Final Thursday Night Race Program This Week at Thompson
THOMPSON, CT — The Labor Day weekend will start a day early with the final Thursday Night Thompson Thunder race program for 2012 slated for this Thursday, August 30th. Attention after this week will be focused on the next two weekends of racing at Thompson that will include the UNOH Showdown weekend featuring the NASCAR Whelen Modified north/south Tours on September 8th & 9th and the final points race of the year on Sunday, September 16th.
This week, Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions will be preparing for their very important role in the UNOH Showdown weekend and will be looking to gain valuable track points in the quest of race teams to secure a championship title in their respective divisions.
Ryan Preece holds a 98 points advantage over Kerry Malone in the Sunoco Modified division with only three points races left on the schedule. Tommy O’Sullivan’s advantage in the Late Model division is 52 points ahead of Mike Scorzelli with John Falconi only 8 points behind Scorzelli. Randy Tucker is also in the hunt. In spite of his incredible success in the Thompson Modified division, John Lowinski-Loh, Jr. still faces title challenges from Jay Sundeen, Brian Tagg and Chad LaBastie.
Five drivers remain in the chase for the championship trophy in the Xtra/Mart Limited Sportsman division. Scott Sundeen tops the list and is followed closely by Jesse Gleason, Jason Chicolas Steve Kenneway and Corey Fanning. Cam McDermott has been dominant in the LKQ/Keystone Lite Modified division but needs to continue to best Troy Talman and Nikki Ouellette before he can claim his second Thompson championship in as many years.
The most competitive race for a division title is in the Monster Mini Stock division. Mathematically, there are still eight drivers who could grab the crown. Chad Baxter will go into this week’s competition with an advantage of only 6 points over Eric Bourgeois and 36 points ahead of Steve Violette. Joe Baxter, Dave Trudeau, Travis Jurcik, Mike Viens and Nick Anderson, however, may be long shots, but they do stand a mathematical chance of reaching the top. Thursday night races start at 6 PM.
All of these competitors have an eye on winning a Thompson championship. However, each also wants to do well before the huge crowds expected for the UNOH Showdown weekend. This event is expected to attract race fans from far and wide based on the race format and the huge success of last year’s event.
The UNOH Showdown is a two-day event that brings the NASCAR Whelen Modified north and south Tours together for a three-race format. Each Tour will qualify and then compete in its own 75-lap points race. Upon completion of these races, the best of the two Tours will be combined for a 50-lap, $50,000.00 Showdown event with the winner collecting in excess of $15,000.00. The 2011 race saw Doug Coby of the north Tour claiming both his points race and the Showdown.
For more information on any of Thompson’s scheduled events, fans should check the track’s web page at www.thompsonspeedway.com and click on schedule. Tickets for the UNOH Showdown weekend are available by calling the track office at 860-923-2280.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR