Final Chance for Championships this Sunday at Thompson
THOMPSON, CT. Three NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championships will be the highlight of the competition this Sunday at the Thompson International Speedway. The most closely watched division will be the Super Late Models where, mathematically, there are seven drivers in contention for that division’s title.
Derek Ramstrom, the 2009 and 2010 champion, holds a slim 8 point lead over Jim Banfield going into the final points event of the year with Mike O’Sullivan a mere 14 markers behind the leader. The 2011 champion, Larry Gelinas finds himself 38 points down with veteran Dick Houlihan 44 off the pace. They may be long shots, but George Bessette and Colby Fournier are still in the running as well. A win is worth 50 points and every finishing spot that follows is reduced by two points each.
Scott Sundeen won the XTRA/MART Limited Sportsman title back in 2008. Going into the final points race this Sunday, Sundeen holds a 34 points advantage over Jesse Gleason in his search for a second Limited Sportsman track title.
Chad Baxter holds the slimmest of margins in any division. The Monster Mini Stock driver is a mere 6 points ahead of Eric Bourgeois. Both drivers have had very good seasons and the final race for the championship is certain to be exciting.
The Sunoco Modified track title has already been won by Ryan Preece. This past weekend, Cam McDermott claimed the crown in the LKQ/Keystone Lite division and John Lowinski-Loh, Jr secured the number one spot in the Thompson Modified division.
All of these NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions will be in competition this Sunday. An additional attraction will be the Outlaw (Antique) Modifieds. These classis race cars will participate in a qualifying race and a feature event before they put their cars on display on the Midway.
Grandstands will open at 12 Noon with racing slated to kick off at 2:15 PM. The entire schedule of events may be found on the Thompson web page. www.thompsonspeedway.com
At the conclusion of Sunday’s race program, Thompson will begin to prepare for its next event scheduled for the weekend of October 12, 13 and 14. This three-day racing spectacular is known as the Sunoco-Town Fair Tire World Series of Speedway Racing. A total of 16 different divisions of race cars participate in this one-of-a-kind racing weekend. A brand new addition to this year’s program will be the Valenti Modified Racing Series. This exceptionally popular series will be the highlight of the Saturday night program when they take to the track for a 75-lap feature event. The complete schedule of events for the World Series of Speedway Racing is also available on the Thompson web page.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR