Thompson Gearing Up for World Series
THOMPSON, CT — With the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented by Town Fair Tire and Xtra Mart only three weeks away, the Thompson International Speedway if in full swing preparing for the incredible three-day racing spectacular.
This year’s World Series event, October 12-14, will be the biggest World Series ever with special attention directed to the Saturday night portion of the program. In previous years, roughly half of the participating divisions ran their feature events on Saturday night in front of large crowds who enjoyed the incredible diversity of race cars and race trucks. This year, that same Saturday night fun will be significantly increased with the addition of a Valenti Modified Racing Series 75-lap feature event. Divisions that will be part of the feature event lineup on Saturday will qualify on Friday except for the Valenti Modifieds. VRMS competitors will qualify and race on Saturday. The divisions racing on Sunday will qualify early Saturday afternoon.
The divisions that race on Saturday will include the Pro 4 Modifieds, N.E. Trucks, Late Models, Monster Mini Stocks, Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman, Thompson and Lite Modifieds and the three “outlaw” divisions. Add to these races the full program from the Valenti Modified Racing Series and fans will have an extra special racing weekend.
Sunday is the day when the rest of the big guns get rolled out onto the speedway. These divisions will have qualified on Saturday and include the Super Modifieds of ISMA, NEMA Midgets, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Sunoco Modifieds and Super Late Models.
Championships in many divisions are on the line at the World Series and this year will probably follow this tradition. With one race between now and the World Series, Doug Coby holds a 21 points advantage over Ryan Preece. Coby’s lead is 24, 54 and 69 points ahead of former champs Ron Silk, Donny Lia and Todd Szegedy respectively. With the points chase so close, the chances are very good that the champion will be crowned at Thompson.
The ISMA Super Modifieds also have an exciting championship race on their hands. Mike Lichty leads Tim Jedrezehk by a mere 31 points with a Seekonk outing before they reach Thompson. Lou Cicconi is only 64 markers back with Johnny Benson 103 points off the pace.
The race for the 2012 NEMA title is basically a two-man duel. Randy Cabral finds himself with a slim cushion of 23 points over Russ Stoehr. Todd Bertrand is third in the standings some 173 points off the leader’s pace. The Midgets, however, have two races on their schedule before the World Series and anything is possible before the October 14th date at Thompson.
Jon McKennedy sits on top of the points listings for the Valenti Modifieds. With three races remaining in the 2012 campaign, McKennedy holds an advantage of 57 points over Rowan Pennink and an 87 points edge over defending champ Chris Pasteryak. Norm Wrenn and Louie Mechalides round out the top 5. The VMRS has one more race event after the World Series weekend to determine their 2012 champion.
Pro 4 Modified competition will be tight with Bob Richardi, Jr. leading Dave Richardi and Phil Lusier in the points battle. Duane Noll, on the other hand, will roll into Thompson with the New England Truck Series division bearing a huge points lead over Jason Lafayette.
With all of the division championships on the line, the World Series will be the final opportunity for most to secure a division title. This puts a lot of pressure on all competing teams to have their best race of the season.
The full three-day schedule of events is posted on Thompson’s web site. www.thompsonspeedway.com World Series of Speedway Racing general admission tickets are available by contacting the track’s office during the week. Fans typically get their tickets early to avoid the long ticket lines on race days. For tickets or other information, call 860-923-2280.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR