Cabral Earns Emotional NEMA Win; Blewett Sweeps Sunoco Mod Twins
Oliveira Tops in TIS Mod Marquee; Ramstrom Streaks in Pros; Cote, LaRose, & Taylor Also winners
Thompson, CT –A great crowd was on hand to witness the excitement of Thompson International Speedway’s annual July 4th holiday festivities. Jimmy Blewett of Howell, NJ, commemorated the event with a pair of Sunoco Modified victories. Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA, enjoyed an emotional NEMA Midgets victory for one of his fallen comrades.
Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, continued his domination of the Pro Stock ranks with his third-straight feature win. Leo Oliveira of Raynham, MA, celebrated with a victory in the biggest event of the season for the TIS Modifieds. Limited Sportsman competitor Ernie LaRose of Plainfield, CT, and Mini Stocker Tim Taylor of Wauregan, CT, each visited victory lane.
Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA, put on a flawless performance en route to the Northeastern Midget Association (NEMA) history books. Cabral took the lead from Erica Santos early and never looked back. Pole sitter E. Santos had run out to a sizeable lead in the early going of the 25-lap NEMA main event. The fan-favorite watched her lead dissipate when the first and only caution of the event flew on lap 10 for a spin by Adam Cantor.
The restart pitted Nokie Fornoro and Randy Cabral against E. Santos. She was up to the challenge on the restart to retain her lead. A great battle ensued for second between Fornoro, Cabral and Bobby Santos III. Cabral easily picked off Fornoro once green flag racing resumed. By lap 12, Cabral drove by E. Santos to take over the lead. B. Santos worked his way by Fornoro for third and began to run down his sister. Erica put up a brief fight but relinquished the second spot to Bobby on lap 15.
Over the final ten laps Cabral was able to maintain his sizeable advantage over the Santos siblings and Fornoro. Joey Payne made his first appearance inside the top five in the closing laps. That is the way they would run under the checkers.
In a touching tribute, Cabral left his car in turn three where his fallen friend, Shane Hammond, lost his life in April.
“I miss you Shane,” said Cabral in victory lane. “This win is for you.”
The win was meaningful for Cabral for a number of reasons. With the victory, his 16th career win, Cabral surpassed Hall of Famers Joey Coy, Al Pillion, and Mike Favulli on the All-Time Win list. He also tied Johnny Mann for the most wins at Thompson with six.
New daddy Jimmy Blewett of Howell, NJ, celebrated the birth of his son with two trips to victory lane on Thursday night. Blewett first carried the checkers in the make-up of the 25-lap event originally scheduled for Icebreaker Sunday back in April. He followed that up with a victory in the Sunoco Modified nightcap.
By virtue of their finish in April’s season opening Icebreaker event (on Saturday), Blewett and Icebreaker winner Bert Marvin started the 25-lapper from the front row. With Blewett taking the early lead from the outside pole, Marvin and Danny Cates tagged along for a three-car breakaway at the head of the field. Kerry Malone, Todd Ceravolo, and Josh Sylvester ran in the second pack while Pitkat and Rocco were making their way through the pack from deep in the field.
Marvin began to pressure Blewett for the lead and Ceravolo was able to take the fourth spot from Malone before the caution flew for a spin by Brad Van Houten. Blewett was able to retain his lead on the lap nine restart while Ceravolo moved into third spot ahead of Cates. Sylvester was shuffled back losing spots to Malone and Pitkat once back under green. Rocco and Cravenho took chase just outside the top five.
The top three began to stretch out their lead while the battle for fourth was heating up between Ceravolo, Malone, and Pitkat. The caution on lap 16 for an incident involving Eric Goodale and Carl Oberg slowed the action.
Blewett was up for the challenge on the restart. Cates, meanwhile, took back the spot he had lost on the previous restart to run third. Pitkat marched into fourth ahead of Ceravolo, Malone, and Rocco.
With five laps remaining, Marvin began to look racy for the lead while Pitkat dogged Cates for third. Things cooled when the caution flew for a spin by Dave Nordman.
On the first attempt at a green-white-checker restart, Blewett looked like he was shot out of a cannon; taking over the lead from Marvin. The pass was negated when contact found Cravenho in the wall in turn two. During an ensuing caution period, Pitkat headed down pit road with a flat tire.
The final lap served up some excitement. Leader Blewett bobbled exiting turn two; opening the door for a challenge by Marvin. The two made some contact sliding side-by-side through turn four. The crowd was on their feet as Blewett edged Marvin out for the victory. Marvin settled for second ahead of Cates, Ceravolo, and Grigas.
In victory lane, Blewett pulled the pill to invert the top-eight for the second feature event.
By virtue of the redraw, Keith Rocco started the second feature from the outside pole. The Wallingford, CT, driver handily took over the lead followed by Grigas. Blewett was the man on the move. Up from the eighth position, he was third by lap three. In the early going, Malone ran in fourth ahead of Cates, Ceravolo, Marvin, and Pitkat. Blewett began to show real pressure to Grigas for third allowing Malone to join the fray for second.
Marvin and Pitkat went side by side for the seventh position. Pitkat was able to use a lapped car to his advantage to take the spot away. Meanwhile Rocco had checked out to a sizable advantage.
Blewett was able to get by Grigas in turn three on lap 12. Once out front, Blewett could not seem to chip away at Rocco’s lead. Cates had chased down Malone before the first caution flew on lap 21 for a spin by polesitter Ricky Shawn.
Rocco had to contend with Blewett on the restart. “Showtime” was able to wrestle the lead away from Rocco; however, the caution flew again on lap 21 for a multi-car wreck that involved Cates, Marvin, Sylvester, Josh Steeves, and others, negating the pass for the lead.
In a repeat of the earlier restart, Blewett was able to jump out to the head of the pack. Malone had worked his way into third around Grigas with Ceravolo in tow. Apparent contact between Grigas and Ceravolo resulted in heavy contact with the outside wall for Grigas.
On the restart, Blewett retained his lead leaving Rocco to defend second over Malone. Malone got the edge for a lap before relinquishing the position to Rocco once again. In his bid for second, Ceravolo got out of shape losing fourth to Woody Pitkat.
In the closing laps, Blewett ran unchallenged to the checkers. Rocco capped off the night with a runner-up finish. Malone, Pitkat and Ceravolo completed the top five.
The TIS Modified division had their chance to shine on Thursday night with their annual 25-lapper and the brightest star was feature winner, Leo Oliveira of Raynham, MA. It took a trio of laps before Kurt Vigeant bolted into the top spot. The race went clean and green for 11-laps before the first caution flew for a spin by Jesse Berthiaume. On the restart, Glenn Boss and Leo Adams, who where running second and third, made contact exiting, turn two. Boss slowed with heavy damage. Adams, who tried to continue, ended up in the first turn wall.
With Vigeant on the point, Sullivan now restarted in second. Sullivan muscled his way into the lead on the restart. Vigeant had to settle in for second while the best battle was for third between R.J. Marcotte and Oliveira.
An incident involving Richie Ferreira and Cam McDermott brought out the caution once again. On the lap 16 restart, Vigeant made contact with the leader Sullivan, sending him hard into the outside wall. Vigeant was put to the tail-end of a dwindling field.
In the closing laps, Oliveira held the point with Marcotte making a bid on the lead. Marcotte made a serious bid at the lead but had to settle back into second. Less than a lap later, Marcotte went to work on leader Oliveira again. Marcotte got crossed up allowing Vigeant and Brian Tagg to reel in the second place car.
Over the final two laps, Oliveira extended his lead over Marcotte. Vigeant was able to take third from Tagg. Berthiaume rebounded from his early race incident to round out the top five.
Rookie Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, showed the prowess of a veteran when he drove his Innovative Business Systems #35 to victory lane for his third straight victory. Steve Desmarias took advantage of his pole starting position and a heated battle for the second position to run out to a sizeable advantage in the opening stages of the event.
Ramstrom, up from his sixth starting spot, meticulously worked his way toward the front; picking off cars one by one. By halfway, Ramstrom was second and headed for the leader.
On lap 16, Ramstrom got alongside Desmarias for the lead. The two went side-by-side for a pair of laps before Ramstrom could get the edge at the stripe to complete lap 18. Dave Berghman had caught the leaders during their battle.
On lap 21, Berghman was able to make the pass on Desmarais for second. The front three got strung out over the final stage of the event. Ramstrom ran alone at the head of the pack. The best battle on the field was for the sixth position between Wrenn, Macedonio and Fred Astle. Contact by Macedonio sent Wrenn spinning to bring out the event’s first caution on lap 26.
The restart was of little consequence to Ramstrom, who streaked to consecutive victories. Berghman came home second. The top five were shuffled after post-race technical inspection. Apparent third and fourth place finishers, Desmarias and George Bessette were penalized positions. Jeff Connors, Macedonio, and Fred Astle ultimately rounded out the top five.
Conrad Cote of Lisbon, CT, came out on the winning end of a heated battle with Jeff Zuidema. The event, which was postponed for a short rain-delay following the TIS Modified event, was worth the wait. Mark Jenison started from the point but Cote was the early leader. The man on the move was Tom O’Sullivan, who moved into third after a pair of laps. It was a three car battle for third with Jenison, Rick Gentes, and Jeff Zuidema. The front duo was able to break away as the three battled.
Zuidema was able to get by Jenison on lap 8 and set sail for Gentes. He took the third spot away from Gentes on lap 11. Almost immediately, Zuidema had reeled in O’Sullivan. He made quick work of the runner-up. Once in second, Zuidema settled in search of the lead.
At halfway, Cote had built up a half straightaway advantage. Zuidema was chopping away at the lead while O’Sullivan, Gentes, and Marc Palmisano waged war for third.
On lap 17, Zuidema sent his #37 deep into the low groove of turn four trying to make a bid on Cote. Zuidema got out of shape giving Cote a slight advantage again. Lap-after-lap Zuidema dogged the leader.
With two laps to go Zuidema tried Cote again exiting turn four. Again, Cote was up to the challenge. The leaders made slight contact exiting turn four heading for the white flag. Cote was able to maintain the lead. Zuidema gave it one last ditch effort exiting turn two but Cote could not be headed; taking home his first win of the season.
Thursday night was sweet redemption for Ernie LaRose of Plainfield, MA, who rebounded from early season heartache to score a popular victory in Limited Sportsman. The division treated the fans to a heated battle for the top spot. Pole sitter Randy Jurcik had his hands full from the drop of the green flag with the charges of Larose, Joe Arena, and Tommy Shea.
Arena made a bold move on the backstretch moving from fourth into the second spot. On lap 8, Arena was the new leader. LaRose made quick work of the competition to move into the second spot. His march to the front continued as he reeled in the leader Arena. The two went side-by-side for several laps before taking sole possession of the lead on lap 11.
Scott Sundeen came charging into contention with Ed Puleo also taking chase. In the closing laps, the action heated up once again behind leader LaRose. Sundeen bested Arena taking Puleo along for the ride. In the final lap, the battle for the fifth went right down to the wire between Larry Barnett and Jesse Gleason. In a photo finish it was Barnett who was awarded the fifth position over Gleason.
Tim Taylor of Wauregan, CT, turned in a dominating performance to score his first victory of the 2008 season. Taylor is the fifth different winner in as many weeks in the Mini Stock division.
Steve Michalski took the lead early in the Mini Stock main event; however, his lead was short-lived after relinquishing the lead to Tim Taylor on lap four. Once out front, Taylor immediately began to extend his advantage on the field. After a lap one altercation, point leader Mike Romano was mired deep in traffic. By halfway, Romano was inside the top ten.
It was a three-car battle for second between Steve Michalski, Danny Fields, and Scott Michalski in the closing laps. Fields waited for two-to-go to make his move on Steve Michalski to take over second. Brother Scott stole the spot away from Steve heading to the checkers, relegating Scott to fourth. A hard-charging Romano completed the top five. By virtue of his victory, Taylor also earned a guaranteed starting spot in the Four-Cylinder Nationals schedule for July 27th at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, ME.
NEMA Midget Feature Finish (Top-Five): Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA; 2. Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, MA; 3. Erica Santos, Franklin, MA; 4. Nokie Fornoro, Stroudsburg, PA; 5. Joey Payne, Jr., Fairlawn, NJ.
SK Modified 25-Lap Make-Up Feature (Top Ten): 1. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ; 2. Bert Marvin, Waterford, CT; 3. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 4. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 5. Bobby Grigas, III, Marshfield, MA; 6. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 7. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 8. Ricky Shawn, Bradford, CT; 9. Danny LaJeunesse, Norwich, CT; 10. Buddy Charette, Woodstock, CT.
SK Modified 30-Lap Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ; 2. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 3. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 5. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 6. Tommy Cravenho, Raynham, MA; 7. Buddy Charette, Woodstock, CT: 8. Ricky Shawn, Bradford, CT; 9. Josh Sylvester, Lebanon, CT; 10. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT.
Pro Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 2. Dave Berghman, Seekonk, MA; 3. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 4. Jay Macedonio, Somerset, MA; 5. Fred Astle, Jr., Westport, MA; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. Nick Ribbe, Kingston, MA; 8. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI; 9. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 10. Greg Nanigian, Braintree, MA.
Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Conrad Cote, Lisbon, CT; 2. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 3. Marc Palmisano, Hadley, MA; 4. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 5. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 6. Pete Yetman, Peru, MA; 7. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 8. Mark Jenison, Danielson, CT; 9. Jay Stuart, Preston, CT; 10. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA.
Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Ernie Larose, Plainfield, CT; 2. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 3. Ed Puleo, Branford, CT; 4. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 5. Larry Barnett, Ledyard, CT; 6. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 7. Randy Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 8. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 9. Joe Campbell, Moosup, CT; 10. Paul Palen, Pelham, NH.
TIS Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Leo Oliveira, Raynham, MA; 2. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 3. Kurt Vigeant, Oxford, MA; 4. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 5. Jesse Berthiaume, Mendon, MA; 6. Dennis Legere, N. Reading, MA; 7. Shane Michalski, Woodstock, CT; 8. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 9. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 10. Richie Ferriera, Raynham, MA.
Mini Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Tim Taylor, Wauregan, CT; 2. Danny Fields, Deep River, CT; 3. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 4. Steve Michalski, Dayville, CT; 5. Mike Romano, Glendale, RI; 6. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 7. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill, CT; 8. Glynn Roy, Sterling, CT; 9. Eric Bourgeois, E. Haddam, CT; 10. Fred Michalski, Dayville, CT.
Sources:Dale Wolbrink/ Thompson Int’l Speedway PR