Cates Wins Career-First in Sunoco Mods at Thompson; Ramstrom & Gentes Late Model Winners; Barnett, Oliveira, & Taylor Also Win
Thompson, CT — The local residents were treated to an eventful and exciting night of racing on Thursday Night at Thompson International Speedway. Danny Cates of Chaplin, CT, was the big winner as he scored his first-ever Sunoco Modified feature event win among a strong field.
Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, was tops in the Super Late Models while Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, celebrated his birthday with a Late Model victory. Leo Oliveira of Raynham, MA, earned the TIS Modified feature win in a photo-finish. Larry Barnett of Ledyard, CT, took down the Limited Sportsman feature win on Thompson Night at the races. Tim Taylor of Wauregan, CT, made it two straight in Mini Stocks.
Danny Cates of Chaplin, CT, had himself in contention to win the Sunoco Modified main event on Thursday night. So when things got physical between front-running Keith Rocco and Todd Ceravolo, Cates was there to capitalize. The young driver went on to win his first career Sunoco Modified feature event.
“Words cannot describe what I’m feeling right now,” said Cates in victory lane with his father Doug and his crew.
Kerry Malone drove by pole-sitter Ted Christopher to lead lap one. In the early going, Josh Sylvester ran in third ahead of Woody Pitkat and Ceravolo. The cars got strung out immediately throughout the pack. The first car to step out of line was Pitkat looking for position on Sylvester. Keith Rocco was a bit more successful taking the ninth position from Jimmy Blewett.
Ceravolo was making his way toward the front taking the fourth spot from Pitkat. A lap later, he took the third spot from Sylvester. Rocco was mired behind a double-file battle between Bert Marvin and Cates.
On lap 10, Marvin was able to free himself of Cates. Rocco followed through. Up front, Malone had worked his way out to a half straightaway advantage over a brewing battle between Christopher and Ceravolo.
Ceravolo was able to take over the second position on lap 14. Rocco made a bonsai move exiting turn three to shove Marvin out of the groove. Rocco gained the edge and the position. He made quick work of Sylvester making his first appearance in the top five.
Jimmy Blewett was off the pace on lap 18 to bring out the event’s first caution. On the restart, Pitkat got out of shape nearly making contact with the backstretch wall. He fell back as far as ninth. Rocco got a run on Christopher to take over the third position. A spin by Blewett brought out another caution on lap 22.
On the restart, Ceravolo got the jump leaving Malone to defend his position against Rocco and Cates. Contact between Pitkat and Christopher on lap 23 resulted in a melee on the front stretch. Cars also involved included Malone, who had slipped back to fourth, Sylvester, Marvin, Dave LaCroix, Ricky Shawn, John Catania, Brett LeBlanc, and Carl Oberg.
Rocco was able to muscle the lead away from Ceravolo on the restart. Cates moved into the second position following Rocco. Ceravolo gathered it back in to make a run at Rocco. The two made contact on several occasions. The final blow resulted in the two making hard contact with the outside wall in turn four. Cates emerged to take the caution as the new leader. On the restart, Danny Cates could taste his first career victory rocketing to the lead. He sailed under the checkers to take down the coveted win.
Despite an eventful night for both Pitkat and Blewett, they were able to come home second and third respectively. Malone also salvaged a good finish in fourth ahead of Rowan Pennink.
Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, entertained with an impressive run to the Super Late Model checkers. Fred Astle, Jr. held on to the lead; holding back the charges of a hungry Jeff Connors. A bobble by Astle on lap six opened the door for Connors and a host of other drivers. Astle slipped back to the tail-end of the top ten.
Steve Desmarais was holding strong in second while Dave Silvia, Marc Curtis, and Ramstrom jockeyed for position. Contact between Silvia, Curtis and Ramstrom gave Norm Wrenn some running room inside the top five. Connors maintained his lead over Desmarais and Silvia.
The first caution flew on lap 17. During the short green flag run, Ramstrom had begun his mark to the front. By the time the caution flew again, he was second. With ten laps to go, Ramstrom caught Connors. Wrenn, Desmarais and Macedonio were three-wide for third.
Ramstrom meanwhile got alongside Connors. He settled back in line only to make another run with five laps remaining. On lap 25, Ramstrom drove by Connors and into the lead. Once out front, Ramstrom immediately began to distance himself from the field.
A last caution for a spin by the Curtis set up a green/white/checker restart. Ramstrom, unfazed by the restart, cruised to the checkers for his first win of the season. Connors settled for second over Wrenn. Mike O’Sullivan and Les Rose, Jr. completed the top five.
Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, dominated the Late Model race but nearly watched his win disappear after a late race restart opened the door for a hard-charging Zuidema. But Gentes, who was celebrating a birthday, came back strong to post his second-straight Late Model victory.
“Jeff Zuidema is absolutely the best guy to race with,” said an enthusiastic Gentes in victory lane.
In the early going, with Gentes checked out, the heated battle for the fourth spot between and Tommy O’Sullivan and ay Stuart provided the action. Stuart was able to get by O’Sullivan for fourth behind Gentes, Materas, and Zuidema.
During the long green flag run the top three had gotten strung out. Little-by-little, Zuidema was able to chew away at Materas’ advantage. By halfway, Zuidema was glued to the back bumper of second position. The first caution flew on lap 15 for a single-car spin by Jeremy Sadowski.
The restart opened up the door for both Zuidema and O’Sullivan. Zuidema was able to take over the second position from Materas. O’Sullivan not only took his position back from Stuart, he advanced his position to pass Materas.
Zuidema was shot out of a cannon on a lap 17 restart taking over the top spot from Gentes. Contact at the front of the pack shuffled O’Sullivan to the tail-end of the top five. A few laps later, Gentes looked to take his lead back. The two went side-by-side to get the sign for five to go. They continued to run fender-to-fender with Gentes gaining a slight advantage at the stripe for two to go. He edged ahead on the final lap. Zuidema settled back in line and tailed Gentes to the checkers. Materas came home third followed by Stuart and O’Sullivan.
Larry Barnett of Ledyard, CT, scored his first win of the 2009 season in the 20-lap Limited Sportsman main event. Barnett showed patience in getting his Town Fair Tire #73 to the front; taking the lead just after halfway.
Things were relatively uneventful for early race leader Tom Shea until lap seven. Shea watched his lead slip away when he found himself part of a three-wide battle for the lead with Chris “Moose” Douton and Larry Barnett. Douton came out of the battle as the new leader followed by Barnett. After a short stint in the lead, Douton gave up the top spot to a charging Barnett.
After a late race restart, Joe Arena began to show his muscle moving into the second position behind Barnett. In the closing laps, Arena closed slightly but could not reel in the leader; leaving Barnett alone to take the checkers. Arena settled for second ahead of Douton, Sundeen, and Coutu, Jr.
Leo Oliveira of Raynham, MA, won a thriller in the TIS Modified main event to break Brian Sullivan’s lock on victory lane. Cam McDermott had a career day running strong all way to the checkers. Oliveira capitalized on his front row starting position to jump out to the lead. With Oliveira and McDermott out front, Brian Sullivan was quietly picking off cars entering the top three shortly after halfway.
On the final laps, McDermott edged ever closer to the leader. On the white flag lap, McDermott got alongside Oliveira. They exited turn four dead-even. At the checkers, Oliveira was able to motor ahead to take the win by the length of a bumper. Sullivan had the best seat in the house finishing third. R.J. Marcotte and Brian Tagg rounded out the top five.
Tim Taylor of Wauregan, CT, made it two straight in Mini Stock competition with a dominating performance in the 15-lap feature event. Taylor, who took the lead early, withstood a number of restarts to score the victory. The Mini Stocks had an uncharacteristically difficult main event but during the green flag runs the action was fierce. Things got busy in the early laps as eight cars battled feverishly for the third position on back. Attrition became a factor as several of the players were eliminated from the battle during a series of cautions.
In the last dash to the checkers, Scott Jassaume pressured Taylor on the restart but fell back in line while Brad Caddick, Waterford Speedbowl regular Randy Churchill and Chad Baxter battled. Taylor cruised to victory over Jassaume, Churchill, Caddick, and Baxter.
Thompson gets back to action next Thursday night with a special 50-lap main event for the Late Models. On June 18th, the True Value Modified Racing Series will be on hand for 75-laps of ground-pounding racing action. For more information on these two exciting race events and the entire 2009 season log on to thompsonspeedway.com or call the racing hotline at (860) 923-2280.
Sunoco Modified Feature Finish 30-Lap Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 2. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 3. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ; 4. Kerry Malone, Needham, MA; 5. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 6. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 7. Harry Rheaume, Oakdale, CT; 8. Bert Marvin, New London, CT; 9. Henry Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 10. Carl Oberg, Sutton, MA.
Super Late Model Feature Finish 30-Lap Feature (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 2. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 3. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 4. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 5. Les Rose, Jr. Southbridge, MA; 6. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI; 7. Steve Desmarais, Westport, MA; 8. Jay Macedonio, Somerset, MA; 9. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, 10. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT.
Late Model 20-Lap Feature Event (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 2. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 3. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 4. Jay Stuart, Preston, CT; 5. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 6. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 7. Steve Landry, Tyngsboro, MA; 8. Tom Fox, Plainfield, CT; 9. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT; 10. P.J. Howard, Norwood, MA.
Limited Sportsman 20-Lap Feature Event (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Larry Barnett, Ledyard, CT; 2. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 3. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT; 4. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 5. Paul Coutu, Jr., Thompson, CT; 6. Tommy Shea, New London, CT; 7. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 8. Paul Palen, Pelham, MA; 9. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 10. Gerald Sevigny, Brooklyn, CT.
TIS Modified 20-Lap Feature Event (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Leo Oliveria, Raynham, MA; 2. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 3. Brian Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 4. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 5. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 6. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 7. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 8. Tyler Poulin, Millville, MA; 9. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA; 10. Jeff Barrows, Worcester, MA.
Mini Stock Feature 15-Lap Feature Event (Top-Ten) Finish: 1. Tim Taylor, Wauregan, CT; 2. Scott Jassaume, Danielson, CT; 3. Randy Churchill, Niantic, CT; 4. Brad Caddick, New London, CT; 5. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 6. Steven Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 7. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 8. Jeff Moffat, Warwick, RI; 9. Ron Rixham, Jefferson, MA; 10. Steve Romjue, Coventry, RI.
Sources: Dale Wolbrink/Thompson International Speedway PR