Rocco Wins Marathon Sunoco Mod 50; Rose Tops in Super Lates O’Sullivan, Coutu, Boss, & Caddick Score Victories
Thompson, CT — On a night when Thompson Speedway was to have been silent, there was plenty of activity on the 5/8th mile oval on Thursday night with Keith Rocco and Les Rose among those taking down victories. After experiencing three rain outs thus far this season, Thompson Speedway management added a full slate of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition that included a 50 lapper for the Sunoco Modifieds.
Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, showed perseverance as he came home the victor in the 50-lapper for the Sunoco Modifieds. Les Rose, Jr. of Southbridge, MA, took home the Super Late Model victory. Tommy O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, broke into victory lane with his first feature win of the 2009 season in the Late Models. Hometown racer Paul Coutu, Jr. of Thompson, CT, scored an exciting win in the Limited Sportsman division while Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, turned his luck around with a victory in the TIS Modifieds on Thursday night. Brad Caddick of New London, CT, was declared the winner of the Mini Stock main event after post race technical inspection.
The Speedway will be in action again this week on Saturday night with the presentation of Full Fendered Frenzy featuring the Camping World East Series and the Pro All Star Series. For complete details visit thompsonspeedway.com.
[Thompson Speedway Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, came on strong in the late stages of the extra-distance event to take down the victory over his nemesis Ted Christopher. Kerry Malone jumped out to the early lead; taking the top spot from Rowan Pennink. Pitkat quickly moved into the second position while Pennink fell into the grasp of Ted Christopher. Danny Cates and Todd Ceravolo joined the battle for the third position was well.
Contact between Pennink and Christopher found Christopher out of the groove. Ceravolo, Pennink and Cates were all able to advance their positions. Rocco ran quietly in the eighth position. Up front, Pitkat was glued to the back bumper of his teammate Malone. The caution flew on lap 18 when Henry Stamfl went up in smoke. During the caution period, Christopher, Pennink, Rocco, Jimmy Blewett and others headed down pit road to the attention of their pit crews.
Pitkat gave Malone a run on the restart but had to settle back in line in the second spot. Ceravolo took chase in third followed by Cates and Josh Sylvester. Harry Rheaume was having a good run in the sixth position. Debris in turn four necessitated the caution at halfway. Rocco came down pit road for service again under the caution. Rocco was joined on pit road by Sylvester.
Back under green it was much of the same for the lead pack of Malone, Pitkat, Ceravolo, and Cates. Rheaume had moved into the fifth position but had his hands full with Christopher. After another quick caution, Ceravolo tried the low side on Pitkat but had to settle back in line. Cates and Christopher racing for the fourth position made contact. Both were able to continue; however, Christopher lost several spots.
The caution flew again on lap 32 when early leader Pennink made contact with the outside wall exiting turn four. Rheaume relinquished the fifth spot to come down pit road for service. After a false start, Ceravolo gave up the third position to visit pit road.
When the race went back to green Malone continued to lead Pitkat, Cates, Christopher and Rocco in the top five. The complexion of the race changed dramatically on the lap 33, a half a lap after the restart. Contact between Pitkat and Malone sent Malone spinning from the lead. Rocco shot through the narrowest of holes to miss the incident. Without completing a lap the lead would have gone to Pitkat; however, he was given the consolation flag for spinning the leader. On the restart, Rocco was pitted against new leader Christopher. Cates, Tim Sullivan, and Blewett made up the top five.
On the restart, a cross over move by Rocco on Christopher gave the youngster the lead. A spin by Blewett brought out the caution, requiring Rocco to make the move once again. Rocco made it look easy on the ensuing restart taking over the top spot with ease. Rocco immediately jumped out to a sizeable advantage. Tim Sullivan was having the race of his young SK Modified career running in the third position.
Cates got along side Sullivan on lap 38 but could not make the pass. Ceravolo was running behind the duo in fifth. The pack ran out of running room coming out of turn four. The cars of Sullivan, Cates, Ceravolo, and Sylvester came to rest in a heap at the start-finish line.
When the dust cleared, Rocco led Christopher and Pitkat to the green flag for the restart. The duo of Rocco and Christopher immediately distanced themselves from third running Pitkat. Blewett was already back up to the fourth position followed by Rheaume in a distant fifth.
The field stretched out over the final laps of the event making for an uneventful run for the checkers. Rocco scored his third win of the season to extend his point lead over Pitkat and Pennink. Christopher settled for second ahead of Pitkat, Blewett, and Rheaume.
Les Rose, Jr. of Southbridge, MA, scored his first win of the season in the Super Late Model division. Rose took over the top spot early and held back some stiff competition to score the win. Jay Macedonio jumped out to the early lead but relinquished the top spot to Rose on lap four.
During a long green flag run, Rose was enjoying a sizeable lead over Jeff Connors, who had taken over the second spot. The battle for the fourth position behind Macedonio was heating up between Jim Banfield, Rick Fuller, and Derek Ramstrom. The action was slowed when a number of front runners tangled on lap 13 including Larry Gelinas, George Bessette, and Norm Wrenn.
At the halfway marker, Rose again had developed a comfortable margin over Connors, Macedonio, and now Fuller. Mike O’Sullivan had moved into the top five. Both Fuller and O’Sullivan made their way by a faltering Macedonio.
In the late stages of the event, Connors had caught Rose while Fuller and O’Sullivan were closing the distance. On the backstretch with three laps remaining, Connors made a bid for the lead; moving to the inside of Rose. Rose took evasive action with the two making significant contact. Connors barely missed a beat holding on to the second spot. O’Sullivan meanwhile was able to get by Fuller.
A spin by Macedonio gave Connors another shot at the leader. Rose rocketed out on the single file restart to maintain his lead. The #51 of Connors was not as strong as it had been earlier relinquishing the second spot to Sullivan. Four cars battled door-to-door and nose-to-nose for the third spot. At the checkers, it was Rose scoring the win over O’Sullivan. Fuller came out of the three-wide dash to the checkers with the third position followed by Connors and Ramstrom.
Tom O’Sullivan jumped out to the early lead. He distanced himself from the rest of the pack as Jay Stuart was holding off the charges of John Materas, Jeff Zuidema, and Rick Gentes. Materas was able to get around Stuart for the second spot on lap 13. By this time, O’Sullivan had worked out to a straightaway advantage. Materas had opened the flood gates as Zuidema and Gentes were also able to get by for position.
On lap 16, the first caution of the event flew after contact between Mark Oliveira and Stuart. O’Sullivan lost his large lead but not the momentum. He was able to retain his lead on successive restarts. Materas continued to take chase followed by Zuidema. Gentes had dropped off the pace with less than five laps to go; leaving Stuart and Oliveira inside the top five.
During the stretch run, O’Sullivan was not able to gain as big of an advantage as he had previously but it was enough to gain the victory. It was the first victory of the season for O’Sullivan. Materas’ stellar season continued with a runner-up finish. Zuidema, Stuart, and Oliveira completed the top five.
An event that started out with problems during the heat race for Paul Coutu, Jr. of Thompson, CT, ended in celebration. Coutu freed himself of pole sitter Chris Bisson to set the pace early. Both Scott Sundeen and Larry Barnett did a masterful job of working their way through the heavy traffic to make their way to the front of the pack. Sundeen quickly moved into the runner up spot. Barnett entered the third spot by lap five.
At halfway, Coutu continued to lead S. Sundeen and Barnett. Kevin Bowe ran alone in third followed by Sean Monahan. The action slowed for the first caution of the event on lap 13 for a spin by Bowe. On the restart, Coutu continued to lead while Barnett and S. Sundeen were locked in a heated battle for second. An equally intense battle for third featured Joe Arena and Monahan. With a handful of laps remaining a scary looking wreck involving Nick Sundeen necessitated the caution. The youngest of the three racing Sundeens was not injured.
A spin by Monahan with two laps remaining made it a three-car battle for the win over the last few laps. The three cars waged quite a battle as they ran the final laps in a tight pack. As they headed to the checkers, Coutu edged out Barnett for the win. S. Sundeen, who had been pushing Coutu, finished third. After taking the checkered flag, Coutu lost his brakes making hard contact with the outside wall. He brought his heavily damaged car to celebrate in victory lane. Joe Arena and Joe Coates rounded out the top five.
Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, got the monkey off his back to win his first TIS Modified feature of the 2009 season. Boss had his hands full with a charging Leo Oliveira in the early stages of the event. Boss was able to get some breathing room when R.J. Marcotte entered the fray working on Oliveira for the second position. A spin by Jeff Barrows bunched up the filed just after halfway. Marcotte was the big loser on the restart slipping back to the fifth position behind Boss, Oliveira, Brian Tagg and Cam McDermott.
Out front, Boss was beginning to get some distance over Oliveira. Brian Sullivan had made his way past Marcotte and into the fifth position but was stuck behind the side-by-side battle between Tagg and McDermott. A hole opened up allowing Sullivan to take over the fourth spot. McDermott had caught Oliveira while Boss continued to stretch his lead. Boss took down the victory ahead of Oliveira, McDermott, Sullivan and Tagg.
Brad Caddick of New London, CT crossed under the checkers in the second position in the Mini Stock feature event but he went home with the trophy. Caddick finished second to Tim Taylor, who was disqualified after post race technical inspection for a weight infraction. Fred Michalski took the lead just before a melee on the backstretch slowed the action on lap five. Billy Pomposelli spun from the third position shuffling the pack once again. On the restart Tim Taylor catapulted from fourth position into second exiting turn three, by turn one of lap six, he was the new leader.
Once out front, Taylor immediately ran out to a sizeable advantage. It was a three car family battle for the third position between Michalski Brothers-Fred, Scott and Steve. Scott was able to move into the third spot. The trio was broken up by Mike Romano who moved into fourth. Taylor had smooth sailing as he raced to what appeared to be his third win in four races. Caddick and St. Michalski also crossed the line second and third respectively. Caddick was officially scored as the winner of the race with St. Michalski, Romano and F. Michalski and Nick Anderson completed the top five.
Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 3. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 4. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ; 5. Harry Rheaume, Oakdale, CT; 6. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 7. Andy Gaspar, Andover, CT; 8. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 9. Dave LaCroix, Fitchburg, MA; 10. John Catania, Agawam, MA. (Unofficial results as of press time)
Super Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Les Rose, Jr., Southbridge, MA; 2. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 4. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 5. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. George Bessette, Danbury, CT; 8. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 9. Dennis Maxfield, Fitchburg, MA; 10. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI.
Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 3. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 4. Jay Stuart, Preston, CT; 5. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 6. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 7. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT; 8. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 9. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 10. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA.
Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Paul Coutu, Jr., Thompson, CT; 2. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 3. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 4. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 5. Joe Coates, Eastford, CT, 6. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT; 7. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 8. Tom Shea, New London, CT; 9. Chris Bisson, Putnam, CT; 10. Joe Plonski, Worcester, MA.
TIS Modifieds Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT, 2. Leo Oliveira, Raynham, MA; 3. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI, 4. Brian Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 5. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 6. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 7. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 8. Richie Ferreira, Raynham, MA; 9. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 10. Jeff Barrows, Worcester, MA.
Mini Stock Feature Finish Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Brad Caddick, New London, CT; 2. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 3. Mike Romano, Chepachet, RI; 4. Fred Michalski, Dayville, CT; 5. Nick Anderson, Oxford, MA; 6. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 7. Alicia Thatcher, Pascoag, RI; 8. Mike Gorgievski, Auburn, MA; 9. Lloyd Anderson, Jr., Wauregan, CT; 10. Trevor Michalski, S. Killingly, CT.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR