New Challenges for Thompson Modified Drivers
THOMPSON, CT — The roar of the engines will once again fill the air at the Thompson International Speedway when the track opens for the first of two pre-season practice sessions on Saturday, March 30th. Each year, the first open practice session is very important to competitors and this year it will be of particular importance to the drivers of the former Thompson Modified division.
Nearly every TIS Modified team has moved to a new division at the track and each will be faced with challenges as they adapt to new cars and drivers in a completely different class of race cars. The Thompson Late Model class has become the division of choice for the majority of the TIS Modified Drivers.
The 2012 Thompson Modified champion, John-Lowinski-Loh, JR is just one of the drivers moving to the Late Models. He recently said that he was really looking forward to competing in a Late Model but he said that he and his team had their work cut out for them. He spoke of the fact that the cars are bigger and that there will be a need to adjust to a different suspension system, different tires and to learn to work with less visibility in the full-body style car. Lowinski-Loh, Jr said, “We will be racing with much more experienced guys but I think there will be close competition. I also think there will be a nice field of cars and that will make for really good racing. We are also looking forward to traveling to other tracks and getting valuable seat time. We are even thinking about going to Loudon,” he concluded. Lowinski-Loh, JR. had a very successful 2012 season. He scored eighteen top five finishes and visited victory lane a total of nine times.
Other former TIS drivers will face the same challenges. Chad LaBastie, Ryan Morgan and Glenn Boss will also compete in the Late Model division. It will be all new for LaBastie and Morgan. However, Boss may have a bit of an advantage since he competed in four regular season Late Model races last year and finished in the top five in each one.
Jason Sundeen, who finished second in the 2012 TIS points, will move to the Sunoco Modified division. Like Boss, Sundeen also tested the waters in another division. He competed in five Sunoco Modified events last year and posted two top ten finishes. Danny Gamache, JR will also step up and try his hand in an LKQ/Keystone Lite Modified. Gamache impressed a lot of people with his fourteen top five finishes and a win in his Thompson Modified.
Brian Tagg, a regular competitor in the TIS division since 2008, will concentrate on his education and career before climbing behind the wheel of a race car again in 2014. However, he will still be a familiar face at Thompson as he will work with his cousin Troy Tallman who was named Rookie of the Year in the LKQ/Keystone Lite Modified division.
A new season always presents new drivers, teams and challenges. For this reason, the open practice scheduled for Saturday, March 30th is a very important day for all racers. A second open practice day is slated for Saturday, April 8th. Both of these sessions will greatly help race teams as they prepare for the season-opening Icebreaker on the weekend of April 13 & 14 at Thompson.
For more information on scheduled events at the Thompson International Speedway, fans are urged to visit the track’s web page at: www.thompsonspeedway.com.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson Speedway PR