Christopher Score Mod Tour Victory at Thompson on World Series Sunday; Santos Crowned WMT Champ; Perley, Cabral, Silk, Fuller, & O’Sullivan Also Victorious
Thompson, CT — Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT, used “home field” advantage to score the victory in the Whelen Modified Tour. By virtue of his sixth-place finish, Bobby Santos, III of Franklin, MA, scored his first Whelen Modified Tour Championship and the second straight for car owner Bob Garbarino. Chris Perley of Rowley, MA, was super at Thompson taking home the victory in the International Supermodified Association (ISMA) feature event. Russ Wood of Pelham, NH, was crowned the 2010 ISMA champion. In Northeastern Midget Association action, Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA won the war winning the feature event but it was Russ Stoehr of Bridgewater, MA winning the 2010 championship. In Thompson regular divisions it was Ronnie Silk of Norwalk, CT, taking down the victory in the Sunoco Modifieds, Rick Fuller of Auburn, MA, in the Super Late Models and Tommy O’Sullivan Late Models.
Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT, earned his fourth Whelen Modified Tour event of the season at Thompson to cap off the season. Eric Berndt, Christopher, Ronnie Silk, and Doug Coby, in the Wayne Darling owned #52, each took their turn at the head of the pack. Christopher led early but relinquished the lead to head down pit road on lap 81. He spent the remainder of the race working his way back through the pack. Christopher took the lead from Coby with only four laps remaining to spot the victory. Ryan Preece had to settle for second followed by Coby. Stefanik and Silk rounded out the top five. Santos finished sixth to clinch the second straight championship for Bob Garbarino.
Chris Perley of Rowley, MA, scored his seventh victory in eight World Series starts for the International Supermodified Association (ISMA). Perley came from deep in the field; passing the likes of Ted Christopher and Russ Wood en route to the victory. Perley used both the outside and inside grooves to make his way through the field. Wood, by virtue of his fourth place finish, scored the 2010 championship-his seventh.
[Thompson World Series Sat. Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
[Thompson World Series Sun. Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
In the closing stages, Summers, who had passed his teammate Russ Wood to enter the top three motored by Jeff Locke for second. Summers began to reel in Perley but ran out of time. Summers settled for second over the Thompson dominator Perley. Rookie Locke had a solid performance to finish in third.
Randy Cabral of Plymouth, MA, took the lead and then had to fend off his teammate to score the victory in the NEMA main event. The opening lap of the NEMA event was marred by an incident that involved Chris Deritis and Brian Cleveland. Paul Scally set the pace in the early going ahead of a three-car battle for the second spot between John Zych, Jr., Randy Cabral, and Jim Miller. Cabral came out of the battle in second and immediately set his sites on the leader Scally. Cabral was the new leader on lap three. Cole Carter had come on strong to run in third followed by point leader Russ Stoehr. Carter took second and immediately began to run down his teammate Cabral. Carter dogged Cabral lap-after-lap.
The caution flew on lap 12 when early leader Scally came to rest on the backstretch. Carter got a great run on the restart getting alongside Cabral. Cabral was up for the challenge to retain his lead. Stoehr bolted into the third spot back under green. The lead duo was able to stretch their advantage over Stoehr, who only needed to finish sixth or better to claim the championship.
Jim Miller ran in fourth ahead of a heated battle for fifth between Greg Stoehr and Adam Cantor. Cantor was able to get by Stoehr with two laps to go. He kept his momentum up and took the fourth spot from Miller on the same lap. On the final stretch run to the checkers, Cabral had stretched his advantage over Carter. In the end, Cabral had posted the popular victory over Carter. Stoehr came home in third to score the 2010 Northeastern Midget Association championship. Cantor and Stoehr rounded out the top five.
Ronnie Silk of Norwalk, CT, took the lead early and would never be headed as he scored the victory in the Sunoco Modifieds. Danny Cates led a stellar field to the green in the Sunoco Modifieds on Sunday afternoon. His stay at the head of the field was short-lived as Ronnie Silk bolted to the lead on lap two. Ted Christopher took chase in third followed by a brewing battle between Rowan Pennink and Ryan Preece.
Cates fell into the clutches of Christopher. A slide job exiting turn four netted T.C. the move for three quarters of a lap. Cates duplicated the move a lap later to retake the second position. Silk was able to gain some breathing room with the battle behind. Preece had gotten by Pennink as Keith Rocco had worked his way from deep in the pack to run sixth.
Things had settled down for second for several laps before Christopher began his assault once again. Christopher got a run in turn two to take the second position from Cates on lap 18. Christopher immediately set his sites on Silk. The best battle on the field was for the fifth position. Rocco was able to wrestle the spot away from Pennink on lap 24. Preece had caught Cates.
The first caution of the event flew on lap 25 when Diego Monahan’s car came to rest on the backstretch. On the restart, Pennink headed to pit road for service. On the single-file restart with five laps to go Christopher was glued to the back bumper of leader Silk. The three cars of Preece, Cates, and Rocco were locked in a battle for third. Up front, Silk was able to gain a car length advantage over Christopher. Rocco made a move into fourth over Cates. In the end, it was Silk taking down his second straight Sunoco Modified victory at Thompson. The 2010 track champion Christopher had to settle for second. Ryan Preece came home third over Rocco and Cates.
Rick Fuller of Auburn, MA, wired the field to score a popular victory in the Super Late Models. Fuller set the pace in the early going as the Super Late Models had a time getting going suffering early race cautions. Fuller continued to lead through a pair of restarts as pole sitter Jim Banfield took chase in second. Both Derek Ramstrom and Larry Gelinas were making tracks to the front. Ramstrom had worked his way into third with Gelinas in tow. Gelinas stepped out of line to begin to apply pressure to Ramstrom. Mike O’Sullivan ran alone in the fifth position.
During an extended green flag run, the top four of Fuller, Banfield, Ramstrom and Gelinas ran nose-to-tail. At halfway, it was Ramstrom who began to apply pressure to Banfield for second. The battle cooled when a caution flew on lap 17 for a spin by Chris Perley. On the ensuing restart, Larry Gelinas looked like he was shot out of a cannon motoring from fourth to second. With Fuller still in command, Gelinas and Ramstrom were locked in a heated battle for second. Banfield had his hands full with O’Sullivan.
The top three of Fuller, Gelinas, and Ramstrom broke away from the rest of the field during the stretch green flag run. In the closing stages, Ramstrom peeked to the inside of Gelinas for second but could not muster up a potent challenge. Fuller went on to score the victory followed by Gelinas and Ramstrom. Banfield held on for fourth over O’Sullivan inside the top-five.
Tommy O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, took down a commanding victory in a caution-free event for the Late Models. The Thompson regular O’Sullivan jumped out to the early lead in the Late Model main event. Ryan Posocco lurked within striking distance in second. Woody Pitkat ran a distance back in third. Corey Hutchings, Damon Tinio, Jeremy Sadowski, and John Falconi ran in a tight pack vying for position in the tail end of the top-five. At lap 10, Falconi headed to pit road ending his bid at a top-finish.
It was an uneventful chase to the checkers for O’Sullivan as the field got strung out around the speedway. O’Sullivan cruised to the victory over Posocco. Pitkat’s car faltered as he entered turn four on the final lap. He had worked out to a sizeable advantage during the event. The margin allowed him to retain the third position at the checkers with Hutchings and Tinio bearing down. Divisional champion Rick Gentes failed to take the green in the event.
Whelen Modified Tour (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 3. Doug Coby, Milford, CT; 4. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 5. Ron Silk, Norwalk, CT; 6. Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, CT; 7. Eric Beers, Northampton, PA; 8. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 9. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 10. James Civali, Meriden, CT.
International Supermodified Association (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Chris Perley, Rowley, MA; 2. Rob Summers, Vernon, CT; 3. Jeff Locke, Raymond, NH; 4. Russ Wood, Pelham, NH; 5. Otto Sitterly, Canajoharie, NY; 6. Bob Barnes, N/A; 7. Dan Lane, Essex, MA; 8. Pat Lavery, Oswego, NY; 9. Jerry Curran, N/A; 10. Eddie Witkum, Jr., Westford, MA.
Northeastern Midget Association (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA; 2. Cole Carter, Indianapolis, IN 3. Russ Stoehr, Bridgewater, MA; 4. Adam Cantor, Dix Hill, NY; 5. Greg Stoehr, Bridgewater, MA; 6. Jim Miller, Weymouth, MA, 7. Mike Horn, Ashland, MA; 8. John Zych, Jr., Liverpool, NY 9. Erica Santos, Franklin, MA; 10. Anthony Marvuglio, Halifax, MA.
Sunoco Modified (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 2. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 3. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 4. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 5. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 6. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 7. Tim Solomito, Islip, NY; 8. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 9. Andy Gaspar, Andover, CT; 10. Michael Gervais, Southbury, CT.
Super Late Model (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 2. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 3. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 4. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 5. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 6. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 7. Mike Brightman, Acushnet, MA: 8. Chris Perley, Rowley, MA; 9. Greg Nanigian, Braintree, MA; 10. Chris Magee, Edgartown, MA.
Late Model (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Ryan Posocco, Stafford, CT; 3. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 4. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 5. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 6. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 7. Jeremy Sadowski, Volutown, CT; 8. Mark Jenison, Warwick, RI; 9. Ryan Waterman, Danielson, CT; 10. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR