Seuss Scores TVMRS Win at Thompson; Pitkat Tops in Sunoco Mods; Materas Sweeps LM Doubles; O’Sullivan, Monahan, Tagg & Michalski Victorious
Thompson, CT — On Thursday night, the third time was certainly a charm for Andy Seuss of Hampstead, NH, who scored the victory in the third attempt to get the True Value Modified Series event in the books at the Thompson International Speedway. The event was postponed on two different occasions earlier in the season. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Woody Pitkat of Stafford, CT, scored his second win of the season in the Sunoco Modifieds. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, also took down his second win of the season in the Super Late Models.
John Materas of Voluntown, CT, swept the action in twin features for the Late Model division. Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT, scored his first Limited Sportsman feature event of the year in dominating fashion. Brian Tagg of Oxford, MA, was tops in the TIS Modifieds while Steve Michalski of Brooklyn, CT, was the winner in the Mini Stocks.
Andy Seuss of Hampstead, NH, scored his first True Value Modified Series (TVMRS) victory of the season in a drama-filled 75-lapper. Seuss took the lead late in the event and held back serious challenges from Steve Massey and Rowan Pennink to score the victory. Richard Savary had a strong run to finish second. Todd Owen joined the duo on the podium. Ted Christopher, who started scratch on the field, finished fourth. Chris Pasteryak completed the top five.
Rowan Pennink looked like he was headed to his second straight TVMRS victory on Thursday night. However, the early leader was penalized to the tail end of the lead lap for jumping the start after dominating the first half of the event. He battled back to vie for the win only to run out of fuel on lap 68. Young Steve Massey, who was the show for much of the event battling first with Pennink and then Seuss, had a spin while battling for the lead with less than 15 laps to go. Mechanical woes sidelined his bid at a comeback.
Woody Pitkat of Stafford, CT, took over the lead on lap five and withstood a number of late race cautions to score his second Sunoco Modified feature event of the 2009 season. The opening lap was marred by an incident involving Tim Sullivan and Shelly Perry. The caution led the way to some intense racing. Jimmy Blewett was the early leader followed by Rowan Pennink and Pitkat. The top four cars ran side-by-side and nose-to-tail.
As Rocco began to challenge Pennink for third, Blewett and Pitkat got away just slightly. They began a heated battle of their own to once again tighten up now the eight cars that made up the lead pack. Pitkat was able t o take the top spot from Blewett on lap five while Rocco moved into the third spot.
Pennink began to take back the ground he lost earlier to regain the second position. Blewett had his hands full with Rocco who in turn had pressure from Kerry Malone. Bert Marvin was on the move taking the sixth position from Ted Christopher.
Blewett began to falter falling back to the eighth position. Marvin took over positions from both Blewett and Malone and into the fourth spot. Pitkat continued to lead with Pennink and Rocco in close proximity.
At halfway, Pitkat led Pennink, Rocco, Marvin, Malone, Christopher, Blewett and Danny Cates. Harry Rheaume and Andy Gaspar ran a straight-away behind to round out the top ten. At lap 20, Rocco was getting racy; peeking to the inside of Pennink. All action mellowed when the second caution of the event flew for an incident involving Rheaume.
Coming out of turn four for the restart, Rocco ducked to the inside making it three-wide for the top spot. Pitkat came out of the mix with the lead once again. Rocco was able to steal second from Pennink. Marvin was fourth while Christopher was using the outside groove to make his way inside the top five.
Contact between Christopher and Cates necessitated the caution. Under the caution, Blewett headed to pit road for service. Both Blewett and Cates were able to continue while Christopher retired from the event.
On the single file restart, Pitkat had the advantage until turn one when Rocco got alongside. The two went wheel-to-wheel before Rocco had to settle back into second. Pennink got a run on the outside looking to take the second position away from Rocco. Contact between Rocco and Pennink found Pennink into the outside wall on the backstretch. Marvin and Malone were nearly collected. Rocco was put to the rear for his involvement.
With the green in the air once again, Pitkat led a hard-charging Marvin. Malone ran in the third position ahead of Ricky Shawn. After only two laps, Rocco was already up to the fifth spot.
At the checkers, Pitkat was able to hold off Marvin to score his second win of the season. With his win, Pitkat secured his car owners Bob Hitchcock and Kelly Iverson a guaranteed starting spot in the 7th Annual John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout at Concord Speedway in Concord, NC, on November 7, 2009. Marvin came home second followed by Malone, Ricky Shawn, and Rocco.
Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, proved to be the man to beat on Thursday night with his second Super Late Model victory of the season. Les Rose led the field to green and was able to gain a favorable advantage as the battle for second heated up between Norm Wrenn, O’Sullivan, Derek Ramstrom, and Larry Gelinas. O’Sullivan took over the second spot from Wrenn and immediately began to cut into Rose’s advantage.
At the halfway marker, the man on the move was George Bessette. He broke into the top five and began to hunt down Gelinas. There were problems for Ramstrom who fell to the tenth position. With 10 laps to go, O’Sullivan had caught the back bumper of Rose. Wrenn was right in step with the lead duo as well.
On lap 22, O’Sullivan easily made his way into the lead. Wrenn followed through relegating Rose to third. He fell in jeopardy of losing another spot to Gelinas. Over the final laps, O’Sullivan was able to edge away from Wrenn for a two-car length advantage. The #48 of Gelinas dropped off the pace with only three laps to go.
O’Sullivan headed to the checkers uncontested for his second victory of the season. Wrenn was second at the line followed by Rose, Bessette and Mike Stefanik in the top five.
John Materas of Voluntown, CT, started in the eleventh position when the Late Model division set out to complete the final 40 laps of their 50 lapper that was rain-shorted back on June 11, 2009. He considered himself a long shot but in the end he was the big shot. Tom O’Sullivan assumed his lead when the racing resumed on lap 10. The top three of O’Sullivan, Jay Stuart, and Jeff Zuidema quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. The battle for the second position heated up when Zuidema made a move on Stuart. Division top-gun Rick Gentes retired from the event in the early going.
Once free of Stuart, Zuidema began to run down O’Sullivan. At the halfway marker, Zuidema had caught O’Sullivan. The two ran nose to tail as Mark Oliveira and John Materas were trying to work their way into contention. The leaders, O’Sullivan and Zuidema, entered lapped traffic. Tom Fox ran alone in third followed by a brewing battle between Oliveira and Materas.
Materas found some steam in the late stages of the event passing both Oliveira and Fox to move into the fourth position with fifteen laps to go. Up front, Zuidema continued to tail O’Sullivan. Over the final laps, Zuidema began to apply serious pressure on the leader. With only 10 laps to go, Zuidema’s car faltered. A spin by Zuidema on lap 40 brought out the event’s first caution.
The restart pitted Stuart against O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan handily resumed his lead. O’Sullivan was able to get some breathing room as Stuart and Materas battled. A string of cautions slowed t he action and ultimately changed the complexion of the race.
Materas took advantage of a lap 43 restart motoring past both Stuart and O’Sullivan to be the new leader at lap 44. Zuidema had rebounded to battle for third over Stuart. Contact between the two ended up with the point-leader Zuidema hard into the outside wall. Stuart was put to the rear of the field for his involvement.
Materas had to withstand pressure from O’Sullivan in the closing laps. The Voluntown, CT, driver was up to the challenge to score his third win of the season. O’Sullivan had to settle for second. Oliveira, Fox and Randy Waterman rounded out the top five.
In the night capper for the division, Materas was both lucky and good en route to his second win of the evening and fourth of the season. From early in the event, Materas once again found himself in the heat of the battle. He took the lead early but immediately had pressure from Rick Gentes. It took only a handful of laps for Gentes, who had problems in the opening event, to take over the top spot. Gentes never got away from Materas. The duo had nearly a straightaway advantage over Corey Hutchings in third.
The best battle on the track was for the fourth position. Randy Waterman held the position but had his hands full with Dennis Perry, Oliveira and O’Sullivan. On lap 10, a billow of smoke came from behind the #70 of Gentes sending the leader to pit road. Materas inherited the lead over Hutchings. O’Sullivan got out of shape flying through the dirt on the same lap.
With Materas all alone up front; Hutchings could do nothing but chase. Again the battle with Waterman began to heat up once again; this time with different players. Fox took over the third position leaving Waterman to battle with Perry.
The caution flew with only two laps remaining with after an incident on the backstretch. Under the caution, Fox relinquished the third spot and headed to pit road. A green white checker restart proved to be of little consequence as it was uneventful up front as Materas went on to sweep the Late Model main events on the evening. Hutchings, Waterman, Perry, and O’Sullivan rounded out the top five.
Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT, scored a commanding victory in the Limited Sportsman feature event on Thursday night. The event featured a great battle for the top spot between leader Tommy Shea and Monahan. Monahan moved around Shea and into the lead on lap four. The top three were spread out while the fourth position on back was hotly contested between Jay Sundeen, Larry Barnett, Gerald Sevigny, Scott Sundeen and Joe Arena.
J. Sundeen and Barnett had maneuvered into the top five. J. Sundeen caught Gleason. He motored into the third spot with Barnett and S. Sundeen in tow. Barnett got up alongside J. Gleason with three laps remaining. Sundeen was holding off Barnett as his father Scott looked on. Monahan enjoyed a sizeable advantage as he cruised to his first Limited Sportsman victory of the season. Shea had a season high runner-up finish. J. Sundeen was able to hold off Barnett for the third position. S. Sundeen completed the top five.
