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Thompson, CT — A great evening of family fun returns to the Thompson International Speedway on Sunday, May 25th. The Eve of Destruction will once again kick off the beginning of summer in a big, bad, noisy and fun-filled way.
Mad house mayhem will be the order of the night with over a dozen different thrilling, spectacular, insane and fun-filled, action-paced attractions. It’s this kind action packed program that has become the signature of Thompson’s annual Eve of Destruction.
Thompson, CT — Opening night of Thursday Night Thompson Thunder (TNTT) is set for May 22nd. The 2008 racing season marks the ninth year that the popular Thursday night race program has been thrilling race fans in New England.
Thompson’s six NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions compete weekly in what has to be the fastest, most efficiently run race program to be found anywhere in southern New England. Feature event racing begins around 7 PM and fans are headed home by 9:30 PM. However, during that period, fans get to see six feature events with the best drivers the region has to offer.
Thompson, CT — Thursday Night Thompson Thunder (TNTT) returns to the Thompson International Speedway on Thursday, May 22nd. The TNTT series will once again feature six NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions in a fast-paced race program that has been so popular with race fans.
The Thompson Sunoco Modifieds lead the way with a roster of drivers bursting with talent. The competition is second to none and race fans love the close, high-speed competition of this exciting open wheel division.
Eddie Flemke Wins Rain-Shortened WMT 150; Before Rains O’Sullivan, Gleason, Boss & Fields Take Weekly Series Wins
Thompson, CT — Spirits were darkened during what should have been the celebratory start of racing season at Thompson International Speedway. Shane Hammond, age 27, of Halifax, MA, succumbed to injuries sustained on lap four of the Northeastern Midget Association feature event. The thoughts and prayers of the entire racing community are with Hammond’s family.
A formal statement will be forthcoming from Thompson Speedway management.
The traditional Icebreaker at Thompson International Speedway culminated with feature events for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the NASCAR All-American Series Weekly Racing Series. A cold rain settled into the speedway shortly after the halfway marker of the scheduled 150 lap event for the Modifieds causing NASCAR to shorten the event at lap 92. Eddie Flemke, Jr. was declared the winner. Chuck Hossfeld of Buffalo, NY, made a strong return to the Mystic Missile to finish second. Bobby Grigas III of Marshfield, MA, had a career best finish to come home third.
Thompson, CT — A racing accident Sunday afternoon at the Thompson International Speedway claimed the life of race driver Shane Hammond of Halifax, MA. The accident occurred on the third lap of a scheduled 25-lap Northeast Midget Association (NEMA) feature event race.
“Everyone at the Thompson Speedway is saddened by this tragic loss,” said track Owner, Donald Hoenig. “Words can not express how we at Thompson and the entire racing community feel at this time. We extend our deepest sympathies to Shane’s family, friends and to his many fans. Shane Hammond was a very talented young driver who had impressed many with his natural ability.”
The 27 year old Mr. Hammond was transported to the Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, CT where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Connecticut State Police are investigating the accident. Connecticut State Police has indicated that the investigation remains open and active at this time.
Thompson, CT — New England racing season is officially underway as the traditional Icebreaker commenced at Thompson International Speedway on Saturday afternoon. The main attractions are slated for tomorrow, Sunday, April 6, 2008 beginning at 12 Noon with the Northeastern Midget Association, six divisions of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Racing, and the headlining Whelen Modified Tour.
On Saturday, James Civali of Meriden, CT, stole the show when he turned a lap of 18.585 seconds and an average speed of 120.097 to earn the Coors Light Pole. Bobby Grigas of Marshfield, MA, was second on the clock with a time of 18.613 seconds. The top five in qualifying included Todd Szegedy, Ronnie Silk and Jimmy Blewett. After the redraw it will be Grigas leading the field to green as the Whelen Modified tour embarks on NASCAR’s 60th year of Modified racing. Silk, Blewett, Szegedy, and Civali will make up the top five for Sunday’s 150 lapper that is scheduled to go green at approximately 3:15PM.
Thompson, CT — James Civali captured his first career Coors Light Pole Saturday evening at Thompson International Speedway in qualifying for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season-opening Icebreaker.
Entering his third season, Civali captured the pole for the first time in what will be his 37th career start on Sunday. The Meriden, Conn., native ran an 18.585 sec. lap on the .625-mile banked oval for a speed of 120.097.
Busy Season Starts This Weekend at Thompson Speedway Stafford, CT — Woody Pitkat’s 2007 accomplishments alone could make for a strong career resume in racing. He finished second in points…
Thompson, CT — The stars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be out in force this weekend for the season opening ICEBREAKER at the Thompson International Speedway. The list of race teams and drivers pre-entered for the April 5th & 6th event is made up of champions and challengers.
Four former winners of the ICEBREAKER will be on hand as will a host of drivers that want to add this prestigious event to their win list. The driver who has the most ICEBREAKER wins is Rick Fuller. The Auburn, MA driver won the event in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2001. Seven time Modified Tour division Champion, Mike Stefanik, a two-time ICEBREAKER winner (’98 & ’06), will be joined by another two-time victor, Ted Christopher (’04 & ’05). Last year’s ICEBREKER winner, James Civali, will try to make it two in a row.
Thompson International Speedway hosted another Test ‘N Tune session on Saturday, March 29.
Teams from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NEMA Midgets were on hand to get ready for Icebreaker 2008 next weekend. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly classes of Sunoco Modifieds, Pro Stocks, Limited Sportsman, Thompson Modifieds and Mini Stocks were also there.
Eric LaFleche of VLF Photos and our own Adam Fohlin were there to capture the action.
There have been a lot of rumors about us moving our open practice tomorrow to Sunday. That is NOT the case at all. Weather permitting (and all looks good), we will begin practice tomorrow (March 29th) at 12 Noon. If there is any way you could post that for us, It would be much appreciated.
Thompson, CT — The long New England winter is loosing its grip on the region and race fans are ready for the annual renewal of high-speed excitement. It all begins each year with the ICEBREAKER race event at the Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, CT. This year’s ICEBREAKER will be held April 5th & 6th.
An especially harsh winter in the region has made race fans hungry for the return of their favorite sport and Thompson will present a full weekend of high speed spills and thrills. The annual season opener will feature eight different divisions of race cars in a two-day extravaganza.
The Northeastern Midget Association begins its 56th season at Thompson International Speedway’s Icebreaker April 4-5-6. Club President Mike Scrivani Jr. expects upward to 30 cars for the 25-lapper on what is the fastest track NEMA visits.
It is the first of 19 races for NEMA, the most in 20 years. It is the first of three ’08 visits to Thompson. The Budweiser Modified Nationals at Waterford Speedbowl follows a week later (April 12-13) providing the club with a demanding start.
Daytona Beach, FL — To kick off a season-long celebration of 60 years of Modified champions, NASCAR is recognizing a trio of NASCAR Modified titlists in the 2008 opener April 6 at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.
NASCAR plans to recognize each of its past Modified champions throughout the season. The celebration will begin with the honoring of Frankie Schneider, Donny Lia and the late Richie Evans at the season-opening Icebreaker.
Thompson, CT — The Sunoco Modifieds, the premier NASCAR Whelen All American Series division at Thompson International Speedway, looks to be the most competitive weekly Modified division at any race track in the northeast as a brand new season arrives.
This exciting open wheel division has provided fans with truly great racing events week in and week out for many years. It has grown stronger and stronger with each passing year and 2008 looks to be this division’s best year ever. It all gets underway when the Sunoco Modifieds will compete in two feature events on ICEBREAKER weekend, April 5th & 6th.
Things seem to be in order for Nokie Fornoro – all the things necessary to capture the Northeastern Midget Association championship for himself and owner Mike Jarret. “I’m going after it,” declares Fornoro, about to start his 34th season. “I have no other commitment. I don’t have to worry about missing races. It’s about time. I haven’t had a championships in over 10 years and that sort of bothers me.”
NEMA opens its 19-race schedule April 4-5-6 at Thompson International Speedway. A spot on Waterford Speedbowl’s Budweiser Modified Nationals follows a week later (April 12-13). A large and impressive entry list compliments the agenda.
Thompson, CT — It is a sure sign that the traditional racing season opener in New England is just around the corner when Thompson International Speedway schedules its open practice sessions. The first of these two open practice sessions is scheduled for this Saturday, March 22nd from 12 Noon until 6 PM. The second such session is slated for March 29th at the same times.
Thompson’s open practice sessions are designed for the benefit of any race team having a safe and legal race car. During the 2008 racing season, many different racing divisions will be in competition at the historic asphalt oval. Race car divisions ranging from the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Mini Stocks, NEMA Midgets and Pro Four Modifieds all the way up to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the ISMA Super Modifieds will race at Thompson and are therefore welcome to participate in the open practice sessions. Antique race car clubs are also encouraged to participate.
Thompson, CT — The winter snows have melted away and work has begun at the Thompson International Speedway for the opening of the 2008 racing season. With Thompson’s ICEBREAKER event less than a month away, work at the historic New England racing oval is at a fever pitch to prepare the facility for opening day.
Everyone’s attention is centered on Saturday, March 22nd. That’s the day the gates will open for the first time in the new season so that race teams will have an opportunity to begin testing their race cars. Any legal and safe race car is welcome to participate in this first of two open practice dates at Thompson. The second date is Saturday, March 29th. The track will be open for practice from Noon until 6 PM on both days.
Concord, NC — Most racecar drivers spend Thursday nights preparing for their busy weekends at the track. This season, Bobby Grigas III will instead spend those evenings moonlighting as the driver of a Sunoco Modified in the Whelen All-American Series at Thompson International Speedway. Grigas will drive an entry owned by Jimmy Page of Blackstone, Massachusetts, in the full schedule of Sunoco Modified races for 2008.
“I’ll be driving the #00 Sunoco Modified at Thompson,” said Grigas, who raced a Late Model at the track on a regular basis earlier in his career. “I’m psyched to go back to Thompson. For the last two years, I’ve wanted to get a Sunoco Modified ride there. When we go there [with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour], I always try to watch the Sunoco Modified racing. They are so exciting and I get pumped watching that. It is hard-core racing – going out and banging wheels to win. That’s the kind of racing that I like. My parents told me that it seems like I’m even more excited about going and racing there then I am to race on the Tour.”
Thompson Speedway has long represented the top of the mountain in Midget racing. Atleast six drivers will be looking to get back there when the Northeastern Midget Association opens its 56th season April 5-6 at the historic oval’s season-opening Icebreaker.
It is the busiest schedule in 20 years for NEMA which will race 19 times at eight tracks.
Randy Cabral tops the list of active drivers, last year’s World Series triumph his fifth career checkered at Thompson.Also on the list are Nokie Fornoro ((4), defending champion Ben Seitz(3) Bobby Santos (3), Greg Stoehr (1) and Joey Payne (1).
New England Auto Racer Hall of Fame member Vic Bombacci, co-owner of V8, passed away Feburary 2 at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. He was 78.
Bombacci and Bob Vitari, boyhood friends in Essex, CT, brought a race car to the Waterford Speedbowl in 1958. With driver Bill Slater, they won the Speedbowl championship in 1959 in the car soon known as the Connecticut Valley Rocket.
O’Sullivan, Gentes, Vigeant, DeSanctis & Romano Also Feted
Thompson, CT — The Raceway Restaurant and Golf Club, on the grounds of the historic Thompson International Speedway, was the site of the two-day 2007 champions celebration. On Saturday night, Keith Rocco of Wallingford took center stage as the Sunoco Modified champion. He shared the spotlight with fellow titlists-Late Model ace Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, and TIS Modified champion Kurt Vigeant of Oxford, MA. A night earlier, Pro Stock Champion Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, was honored along with Limited Sportsman honoree Keith DeSanctis of Monson, MA, and Mini Stock victor Mike Romano of Pascoag, RI. NASCAR’s Chad Little was on hand on Saturday night to present the champions with their wares.
A relative newcomer, Keith Rocco, in only his third year of Sunoco Modified racing beat the best-of-the-best to score his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Championship in 2007. With a great car owner in Don Bannister and the backing of a strong race team led by Shane Hopkins, Rocco and his Interstate Diesel team ran consistency straight to the championship. Together the team posted four wins, 12 top-five finishes, and 14 top-ten finishes.
Thompson, CT — The sound of racecar engines has been replaced by the roar of bulldozers, graders, cranes, front end loaders, post hole diggers and cement trucks at the Thompson International Speedway. All of this activity at the historic race track is part of a major improvement program that will feature all new lighting for the race track, the main pit area and midway.
Musco Lighting Company, a world leader in outdoor lighting, has now added Thompson Speedway to its impressive list of clients. The Iowa based lighting company has provided spectacular lighting for super speedways, ball parks, stadiums and other outdoor venues around the world. The engineering department at Musco Lighting Co. provided the design specifications for the installation of each of the 187 , 1500 watt light fixtures that will turn night into day at the Thompson facility. The actual installation was done by Gagnon Electrical Company of Newington, CT. Gagnon is an experienced installer of the Musco Lighting Systems.
Thompson, CT — Brand new for the 2008 racing season will be driver eligibility for the popular Thompson International Speedway Modified division. Since its inception, the “TIS” modified division has been limited to either new drivers or drivers moving up to compete in this open wheel NASCAR Whelen Modified division.
After numerous requests by drives and race teams and much consideration by the management of the Thompson International Speedway, the decision was made to open the division to any and all drivers who are at least 16 years of age.
Thompson, CT — The office at the Thompson International Speedway once again adopted its winter schedule beginning Monday, December 3, 2007. The office will be open four days a week between the hours of 9 AM and 12 Noon. The days of operation will be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday each week. The office will be closed on Tuesdays.
Track officials also want to announce that the new competition rules for the 2008 season are available. Competitors may find them on the track’s web site or may call the track office to have a copy mailed. The web site may be found at: www.thompsonspeedway.com.
In May of 1940, Louis J. D’Amore of Dedham, MA found himself with a new challenge. The young racecar owner was excited about the opening of a brand new race track in Thompson, CT. The land on which the track was built had been transformed from a dairy farm into a speedway following the farm’s destruction at the hands of the infamous 1938 hurricane.
D’Amore had been watching races on dirt and board tracks since he was a kid in the early 1930s, but this May 26th opening of the Thompson Speedway was to be something new and exciting. Property owner John Hoenig had constructed the largest race track in the northeast and had bucked conventional wisdom by making the racing surface out of macadam instead of the traditional dirt, clay or wood that topped most tracks of the day. Hoenig had built the first ‘asphalt’ race track in the United States. Racers of the day could not wait to test the all-new, high banked speedway. None had ever raced on a surface like the one Hoenig had used, but that did not keep them or race fans away. A full field of racecars and the huge grandstands were filled to capacity for this grand opening.
Thompson, CT — Don Hoenig’s Original Automotive Swap meet and Flea Market will open for the 36th time this weekend, November 3rd & 4th, on the grounds of the Thompson International Speedway. Over 1,500 vendors and literallythousands of buyers will gather at the historic speedway for this annual,two-day, buy, swap and sell event.
Like so many things, Don Hoenig’s Original Automotive Swap Meetand Flea Market began with only a few vendors and a few hundred buyers. But, the success of that very first event proved that it had the potential to grow quickly. However, nobody envisioned the growth to be as rapid as it wasor to become as famous as it has. The Thompson Automotive Swap Meet and Flea Market is now one of the largest events of its kind in the country.
Thompson, CT — Thompson International Speedway is accepting applications for car number renewals. For ease and convenience, the 2008 registration forms may be accessed from the front page of the Thompson web site.
As in previous years, any driver who secured track points with a registered car number will have until January 15, 2008 to renew that number. If the number is not renewed, it will then be assigned to the first person requesting the number. That determination is made by the date that each request is received at the Thompson Speedway office. If a number is being requested that was not used in the 2007 season, it will be awarded on a first come-first served basis.
In May of 1940, Louis J.