Ryan Preece Collects 11th Career NWMT Victory at Thompson
Pitkat and Ramstrom Pick Up World Series Wins
Thompson, Conn: Ryan Preece led a contingent of drivers to visit Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park victory lane in the final day of the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented by Xtra Mart. Preece was dominant in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race leading 137 of 150 laps. In NASCAR Whelen All American Series action, Charlie Rose held off Larry Gelinas for the Late Model victory while Woody Pitkat checkered the Sunoco Modified Series feature. Other winners were Derek Ramstrom in the Granite State Pro Stock Series, Randy Cabral in NEMA action, Chris Perley in the ISMA Supermodifieds, and Chris Turbush in the New England Truck Series.
Ryan Preece held of Rowan Pennink and Donny Lia on a late-race restart to take the win after leading the most laps in the Sunoco World Series 150 presented by Xtra Mart. This is Preece’s 11th career victory and his first in a tour car at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Doug Coby wrapped up the 2014 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
Woody Pitkat took the early lead over Preece, Doug Coby, and Bobby Santos, but his night came to a quick end when he got collected in an accident involving a lapped car on lap 16. Preece, who took the lead at lap eight, continued to pace the field on the restart at lap 22 and led until caution flew.
Preece jumped out on the restart at lap 54 with Lia moving up to second. Ron Silk took over the position from Lia at lap 59 and set his sights on Preece, who was now ahead by ten car lengths. Caution came out on lap 69 and saw most of the lead lap cars coming down pit road for tires and adjustments. Tommy Barrett, Jr. took over the lead for the restart, but Pennink drove to the front when the green flag unfurled. Preece was fast approaching, however, and reclaimed the lead on lap 78.
Preece dominated out front and led without challenge until caution flew once again at lap 100 for a spin on the front stretch. Silk joined him on the front row for the restart with Timmy Solomito and Lia third and fourth respectively. Preece used the outside groove and drove right back out front. On lap 111, Lia made a run on Silk for the second position using the outside groove, but slid up into the wall in turn two. Lia was relegated back to the sixth position. Caution flew on lap 116 after a battle involving Troy Talman and Derek Ramstrom ended in the turn two wall.
Preece was as strong as usual on the restart, but his momentum was interrupted by caution on lap 122 when Solomito spun in turn four. Preece continued his mastery of the restarts as Silk and Pennink went door-to-door for second, which was ultimately secured by Pennink.
On lap 139, Barrett and Christopher got into it with Christopher getting into the back of Barrett twice before pulling down pit road and behind the wall. The red flag came out to allow track crews to attend to Troy Talman, who was up against the turn two wall.
Preece only had one more time to master the restart as a caution set up a green-white-checker finish at lap 148. Preece took off with Lia on his bumper. Pennink dropped to third. Once out front, Preece pulled away by five car lengths over the rest of the field and drove on to take the checkered flag in commanding fashion.
Charlie Rose held off Larry Gelinas for a hard-earned Late Model victory to kick off Sunoco World Series action Sunday afternoon. Rose took the lead from Marc Curtis, Jr. on a restart at lap nine. The race was plagued by eight caution periods over a 25-lap distance.
Rick Gentes wrapped up the 2014 Late Model championship.
Damon Tinio was the early leader after getting by Keith Rocco on the start. Caution was quickly displayed after a few cars tangled in turn three, but racing got underway with all the cars still in the field.
Tinio and Jeff Smith were on the front row for the restart with Smith getting a run on Tinio using the outside groove. The field, however, would be reverted to their original positions after a spin in turn two brought the caution out once again.
Tinio and Smith drag raced into turn one on the restart and continued a two-lap door-to-door battle in which Tinio held the advantage. Meanwhile, further back in the field Glen Boss and Eddie LeClerc tangled as they battled down the front stretch. Boss brought his familiar No. 3 machine down pit road and then behind the wall.
Smith jumped in front of Tinio on the restart as Curtis and Rocco battled it out for the third spot. Rocco went off the pace coming out of turn two on lap four and crawled to pit road as the race remained under green flag conditions.
A spin on the backstretch tightened the field back up for a restart with Smith holding off Tinio at the drop of the green. Rick Gentes moved into third followed by Curtis and John Lowinski-Loh. The top-four began to pull away from the rest of the field with Smith still in command. Tinio, however, closed in within a car length. A five-car wreck in turn three brought the race under caution. Chad LaBastie, Stuart Wheeldon, Jared Materas, Jariah Roderick, and John Materas were all involved.
The restart got intense as Tinio and Smith battled for the lead into turn one. Tinio and Smith went high into turn two resulting in Tinio going around in front of the field. The accident collected several cars including Gentes and Larry Gelinas.
Precipitation on the backstretch extended the caution period and allowed for Gentes’ crew to make the necessary repairs and get him back on the track for the restart. Up front it was Curtis and Rose battling for the lead, but another wreck in turn one slowed the race for the eighth time.
Curtis and Rose were side-by-side heading into turn one on the restart, but it was all Rose when they came out of turn two. Gelinas maneuvered his way into the second position over Curtis and Lowinski-Loh. Smith was sixth and on the move.
Gelinas remained glued to Rose’s bumper over the next several lap. On lap 18, Gelinas looked to the bottom groove, but couldn’t get a run on him. His efforts continued as the laps ticked off, but Rose closed the door time and time again. Curtis closed in on Gelinas’ bumper as well making it a nail biter final lap, but Rose held them all off and took the checkered flag.
Woody Pitkat started third and avoided a multi-car wreck at the start to grab the lead on the restart before driving on to the win in the Sunoco Modified 30-lap feature event. Ryan Preece wrapped up the championship with his finish.
“This caps off a pretty bad year that we’ve had this year. It’s always nice to finish off on a strong run and get a win,” said Pitkat in victory lane.
An aggressive start spelled disaster for several cars at the start of the Sunoco Modified feature. Four cars were taken off the front stretch on a hook after two cars made contact and sent one into the inside retaining wall. Many other cars were collected in the mayhem.
Max Zachem and Woody Pitkat went side-by-side into turn one for the restart, but it was Pitkat with the advantage coming out of turn two. Cam McDermott settled into third with pressure from Keith Rocco.
Pitkat commanded the first half of the race even as he maneuvered through lapped traffic. Rowan Pennink’s day, however, wasn’t going as well as he got black flagged from track officials at lap 16. McDermott remained a solid contender in second – running a mere five car lengths behind Pitkat. Zachem and Rocco rounded out the top four.
The long green flag run only helped Pitkat, who drove on to the checkered flag unchallenged after McDermott got hung up by a lapped car in the closing laps of the race.
Derek Ramstrom’s patience paid off big dividends in the Granite State Pro Stock Series race Sunday afternoon. Ramstrom started the race fourth and ran second to Wayne Helliwell, Jr. for most of the race. A flat tire for Helliwell five laps before the race conclusion handed the lead and eventual win to Ramstrom.
“It’s unfortunate for Wayne. I don’t think I had anything for him, his car was phenomenal. That’s racing. We kind of lucked out,” said Ramstrom in victory lane.
Dillon Moltz wrapped up the 2014 series championship.
Moltz outraced Helliwell to the lead at the drop of the green flag, but a car in the turn two wall brought the field under caution on the first lap. On the restart, Helliwell never got up to speed and dropped to the bottom groove to get out of the way. Moltz jumped out front with Derek Ramstrom and George Bessette rounding out the top-three before caution flew. The starting order reverted back to the original order since a lap had not been complete.
Helliwell and Moltz brought the field back to green, and as he had down the two previous times, Moltz jumped to the front. Ramstrom slid in front of Reid Lanpher for the third spot. Helliwell took the lead from Moltz on lap seven and Ramstrom followed into second. Matt Frahm and Larry Gelinas rounded out the top-five. Once in clean air, Helliwell and Ramstrom were able to pull away from the rest of the field.
Helliwell was not shaken by the lapped traffic he had to maneuver through while Ramstrom remained close on his bumper. Third place driver Frahm, meanwhile, dropped back a half-a-straightaway from the leaders. Gelinas was running fourth about ten car lengths behind third.
The field had strung out single file, but took a dramatic turn on lap 45 when Ramstrom took over the lead. Moltz had gone off the pace, and Ramstrom was able to capitalize. Moltz headed to pit road while Ramstrom drove on to the checkered flag.
Randy Cabral took the lead for the final time on a late-race restart in the NEMA Midget feature and drove to the checkered flag unchallenged. Not only did he win the race, but he also locked up the series championship for 2014.
Bethany Stoehr got out to the lead on the second attempt at a start in the NEMA feature. Once out front, Bethany was able to pull away to a commanding half a-straight-away lead over Jim Chambers. John Zych, Jr. moved into third. A stopped car on the front stretch brought out the caution at lap three.
On the restart, Chambers jumped in front of Bethany Stoehr with Zych following in second. Randy Cabral came up through the field and got into the mix by taking the lead, only to lose it to Zych for a lap. Cabral reclaimed the lead and pulled away to a comfortable five car advantage on lap 10.
Cabral and Zych pulled away as the class of the field with Zych reeling him in before caution slowed the pace for the second time. Cabral went to the lead in turn one on the restart, but Zych was there to challenge and take the lead from him on the backstretch.
Zych and Cabral went side-by-side into turn one on the restart, but it was Zych who came out the leader in turn two. Bethany Stoehr brought out the caution on lap 18 putting Zych and Cabral together again for a restart. Zych went strong into turn one in his attempt to outrace Cabral, but something went wrong and he drove into the infield grass in turn one before having to pull onto pit road. Cabral, meanwhile, pulled ahead to a commanding lead over Cole Carter.
A brief caution period was followed by Cabral driving to the front on the restart where he opened up a lead over Carter and Dan Cugini. Cabral never looked back and soared to the checkered flag.
Chris Perley used the last ten laps to his advantage to go from third to the lead and put himself in position to take the checkered flag in the 50-lap ISMA Supermodified feature. It was his 72nd career win in the division. Ben Seitz locked up the championship.
Dan Bowes took the early lead, but Jeff Locke went after the lead coming out of turn two and took over the position before the lap was complete. Ben Seitz followed his line and moved into second and the duo pulled away from Bowes by ten car lengths. Caution flew at lap three putting Locke and Seitz on the front row for the restart.
Locke remained out front on the restart, and again, he and Seitz pulled away from the rest of the field, who was battling it out for position behind them. Rob Summers prevailed over Perley for the third spot while Jon McKennedy rounded out the top five. Locke was working lapped traffic when the caution flew and tightened the field back up.
Locke led the single file restart to green with Seitz and Perley in tow. On lap 20, Perley started to challenge Seitz for the second spot, but had to back out of it when he couldn’t get enough momentum to make a pass. Locke began working his way through lapped traffic allowing Seitz to catch up and challenge for the lead. Locke cleared the traffic and pulled away to hang on to the front position before caution came out at lap 29.
Seitz hooked onto Locke’s bumper when the race resumed, but caution halted his chances at a bid for the lead. Seitz did get a run, however, on the restart using the inside groove. Locke and Seitz were side-by-side for a full circuit before Seitz got a slight advantage on lap 32, but a caution reverted the lead back to Locke.
Locke maintained his lead on the restart with Seitz close behind. On lap 36, Seitz looked low, but had to back out of it when he couldn’t get by. Perley got into the mix and went low to try and get by Seitz in the corner. He backed out of it on the straightaway, but tried once again heading into turn three. Seitz then went high to challenge for the lead giving Perley a chance to get underneath him and take over the second spot. Perley wasn’t done and went right to the lead on lap 42. Seitz followed into second while Locke got relegated back to third. Perley went on to take the checkers.
Chris Turbush took the lead on a restart and never looked back in the New England Truck Series 20-lap feature. The race was started Saturday night, but halted when it passed local time constraints. The green flag fell once again nearly a day later, but the wait was well worth it for Turbush.
Bert Oullette took the lead ahead of Andy Linderman when the New England Truck Series resumed its race from Saturday night with one lap complete. A caution slowed the pace at lap two giving Linderman a chance to drive underneath Oullette for the lead coming out of turn two on the restart. Turbush moved into second and started to chase down the leader.
Cassie Coates spun on lap eight and brought out the third caution of the night putting Linderman on the outside front row for the restart. Turbush, however, was the man on the move and drove to the front to take over the lead coming out of turn two. The race got aggressive on lap nine as contact was made between three or four trucks with one of the trucks flipping upside down before coming to a halt.
Turbush drove out front on the restart and pulled away to a ten car length advantage over Linderman. On lap 14, Corey Coates had mechanical issues and fell off the pace as he crawled on the backstretch towards pit road. His championship hopes were dashed at that moment as caution flew on the track.
Turbush remained out front when the race resumed, but the other championship contender – Linderman – spun on the backstretch and was relegated to the tail end of the field. On the restart, Linderman charged to the third position as Turbush held strong out front. In fact, Turbush had opened up a full one-second lead over Brian McElearney when he took the checkered flag 20 hours after it first took the green flag.
Corey Hutchings made a successful late-race bid for the lead and never looked back in the closing laps of the 20-lap Limited Sportsman feature as he drove on to the checkered flag. It was the last race of the 14-division weekend. Scott Sundeen won the division championship.
The start of the Limited Sportsman feature didn’t fare well as Todd Dean got turned around and collected a half a dozen other cars before they even crossed the start/finish line. Dwayne Dorr took the lead when the race restarted with Travis Jurcik and Brent Gleason on his tail. By lap three, Dorr pulled ahead by three car lengths as Jurcik had his hands full with the challenges of Gleason for the second spot. On lap four, Gleason got up alongside Jurcik and held a nose-length advantage at the line. Further back in the field two cars tangled in turn four and brought out the second caution of the night.
Dorr jumped out to a significant lead on the restart over Gleason and Jurcik, but a battle quickly emerged for the fourth place spot between Kevin Mason and Ed Puleo. Puleo just maneuvered into the fourth spot when caution flew on lap 10.
Dorr continued his strong run up front when racing resumed with Gleason closing in within a car length in second. Corey Hutchings and Puleo were battling for the third spot, but Hutchings held him off. On lap 15, Gleason attached himself to Dorr’s rear bumper. Hutchings also got in the mix and filled Gleason’s mirror. It was nail biting as the top-three ran nose-to-tail, but caution waved once again.
Dorr jumped out front with Hutchings and Gleason running door-to-door before Hutchings settled into the second position on Dorr’s bumper. On lap 17, Hutchings made a move for the race-lead and after a brief side-by-side battle took over the top spot. A car spun on the frontstretch, but no caution was waved as he was able to get out of the way before the race leaders came back around.
Hutchings began to pull away from Dorr as they took the white flag lap, and he soared on to the checkered flag.
NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR FEATURE FINISH: 1. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 2. Donny Lia, Jericho, NY; 3. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 4. Ron Silk, Norwalk, CT 5. Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, NY; 6. Matt Hirschman, Northampton, PA; 7. Spencer Davis, Dawsonville, GA; 8. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 9. Max Zachem, Preston, Ct; 10. Timmy Solomito, Islip, NY; 11. Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, NY; 12. Tommy Barrett, Jr., Millis, MA; 13. Jamie Tomaino, Howell, NJ; 14. David Calabrese, Toms River, NJ; 15. John Beatty, Jr., Merrick, NY; 16. Wade Cole, Hartland, CT; 17. Doug Coby, Milford, CT; 18. Glen Reen, Wilbraham, MA; 19. Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, NY; 20. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 21. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 22. Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, NH; 23. Danny Watts, Jr., Riverhead, NY; 24. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, CT; 25. Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA; 26. James Civali, Meriden, CT; 27. Derek Ramstrom, West Boylston, MA; 28. Bobby Santos, Franklin, MA; 29. David Sapienza, Riverhead, NY; 30. Ken Heagy, Calverton, NY; 31. Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, NY; 32. Jason Agugliaro, Islip, NY; 33. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 34. Frank Vigliarolo, Jr., Mt. Sinai, NY; 35. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 36. Shawn Solomito, Islip, NY.
SUNOCO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Woody Pitkat, Sturbridge, MA; 2. Keith “Cam” McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. Max Zachem, Preston, CT; 4. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 5. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 6. Ryan Preece, Berlin, CT; 7. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 8. Michael Gervais, Jr., Southbury, CT; 9. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 10. Rowan Pennink, Huntington Valley, PA.
LATE MODEL FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Charlie Rose, Tiverton, RI; 2. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 3. Marc Curtis, Jr., Worcester, MA; 4. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme, CT; 5. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 6. Joe Curioso, Mystic, CT; 7. Eddie LeClerc, Taunton, MA; 8. Rick Gentes, Burriville, RI; 9. Jared Materas, Westfield, MA; Jariah Roderick, Taunton, MA.
GRANITE STATE PRO STOCK SERIES FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Derek Ramstrom, W. Boylston, MA; 2. Matt Frahm, Salem, NH; 3. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 4. Brad Babb, Windham, ME; 5. Jason Boyd, Edgewater, FL; 6. Dillon Moltz, Waterford, CT; 7. Tommy O’Sullivan, Wilbraham, MA; 8. Derek Griffith, Hudson, NH; 9. Mike Parks, Walpole, NH; 10. George Bessette, Danbury, CT.
NEMA MIDGET FEATURE FINISH: 1. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA; 2. Cole Carter; 3. Dan Cugini, Marshfield, MA; 4. Jim Chambers, Atkinson, NH; 5. Todd Bertrand, Suffield, CT; 6. Russ Stoehr, Bridgewater, MA; 7. Jim SantaMaria, Burlington, CT.; 8. Kenney Johnson, Bethany, CT; 9. Paul Scally, Raynham, MA.
ISMA SUPERMODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Chris Perley, Rowley, MA; 2. Ben Seitz, Bourne, MA; 3. Dave Shullick, Jr., N. Ridgeville, OH; 4. Lou Cicconi, Aston, PA; 5. Jeff Locke, Raymond, NH; 6. Charlie Schultz, Lorain, OH; 7. Moe Lilje, Vickery, OH; 8. Russ Wood, Sr., Pelham, NH; 9. Mark Sammut, London, Ontario; 10. Mike Keeler, Danbury, CT.
NEW ENGLAND TRUCK SERIES FEATURE FINISH: 1. Chris Turbush, Riverhead, NY; 2. Brian McElearney, N. Babylon, NY; 3. Andy Linderman, Poestenkill, NY; 4. DJ McGouran, Westerly, RI; 5. Glenn Noll, Naugatuck, CT; 6. Tyler Chapman, Mystic, CT; 7. Mike Parker, Montville, CT.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (TOP-4): 1. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 2. Brent Gleason, Griswold, CT; 3. Ed Puleo, Branford, CT; 4. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard, CT
Sources: Theresa Condict/Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park PR