Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT, delivered in a big way on
Sunday at the World Series of Speedway Racing. He needed only to
keep his closest competition Matt Hirschman in his sights.
Christopher went out and won the 150-lapper for the Whelen
Modified Tour to score his first-ever Modified Tour
championship.
“I have to commend everyone that I raced with today,” said
Christopher following the race. “They gave me plenty of room to
race. It was fun out there today.”
Chris Perley of Rowley, MA, continued to be the dominant
force in the International Supermodified Association taking down
a strong victory at the World Series. Randy Cabral of Plymouth,
MA, worked his magic taking his third straight Northeastern
Midget Association feature victory. In the regular Thompson
Weekly Racing series divisions, Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT,
was tops in the Sunoco Modifieds; Derek Ramstrom of Worcester,
MA, turned in a dominating performance in the Pro Stocks; and
Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI was victorious in the Late Models
to conclude the race season at Thompson International Speedway.
The only thing remaining on Thompson’s slate is Don Hoenig’s All
Automotive Swap Meet on November 1 & 2, 2008.
In the early stages of the Whelen Modified Tour event both
Ryan Preece and Ronnie Silk looked to be the class of the field.
Championship contenders Christopher and Hirschman ran
comfortably inside the top ten throughout the event. Preece had
the dominant car but a flat tire diminished his hopes of
celebrating in victory lane. Mechanical woes befell Hirschman
with just over 30 laps to go ending his bid at a championship.
Christopher took the lead on lap 130 but a spin by Eddie Flemke
negated the pass. The pass stuck once the race went back to
green with 15 laps remaining. Christopher was up for the
challenge on the green-white-checker restart holding back Chuck
Hossfeld to take the win. Silk, Doug Coby, and Erick Rudolph
completed the top five.
Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, scored his sixth victory of
the season in the Sunoco Modified division. Keith Rocco jumped
out to the lead on the third attempt to lap one. He immediately
pulled away from the field; however, lap after lap Marvin would
edge ever closer. Marvin caught the leader on lap seven. The two
went wheel to wheel briefly before Marvin made an aggressive
move in lapped traffic in turn one on lap 9 to take over the top
spot. Rocco stayed with Marvin even looking low in the corners
each lap.
The engine expired on the Tim Sullivan machine to bring out
the caution with nine laps remaining. One of several incidents
at that conjuncture of the event eliminated the third and fourth
place cars of Kerry Malone and Tommy Cravenho. Marvin was up for
the challenge on several restarts but gave up the lead on lap 25
under green flag conditions. Marvin gave it all he had over the
last lap to chase Rocco to the checkers. He had to settle for
second behind the six-time feature event winner, Rocco. Josh
Sylvester had a season-high finish in third. Kevin Goodale came
on strong in the late stages of the event to finish fourth over
Brian McCarthy.
It was a Vic Miller sweep on Sunday afternoon in the World
Series ISMA 50 with his cars finishing one-two. Perley took the
lead early in the race and would never be headed. The ageless
Bentley Warren poured it on late in the race to finish second.
Perley worked his way through traffic to take the lead from
earlier leader Dave Shullick, Jr. on lap 15. Throughout the
event Shullick continued to chase Perley. Lou Cicconi, in the
borrowed ride of Rick Wentworth, ran strong in third. Rob
Summers and Warren made up the top-five. With less then 10 laps
to go Shullick was able to catch Perley in lapped traffic.
Shullick got a great run on Perley exiting turn four on lap
41. Looking for the same real estate, the two nearly made
contact. Shullick spun trying to avoid running into Perley. On
the ensuing restart, Perley was able to jump out to a sizeable
advantage while Warren was able to grab second from Cicconi.
Mark Sammut waited until late in the race to pour it on. Perley
went unchallenged to the checkers over Warren.
In Northeastern Midget Association competition, Randy Cabral
of Plymouth, MA continued his domination of the series with his
third consecutive victory. Early in the race Cabral had to
contend with veteran Nokie Fornoro for the top spot. Fornoro,
who had problems in qualifying on Saturday, started scratch on
the field. He was the leader after only a handful of laps. On a
restart past halfway, Cabral took over the lead from Fornoro. He
had taken the lead the lap prior but a caution had negated the
pass. During the event several front runners had problems
including Bobby and Eric Santos.
Cabral continued to lead through a number of cautions. Under
green, Cabral was able to extend his lead over Fornoro. At the
checkers, Cabral scored the victory completing the Thompson
sweep in 2008. Fornoro had a great run to finish second followed
by Greg Stoehr, Adam Cantor, and Mike Horn.
Feature racing got underway on World Series Sunday with the
Pro Stocks. Derek Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, scored his fourth
win of the season in dominating fashion. Ramstrom jumped from
the outside of the front row to take the lead. The early going
of the 30-lap main event featured a great side-by-side battle
between Ramstrom and Jeff Connors. Connors was able to take the
top spot on lap 8. Ramstrom quickly regrouped to retake the lead
at lap 12. Over the long green flag run, Ramstrom was able to
extend his lead over Connors and Dave Berghman. In the late
stages, Gentes was the man on the move, breaking into the top
five. At the checkers, it was all Ramstrom. Connors settled for
second ahead of Berghman, Mike O’Sullivan and Gentes.
The “Woonsocket Rocket” Rick Gentes stormed to the lead in
the Late Model race and never looked back to score the
prestigious World Series victory. Gentes looked to have the race
well in hand before a caution flew just shy of halfway to open
the door for Tom O’Sullivan. The two waged a great battle for
several laps before an incident involving O’Sullivan, who
suffered minimal damage. Gentes resumed the lead with Steve
Landry and Paul Newcomb, Jr. taking chase. Pete Yetman joined
the fray for the second position. Gentes was able to distance
himself from the pack. Yetman exited the battle in second but
had nothing for Gentes, who cruised to his fourth win of the
season. Yetman, Landry, Wayne Coury, and Mark Oliveira rounded
out the top five.
Whelen Modified Tour Feature Finish (Unofficial Top Ten): 1.
Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 2. Chuck Hossfeld, Ransomville,
NY; 3. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 4. Doug Coby, Milford, CT; 5.
Erick Rudolph, Ransomville, NY; 6. Jamie Tomaino, Howell, NJ; 7.
Richard Savary, Canton, MA; 8. Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, CT; 9.
Tony Ferrante, Jr., New Hyde Park, NY; 10. Eric Beers,
Northampton, PA.
ISMA Supermodifieds Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Chris Perley,
Rowley, MA; 2. Bentley Warren, Kennebunkport, ME; 3. Mark Sammut,
London, Ont.; 4. Lou Cicconi, Jr., Aston, PA; 5. Rob Summers,
Vernon, CT; 6. Russ Wood, Pelham, NH; 7. Mike Ordway, Jr.,
Fremont, NH; 8. Dave Shullick, Jr., N. Ridgeville, OH; 9. Jeff
Holbrook, Oswego, NY; 10. Dave McKnight, Jr., Brampton, Ont.
NEMA Midgets Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Randy Cabral,
Plymouth, MA; 2. Nokie Fornoro, Stroudburg, PA; 3. Greg Stoehr,
Bridgwater, MA; 4. Adam Cantos, Dix Hills, NH; 5. Mike Horn,
Ashland, MA; 6. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 7. Doug Cleveland,
Sudbury, MA; 8. Paul Scally, Raynham, MA; 9. Lee Bundy,
Kennebunkport, ME; 10. Erica Santos, Franklin, MA.
Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Keith Rocco,
Wallingford, CT: 2. Bert Marvin, New London, CT: 3. Josh
Sylvester, Lebanon, CT; 4. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY: 5. Brian
McCarthy, Norwich, CT: 6. Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, CT; 7. Glenn
Griswold, Vernon, CT; 8. Steve Masse, Bellingham, MA; 9. Shawn
Solomito, Islip, NY; 10. Brad Vanhouten, Wading River, NY.
Pro Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Derek Ramstrom,
Worcester, MA; 2. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 3. Dave Berghman,
Seekonk, MA; 4. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 5. Rick Gentes,
Woonsocket, RI; 6. Jay Macedonio, Somerset, MA; 7. Fred Astle,
Jr., Westport, MA; 8. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI; 9. George
Bessette, Danbury, CT; 10. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, MA.
Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Rick Gentes,
Woonsocket, RI; 2. Pete Yetman, Peru, MA; 3. Steve Landry,
Tyngsboro, MA; 4. Wayne Coury, Milford, MA; 5. Mark Oliveira,
Blackstone, MA; 6. Garret Frabizio, E. Patchogue, NY; 7. Mike
Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 8. John Materas, Voluntown, NY; 9. Roy
Either, Newtown, NC; 10. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT.
Source: Russ
Dowd/Thompson International Speedway PR
Posted:
October 20, 2008
