2012 ISMA Championship will Go Down to the Wire at Thompson
Two races remain on the 2012 International Supermodified Association (ISMA) tour, this Saturday’s Seekonk 200 at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway and the annual season closer Oct. 13 and 14 at Connecticut’s Thompson Int’l Speedway as a part of the track’s big World Series of Racing event.
Entering this weekend’s showdown at Seekonk, four drivers have a shot at the prestigious 2012 ISMA Drivers Championship, and all of them are seeking their first ISMA title.
Canadian Mike Lichty holds a slim 31-point lead over Independence, Ohio, supermodified veteran Tim Jedrzejek, who drives for the Central New York-based Soule Racing team.
Pennsylvania open-wheel racing standout “Liquid” Lou Cicconi Jr. sits in third place, 67 markers out of the lead. Lichty’s Patco Transportation Racing teammate Johnny Benson Jr. is still alive. The former NASCAR Truck Series champion is fourth, 103 points back of Lichty.
If the past two years at Seekonk are any indication, things could get very interesting heading into the finale at Thompson. Benson has won the last two years at the fall Seekonk ISMA show, and last year Cicconi was battling Benson and Russ Wood for the win until fading late in the race.
Lichty did not finish in the top five at Seekonk last year or in 2010. Jedrzejek did not have a ride for the Seekonk show either of the last two years.
Looking ahead to Thompson
While several teams will be vying for an elusive first ISMA championship at Thompson, a couple multi-time ISMA champions will be looking to play the spoiler at the fast five-eighths-mile oval.
Chris Perley will be back behind the wheel of a Vic Miller-owned supermodified at Thompson. The World Series of Racing will mark Perley’s first appearance of the year and it will come in a brand-new Miller super.
Perley has not raced since announcing he was semi-retiring prior to the ISMA opener in June at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl. In an unprecedented record, Perley has won the last five Thompson ISMA shows in a row and nine of the last 12.
Defending ISMA champion Russ Wood, fresh off the Star Classic win Sept. 8 at Star (N.H.) Speedway, will race at Thompson. Wood will run the No. 29 Brian Allegresso chassis that he drove to victory at Star.
Either Perley or Wood has won the last six ISMA championships and nine of the last 10 titles, a streak that will come to an end in a few weeks.
In addition to Perley and Wood, look for the regular contingent of ISMA stars at Thompson, including Lichty, Jedrzejek, Cicconi, Benson and other 2012 top runners Eddie Witkum, Mike Ordway Sr., Rob Summers, Jeff Locke, Tim Ice and Mark Sammut.
Qualifying and heat races will run Saturday, Oct. 13 at Thompson. The 50-lap feature will close out the 2012 ISMA season on Sunday, Oct. 14.
Sources: ISMA PR