Pennink Victorious in MRS at Thompson; Preece Scores Sunoco Mod Thriller; McDermott, Palmisano, Lowinski-Loh, Moran & Gorgievski Other Weekly Series Winners
Thompson, CT — A picture perfect day set the backdrop for a full slate of racing action at Thompson International Speedway that featured the Modified Racing Series and six divisions of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action. A caution-filled main event saw Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, PA, as the survival of the fittest to post the victory.
Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT, led only the checkered flag lap in the Sunoco Modifieds to score the feature event win. Last year’s TIS Modified track champion, Cam McDermott of Scituate, RI, made the step up to the Lite Modified division in winning style. Marc Palmisano of Hadley, MA, came on strong in the waning laps of the Late Model event to claim the victory. Art Moran III of Preston, CT was tops in Limited Sportsman division while Mike Gorgievski of Auburn, MA, earned the victory in the Mini Stocks. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. of Milford, MA, scored his first career TIS Modified feature victory.
Rowan Pennink of Huntington Valley, PA, outlasted the competition in a Modified Racing event that was marred by 11 cautions. Ted Christopher and Pennink waged a great battle for the lead in the early stages of the main event that saw 35 cars take the green flag. Christopher held the point and held back advances of Pennink. Christopher held Pennink at bay on countless restarts as attrition built. Pennink made what turned out to be the winning move on lap 34 when he dove to the inside of Christopher to take the lead. Shortly after, Christopher retired from the event.
In the late stages of the race, Pennink had to hold off the persistent challenges of Richard Savary. A bobble by Savary with 10 laps to go looked as if Pennink may find some comfort in the last dash to the checkers. Savary was quick to recover; however, running down Pennink again with five laps remaining. Pennink was solid over the final laps to post his victory. The win was his fifth with the Modified Racing Series. Savary came home in second. Geoff Gernhard had a career night to finish third. Point leader Jon McKennedy and Mike Holridge completed the top five.
An eventful Sunoco Modified main event found Ryan Preece of Berlin, CT, in victory lane. The opening lap of the Sunoco Modified main event saw two heavy-hitters get tangled up. An incident between Ted Christopher and Woody Pitkat brought out the caution before the completion of lap one. Both cars were able to continue.
After a complete restart, pole sitter John Catania jumped out to the lead. Todd Ceravolo immediately moved into second. Keith Rocco followed through and into third. Catania had his hands full with a determined Ceravolo. On lap two, Ceravolo was the new leader. Catania faded to fourth losing positions to Rocco and Preece. Deeper in the pack, Christopher and Pitkat were locked in a heated battle.
Ceravolo was able to gain some distance at the head of the pack as Rocco and Preece battled for second. Contact between early leader Catania and Pitkat saw the caution fly once again. Christopher was penalized for his involvement in the incident. The ensuing restart pitted Ceravolo against Rocco. The cagey veteran selected the outside groove and headed back into the lead. Rocco had to contend with Preece once again for second.
Preece got alongside Rocco on lap 10 to take over the second spot. All action ceased when a spin by Wayne Arute collected Christopher, Pitkat, and Catania. Pitkat headed to pit road with a flat right-front tire. All others were able to continue. Under the caution period, Kerry Malone gave up the fifth position to come to pit road for service.
Ceravolo and Preece made up the front row for the lap 12 restart. Ceravolo was able to retain the lead but not without heavy pressure from Preece. The #7 of Andrew Charron made hard contact with the outside wall on lap 13. He drifted down the speedway collecting Adam Norton. Christopher and Pitkat were both also collected. Rocco came down pit road under the caution to make adjustments to his #4.
Ceravolo was up for the challenge to retain his lead on the restart. At halfway, Preece was all over Ceravolo. Catania ran in the third spot followed by a brewing battle between Malone and Rocco. Preece tried the slingshot move coming out of turn four on lap 18 but could not make the pass. The lead duo continued to play cat-and-mouse. Catania got out of shape exiting turn four opening the door for Malone and Rocco.
The leaders enjoyed a half straight-away advantage over third running Malone. Rocco was not advancing on Malone under green flag conditions. Back up front it was more of the same for Ceravolo and Preece.
Ceravolo came off turn four heading to the checkers with the lead. He got loose exiting turn four. With nowhere to go, Preece clipped the sliding #31 of Ceravolo. The resulting spin gave Preece the victory. Malone came home second followed by Rocco. An eventful day ended with a fourth-place finish for Christopher. Ceravolo had to settle for fifth.
A pair of young drivers showed their maturity, when Cam McDermott edged Dylan Kopec by a nose at the checkers to take down the Lite Modifieds victory. Dermott launched out to a sizable lead right from the drop of the green flag in the Lites. With McDermott out front, the best battle on the field was for second. Shawn Brule held the position with Kopec in pursuit. Brule drifted high in turn three opening the door for Kopec to take the position. Brule was never able to regain control of his car making hard contact with the outside wall exiting turn four.
On the ensuing restart, McDermott once again jumped out in front. David Webb was able to get the advantage on Kopec to take over second. A single lap later, Kopec got a run to move back into the runner-up position. Kopec immediately began to cut into McDermott’s lead. On lap 13, Kopec had erased the lead completely to pressure McDermott for the top spot.
Kopec looked low in turn one on lap 14 but settled back in line. He pushed the leader down the front stretch. Kopec looked high and looked low on subsequent laps but each time settled back behind McDermott. Kopec tried the slingshot move coming out of four to take the white. The two went wheel-to-wheel the entire distance of the final lap. McDermott got the run out of turn four to hold back Kopec for the victory. Webb finished third ahead of Eric LeClair and Nikki Ouellette.
Marc Palmisano of Hadley, MA, took advantage of a late race restart to position himself for the victory in the Late Models. Rick Gentes led his teammate Damon Tinio at the start of the Late Model main event. Gentes was able to gain a sizeable advantage over the pack as the battling was fierce from second on back. Tinio continued to hold on to second while John Falconi, Mike Scorzelli, Tommy O’Sullivan and Woody Pitkat duked it out for position.
After several laps of three-wide racing, the caution flew when the #16 of O’Sullivan went spinning. The line-up for the lap five restart found Gentes, Scorzelli, Tinio, Falconi, and Marc Palmisano in the top five. Gentes was able to regain his position at the head of the field with the green flag waving. Scorzelli kept chase in second. Pitkat got by Falconi and then Tinio to take over the fourth spot. At the head of the pack, Scorzelli was working over Gentes. Pitkat chased Palmisano for third.
Scorzelli got alongside of Gentes in turn two. He rocketed off turn two with the lead. Gentes immediately fell into the clutches of Palmisano. Palmisano gained the advantage on lap 14. Pitkat came along for the ride; relegating Gentes back to the fourth spot. Pitkat went to work on Palmisano in second. Meanwhile, Scorzelli was able to motor out to a comfortable margin.
With only three laps remaining the caution flew when the #75 of Ryan Waterman went up in smoke. Gentes and Falconi were victimized finding the fluid on the race track and making heavy contact with the turn three wall. On the restart, Palmisano was able to steal the lead away from Scorzelli. O’Sullivan made a bid on Scorzelli for second. Palmisano drove away from Scorzelli to take down the victory. Scorzelli had to settle for second followed by O’Sullivan. Pitkat and Tinio rounded out the top five.
John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. came out on top in the TIS Modifieds to score his a career-first win. Right from the drop of the green flag, the race for the top spot was a heated one between the top three cars. Brian Tagg held the lead with heavy pressure from Jay Sundeen and Glenn Boss. With the three cars in tight quarters, Tagg gave up the lead to Sundeen on lap four. Boss was able to get by Tagg and into second. Exiting turn four on lap 6, substantial contact between leader Sundeen and Boss sent the field scattering. Boss went spinning to the infield to bring out the caution.
On the ensuing restart Tagg put up a quick fight before falling behind Sundeen once again. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. was able to move around Tagg and into second. The front duo of Sundeen and Lowinski-Loh walked out to a 10-car length advantage over a determined Boss at halfway.
Lap-after-lap, Lowinski-Loh dogged Sundeen for the lead. Boss could not seem to cut down the margin to the leaders. Tagg and Chad LaBastie waged a great battle for fourth. In the closing laps, Lowinski-Loh was glued to the back bumper of Sundeen. The two leaders slid through turn two on lap 15; making contact. Both were able to maintain their forward momentum. Some hard racing over the final few laps found the sparks flying. Heading for the checkers the two made contact once again. Sundeen went spinning and Lowinski-Loh went to victory lane. Boss came home second followed by Tagg, LaBastie and Corry Barry inside the top-five.
Art Moran III of Preston, CT, celebrated on Sunday afternoon with the victory in the Limited Sportsman division. Brandon Chamberland led the 25-car field to green but lost the handle on his mount in turn two to bring out the caution. Chris Bisson and Jason Chicolas each took their turn at the head of the field before Tommy Shea asserted himself as the leader. Shea eased out to a comfortable lead as Art Moran III was making his way into contention.
At halfway, Moran moved into striking distance of the leader. He moved within a car length of Shea on lap 13. In lapped traffic, Moran motored to the inside of Shea in turn two. He could not make the pass stick. He replicated the effort in turn four; again to no avail. The two went door-to-door for the distance of another lap before Moran was able to muscle the lead away from Shea.
Shea immediately had his hands full with a charging Scott Sundeen. Allen Coates lurked behind in fourth. Moran took the white flag a car length ahead of Sundeen, who had freed himself of Shea. At the striped, Moran had secured the win. Sundeen finished second. Shea held off Coates to score a podium finish. Coates drove under the checkers for fourth; however, post race actions resulted in a disqualification. Chicolas and Ed Puleo rounded out the top-five.
An opportunistic Mike Gorgievski of Auburn, MA, scored the victory in the Mini Stocks on Sunday afternoon. When things sorted out at the start of the Mini Stock main event it was Damon Fratantonio with the lead. A caution flew on lap three for violent contact between Tyler Poulin and Brad Caddick. Both drivers walked away from the incident. On a pair of early restarts, Fratantonio had company from first Travis Jurcik then Mike Gorgievski. Each time Fratantonio was able to hold back all challenges. Under racing conditions, Fratantonio continued to hold Gorgievski at bay. Eric Bourgeois had reeled in the lead duo looking to make it a three-car battle for the top spot.
As the leader Fratantonio was coming out of turn four to take the white flag, his #69 suddenly slowed. The battle between Gorgievski and Bourgeois quickly became the battle for the lead. Gorgievski was able to hold off Bourgeois to take the victory. Dave Trudeau, Jurcik and Steve Violette completed the top-five.
The Speedway sees action again next weekend with Eve of Destruction on Sunday, May 27, 2012. The family fun event will feature demolition derbies, Monster Trucks, Free Style Motocross. All is capped off with a spectacular fireworks display to honor Memorial Day Weekend.
The racing action gets back underway on Thursday, May 31 with the kick-off of Thursday Night Thompson Thunder with six divisions of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Racing featuring the ultra-competitive Sunoco Modifieds.
For more information on all the action at Thompson International Speedway visit thompsonspeedway.com.
Modified Racing Series Unofficial (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, PA; 2. Richard Savary, Canton, MA; 3. Geoff Gernhard, Salem, CT; 4. Jon McKennedy, Chelmsford, MA; 5. Mike Holdridge, CT; 6. Charlie Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT; 7. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 8. Doug Coby, Middletown, CT; 9. Mark Bakaj, Lebanon, CT; 10. Louie Mechalides, Tyngsboro, MA.
Sunoco Modified (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 4. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 5. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 6. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 7. Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA; 8. James Smith, Woodstock, CT; 9. Shawn Thibeault, Plainville, CT; 10. Andrew Charron, E. Greenwich, RI.
Lite Modifieds Feature Finish: 1. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 2. Dylan Kopec, Palmer, MA; 3. David Webb, New Milford, CT; 4. Eric LeClair, Easthampton, MA; 5. Nikki Ouellette, East Granby, CT; 6. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 7. Shawn Brule, W. Thompson, CT. DNS-Frank Cardile.
Late Model Feature Finish: 1. Marc Palmisano, Hadley, MA; 2. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 3. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 5. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA; 6. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 7. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 8. John Falconi, Oakham, MA; 9. Ryan Waterman, Danielson. DNS-Jared Materas, Palmer, MA.
TIS Modifieds Feature Finish: 1. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr., Milford, MA; 2. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT; 3. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 4. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 5. Corry Barry, Danielson, CT; 6. Jay Sundeen Douglas, MA.
Limited Sportsman (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Art Moran III, Preston, CT; 2. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 3. Tommy Shea, New London, CT; 4. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 5. Ed Puleo, Branford, CT; 6. Corey Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 7. Steve Kenneway, Lowell, MA; 8. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 9. Mark Jenison, Warwick, RI; 10. Mike Caprio, New Haven, CT.
Mini Stock (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Mike Gorgievski, Auburn, MA; 2. Eric Bourgeois, East Haddam, CT; 3. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, CT; 4. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 5. Steve Violette, Canterbury, CT; 6. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 7. Nick Anderson, Oxford, MA; 8. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 9. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 10. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR