Five Division Titles on the Line this Saturday at Thompson
Thompson, CT — Five of the six NASCAR Whelen All-American series division championships will be decided this Thursday at the Thompson International Speedway. The tightest points races are in the track’s Sunoco Modified and Super Late Model divisions where only four points separate the top two contenders in both divisions.
Keith Rocco leads Woody Pitkat by four in the Sunoco Modified ranks while Derek Ramstrom holds the same edge over Mike O’Sullivan. Ramstrom, the high school senior, is the only one of these contenders seeking his first Thompson championship.
Close points races also involve the Thompson Modifieds, Limited Sportsman and Mini Stocks. However, the Late Model title was decided on Thursday, September 17th, when John Materas claimed the crown by a 68 point margin over Mark Oliveira.
Three drivers are in the running for the top spot in the Thompson Modified division. Brian Sullivan, winner of five feature events this year, leads Keith McDermott by 14 points with Brian Tagg only twenty eight points behind. Anyone of the three could emerge with the title following their 20-lap main this week.
The Limited Sportsman division also has three drivers with a chance to claim the championship. Larry Barnett leads the points chase by a margin of thirty two over Jay Sundeen with Joe Arena, forty two off the pace, in third place.
Scott Michalski is in the best position of any of the title contenders. He holds a forty eight point advantage over Brad Caddick in the extremely competitive Mini Stock division. But, with fifty points awarded to the winner, it is still mathematically possible that Caddick could emerge with the crown.
Qualifying races begin at 5:15 PM and the TNTT season-ending feature races follow about one hour later. Tension runs high in these five divisions as championships come down to the last event of the regular season. Each race team is expected to bring their best effort in hopes of ending their season-long effort on a high note.
Once the regular weekly season concludes, Thompson Speedway management will turn their attention to the three-day XTRA MART World Series of Speedway Racing scheduled for the weekend of October 16th-18th. Track officials are expecting in excess of four hundred racers representing fourteen different and distinct divisions. Tickets for this racing extravaganza are now available by calling the track office at 860-923-2280. The entire World Series schedule along with race rules and driver registration forms for “outlaw” divisions are available on the Thompson web site. www.thompsonspeedway.com.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR