (but to take the lead early on). I know there were a lot of good competitors behind me – This class is really close.”
Next up for Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is the Budweiser ‘King of Beers’ 150 & Limited Triple Crown Race No. 3 as the Whelen Modified Tour makes its return to the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, August 12th.
SUNOCO MODIFIED 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 1 (TOP-10): 1. Ryan Preece (Berlin, CT); 2 Eric Berndt (Cromwell, CT); 3. Woody Pitkat (Sturbridge, MA); 4. Adam Norton (Ludlow, MA); 5. Ryan Morgan (Mystic, CT); 6. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 7. Nick Ladyga (Voluntown, CT); 8. Cam McDermott (Scituate, RI); 9. Kerry Malone (Needham, MA); 10. Jason Sundeen (Douglas, MA)
SUNOCO MODIFIED 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 2 (TOP-10): 1. Eric Berndt (Cromwell, CT); 2. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 3. Woody Pitkat (Sturbridge, MA); 4. Kerry Malone (Needham, MA); 5. Ryan Morgan (Mystic, CT); 6. Andrew Charron (E. Greenwich, RI); 7. Cam McDermott (Scituate, RI); 8. Jason Sundeen (Douglas, MA); 9. Adam Norton(Ludlow, MA); 10. Nicki Ouellette (East Granby, CT)
SUNOCO MODIFIED 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 3 (TOP-10): 1. Eric Berndt (Cromwell, CT); 2. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 3. Woody Pitkat (Sturbridge, MA); 4. Ryan Preece (Berlin, CT); 5. Cam McDermott (Scituate, RI); 6. Kerry Malone (Needham, MA); 7. Adam Norton (Ludlow, MA); 8. Jason Sundeen (Douglas, MA); 9. Ryan Morgan (Mystic, CT); 10. Andrew Charron (E. Greenwich, RI)
SUNOCO MODIFIED 20/20 FEATURE FINAL RESULTS (TOP-10): 1. Eric Berndt (Cromwell, CT); 2. Woody Pitkat (Sturbridge, MA); 3. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 4. Ryan Preece (Berlin, CT); 5 Kerry Malone (Needham, MA); 6. Ryan Morgan (Mystic, CT); 7. Cam McDermott (Scituate, RI); 8. Adam Norton (Ludlow, MA); 9. Jason Sundeen(Douglas, MA); 10. Andrew Charron (E. Greenwich, RI)
MONSTER MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Eric Bourgeois (East Haddam, CT); 2. Nick Matera (Warwick, RI); 3. Mike Veins (Seekonk, MA); 4. Dave Trudeau (Mansfield, CT); 5. Joe Baxter (Pascoag, RI); 6. Louis Bellisle (Lisbon, CT); 7. Scott Michalski (S. Killingly, CT); 8. Steve Michalski (Brooklyn, CT); 9. Christopher Viens (Putnam, CT); 10. Ed Field (Deep River, CT)
VINTAGE OUTLAWS (FULL FINISHING ORDER): 1. Scott Quinn, Smithfield, Rhode Island; 2. Daryl Dutch, Greeville, Rhode Island; 3. Ben LeVangie, Plymouth, MA; 4. Bill Cummins, Clinton, MA; 5. Ron St. Germaine, Brookfield, MA; 6. Joe Babineau, North Smithfield, RI; 7. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI
LATE MODELS (TOP-10): 1. Jeff Rocco (Wallingford, CT); 2. Keith Rocco (Berlin, CT); 3. Rick Gentes (Burrillville, RI); 4. Brian Tagg (Oxford, MA); 5. Jeff Smith (Old Lyme, CT); 6. Ernest LaRose (Moosup, CT); 7. William Wall (Shrewsbury, MA); 8. Larry Gelinas (Buxton, ME); 9. Glen Boss (Danielson, CT); 10. Buddy Charette
XTRAMART LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Jesse Gleason (Lisbon, CT); 2. Larry Barnett (Moosup, CT); 3. Scott Sundeen (Sutton, MA); 4. Corey Hutchings (Salem, CT); 5. Joshua Wood (Palmer, MA); 6. Moose Douton (Waterford, CT); 7. Diego Monahan; 8. Matt Lowinski-Loh (Milford, MA); 9. Brent Gleason (Lisbon, CT); 10. Frank LeTolle, Jr. (Wethersfield, CT)