Brian Tagg of Oxford, MA, scored his third TIS Modified feature win of the season on Thursday night. Tagg was the new leader on a lap four restart; taking over the top spot from early leader Richie Ferreira. During the green flag run approaching halfway, Tagg, Ferreira, and RJ Marcotte had broken away from the remainder of the field.
Tagg was able to extend his lead as Marcotte began to pressure Richie Ferreira. Studley had begun to reel in the battle for the second position. With only three laps to go, Studley had caught Ferreira and Marcotte. The three jockeyed for position as Tagg got further ahead.
Tagg was able to cruise to the victory. Ferreira was able to hold off all challengers to finish second. Marcotte, Studley and Cam McDermott completed the top five at the stripe. After post race technical inspection, Studley was disqualified moving McDermott to fourth and Jay Sundeen to fifth. It was a tough night for the divisional point leader Tim Sullivan, who was eliminated from the competition in a grinding crash with Leo Oliveira on the opening lap. He was scored last.
In the Mini Stock main event, Steve Michalski set sail at the head of the pack in the early going of the feature event. He had plenty of company in Mike Gorgievski. Teammates Randy Churchill and Tim Taylor were locked in a battle for the third position. With less than five laps to go, Taylor watched his bid for his seventh feature victory disappear. The seven-time feature winner was collected when the car of Alicia Thatcher got out of shape exiting turn three. Taylor made hard contact with the outside wall in turn four.
On a lap 12 restart, Michalski had his hands full with a charging Gorgievski. On the final three laps Gorgievski hounded the leader. Coming out of turn three Gorgievski got alongside of Michalski. He edged ahead coming into turn four. Michalski battled back. The two went door-to-door as they approached the checker. Michalski was declared the winner in a photo-finish. Gorgievski settled for the second position over Churchill, Blanchard, and the winner’s brother Fred Michalski.
True Value Modified Racing Series 75-Lap Feature Event Finish (Top Ten): 1. Andy Seuss Hampstead, NH; 2. Richard Savary Canton, MA; 3. 29 Todd Owen Somers, CT; 4. Ted Christopher Plainville, CT; 5. Chris Pasteryak Jewett City, CT; 6. Jeff Malave, S. Windsor, CT; 7. Rob Goodenough Swanzey, NH; 8. Shelly Perry Westerly, RI; 9. Peter Jarvis Ascutney, VT; 10. Jack Bateman Canaan, NH
Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 2. Bert Marvin, Waterford, CT; 3. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 4. Ricky Shawn, Bradford, RI; 5. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 6. Dave LaCroix, Fitchburg, MA; 7. Harry Rheaume, Oakdale, CT; 8. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 9. Andy Gaspar, Andover, CT; 10. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ.
Super Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 3. Les Rose, Jr. Southbridge, MA; 4. George Bessette, Danbury, CT; 5. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. Dennis Maxfield, Fitchburg, MA; 8. Daryl Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 9. Kraig Coffin, Uxbridge, MA; 10. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA.
Late Model June 11, 2009 Make-Up Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 2. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 4. Tom Fox, Plainfield, CT; 5. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT; 6. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 8. Jay Stuart, Preston, CT; 9. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 10. Frank Marabito, Willington, CT.
Late Model Feature Event Finish (Top Ten): 1. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 2. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 3. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT; 4. Dennis Perry, Pawcatuck, CT; 5. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 6. Jeff Hartwell, E. Putnam, CT; 7. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 8. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 9. Tom Fox, Plainfield, CT; 10. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA.
Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Shawn Monahan, Waterford, CT; 2. Tommy Shea, New London, CT; 3. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 4. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 5. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 7. Gerald Sevigny, Brooklyn, CT; 8. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 9. Joe Campbell, Moosup, CT; 10. Paul Palen, Pelham, NH.
Mini Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 2. Mike Gorgievski, Auburn, MA; 3. Randy Churchill, Niantic, CT; 4. Rick Blanchard, Pascoag, RI; 5. Fred Michalski, Dayville, CT; 6. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 7. Nate Taylor, Wauregan, CT; 8. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 9. Scott Jassaume, Danielson, CT; 10. Brad Caddick, New London, CT.
TIS Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Brian Tagg, Oxford, CT; 2. Richie Ferreira, Raynham, MA; 3. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 4. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 5. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. John Michael Shenette, Thompson, CT; 7. Denis Leger, N. Reading, MA; 8. Bart Ramos, Putnam, MA; 9. Jeff Barrows, Worcester, MA; 10. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR