Ramstom Takes Down Second Consecutive Win; Christopher Takes Down a Wildly Contested Sunoco Mod Victory
O’Sullivan Wins in Late Model Competition; Barnett Finds Victory Lane for the Fourth Time; McDermott and Sullivan Take Home TIS Modified Honors
Thompson, CT — Thompson International Speedway implemented the new NASCAR rule where the leader decides if they want to restart on the inside or the outside. With weather moving in the action was hot and heavy. The rains came within minutes of the final checker flag of the evening. The TIS Modifieds did double duty as they ran two features, the Super Late Models had their 50 lap extra distance race. Ted Christopher took down a highly contested win in Sunoco Modified action. Larry Barnett continued his domination in the Limited Sportsman division. Tommy O’Sullivan took down his first Late Model victory of the season as did Scott Michalski in the Mini Stocks.
Kerry Malone led the field to the green flag in Sunoco Modified action. Blewett grabbed the lead on lap 1. Malone had heavy pressure from Woody Pitkat who went low and took the spot on lap 3. Pitkat then glued himself to Blewetts’s back bumper. A lap later he went low and took the lead; however, Blewett wasn’t giving up easily. Ted Christopher now joined the fray in fourth and brought Keith Rocco with him. Rocco dove low under Christopher and took over the fourth spot and on the backstretch took over third. The action was slowed by a spin by John Catania.
On the restart Blewett jumped out to the lead but Josh Sylvester made heavy contact with the wall in between turns 1 and 2. When we went back to green, Blewett went back to the lead but Pitkat went high and took over the top spot bringing Rocco with him. Christopher went high on Blewett and took over third. Rocco took over the top spot after making slight contact with Pitkat. Christopher followed Rocco and grabbed second. Tim Sullivan had made his way up to the fifth spot. Just past halfway Christopher went low and took over the lead for a split second over Rocco who then took the spot back. Christopher inherited the lead when contact between Pitkat and Rocco sent Rocco hard into the wall in turns 1 & 2.
With the green back in the air, Christopher came across the line first. In almost the same spot where Rocco just hit, Harry Rheaume made hard contact with the wall. TC and Pitkat restarted their battle with the green flag back in the air. Sullivan went low and took the third spot from Rowan Pennink. On lap 21 Pitkat went low and took over the top spot. A spin by Rick D’Abate slowed the field again his machine onto pit road for some attention.
Pitkat took the inside for the restart. It was a smart move as he took off with Christopher falling back. Christopher went low and retook the spot. Pitkat wasn’t giving up and battled back. He was looking high and low lap after lap. Pennink made contact with the backstretch wall slowing the field again.
At lap 26 it was a single file restart. Christopher again took the lead but again Pitkat wasn’t going to lie down and give up. He looked high in turn 4, low in turn 1 and applied the pressure. Bert Marvin had moved his way up to fourth. After taking the white flag, Pitkat took the lead but he and Christopher made contact between 3 and 4 and TC took down the win.
Jeff Connors led the Super Late Models down to the green flag for the start of their 50-lap feature. Rick Fuller, Derek Ramstrom,and Larry Gelinas were the top 4. The battle for the fifth spot was between Jay Macedonio and Jim Banfield. Macedonio took the spot. Banfield wasn’t going to let him get too far ahead as he fought back. During this battle Norm Wrenn reeled them in. Banfield took the fifth spot bringing Wrenn along for the ride.
The top 3 of Connors, Fuller and Ramstrom had checked out on the rest of the field. Gelinas was running by himself in fourth. Banfield still held the fifth position. On lap 16 ,Fuller went under Connors for the lead bringing Ramstrom with him. Gelinas had managed to catch up to Connors. It was now a 2 car battle for the lead and a two car battle for the third spot
At the halfway mark it was Fuller, Ramstrom, Connors, Gelinas and Banfield in the top 5. The field had settled into single file racing. At lap 29 Ramstrom took a peek under Fuller. A lap later he made the pass for the lead. Fuller battled back under Ramstrom but the youngster held him off. Ramstrom then opened up a sizeable lead. Mike O’Sullivan nosed his way under Wrenn trying to grab the sixth spot. With ten laps to go this was the heaviest contested spot. Gelinas was trying to make a move on Connors with 5 to go looking to grab the fourth spot. With 2 to go O’Sullivan took the spot from Wrenn and set his sights on Banfield.
Ramstrom took home his second consecutive race. Connors held on by inches to take the second spot. Connors, Gelinas and O’Sullivan rounded out the top 5.
In Late Model action Rick Gentes started outside the front row and took off like he was shot out of a cannon into the lead. Tommy O’Sullivan followed him along with Jay Stuart and Jeff Zuidema. Zuidema was applying pressure on Stuart looking high and low. John Materas was looking on, waiting for one of them to bobble so he could make his move. The yellow flew on lap 8 as Frank Mirabito went up in smoke.
On the restart it was again Gentes and O’Sullivan but now Zuidema moved into third. Jay Stuart and Materas rounded out the top 5. Contact between Stuart and Materas brought out the yellow and sent Materas to the rear of the field for his actions.
Gentes and O’Sullivan were door to door on the restart with O’Sullivan getting by Gentes. Zuidema was third, Mark Oliveira and Jeremy Sadowski were battling for the fourth position. Meanwhile up front it was a tight battle for the lead with O’Sullivan, Gentes and Zuidema. Lap after lap O’Sullivan and Gentes battled side by side giving the crowd an awesome race. Unfortunately on lap 21 the yellow flew again by a spin by Damen Tinio. This would bring up a single file restart.
O’Sullivan rocketed out to the lead on the restart with Gentes trying to close the gap. At the checkers it was O’Sullivan, Gentes, Zuidema, and Materas. Ron Levesque, Jr. and Damon Tinio made hard contact as they came down the straightaway to take the checker flag.
Jesse Gleason took the lead in the Limited Sportsman feature and took a sizeable lead over Jay Sundeen. Behind Sundeen the battles were furious. There was side by side action between 4 cars all vying for the third spot. Larry Barnett finally took the spot but not without pressure from Joe Coates. By lap 8 everyone had settled into position and took chase on Gleason, Sundeen and Barnett.
Sundeen and Barnett had cut down Gleason’s lead. Barnett was looking low on Sundeen who in turn was looking low on Gleason. With 5 to go, the battle was hot and heavy between Sundeen and Barnett. With 3 to go Barnett took over second and went low on Gleason and took the lead. Hard impact with the turn 3 wall for Steven Cole brought out the yellow and negated Barnett’s pass for the lead. Also involved was Jason Chicolas.
The restart was negated by a yellow for the spinning cars of Joe Arena & Shawn Monahan.
Barnett motored by Gleason to take the lead with 2 to go. He never looked back as he checked out on the rest of the field. Gleason, Sundeen, Joe Coates and Butch Chamberland rounded out the top 5.
Jeff Moffat took the early lead but he had pressure from Mike Viens and Billy Pomposelli in Mini Stock action. Randy Churchill was on a mission as he passed Pomposelli and set his sights on Viens. Churchill passed Viens and glued himself to Moffat’s bumper; however Scott Michalski passed Moffat and Churchill to take the lead. Unfortunately, the yellow flew and negated his pass for the lead. He regained the lead on the restart. Just a few laps later the yellow flew again for a spin by Pomposelli. The restart came with 3 to go. Sc. Michalski jumped out to the lead and never looked back.
R. J. Marcotte jumped out to the lead in the first TIS Modified feature. He went unchallenged until the halfway mark when Cam McDermott caught right up to his back bumper. Saturday’s winner Brian Tagg was making his move trying to catch the top 2. McDermott was looking low and finally took the lead on lap 15. Marcotte didn’t give up without a fight but McDermott took home his first win. Marcotte, Tagg, Brian Sullivan and Leo Oliveira rounded out the top 5.
In the second feature for the TIS Modifieds there was a melee on the initial start involving a number of competitors. The next attempt was negated also as Jeff Barrows spun.
The third time was the charm as Brian Sullivan took lead but Brian Tagg wasn’t going let that go easily. There was a heated battle between the two as they kept swapping the lead. O’Sullivan eventually took total control of the top spot but Tagg not letting him get away that easily. Tagg looked low and made contact relegating him back to fourth behind Sullivan, Cam McDermott & Glen Boss. McDermott kept looking under Sullivan waiting to make his move. With 5 to go the yellow flew for a spin by Barrows. Sullivan kept the lead on the restart. Brian Tagg made his way back into third. R. J. Marcotte spun setting up a green, white, checker finish. Tagg spun on the restart to bring up another try at the green, white, checker finish. Sullivan survived another restart to take down his third win of the season. McDermott, Boss, Leo Oliveira and Jay Sundeen rounded out the top 5.
Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Tim O’Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 3. Bert Marvin, New London, CT; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 5. Rick Shawn, Bradford, RI; 6. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 7. Jimmy Blewett, Calverton, NY; 8. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 9. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 10. Wayne Arute, Berlin, CT.
Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield,MA; 2. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI, 3. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 4. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 5. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 6. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY
Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT, 2. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT, 3. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 4. Joe Coates, Eastford, CT; 5. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Fred Bates, N. Grosvenordale, CT; 7. Paul Coutu, Jr., Thompson, CT; 8. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 9. John Carpenter, Danielson, CT; 10. Kevin Bowe, Pawtucket, RI.
Mini Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 2. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill, CT; 3. Randy Churchill, Niantic, CT; 4. Jeff Moffat, Warwick, RI; 5. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 6. Leo Defevers, Brooklyn, CT; 7. Steve Romjue, Coventry, RI; 8. Brad Caddick, New London, CT; 9. Steven Michalski, Brooklyn CT; 10. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI.
TIS Modified Feature #1 (Top Ten): 1. Cam McDermotte, Scituate, RI; 2. R. J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 3. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 4. Brian Sullivan, South Windsor, CT; 5. Leo Oliveira, Raynham, MA; 6. Richie Ferreira, Raynham, MA; 7. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 8. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 9. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 10. Roger Larson, Jr., Milford, MA.
TIS Modified Feature #2 (Top Ten): 1.Brian Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 2. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 4. Leo Oliveira, Raynham, MA; 5. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 7. Jeff Barrows, Worcester, MA; 8. R. J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 9. Richie Ferreira, Raynham, MA; 10. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA
Sources: Thompson International Speedway PR