In spite of very cool temperatures, fans crowded into
Thompson Speedway to watch the Sunday events during the 35th
annual World Series at Thompson Speedway. On the program for
Sunday were Pro Stocks, Late Models, NEMA Midgets, ISMA
Supermodifieds, and the final race of the Whelen Modified Tour.
Quite a few Long Island teams made the trip to take part in the
action.
The Pro Stocks started off the day's features. Long Islanders
Peter "Buzzy" Eriksen and Jarrod Hayes were both in the field,
starting 11th and 14th, respectively. Michael O'Sullivan started
on the pole, with Derek Ramstrom on the outside pole. O'Sullivan
took the lead, with Ramstrom fighting hard on the outside.
Ramstrom got into the lead, and Jeff Connors began to battle
O'Sullivan for the second spot. On lap 5, Eriksen was 13th, with
Hayes 16th. The first caution of the race came on lap 6, for
Dennis Potter and another car. For the restart, Eriksen was 11th
with Hayes 14th. Ramstrom took off from the pole, with Connors
on his outside. The two wrestled for the top spot, with Connors
taking it on lap 8. Norman Wrenn looked to the inside of
O'Sullivan for third, but slid through the infield on the
frontstretch, hitting the inside wall and bringing the caution
out again on lap 10. Eriksen was in 11th, with Hayes in 17th.
Connors got out front, with Ramstrom in tow. David Berghman
grabbed third. Ramstrom moved to the inside of Connors to retake
the lead on lap 12. Berghman tried to follow for second, but was
unsuccessful. At lap 15, Eriksen was in 14th with Hayes in 18th.
Connors began to stretch his lead over the rest of the field,
going on to collect the win, followed by O'Sullivan and Berghman.
Eriksen was 14th in the final rundown, with Hayes 16th.
Next out was the Late Model feature, with Long Islander
Garrett Frabizio starting 14th in the 16-car field. Rick Gentes
started on the pole, with Paul Newcomb Jr. on the outside.
Gentes shot out to the lead, and Tommy O'Sullivan went to the
inside of Newcomb Jr. for second. The top five cars had a
breakaway at lap 4, more than half a straightaway ahead of the
rest of the field. The leaders were in heavy lapped traffic by
lap 11. Caution came out on that lap for Jeff Zuidema and
another car between turns 3 and 4. Frabizio was up to tenth, but
he pitted under caution and would have to restart from 13th.
Gentes was on the pole for the restart, with O'Sullivan on the
outside pole. O'Sullivan fought for the lead, but he and Gentes
made slight contact, with Gentes coming out on top. Frabizio
went around, and caution was thrown on lap 12. Frabizio
restarted 12th. Gentes got the advantage on the restart, with
O'Sullivan fighting hard for the spot. Caution flew again on lap
13, as Frabizio was against the wall in turn 3. On the lap 13
restart, O'Sullivan had the pole, with Gentes to his outside.
O'Sullivan grabbed the lead. Gentes looked to the inside on lap
16, but he and O'Sullivan made contact, with O'Sullivan ending
up in the wall in turn 2. Caution was thrown, and several cars
spun behind the caution. Gentes took off in the lead on the
restart, with Steve Landry second and Newcomb Jr. in third.
Frabizio was back up to eighth. Newcomb Jr. grabbed second from
Landry, and Pete Yetman moved into third. Yetman took second on
lap 17, and Landry moved back up to third. Gentes, known as the
"Woonsocket Rocket", went on to collect his fourth win of the
season. Yetman was second, with Landry third. Frabizio was
sixth.
Next out was the Sunoco Modified feature, with a field that
was 31 cars strong. The lineup included Long Islanders Shawn
Solomito, Brad VanHouten, Eric Goodale, and Dennis Krupski. Tim
Sullivan started on the pole, with Jimmy Blewett on the outside
pole. Blewett grabbed the lead coming into turn 1, with Sullivan
falling into second. Caution waved on the initial lap, as Ken
Bouchard, Mike Rivard, and Stephen Masse were all involved in an
incident in turn 2. Polesitter Sullivan headed to the pits
during the caution. For the restart, Blewett had the pole, with
Jeff Malave on the outside pole. Blewett was unable to come up
to speed when the green flag waved, and caution was thrown.
Malave inherited the pole, with Bert Marvin to the outside.
Malave got a good jump, and Keith Rocco came to second. Rocco
grabbed the lead coming through turns 1 and 2. Todd Ceravolo
challenged Marvin, who had grabbed second. Marvin held second,
and Ceravolo slipped back to third. At lap 4, Rocco and Marvin
had a breakaway, and Woody Pitkat was up to third. Marvin looked
to the inside of Rocco on lap 8 and the two came up on lapped
traffic, with Marvin grabbing the lead. At lap 10, the two
leaders had roughly a half-straightaway lead over their nearest
lead lap competitor. That lead expanded to a full straightaway
by lap 20. Caution came out on lap 21, as Sullivan hit the wall.
The restart pitted Marvin on the inside against Rocco on the
outside. Marvin shot out into the lead on the restart, with
Rocco in second and Tommy Cravenho Jr. taking over third.
Caution waved again on lap 22. When the race resumed, Marvin
again took the lead, with Rocco second and Cravenho Jr. third.
Cravenho Jr. made contact with Woody Pitkat, and another caution
was needed on lap 22. Marvin again rocketed out front on the
restart. Rocco looked to the inside of Marvin on lap 24, and the
two were side-by-side down the backstretch. Rocco grabbed the
lead in turns 3 and 4. Rocco went on to win, followed by Marvin
and Josh Sylvester. Eric Goodale finished fourth, with Solomito
ninth and Goodale tenth. Krupski finished 16th.
The NEMA Midgets took to the track next, with Long Islander
Adam Cantor in the field. Also in the field was Jeremy Frankoski,
who now resides in Huntington. Frankoski turned some laps in a
car that was built for Ryan Newman, just a week after being
hospitalized overnight following a crash at Seekonk. Cantor
started in fifth, and came home with a fourth place finish. The
event was won by Randy Cabral, his third consecutive win.
The ISMA Supermodified feature was won by Chris Perley, with
his teammate Bentley Warren finishing second. With the win,
Perley wrapped up the ISMA championship.
In the WMT race, Ted Christopher won both the feature event
and the Modified crown, the first of his career.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 19, 2008
