Christopher Doubles Up at Thompson; O’Sullivan, Materas, Marcotte, Coates & Fields Also Winners
Thompson, CT — It was a stellar afternoon for Plainville, CT, racer Ted Christopher. Despite an injured hand and his fair share of struggles, Christopher took home top honors in both the Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Sunoco Modified events. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, was victorious in the Super Late Model main event. John Materas of Voluntown, CT, returned to his winning ways in the Late Models. R.J. Marcotte Millville, MA, recovered from an early race spin to score the TIS Modified victory. Danny Fields of Deep River, CT, scored top honors in the Mini Stock division. Joe Coates of Groton, CT wired the field in Limited Sportsman division.
It was an eventful but admittedly “fun” outing for Christopher in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 150 on Sunday afternoon. Christopher was involved in an early race incident. He benefited from the “free pass” twice to get back on the lead lap. Once back in contention he proved that he had the car to beat; streaking through the field to score the victory. Rowan Pennink of Huntingdon Valley, PA, was strong all day to finish second. Veteran Mike Stefanik of Coventry, RI, also had an up-and-down day that ended on a high note with a podium finish. The event was marred by 12 cautions and two red flags including a scary wreck on the front stretch that found Ronnie Silk’s #6 up on its side. Ryan Preece and Justin Bonsignore completed the top-five.
Christopher was involved in an incident in Saturday’s Sunoco Modified main event while racing for the lead. His crew worked tirelessly, giving Christopher a “near perfect” car; even with a “bent clip” to earn the feature win. Icebreaker Saturday winner Todd Ceravolo led the field to green. The action heated up immediately as Ceravolo, Ted Christopher and Rocco went three-wide exiting turn four on lap one. Things settled down a bit with Rocco taking chase of Ceravolo. Christopher and Ryan Preece were locked in their own battle for the third spot. Christopher slid by Preece in turn two on lap seven.
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A spin by Stampfl brought out the caution on lap eight. Under the caution, Preece headed to pit road for service. Ceravolo rocketed back into the lead on the restart. Danny Cates joined the mix in fourth. As Rocco dogged Ceravolo for the point, Christopher laid in wait in third. Preece had worked his way back to the fifth spot.
Rocco made contact with Ceravolo in turn four routing Ceravolo from the top spot.
Ceravolo and Rocco got together on the following lap. Both cars drifted up into turn four. An opportunist Christopher dove low to take the spot away. Additional contact in turn two sent Rocco spinning and the caution flying. Rocco headed to pit road for service to his #57.
Christopher was pitted against Cates on the restart. Preece ran in third. Christopher resumed his spot at the head of the field with Preece moving into second. Rocco and Ceravolo were on a mission as they worked their way back through the pack. A caution flew for an incident involving Andy Charon.
On the restart, Christopher and Preece went side-by-side for the lead. Preece was the new leader a lap later. Cates faltered a bit on the start but was able to maintain third. Rocco moved into fourth followed by Ceravolo.
Christopher wrestled the lead away from Preece with only a handful of laps remaining. Once out front, Christopher was able to move away from Preece. Christopher crossed the stripe for the victory followed by Preece. Cates held on for the third spot followed by Rocco and Ceravolo.
From the drop of the green flag in the Super Late Model main event there was a three-car battle for the top spot between Larry Gelinas, Mike O’Sullivan and Derek Ramstrom. Ramstrom moved from the third position to the lead by lap five; leaving O’Sullivan and Gelinas to battle it out for second. O’Sullivan was able to get the advantage. Behind Gelinas, Norm Wrenn and Jim Banfield vied for the fourth spot.
Hard contact for Michael Rivard necessitated a caution on lap 16. Ramstrom took the outside groove on the restart; easily retaining his lead. Norm Wrenn got out of shape opening the door for Banfield. O’Sullivan looked like he was going to make a bid on Ramstrom when mechanical failure sent Ramstrom to the infield. O’Sullivan inherited the lead. The restart was dicey with contact between Gelinas and O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan came out on top of the battle. Wrenn came to life in third.
The top-three ran single-file over the closing laps of the event. Banfield worked over Wrenn but settled back in line. On the final lap Gelinas made a last ditch effort to take down the win. O’Sullivan proved to be up for the challenge taking down the victory. Gelinas had to settle for second. Wrenn, Banfield, and Jeff Connors rounded out the top five.
Ryan Posocco looked like he was shot out of cannon on the initial start of the Late Model main event. John Materas was able to free himself of Rick Gentes, leaving the Woonsocket, RI, driver to fight it out with Tom O’Sullivan. Once free, Materas immediately began to run down Posocco. He made the pass for the lead look easy exiting turn four on lap five.
