Pennink’s VMRS Championship Headlines Saturday World Series Action

The weather was perfect and the stands were full for the first day of racing action at the World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson International Speedway. The Valenti Modified Racing Series 75-lap event headlined a day that had 10 feature races.

Keith Rocco Takes Down the VMRS Victory

The only laps Keith Rocco didn’t lead were the pace laps for the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series on Saturday night. He started on the pole and won his heat race. He started third for the feature but was in the lead by the end of the first lap. Rocco led wire-to-wire to score the victory.

“We just had to get out front and try to hold the lead,” said Rocco in victory lane. “The guys put a lot of pressure on me.”

The beginning of the race was riddled with cautions as the yellow flag waved three times before the tenth lap was completed. But once the field completed the tenth lap the race went green until lap 49 when Rowan Pennink spun out just ahead of Rocco in turn four. Pennink was having issues with power steering all race long and he pit during every caution in the first part of the race. As the long run went on Rocco and Ted Christopher showed their strength. They had a lead of almost half a straightaway over third place driver Richard Savary.

Pennink and his team showed why they won the championship this season, as they were able to rally back to the front and put up a charge for the win after the team fixed his power steering issue. Rocco, meanwhile had to deal with multiple attempts from Christopher and Tommy Barrett, but he was able to hold both of them off without much of an issue and take down the victory. Rocco, Pennink and Barrett were the top three finishers.

“Tonight pretty much summed up this whole year for us,” said Pennink. “A power steering bolt broke in the rack and these guys battled back and didn’t quit. We put caution after caution and these guys got the 25 back to bring it home in second place which is unbelievable for what we were working with.”

Duane Noll Scores the New England Truck Series Win

Duane Noll took down the win in the 20-lap New England Truck series feature race. He led just about every single lap. But for Noll it wasn’t as easy as it appeared. Riverhead Raceway track champion Frank Dumicich Jr. started to chase down Noll. It looked like Dumicich would have something for Noll before something broke on Dumicich’s No. 42 machine and he was black-flagged. Noll was able to cruise for the final five laps to the victory.

“I struggle at this track,” said Noll. “This is probably my first time racing here since I had my bad wreck six years ago that I didn’t hang it out in the infield. This rocks.”

Corey Hutchings Wins Thrilling Limited Sportsman Feature

Corey Hutchings took down the victory in the Limited Sportsman feature with a last lap pass for the lead in turn one.

He and Bill McNeil had a terrific battle throughout the latter stages of the race. Hutchings dove to the bottom and slid in front of McNeil in turn one after taking the white flag. McNeil crossed back underneath Hutchings and the two ran side-by-side down the backstretch before Hutchings took sole possession of the lead entering turn three.

Rick Gentes Leads Every Lap in Late Model Event

Rick Gentes led wire-to-wire to win the 25-lap Late Model feature. He started on the outside of the front row and had the lead by turn three of the first lap.

Gentes’ biggest competition was the pole sitter, Tom Carey, and the caution flag, as he had to deal with three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish. On the first GWC Carey got by Gentes on the exit of turn two but the caution came out again for a crash behind them so the lead was given back to Gentes.

On the final GWC Carey fell back to fourth place and Gentes was left to fend off a hard-charging Dillon Moltz to score the victory.

Mike Viens Wins Monster Mini 15-Lapper

Chad Baxter dominated more than half of the race, but in the end it was Mike Viens who took down the win. Viens chased down and passed Baxter with just four laps remaining in turn two. Baxter tried to come back on him but he wasn’t able to get close enough again to make the move so he had to settle for second place.

George Rego Comes Out on Top of Outlaw Street Stock Event

The big moment of this race happened before half the field even took the green flag as three of the eight cars crashed right at the starting line. Five cars ran the rest of the race.

The top two drivers put on one heck of battle until George Rego took the lead around the tenth lap of the race. Rego pulled away after that and scored the victory.

Robing Berghman Becomes First Woman Pro 4 Modified Champion

Robin Berghman became the first woman to ever win a championship in the history of the Pro 4 Modifieds. Berghman said that she wasn’t even sure if she was going to run the whole season.

“Reality hasn’t really set in, but it’s really cool,” said Berghman. “I’ve been thinking about this for three weeks. I’m a little verklempt.”

Adam Norton Leads Final Three Laps to Win Lite Modified Feature

Adam Norton won the Lite Modified 20-Lap feature from the fourth starting position. He didn’t move into the lead until there was just three laps remaining when John Studley was penalized for jumping the restart. The penalty dropped Studley out of the top five but he was able to rally back to second behind Norton thanks to one more late race caution.

Wayne Coury Wins Outlaw Sportsman

Tom O’Sullivan started from the 20-lap feature from the top spot, but he didn’t finish there as Wayne Coury took down the victory. Coury took the lead on the third lap of the race, but O’Sullivan took it back a few laps later. O’Sullivan held the lead until Coury took it back for good on a restart on lap seven.

Viens Gets Second Win in One Day

Mike Viens doubled-down at Thompson by winning both mini stock features. He scored the victory in the 15-lap Outlaw Mini Stock feature by making a last lap pass on Nick Anderson going into turn one. Anderson had a run on Viens going down the backstretch and into turn three but it wasn’t enough to keep Viens out of victory lane for a second time in one day.

 

Source: Rob Blount/LongIslandJam