Preece Cops Sunoco Modified Victory; Boss Scores #50 in the Extra-Distance TIS Mod Main; O’Sullivan Brothers Share Spotlight; Monahan & Baxter Also Score Wins
Thompson, CT — Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT, could not be shaken in the Sunoco Modified main event on Thursday night at Thompson International Speedway to score the victory for car owners Al & Cathy Moniz. It was one for the history books for Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, who scored his fiftieth career win at Thompson in the extra-distance spotlight event for the TIS Modifieds. For the second time this season, the O’Sullivan Brothers of Springfield, MA, shared victory lane at Thompson. Big brother Mike scored the victory in the Super Late Models with Tommy earning top honors in the Late Models. Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT continued his domination in the Limited Sportsman division with his sixth win of the season. It was a convincing win for Chad Baxter of Pascoag, RI, in the Mini Stocks.
Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT, earned his second Sunoco Modified feature event win of the season holding back some strong competitors. Rick Fuller and Preece were locked in a heated battle for the top spot in the opening laps. With heavy pressure from Preece, Fuller held the spot for two circuits before giving way to the charge of Preece. By lap three, Keith Rocco had moved into third with Woody Pitkat and Danny Cates occupying the top five.
On lap five, Fuller got a run on Preece but a lapped car impeded his progress. The veteran settled back in line in second. Fuller immediately had to contend with Rocco; who was all over the back bumper. The top five ran nose-to-tail in a high-speed freight train. Preece continued to show the way over Fuller, Rocco, Pitkat, and Cates.
During the long green flag run Cates began to fall back slightly. Fuller and Preece got away from Rocco by a single-car length. Pitkat ran in fourth several car lengths behind Rocco. The top-three began to breakaway from the pack with Preece holding back Fuller and Rocco.
The lead trio continued to run together over the second half of the race. With five laps to go Rocco lost the lead duo. Fuller continued to dog Preece as Rocco faded back several car lengths behind. Fuller never lost the back bumper of Preece; but, could not muster up a real assault on the leader over the final laps.
Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, commandeered the Super Late Model feature for a dominating victory. O’Sullivan passed pole sitter Jim Banfield to take the lead early. Point leader Jeff Connors was running strong inside the top-three when his #51 went up in smoke to bring out the caution. O’Sullivan was pitted against Derek Ramstrom on the restart on lap four. O’Sullivan easily motored back into the lead. Ramstrom fell into the clutches of Larry Gelinas. The Buxton, ME native was able to drive around to move into the second spot.
Mike Stefanik took a position from Banfield to ride in fourth with George Bessette in tow. Ramstrom found new life getting along side Gelinas to battle for second. O’Sullivan gained some distance over the battle for second. Ramstrom hounded Gelinas for a pair of laps before moving back into the second spot. Stefanik now chased Gelinas.
Ramstrom continued to stretch his advantage over third but could do little to cut into the lead O’Sullivan had amassed. With five laps remaining, O’Sullivan enjoyed a comfortable lead over Ramstrom. Gelinas was being pursued by Stefanik while Bessette and Banfield ran nose-to-tail. The running order would go unchanged to the checkers as O’Sullivan cruised to the victory. Ramstrom had to settle for the second spot. Gelinas held off Stefanik. Bessette edged Banfield for a top-five finish.
Tommy O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, battled his way to his fourth Late Model feature win of the season. Phil Rondeau capitalized on his pole starting position to set the pace in the early going. Behind the leader Damon Tinio, Mike Scorzelli, John Materas and T. O’Sullivan jockeyed for position. Rick Gentes lurked just outside of the top five. Previous feature winner John Falconi was sent ricocheting twice in the opening five laps. On both occasions the #10 went sliding through the infield to take Falconi out of contention.
Upfront the heated battled boiled over when Materas spun from the fourth position. The former champ did a 360 to keep going with the race remaining green. T. O’Sullivan was picking off positions one-by-one during the extended green-flag run. He went by Scorzelli, and then Tinio. At the halfway marker, T. O’Sullivan was the new leader; easily over-taking Rondeau. In the closing laps, the best battle on the field was for third. Rondeau, Gentes and Palmisano went three-wide. Gentes came out of the pack in second leaving Palmisano and Rondeau to do battle.
T. O’Sullivan easily raced to the victory. Gentes crossed the line second followed by Rondeau and Palmisano. Following the event, Gentes was penalized for his involvement in the Materas spin. Rondeau was placed second followed by Palmisano, Tinio and a Corey Hutchings, making his first appearance of the year at Thompson.
Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT returned to his winning ways on Thursday night in the Limited Sportsman division. Pole sitter Tom Shea led the opening lap with Joe Coates immediately moving into the second spot. Chris Douton, Art Moran III, and S. Monahan were also marching their way to the front. Douton began to put pressure on Coates for second while Monahan past Moran and into fourth. Shea ran out to a comfortable margin as the battling was hot and heavy from second position on back through the top-ten.
Coates began to get some distance in second as Monahan applied the pressure to Douton. He would take the position away on lap eight. Monahan immediately reeled in Coates as they went two-by-two behind with Sundeen and Douton racing hard for fourth while Dwayne Dorr and Moran locked horns for sixth.
A single lap later Monahan passed Coates for second. One lap later Monahan was about to make a pass on leader Shea when the caution came out for an incident involving John Carpenter. On the restart, Shea held on to the lead through turn three on lap 11. He lost the handle exiting turn four in an effort to hold off Monahan; spinning into the infield. The race stayed green with Monahan and Douton duking it out for the lead. Monahan took the lead away in turn two on lap 12.
Once out front, Monahan checked out on a battle for second between Coates and Douton. Dorr continued to make tracks toward the front taking positions away from Sundeen and Moran. Dorr ran out of time when the checkers flew on Monahan for his sixth Limited Sportsman feature win of the season. Coates turned in a solid performance to finish second. Douton held off the challenges of Dorr and Moran completed the top five.
Glenn Boss of Danielson, CT, won a hotly contested 25-lapper in the division’s spotlight event of 2011 season. Brian Tagg jumped out from his front row starting position to take the lead. The first lap was eventful for Boss, who got up near the wall in turn four after contact with Jay Sundeen. Boss was able to continue while Sundeen came to rest in the infield. With the caution for Sundeen and scoring back to the last completed green flag lap, Boss occupied the third spot on the restart.
Tagg again jumped out to the lead with Boss and Cam McDermott in hot pursuit. Boss got alongside Tagg in turn two on lap two; bringing McDermott along for the ride. Boss now led McDermott; relegating Tagg to third.
J.P. Lowinski-Loh, Jr. came to rest against the wall in turn two to bring out the caution. Back under green, Boss held the lead but with a serious challenge from McDermott. After a quick bid, McDermott settled back in line in second. The leaders quickly ran away from John Studley in third. Sundeen was making his way back into contention. Sundeen took over the fourth spot from Tagg on lap eight.
Lap-after-lap, McDermott dogged Boss for the lead. Sundeen had reeled in Studley who was in third. R.J. Marcotte made his way passed Tagg to run inside the top-five. Things started to get dicey up front. On lap 18, McDermott ducked low on Boss. The two made slight contact with Boss maintaining the advantage. With five laps remaining, McDermott peaked low on Boss in turn one. He again settled back behind the leader.
With three-laps remaining, McDermott dove low on Boss again. The leaders bounced off each other exiting turn four. Again, Boss got the edge. The cat-and-mouse continued until Boss crossed the line with his 50th Thompson victory. McDermott had to settle for second. Studley, Sundeen, and Marcotte completed the top five.
Chad Baxter of Pascoag, RI, took the lead early in the Mini Stock feature event and would never be headed as he earned a dominating victory. The Mini Stocks uncharacteristically had a tough time getting going. When things finally settled down it was C. Baxter with the lead. He immediately ran out to a sizeable lead over polesitter Tim Higginbotham. Leo Defevers and Eric Bourgeois made it a three-car battle for the second spot with Higginbotham.
Bourgeois made quick work of Higginbotham and then took over the second position from Defevers. The dominator Danny Field, who started in the 19th position, ran in the seventh spot at halfway. Meanwhile up front, Baxter continued to extend his advantage over Bourgeois, who ran a distance ahead of Defevers.
Fields continued his march to the front; taking fourth from Higginbotham. Without the aid of a caution, Fields could do little but chase the back bumper of Defevers over the closing laps. C. Baxter cruised to his first victory of the season. Bourgeois streaked to a second-place finish. Defevers had a strong night to earn a podium finish. Field and Higginbotham completed the top-five.
Sunoco Modified (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 5. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 6. Joe Allegro, Jr., Vernon, CT; 7. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 8. Carl Oberg, Sutton, MA; 9. Shelly Perry, Ashaway, RI; 10. George Wilkinson, Pawcatuck, CT.
Super Late Model (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 3. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 4. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 5. George Bessette, Danbury, CT; 6. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 7. Jeff Hartwell, E. Putnam, CT; 8. Scott Rotherforth, Glastonbury, CT; 9. Keith Caruso, Millbury, MA; 10. Mike Rivard, N. Scituate, RI.
Late Model (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 2. Phil Rondeau, Baltic, CT; 3. Marc Palmisano, Hadley, MA; 4. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 5. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 6. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 7. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 8. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 9. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 10. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI.
Limited Sportsman (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Shawn Monahan, Waterford, CT; 2. Joe Coates, Groton, CT; 3. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT; 4. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard, CT; 5. Art Moran, III, Preston, CT; 6. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 7. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill, CT; 8. Jess Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 9. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 10. Kevin Mason, W. Warwick, RI.
TIS Modified (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT; 2. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 4. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 5. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 6. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 7. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 8. JP Lowinski-Loh, Jr., Milford, MA; 9. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 10. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA.
Mini Stock (Top-Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 2. Eric Bourgeois, Moodus, CT; 3. Leo Defevers, Brooklyn, CT; 4. Danny Field, Deep River, CT; 5. Tim Higginbotham, N. Brighton, MA; 6. Tim Armstrong, Uxbridge, MA; 7. Brent Gleason, Norwich, CT; 8. Tyler Poulin, Pascoag, RI; 9. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 10. Steve Romjue, Coventry, RI.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR