Preece Scores 5th Season Sunoco Modified Victory While Ramstrom Earns PASS Checkers
Thompson, CT — Thompson International Speedway hosted a PASS North 75-lap event that featured hometown hero Derek Ramstrom in victory lane. Ramstrom previously won two track championships at Thompson. Ryan Preece held off Keith Rocco for the Sunoco Modified win while Tommy O’Sullivan, John Lowinski-Loh, Scott Sundeen, Troy Talman and Dave Trudeau were all victorious in other NASCAR Whelen All American Series action.
Worcester, Mass.-native and local favorite Derek Ramstrom came from a fifth place starting position to earn the victory in the 75-lap PASS North feature event. Ramstrom inherited the lead following a lap 61-accident that took out Larry Gelinas, who dominated just prior to that..
Thompson regular Larry Gelinas took the early lead, but lost it to a hard-charging Ben Rowe on a lap-three restart. Gelinas wasn’t giving in, however, and challenged on the bottom groove for several laps. Rowe held strong despite the persistence of Gelinas as he approached lapped traffic by the 31st circuit. Christopher, who had been lurking in the third spot for most of the race, began a series of challenges on Gelinas on lap 34. On lap 47, the race took a dramatic turn when Rowe, who led most of the race, fell off the pace and dropped back to sixth.
[Photo Gallery] by Adam Fohlin
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Gelinas inherited the lead as Christopher dropped to the bottom groove to try for the lead. Ramstrom got into the mix and challenged Christopher on the outside. They settled back in line before Christopher challenged Gelinas again at lap 55. The two were side-by-side, but again Gelinas closed the door. Ramstrom moved to the outside of Christopher, and at lap 58, was able to get by for the position. Christopher took his position back and set his sights on Gelinas who was dealing with lapped traffic. On lap 61, as the trio came to turn four, Christopher made contact with Gelinas, who spun to the infield grass.
Ramstrom inherited the lead for the restart with DJ Shaw taking the lead at the line by just a nose. Shaw and Ramstrom continued to battle it out with Ramstrom leading the next circuit. Cassius Clark worked his way in and drove underneath Shaw for the second spot as Ramstrom pulled ahead to a three-car length advantage, however, a caution at lap 67 would tighten the field up again. Ramstrom and Cassius Clark brought the field back to green with Ramstrom driving to the front after Cassius Clark checked up. Shaw and Travis Benjamin rounded out the top-three up front. Ramstrom pulled away to a convincing lead and took the checkers as Shaw held off a hard charging Benjamin at the line.
Ryan Preece reclaimed the lead on a late-race restart with two laps to go and held off a determined Keith Rocco to earn his fifth Sunoco Modified feature victory this season. Kerry Malone took the early lead with Preece jumping into the second position. Keith Rocco challenged immediately and took over second before going in front of Malone for the lead on lap three in turn two. Preece, however, was waiting in the wings and catapulted his No. 31 machine from third to first on the backstretch. When things worked out, it was Preece followed by Rocco, Malone, and Ted Christopher. The top-four ran single file for the next several laps with Christopher keeping his front bumper attached to Malone’s rear bumper.
On lap 16, Christopher dove low to make a challenge on Malone, but couldn’t get by and settled back into fourth. Up front, Preece was extending his lead over Rocco. The field got strung out as the leaders began to deal with lapped traffic when a car spun out of turn two and brought the caution out at lap
25. On the restart, Rocco got in front of Preece, who was looking to the outside groove to get by. Rocco closed the door on his challenge as Preece continued to look for a way around. Preece went high on lap 27 as they came across the start/finish line, but Rocco closed the door again. He went low on lap 28 and got side-by-side with Rocco who slowed in the high groove of turn two allowing Preece to drive right back out front. Rocco attached his No. 4 to the bumper of Preece, but there was no stopping the No. 31 machine that drove straight to the checkers.
Tommy O’Sullivan extended his point lead over Mike Scorzelli by winning the 25-lap Late Model feature Thursday night. O’Sullivan took the lead at lap five and held off Marc Palmisano on a restart to take the victory. Randy Tucker led through turns one and two at the start, but was quickly challenged by Palmisano for the lead. Tucker held him off and /officially led the first lap, but Palmisano drove ahead by a nose to lead at lap two. Tommy O’Sullivan moved into the mix when he drove underneath Tucker and got by for the second spot. O’Sullivan continued his procession on the bottom groove and got alongside Palmisano for the lead. The two swapped the lead a couple of times before O’Sullivan claimed the top-spot at the line of lap five just before the caution flew. O’Sullivan blew by Palmisano on the restart and stayed a comfortable car length ahead in the lead. Palmisano continued to hold steady in second, but a tire rub on the right rear was smoking by lap 13. Track officials black-flagged him at lap 16 handing the second position over to Tucker, who lost the spot to Mike Scorzelli on lap 19. O’Sullivan held a commanding lead, however, and took the checkers unchallenged.
John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. extended his win streak to six-in-a-row when he took the lead from Chad LaBastie at lap 13 of the 20-lap Thompson Modified feature. It’s his seventh victory of the season. Brian Tagg drove to the front at the drop of the green with Chad LaBastie and Jay Sundeen in tow. On lap three, LaBastie dove to the bottom of Tagg on the backstretch, but couldn’t complete the pass and settled back in line behind Tagg. Sundeen tried the very same move on LaBastie on lap four in turns three and four but also had the door shut on his challenge. Tagg continued to lead with pressure from LaBastie, who tried the inside groove again on lap seven. Tagg and LaBastie were side-by-side for two complete circuits before LaBastie took the lead at the start/finish line on lap nine. Lowinski-Loh drove by Tagg for second and set his sights on LaBastie in the lead. On lap 10, Lowinski-Loh challenged on the bottom and the two battled it out before Lowinski-Loh drove to the front on lap 13. Lowinski-Loh, LaBastie, and Ryan Morgan continued ahead of the pack as they ticked off the laps single file. Lowinski-Loh took the white flag with a five-car length advantage and crossed the checkers unchallenged.
