Pitkat Wins Sunoco Modified 50-Lapper After Rocco Penalized
Thompson, CT — Woody Pitkat earned his second Sunoco Modified victory this season at Thompson International Speedway’s 50-lap feature event. Pitkat took the lead from Danny Cates on lap 28 and appeared to be on his way to victory until the final lap of the race. Contact with Keith Rocco had Pitkat cross the line second, but a penalty issued to Rocco for the contact handed him the win.
Catania took the lead at the drop of the green flag, but it was Danny Cates, using the outside groove, who would be out front by the end of lap one. Woody Pitkat moved into second followed by Keith Rocco.
Cates pace began putting the field down by lap 13 as the action began to heat up in the middle of the field. Ricky Fuller passed Catania for the fifth place position after a side-by-side battle for the spot.
At lap 18, as Cates contended with lapped traffic, Pitkat closed in on Cates and kept the pressure on his rear bumper. The yellow came out on lap 20 and halted any challenges by Pitkat, who would restart the race alongside Cates.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Cates, Pitkat and Rocco were nose-to-tail at the drop of the green, but a caution would force them to do it all over again. Cates and Pitkat were glued together when the race resumed with Cates holding onto the point.
Pitkat was not giving up and went low heading into turn three on lap 27. This time his efforts paid off and he took over the lead coming off of turn four. Rocco, sitting back in third, was close behind. Rocco began looking for a way around Cates at lap 32, and showed his frustration with Cates with a tap on lap 35. Rocco made the pass for second on lap 37 and set his sights on Pitkat, who was running ten carlengths ahead.
Pitkat went up and around the lapped cars without giving up any of his lead. A late race caution halted Pitkat’s victory lane celebration when Cates hit the turn four wall hard on lap 48.
Pitkat and Rocco came to the start in a hard fought battle for the lead with Pitkat getting the advantage, however, a multi car pileup on the front stretch brought out the yellow. In the second attempt at the lap 48 restart, Pitkat drove to the front with Rocco in tow. Rocco drove deep into turn three of the final lap and made contact with Pitkat, who saved his car but lost the lead. Track officials issued a penalty to Rocco, who took the checkers first, and put Pitkat into victory lane.
In Late Model action, Mike Scorzelli gave it his best shot, but Tommy O’Sullivan had the muscle to hold off Scorzelli’s late-race challenges and grab the victory in the 25-lap feature on Thursday Night Thompson Thunder.
Philip Rondeau took the early lead in the Late Model feature with John Falconi following closely behind in second. Falconi challenged for the lead at lap three by diving to the inside groove. The two made contact after Falconi drifted up just a little bit while side-by-side with Rondeau. This allowed Tommy O’Sullivan to move to the front and take the lead after making contact with Rondeau, who lost control in the middle of turns one and two.
O’Sullivan jumped to the front on the restart with Mike Scorzelli and John Meteras following in second and third respectively. Meanwhile, Damon Tinio won a three-wide battle for the fifth place further back in the field.
Scorzelli closed in on O’Sullivan by lap 12, but a caution on that lap would put the two side-by-side for the restart. O’Sullivan jumped to the front with Scorzelli a comfortable two carlengths behind. A fight for fourth place emerged between Rick Gentes and Randy Tucker with Gentes making claim to the position, and Tinio driving by as well for fifth.
Up front, O’Sullivan’s breathing room had gone away with Scorzelli right on his tail. On lap 23, Scorzelli attempts to drive by O’Sullivan by using the low lane, but his challenge was halted. Scorzelli tried again, but his time ran out and O’Sullivan took the checkers.
Derek Ramstrom took the checkers in a caution-free Super Late Model 30-lap feature after taking the lead at lap 13 from Mike O’Sullivan.
Jim Banfield went deep into turn one to claim the lead, but a fast approaching Mike O’Sullivan quickly took it away when he drove by for the lead off of turn two. Jeff Connors moved into second and the duo pulled away from the rest of the field by a full second. Third place driver Derek Ramstrom closed the distance to a mere three carlengths before the race hit lap five. O’Sullivan, Connors and Ramstrom were bumper to bumper as Ramstrom made his move at lap 10 on Connors. Ramstrom looked low, but Connors shut the door on his challenge. Ramstrom was persistent and continued to go low in the corners. At lap 13, Ramstrom got his machine side-by-side with Connors and took over second coming out of turn two. Ramstrom set his sights on O’Sullivan and drove to the low side on lap 15 to take over the lead at the line. Larry Gelinas moved in to make it a four-car battle up front with Gelinas using a power move on the bottom of Connors for a bid for third. Connors was too strong, however, and held on to third. Meanwhile, Ramstrom was easing through lapped traffic with ease. Without a single caution period, Ramstrom took the checkers followed by O’Sullivan, Connors, and Gelinas.
Shawn Monahan used a double file restart on lap 11 to take the lead in the XTRA/MART Limited Sportsman division feature en route to the checkered flag. Monahan added to his win total this season and closed in on Scott Sundeen in the points.
Art Moran, III jumped to the early lead in the XTRA/MART Limited Sportsman division feature event with Jason Chicolas following five carlengths behind in second. Caution flew at lap two and put the duo side-by-side for the restart. Moran inched out ahead coming out of turn two to hold on to the lead. Sundeen used the low groove to set up an intense door-to-door challenge for the second spot that wasn’t decided until lap five when Sundeen was able to pull ahead for the spot.
Ray Downing, Jr. hit the wall hard in turn four on lap five and brought out the caution and safety crews, but it didn’t slow Moran down any, who jumped back into the lead when the race resumed. As Moran dominated, all eyes shifted to the battle for fourth between Monahan and Moose Douton. Monahan took the spot and set his sights on third while Sundeen closed in on Moran up front. Sundeen needed a long, green flag run, but it wasn’t to be as caution appeared again.
Moran shot to the front on the restart as Monahan moved into second. Sundeen was setting up a challenge when fluid was laid down on the track in a wreck between turns three and four.
This time it was all Monahan when the green flag dropped at lap 11. Contact was made between Monahan and Moran in turn two, but Monahan was able to hold on for the lead. Moran continued to challenge Monahan despite Sundeen being right on his bumper. Douton got in the mix using the outside groove to get by Sundeen. Moran continued his challenges, but couldn’t knock Monahan off the point before the checkers dropped.
Tyler Poulin spoiled the win streak of Danny Field Thursday night with his victory in the Monster Mini Stock 15-lap feature event. Poulin is only the second winner in the division this season.
Tim Higginbotham took the early lead with Alicia Thatcher settling into second, where she remained through the first early race caution. On the restart, Higginbotham jumped back to the front while Thatcher contended with the challenges of Lloyd Anderson, Jr. Anderson spun on lap two and allowed Thatcher to work on closing the distance on Higginbotham, but a caution tightened the field up once again. Higginbotham jumped to the front for the third time, but at lap nine, Steve Romjue made his move on Higginbotham and claimed the top spot. The undefeated Danny Field was coming through the field fast and had made his way into the third spot when a caution slowed the pace at lap 11. A side-by-side duel emerged between Romjue and Tyler Poulin on the restart with Poulin coming out on top. Field moved into second and began his challenges for the lead at lap 13, but Poulin was able to hold him off and spoil his seven-race win streak.
Cam McDermott increased his point lead to four points over Glenn Boss with a victory in the Thompson Modified’s during Thursday Night Thompson Thunder (TNTT). McDermott took the lead at lap 10 and held off a hard-charging Boss for his third win of the season.
Brian Tagg paced the field to the green and took the early lead but it was John Studley who took the point at the completion of the first lap. As Studley pulled away and put some distance over the rest of the field, Tagg had his hands full with the challenges of Ryan Morgan and McDermott. McDermott found a hole on lap five and went low under Tagg to take over second before caution slowed the pace at lap six.
Studley jumped out to the lead on the restart as McDermott and Tagg battled it out for the second spot. McDermott cleared Tagg while Glenn Boss maneuvered his way into the picture to make it a three-car battle for the lead. McDermott took the lead on lap 10 with Boss quickly following. McDermott pulled away by several carlengths before caution slowed the pace for the second time at lap 16. McDermott had Boss glued to his rear bumper as the green flag dropped once again, but it was all McDermott at the finish.
SUNOCO MODIFIEDS: 1. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 2. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 3. Andrew Charron, Thompson, CT; 4. Joe Allegro, Jr., Vernon, CT; 5. Keith Rocco, Meriden, CT; 6. Carl Oberg, Sutton, MA; 7. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 8. Randy Churchill, Jr., Oakdale, CT; 9. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 10. Eric Leclair, Easthampton, MA.
THOMPSON MODIFIEDS: 1. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 2. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 3. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 4. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 5. Jason Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 7. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA; 8. Payton Henry, Willington, CT; 9. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr., Milford, MA.
SUPER LATE MODELS: 1. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 2. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 4. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 5. George Bassette, Danbury, CT; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. Keith Caruso, Millbury, MA; 8. Scott Rotherforth, Glastonbury, CT; 9. Jeff Hartwell, E. Putnam, CT.
LATE MODELS: 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 3. John Meteras, Voluntown, CT; 4. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 5. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 6. Philip Rondeau, Baltic, CT; 7. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 8. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 9. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 10. Robert O’Connell, Wrentham, MA.
XTRA MART LIMITED SPORTSMAN: 1. Shawn Monahan, Waterford, CT; 2. Art Moran, III, Preston, CT; 3. Moose Douton, Waterford, CT; 4. Dwayne Door, Ledyard, CT; 5. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 6. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill, CT; 7. Mike Caprio, New Haven, CT; 8. Kevin Mason, W. Warwick, RI; 9. Michael Malbaurn, Sterling, CT; 10. Chris Bisson, Putnam, CT.
MONSTER MINI STOCKS: 1. Tyler Poulin, Pascoag, RI; 2. Danny Field, Deep River, CT; 3. Steve Romjue, Coventry, CT; 4. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 5. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 6. Mike Anzalone, Griswold, CT; 7. Leo Defevers, Moosup, CT; 8. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 9. Roger Ducharme, Foster, RI; 10. Eric Bourgeois, Moodus, CT.
Sources: Penny Aicardi/Thompson International Speedway PR