Valenti Modifieds Next on Thompson Calendar
THOMPSON, CT — The Valenti Modified Racing Series will make its first of three stops this year at Thompson Speedway on Sunday, May 19th. The VMRS will headline the six-division race program that will also feature Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly divisions.
The VMRS is celebrating its 10th anniversary season and is expected to bring a large field of race teams to Thompson. Over seventy teams have registered this season for VMRS competition with many of them well known to Thompson fans. A host of drivers from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour are regulars on the VMRS as are a number of All-American Series competitors. Defending WMT champion Doug Coby is a registered VMRS competitor as are Rowan Pennink, Ryan Preece, Keith Rocco, Richard Savary and Woody Pitkat. Some other well-known VMRS regulars are Steve Masse, two-time champions Chris Pasteryak and Kirk Alexander, Todd Owen, Tommy Barrett and many more.
Race number one of the VMRS season was won by Steve Masse and Rowan Pennink picked up the victory in race number two this past weekend. Thompson is the third event on the VMRS schedule and it’s anyone’s guess who will walk away with a victory in the 75-lap main event.
Joining the Valenti Modifieds will be Thompson’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Sunoco Modifieds. The defending champion is Ryan Preece who kicked off his title defense on Icebreaker weekend with a 4th place finish. The race was won by Keith Rocco who was followed by Kerry Malone, Woody Pitkat, Preece and Todd Ceravolo.
Thompson Late Model driver Glenn Boss will try to make it two in a row after an Icebreaker win. He will, however, find stiff competition from the likes of Rick Gentes, Marc Curtis, John Falconi and others. Cam McDermott will try to best Troy Talman and John Studley in the Lite Modified division and Monster Mini Stock driver Scott Michalski and the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman’s Larry Barnett will attempt to keep their win streaks going after claiming two wins on Icebreaker weekend. Michalski and Barnett won their Saturday night “Best of the Rest” races and then went on to win the Monster Mini and Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman features on Sunday.
Grandstands will open at 11am with practice slated for a Noon start. Qualifying races begin shortly after 2pm with all six feature races to follow. The entire day’s schedule is posted on the Thompson Speedway web page. www.thompsonspeedway.com.
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR