Christopher Earns WMT Pole, Two Race Victories & Point Lead at Thompson; Stefanik Scores First Super Late Model Win; Oliveira, Sundeen, Marcotte & Dorr Also Weekly Winners
Thompson, CT — On Thursday night, Thompson International Speedway hosted their traditional summer classic-the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Budweiser 150 and the big winner was Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT. A dominating performance in the WMT found Christopher in victory lane with the point lead.
Christopher also scored a thrilling victory in the Sunoco Modified feature. Fellow Whelen Modified Tour double-duty driver Mike Stefanik of Coventry, RI, turned in a dominating performance to earn the Super Late Model victory.
In other NASCAR Whelen All-America Series action, Mark Oliveira of Blackstone, MA, was victorious in an eventful Late Model feature. Scott Sundeen of Douglas, MA, took down his first Limited Sportsman win of the 2010 season. R.J. Marcotte of Millville, MA, continued to roll in the TIS Modifieds. Dwayne Dorr of Ledyard, CT, posted his second Mini Stock win.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Christopher started off the day by winning the pole in Coors Light qualifying. He ended the evening with a dominating performance to earn his third Whelen Modified Tour victory of the season. Despite leading the most laps, the race was not without drama for Christopher. An incident on lap 148 necessitated a green-white-checker finish. Silk got a great run from the top groove but it was Christopher reclaiming the lead and the victory.
The Plainville, CT, driver took the lead on the opening lap from front row starter Justin Bonsignore. He ran out to a sizeable advantage; relinquishing the lead only to headed to pit road for tires on lap 96. Christopher bolted back to the front taking the lead from Bobby Santos on lap 111. Silk edged Christopher at the line to lead lap 154. A lap later Christopher was the leader once again and the victor. Silk settled for second over Santos.
Christopher also scored a thrilling victory over Woody Pitkat in the Sunoco Modifieds that had the fans on their feet on Thursday night at Thompson. The victory was Christopher’s eighth of the season at the Connecticut oval.
Ronnie Silk immediately jumped out to a sizable advantage after inheriting the pole starting position when Rowan Pennink was forced to pit road before the drop of the green flag. Second-running Tim Sullivan had his hands full with Christopher. On lap five, Christopher was able to get by Sullivan. He immediately went to work on Silk. Christopher took over the lead a single-lap later.
Sullivan was looking to make a move on Silk. Pitkat peeked on the low side looking to make it three-wide. Cates had the best seat in the house in fifth. Christopher continued to extend his lead with the heated battled from second on back.
On lap 12, Pitkat was able to make the move on Sullivan; taking over the third spot. Pitkat was getting racy with Silk when the caution flew for an incident involving Henry Stampfl. Danny Cates gave up the fifth position and headed down pit road.
On the ensuing restart, Christopher was able to rocket back out to the lead. Pitkat dogged Silk for a couple of laps before grabbing second. Once by Silk, Pitkat immediately reeled in Christopher. Pitkat was looking low on Christopher’s lead before the caution flew for a spin by Carl Oberg.
Christopher was able to get some breathing room on the ensuing restart as Pitkat had to do battle with Silk once again. Silk jumped back into second on the restart. It took a lap before Pitkat reclaimed the second position. Cates had already worked his way back to fourth.
Pitkat made a quick bid on Christopher’s lead on lap 25 but settled back in line in second. Cates continued his march moving into third over Silk. The fight for position was not done as contact between Silk and Cates sent Cates backsliding. Things were beginning to get interesting up front with the laps winding down.
Christopher slid up the track after contact between the leaders. This opened the door; giving Pitkat the edge. Contact again in turn four on the white flag lap had Pitkat chasing his racecar. He saved his mount to retain the lead. On the backstretch of the final lap, Christopher got a run on Pitkat. He dove low exiting turn four. Christopher got the edge exiting turn four. He took the victory by a few feet at the stripe. Pitkat had to settle for second over Silk. Pennink rallied from his early race troubles to finish fourth. Cates completed the top five.
It was a banner night not only for Mike Stefanik but for the Thompson Speedway faithful as veteran driver Mike Stefanik of Coventry, RI, scored his first Super Late Model victory. Stefanik took advantage of his front row starting position to lead the way to open the 30-lap feature event. Daryl Stampl had run in second before relinquishing spots to Rick Fuller.
Once free of Stampfl, Fuller began to run down Stefanik. Ramstrom worked over Stampfl for the third position lap-after-lap. On lap eight, Ramstrom was able to take the spot away. The advantage that Stefanik enjoyed over Fuller stabilized while Ramstrom chipped into Fuller’s advantage. A bit deeper in the pack, Larry Gelinas and Mike O’Sullivan made their way by Stampfl. With 10 laps to go, Ramstrom had caught Fuller. The young driver got alongside Fuller on lap 21 but settled back in line.
Ramstrom continued his assault lap-after-lap. Stefanik was able to extend his advantage while the two battled for second. With each lap Ramstrom could get a run exiting the corners but had to settle back in line on the straight-aways.
In the end, it was all Stefanik as he cruised to the popular victory. Fuller held back all advances from Ramstrom to finish second. Ramstrom, Gelinas, and O’Sullivan completed the top-five.
John Materas crossed the line in first but it was Mark Oliveira of Blackstone, MA, who earned the victory in the Late Models on Thursday night. Randy Waterman jumped out from his pole starting position to set the pace in the opening laps. The leader had to contend with the hard-charging Mark Oliveira. John Falconi ran alone in third followed by Jeff Hartwell. The lead duo went door-to-door for a number of laps before Oliveira finally claimed the top spot.
The battle for the fourth position was heating up between Tom O’Sullivan, Rick Gentes, and John Materas. The battle came to a head when O’Sullivan went sliding through the infield on the front stretch; necessitating the caution.
On the ensuing restart, Oliveira was able to regain his lead. Hartwell was able to get a run on Falconi to move into the third position. Falconi continued to fade; losing positions to Rick Gentes and John Materas. Gentes and Materas had run down Hartwell, who was glued to the back bumper of Waterman.
Hartwell got alongside Waterman for the lead. The two made contact; ending with Hartwell hard into the outside wall. Wayne Coury, Sr. was also collected.
Oliveira held onto the lead on the restart. He immediately had to contend with the advances of Gentes. He held on to the top spot until lap 19 when Gentes bolted to the inside of Oliveira to take over the lead. An incident involving Hartwell brought out the caution. Back under green, Gentes had run out to comfortable margin.
Over the closing laps, Materas had reeled in Gentes. He dogged the leader over the final lap. Exiting turn four coming down to the checkers, contact between Materas and Gentes sent Gentes spinning. Materas and Oliveira split the spinning Gentes. Materas streaked under the checkers first; however, he was penalized a position for his involvement. Oliveira was declared the winner. O’Sullivan recovered to finish second. Waterman, Mike Scorzelli, and John Falconi rounded out the top five.
Scott Sundeen of Douglas, MA, turned his luck around on Thursday night with his first Limited Sportsman win of the season. Steve Kenneway led the field to green in the Limited Sportsman feature event. He held onto the top spot as the battling inside the top-five was heating up between Jason Chicolas, Scott Sundeen, Scott Fanning, Paul Coutu, Jr. and Shawn Monahan. Following a lap four restart, Chicolas made a serious bid for the lead; getting alongside Kenneway. He was the new leader on lap six. Sundeen was able to move into the second position as Kenneway continued to fall back through the pack.
Point leader Shawn Monahan had a flat tire giving up his bid for a top finish. As Monahan dropped off the pace, Sundeen had begun to work over Chicolas for the lead. Joe Coates had worked his way into the third position while Barnett broke into the top five. On lap 11, Sundeen was finally able to complete the pass on Chicolas to take over the top spot. Chicolas fell to the challenges of Coates as well. Barnett had made his way past Fanning and Chicolas and set his sights on Coates. Sundeen began to stretch his advantage.
On lap 16, Coates appeared to slow just a bit; opening the door for Barnett. Sundeen was able to maintain his advantage over the hard-charging Barnett. The elder racing Sundeen was able to cruise to the victory over Barnett. Coates finished a strong third followed by Chicolas and Kenneway.
A risky three-wide move early in the TIS Modified main event put R.J. Marcotte of Millville, MA, into victory lane for his third straight victory. Jay Sundeen and John Studley led a two-car breakaway at the head of the pack of TIS Modifieds before the caution flew for an incident involving Ryan Morgan. On the ensuing restart, R.J. Marcotte dove to the inside of the lead duo of Sundeen and Studley to make it three wide exiting turn two. Studley lifted as Marcotte wrestled the lead away. Once out front, Marcotte began to distance himself from Studley, who recovered nicely to run in second.
Glenn Boss, a former regular in the division, making a rare appearance, had motored into third. After a quick pair of cautions, Marcotte assumed his position at the head of the pack. Over the stretch run to the checkers Marcotte had plenty of company with Studley while Boss continued to look racy in third. The action was heated inside the top five as Boss had his hands full with Sundeen, who also had pressure from Keith McDermott. Marcotte held back all challenges to score the victory. Studley had a season-high runner-up finish. Boss held on to finish third over Sundeen and McDermott.
In the Mini Stock main event, Dwayne Dorr scored his second Mini Stock win of the season holding off multi-time winner Randy Churchill for the win. Scott Michalski, Jeff Moffat and Lloyd Anderson completed the top five.
Unofficial Whelen Modified Tour Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 3. Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, MA; 4. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, PA; 5. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 6. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, CT; 7. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville, NY; 8. Doug Coby, Milford, CT; 9. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 10. Glenn Reen, Wilbraham, MA.
Sunoco Modified Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 3. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 4. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, PA; 5. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 6. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 7. Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA; 8. Andy Gaspar, Andover, CT; 9. Ricky Shawn, Bradford, CT; 10. Wayne Arute, Glastonbury, CT.
Super Late Model Feature Finish: 1. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 2. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 3. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 4. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 5. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. Daryl Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 8. Greg Nanigian, Braintree, MA; 9. Ron LaPerch, Pascoag, RI; 10. P.J. Howard, Norwood, MA.
Late Model Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 2. Tom O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. Randy Waterman, Danielson, CT; 4. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 5. John Falconi, N. Grafton, MA; 6. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 7. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 8. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 9. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 10. Bob O’Connell, Wrentham, MA.
Limited Sportsman Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 2. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 3. Joe Coates, Eastford, CT; 4. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 5. Steve Kenneway, Jr., Lowell, MA; 6. Scott Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 7. Paul Coutu, Thompson, CT; 8. Art Moran III, Preston, CT; 9. Mike Romano, Chepachet, RI; 10. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT.
TIS Modified Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 2. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 3. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT; 4. Jason Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 5. Keith McDermott, Scituate, RI; 6. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 7. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 8. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA; 9. Leo Adams, Putnam, CT; 10. Shane Michalski, Woodstock, CT.
Mini Stock Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard, CT; 2. Randy Churchill, Jr., Oakdale, CT; 3. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 4. Jeff Moffat Warwick, RI; 5. Lloyd Anderson, Wauregan, CT; 6. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill, CT; 7. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 8. Scott Jussaume, Danielson, CT; 9. Nate Taylor, Wauregan, CT; 10. Roger Ducharme, Foster, RI.