Well Thompson did manage to get their PASS/ Nextel Night race in, just a day later than anticipated. A rather
small crowd was on hand in both the pits and stands, but with the weather it was somewhat understandable.
It was a night for streaks to end as first up in the mini stocks, Shelly Perry put a halt to Rick Blanchard’s 3
race win streak. She did so impressively as she motored by Scott Michalski with about 5 to go and went on
uncontested for the win. Behind those two were Randy Jurcik, making his first start of the year, Blanchard,
and Andy Publicover rounding out the top 5.
The TIS Modifieds were up next and another streak was halted, that of Roger Larson’s undefeated season.
This feature was a little rough as the 12 car field tried its best to eliminate each other. A tangle on the
frontstretch took out Glen Boss, and another caution shortly there after mangled a few other machines, with
Roger Larson hopping over the front end of another vehicle. But was the race went green Larson charged
through the field catching the leader Kurt Vigeant. The two ran each other very hard, as Vigeant slammed
the door shut a few times on Larson, running him all over the track. It ended going down the backstraight as
contact was made between the two resulting in a cut right rear ending the night for Larson who was not a
happy camper as he along with many others thought it was intentional contact. Vigeant held on for the win
over Steve LaBreck, Mike Veins, Rich Ferriera and Tim Sullivan. Larson met up with Vigeant in Victory Lane
and had a few choice words for him, but that was the extent of it.
The Late Models once again put on a great show as they ran most of it under green flag conditions. Corey
Hutchings once again charged from deep in the field to take the win. He tracked down Rick Gentes with
about 10 to go, and the two raced side by side for a few go rounds before Hutchings finally cleared him and
cruised to the finish. A couple of late cautions didn’t matter as Hutchings (and the benefit of the single file
restarts with les than 5 to go) had plenty of HP to get to the end. Dennis Perry fresh off his win, took 3rd,
Mark Jenison and Steve Landry rounded out the top 5.
SK action saw Woody Pitkat run away and hide from the field as he had his #99 back in action and in top
form. A fairly clean race this time out for these guys as only a few minor cautions slowed the race. An early
race caution for Point leader Jeff Malave and Keith Rocco slowed the field both being able to continue on
after their trips through the grass on the backstretch. On that restart Tommy Cravenho was pinched up high
coming out of turn 2 resulting in him spinning to the apron, only to have Henry Stampfl clean out his front end
as he had nowhere to go put through the Cravenho machine wiping out the whole front end. Both drivers
walked away from the incident. Pitkat was never seriously challenged and went on for the win with Bert
Marvin, Todd Ceravolo, Jimmy Blewett and Buddy Charette rounding out the top 5.
The PASS Series with Guests Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace rounded out the night’s festivities. Johnny
Clark and Freddy Astle would lead the field to the green with Clark taking command early. He would give up
the lead to Kenny Wallace for a few laps while Ben Rowe and Cassius Clark surged towards the front. By lap
25 Ben Rowe had wrestled the lead from Wallace while Cassius Clark wasn’t too far behind. An ugly incident
on lap 32 eliminated several racers from the event. Joe Lemay, Bill Duggan, Richie Dearborn, Steve
Desmarais and Andy Johnson were all eliminated on that backstretch incident. Right front tires were the
story as Rick Martin suffered two RF flats and Ben Rowe suffered the same fate as he cut one down while
leading the show. At times Rowe and C. Clark had about a straightaway lead on the rest of the field as they
were both the class of the field. A late race restart with 10 to go was not a problem for Clark as he motored
home for the win over Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Johnny Clark, and Travis Benjamin. Only 23 cars
took the green with only 11 or so finishing the event. Travis Khiel a victim of a RF going down in his heat
race smacked the wall and could not start the feature. Also Louie Mechalides was on hand but also did not
partake in any racing events, cause of that I’m unsure of at this time.
Onto Seekonk for another Saturday night of action, with the New England Antique Racers (NEAR) and the
Senior Tour Auto Racers (STAR) also on hand.
The features started with the Sport Truck class, with David Haywood taking down his first career win at the
Cement Palace. He had plenty of pressure though as pro stock ace Freddy Astle was hot on his tail
throughout the 20 lapper but Haywood would manage to hold him off. Point leader Billy Prisco was 3rd
followed by John Paiva and Brain Clarke.
The action packed Street Stocks were next and they always manage to put on a whale of a show. Once
again 3 and sometimes 4 wide they went with some great racing up front as always. Only one caution slowed
the event for a pair of racers interlock in the turn 2 area. But they unhooked their bumpers and off they went
to continue in the war. Ray Negley took down the win. He’s one of the more aggressive ones on the track
but he did what it took to win this night. He was followed by Ryan Lineham, Paul Lallier, Greg Perry and Mass
State Trooper John Hanafin.
The folks from NEAR were next with 2 feature events. It was Coupes, Coaches, Pintos, Vegas, cutdowns,
flatheads everywhere. A good turnout of classic racecars and its always nice to see them out on the track.
The STAR group also got 2 feature events as well with a racy group of guys out there. If anyone likes to see
these cars in action may I suggest heading to Thompson Speedway on Sept. 2 as they have their Antique
Racing Day. The whole day is nothing but antique and classic racecars as far as the eye can see.
Back to the action, with the Late Models on center stage. Robin Sloane, the lone female competitor in the
field took down her first career Late Model win and she was a happy one!! She didn’t face much of a
challenge though she didn’t get the lead til the closing laps. None the less, a big congrats going out to her
for her first LM win. Chasing her to the line was Jon Dickerman, Kyle Casper (who later was DQ’ed in tech),
Gerry Degasparre, ACT regular Ryan Vanasse, and Kevin Casper.
The ARC Pro Stocks rounded out the night for their 40 lapper. Dave Silvia and Lenny Ellis lead the field and
they ran the first 21 laps without a caution. That all changed as the first of 5 cautions slowed the field for a
pileup in turn 3 and 4. Tom Furtado ended up on the left rear quarter and deck lid of Steve O’Brien. Both
cars and drivers were and both actually continued to finish the night. It took awhile to get lap 22 completed
as a couple spins slowed the field. On lap 28 another pile up on the frontstretch took place in front of the
pack as leaders Silvia and Dean Pettey spun out leaving the field to scatter. This ended the night for front
runners Vinny Annarummo and Tom Scully, Jr. Vinny’s car climbed up and over Scully’s mount and the
damage was too severe for either one to soldier on. Mike Brightman inherited the lead but that wouldn’t last
long as Charlie Rose motored on by on the restart. Rose would go on to win over a hard charging Todd
Annarummo. Point leader Dave Darling who must have a horseshoe up his you know what was 3rd, as he
narrowly avoided every week yet again. Fourth went to John Dabrowski and Brightman rounding out the top
5.
small crowd was on hand in both the pits and stands, but with the weather it was somewhat understandable.
It was a night for streaks to end as first up in the mini stocks, Shelly Perry put a halt to Rick Blanchard’s 3
race win streak. She did so impressively as she motored by Scott Michalski with about 5 to go and went on
uncontested for the win. Behind those two were Randy Jurcik, making his first start of the year, Blanchard,
and Andy Publicover rounding out the top 5.
The TIS Modifieds were up next and another streak was halted, that of Roger Larson’s undefeated season.
This feature was a little rough as the 12 car field tried its best to eliminate each other. A tangle on the
frontstretch took out Glen Boss, and another caution shortly there after mangled a few other machines, with
Roger Larson hopping over the front end of another vehicle. But was the race went green Larson charged
through the field catching the leader Kurt Vigeant. The two ran each other very hard, as Vigeant slammed
the door shut a few times on Larson, running him all over the track. It ended going down the backstraight as
contact was made between the two resulting in a cut right rear ending the night for Larson who was not a
happy camper as he along with many others thought it was intentional contact. Vigeant held on for the win
over Steve LaBreck, Mike Veins, Rich Ferriera and Tim Sullivan. Larson met up with Vigeant in Victory Lane
and had a few choice words for him, but that was the extent of it.
The Late Models once again put on a great show as they ran most of it under green flag conditions. Corey
Hutchings once again charged from deep in the field to take the win. He tracked down Rick Gentes with
about 10 to go, and the two raced side by side for a few go rounds before Hutchings finally cleared him and
cruised to the finish. A couple of late cautions didn’t matter as Hutchings (and the benefit of the single file
restarts with les than 5 to go) had plenty of HP to get to the end. Dennis Perry fresh off his win, took 3rd,
Mark Jenison and Steve Landry rounded out the top 5.
SK action saw Woody Pitkat run away and hide from the field as he had his #99 back in action and in top
form. A fairly clean race this time out for these guys as only a few minor cautions slowed the race. An early
race caution for Point leader Jeff Malave and Keith Rocco slowed the field both being able to continue on
after their trips through the grass on the backstretch. On that restart Tommy Cravenho was pinched up high
coming out of turn 2 resulting in him spinning to the apron, only to have Henry Stampfl clean out his front end
as he had nowhere to go put through the Cravenho machine wiping out the whole front end. Both drivers
walked away from the incident. Pitkat was never seriously challenged and went on for the win with Bert
Marvin, Todd Ceravolo, Jimmy Blewett and Buddy Charette rounding out the top 5.
The PASS Series with Guests Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace rounded out the night’s festivities. Johnny
Clark and Freddy Astle would lead the field to the green with Clark taking command early. He would give up
the lead to Kenny Wallace for a few laps while Ben Rowe and Cassius Clark surged towards the front. By lap
25 Ben Rowe had wrestled the lead from Wallace while Cassius Clark wasn’t too far behind. An ugly incident
on lap 32 eliminated several racers from the event. Joe Lemay, Bill Duggan, Richie Dearborn, Steve
Desmarais and Andy Johnson were all eliminated on that backstretch incident. Right front tires were the
story as Rick Martin suffered two RF flats and Ben Rowe suffered the same fate as he cut one down while
leading the show. At times Rowe and C. Clark had about a straightaway lead on the rest of the field as they
were both the class of the field. A late race restart with 10 to go was not a problem for Clark as he motored
home for the win over Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Johnny Clark, and Travis Benjamin. Only 23 cars
took the green with only 11 or so finishing the event. Travis Khiel a victim of a RF going down in his heat
race smacked the wall and could not start the feature. Also Louie Mechalides was on hand but also did not
partake in any racing events, cause of that I’m unsure of at this time.
Onto Seekonk for another Saturday night of action, with the New England Antique Racers (NEAR) and the
Senior Tour Auto Racers (STAR) also on hand.
The features started with the Sport Truck class, with David Haywood taking down his first career win at the
Cement Palace. He had plenty of pressure though as pro stock ace Freddy Astle was hot on his tail
throughout the 20 lapper but Haywood would manage to hold him off. Point leader Billy Prisco was 3rd
followed by John Paiva and Brain Clarke.
The action packed Street Stocks were next and they always manage to put on a whale of a show. Once
again 3 and sometimes 4 wide they went with some great racing up front as always. Only one caution slowed
the event for a pair of racers interlock in the turn 2 area. But they unhooked their bumpers and off they went
to continue in the war. Ray Negley took down the win. He’s one of the more aggressive ones on the track
but he did what it took to win this night. He was followed by Ryan Lineham, Paul Lallier, Greg Perry and Mass
State Trooper John Hanafin.
The folks from NEAR were next with 2 feature events. It was Coupes, Coaches, Pintos, Vegas, cutdowns,
flatheads everywhere. A good turnout of classic racecars and its always nice to see them out on the track.
The STAR group also got 2 feature events as well with a racy group of guys out there. If anyone likes to see
these cars in action may I suggest heading to Thompson Speedway on Sept. 2 as they have their Antique
Racing Day. The whole day is nothing but antique and classic racecars as far as the eye can see.
Back to the action, with the Late Models on center stage. Robin Sloane, the lone female competitor in the
field took down her first career Late Model win and she was a happy one!! She didn’t face much of a
challenge though she didn’t get the lead til the closing laps. None the less, a big congrats going out to her
for her first LM win. Chasing her to the line was Jon Dickerman, Kyle Casper (who later was DQ’ed in tech),
Gerry Degasparre, ACT regular Ryan Vanasse, and Kevin Casper.
The ARC Pro Stocks rounded out the night for their 40 lapper. Dave Silvia and Lenny Ellis lead the field and
they ran the first 21 laps without a caution. That all changed as the first of 5 cautions slowed the field for a
pileup in turn 3 and 4. Tom Furtado ended up on the left rear quarter and deck lid of Steve O’Brien. Both
cars and drivers were and both actually continued to finish the night. It took awhile to get lap 22 completed
as a couple spins slowed the field. On lap 28 another pile up on the frontstretch took place in front of the
pack as leaders Silvia and Dean Pettey spun out leaving the field to scatter. This ended the night for front
runners Vinny Annarummo and Tom Scully, Jr. Vinny’s car climbed up and over Scully’s mount and the
damage was too severe for either one to soldier on. Mike Brightman inherited the lead but that wouldn’t last
long as Charlie Rose motored on by on the restart. Rose would go on to win over a hard charging Todd
Annarummo. Point leader Dave Darling who must have a horseshoe up his you know what was 3rd, as he
narrowly avoided every week yet again. Fourth went to John Dabrowski and Brightman rounding out the top
5.