Scott Sundeen added to his long list of victories when he drove by Tom Shea at lap 15 to take the lead in the Limited Sportsman feature. Michael Malbaurn drove to the early lead, but a three-car battle out of turn four on the first circuit resulted in Tom Shea emerging as the new leader in turn one. Kevin Bowe took over second but lost it to Art Moran on lap five. Moran closed in on Shea by lap seven, and put the pressure on with challenges coming out of turn four. Shea remained the leader as Moran shifted his focus to Sundeen, who had moved into the top-three and was filling Moran’s rear view mirror. Shea had lapped traffic to contend with allowing Moran and Sundeen to close back in, but on lap 12, Moran went high in three and four allowing Sundeen to get by for the second spot. On lap 14, Sundeen went low on the front stretch to challenge for the lead, but Shea shut the door. Sundeen tried again on lap 15 and got underneath the No. 45 on the backstretch. The two battled through turns three and four with Shea remaining the leader at the line, but Sundeen persisted and took the lead coming off turn four on lap 16. A three-wide battle ensued for the second position between Shea, Moran and Jason Chicolas with Moran taking the position before Sundeen took the checkers.
Troy Talman earned his third victory of the season after leading every lap of the 20-lap Lite Modified feature. Talman jumped to the lead at the drop of the green, and immediately put a ten-car length advantage over Cam McDermott. By lap five, McDermott had gained ground on Talman and closed it to a single car length by lap seven. By halfway, McDermott was riding Talman’s bumper, who wasn’t succumbing to McDermott’s pressure. On lap 15, McDermott dove low coming out of turn four but it was all Talman at the line, who drove on to his second consecutive victory and third of the
season.
Dave Trudeau celebrated his nephew’s fifth birthday in victory lane after holding off Eric Bourgeois for the victory in the Monster Mini Stock 15-lap feature event. Steve Violette took the lead at the drop of the green with pressure from Bourgeois on the outside. The two were side-by-side with Bourgeois having the advantage on the backstretch. Violette fought back, but it wasn’t enough as the two crossed the line with Bourgeois ahead by inches when they completed the first circuit. The duo continued their battle with Steve Kenneway patiently waiting behind. On lap four, Kenneway made his move and dove to the bottom groove to make it a three-wide battle for the lead. Bourgeois led the charge out of the scuffle with Violette, Kenneway, and Dave Trudeau rounding out the top four. On lap seven, Trudeau muscled his way by Kenneway for third as the top-four continued running bumper-to-bumper. Trudeau continued to advance through the field and took the lead in turn four of lap 11. The caution flew at lap 13 when the No. 55 machine of Kenneway blew up in turn three and four. On the restart, Trudeau proved his drive to the front was no fluke as he held off a hard-charging Bourgeois to take the lead again and eventual checkers.
PASS NORTH SERIES: 1. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 2. DJ Shaw, Center Conway, NH; 3. Travis Benjamin, Morrill, ME; 4. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 5. Cassius Clark, Farmington, ME; 6. Lonnie Sommerville, Barnesville, New Brunswick; 7. Johnny Clark, Hallowell, ME; 8. Joey Doiron, Berwick, ME; 9. Austin Brehio, Hopkinton, NH; 10. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME;
SUNOCO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Keith Rocco, Meriden, CT; 3. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 4. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 5. Dennis Perry, Pawcatuck, CT; 6. Rick Shawn, Bradford, RI; 7. Adam Norton, Brookfield, MA; 8. Richie Gallup, Feeding Hills, MA; 9. Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA; 10. Eric Leclair, Easthampton, MA.
LATE MODEL FEATURE FINISH: 1. Tommy O’Sullivan, Wilbraham, MA; 2. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 3. John Falconi, Oakham, MA; 4. Randy Tucker, Millis, MA; 5. Ryan Waterman, Danielson, CT; 6. Robert Palmer, Lisbon, CT; 7. Jared Materas, Palmer, MA; 8. Robert O’Connell, Jr., Wrentham, MA; 9. Marc
Palmisano, Hadley, MA; 10. Ron Rice, W. Hyannisport MA.
THOMPSON MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. John Lowinski-Loh, Jr., Milford, MA; 2. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 3. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 4. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 5. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA.
LITE MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 2. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. Nikki Ouellette, East Granby, CT; 4. Eric Leclair, Easthampton, MA.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH: 1. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 2. Art Moran III, Preston, CT; 3. Tom Shea, New London, CT; 4. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 5. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 6. Steve Kenneway, Lowell, MA; 7. Kevin Bowe, Pawtucket, RI; 8. Michael Malbaurn, Sterling, CT; 9. Corey Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 10. Matt Lowinski-Loh, Milford, MA.
MINI-STOCK FEATURE FINISH: 1. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, CT; 2. Eric Bourgeois, East Haddam, CT; 3. Steve Violette, Canterbury, CT; 4. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 5. Alicia Thatcher, Pascoag, RI; 6. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 7. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 9. Nick Matera, Warwick, RI; 10. Bill Schoeler, Warwick, RI.
Sources: Penny Aicardi/Thompson Speedway PR