O’Sullivan was able to get by Gentes taking John Falconi along for the ride. O’Sullivan began to apply pressure to Posocco. Falconi remained in striking distance as well. It was a heated three-car battle for the second spot. O’Sullivan was able to get by Posocco; again taking Falconi with him. During a long stretch of green flag racing, the front of the back got strung out running single-file. Over the closing laps, O’Sullivan had cut into the lead that Materas had built up but did not get close enough to muster up a serious challenge. The battle for the fourth spot was a great one between Posocco, Gentes, and Mike Scorzelli. Materas ran uncontested to the checkers for his first win of the season. O’Sullivan finished second over Falconi. Posocco was able to hold on for the fourth spot. Gentes completed the top five.
R.J. Marcotte of Millville, MA, rode a rollercoaster of emotions en route to his TIS Modified victory. The opening lap featured a side-by-side battle between R.J. Marcotte and Cam McDermott. The battled boiled over when contact sent the leader Marcotte spinning. McDermott was penalized for his involvement. Youngster Ryan Morgan was the new leader of the restart. He immediately had company in Brian Tagg. Marcotte had already worked his way into the third position. He chased Tagg for a couple of laps before taking over the second spot.
A devastating wreck in turn two involving John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. and John Studley slowed the action. On the ensuing restart, Morgan and Marcotte went door-to-door before Marcotte captured the lead exiting turn four. McDermott moved into second and immediately went to work on Marcotte. As Marcotte and McDermott duked it out for the top spot. The top-five ran nose to tail. A bobble by McDermott with two laps to go allowed Marcotte to gain some running room. Marcotte ran to the checkers followed by McDermott, Boss, Morgan and Tagg in the top-five.
Joe Coates of Groton, CT, led green-to-checker to score the victory in the Limited Sportsman division. Almost immediately, pole sitter Coates had his hands full with Chris Douton, Dwayne Dorr, and Joe Arena. After a quick early caution the battle for the top spot continued as Coates, Dorr, and Douton went three wide exiting turn four. Shawn Monahan joined the fray moving past Dorr for third. Defending champion Larry Barnett had worked his way into fifth.
Coates and Douton ran nose-to-tail as Monahan and Dorr began to do battle for the third position. Barnett ran along in fourth followed by a battle for position between Joe Arena and Scott Sundeen. Once free of Arena, Sundeen had set his sites on Barnett. Sundeen used the inside groove to take the spot away with five laps remaining. Up front Coates was able to get some breathing room as Douton, S. Monahan and Dorr jockeyed for position. It was an uneventful run to the checkers for winner Coates. Douton held off S. Monahan and Dorr. A hard-charging Sundeen completed the top-five.
Danny Field of Deep River, CT, showed his prowess in the Mini Stock division turning in a dominating opening day win. Field took the lead early; extending his lead over the long green flag run at the start of the event. Fields headed a brewing battle between Roger Ducharme and Lloyd Anderson. Steve Michalski had worked his way through traffic and into the top-five.
The first caution of the event flew on lap seven for a spin by Travis Jurcik. Fields was up for the challenge on the restart. Anderson was able to grab the top spot from Ducharme. The front of the field got strung out with Fields enjoying a sizeable advantage over Lloyd, and Ducharme. The running order would go unchanged at the head of the pack. Fields scored a commanding victory over Ducharme and Lloyd. St. Michalski and Mike Viens rounded out the top-five.
Whelen Modified Tour (Top Ten) Unofficial Finish: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Station, PA; 3. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 4. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 5. Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, NY; 6. Eric Beers, Northampton, PA; 7. Doug Coby, Milford, CT; 8. Ron Yuhas, Jr., Groton, CT; 9. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA; 10. Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, NY.
Sunoco Modified (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 3. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 4. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 5. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 6. Rick Shawn, Bradford, CT; 7. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 8. Carl Oberg, Sutton, MA; 9. John Hanafin, Quincy, MA; 10. Steve Greer, Harwinton, CT.
Super Late Model (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 3. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 4. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 5. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 6. Mike Brightman, Acushnet, MA; 7. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI; 8. Scott Rutherford, Glastonbury, CT; 9. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 10. Mike Rivard, N. Scituate, RI.
Late Model (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 2. Tom O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. John Falconi, Oakham, MA; 4. Ryan Posocco, Stafford Springs, CT; 5. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 6. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 7. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, CT; 8. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 9. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 10. Wayne Coury, Sr.
TIS Modifieds (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 2. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT; 4. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 5. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 6. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 7. Payton Henry, Willington, CT; 8. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 9. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr., Milford, MA; 10. John Studley, Framingham, MA.
Limited Sportsman (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Joe Coates, Groton, CT; 2. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT; 3. Shawn Monahan, Waterford, CT; 4. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard, CT; 5. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 7. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 8. Kevin Mason, W. Warwick, RI; 9. Bill McNiel, Stonington, CT; 10. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA.
Mini Stock (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Danny Field, Deep River, CT; 2. Lloyd Anderson, Jr., Wauregan, CT; 3. Roger Ducharme, Foster, RI; 4. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 5. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 6. Tim Armstrong, Uxbridge, MA; 7. Brent Gleason, Norwich, CT; 8. Todd Lajeunesse, Wauregan, CT; 9. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 10. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin, CT.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR