By Tim Boucher
Well the weather held off (just barely) for Thompson to get another round of weekly racing in on this past Thursday.
Heat races for all but the pro stocks started the night off, which promptly jumped into main event time.
The mini stocks started the night with a 25 lapper, their longest of the year. Brad Caddick jumped out to early lead
only to have a caution take that lead away for a stray bumper laying in the turn four area. On the restart, Rick
Blanchard took command leaving Caddick behind to battle with Shelly Perry and Scott Michalski. Blanchard led the
rest of the way taking what he thought would be yet another win. But post race tech resulted in him and Caddick
being DQ’ed. This gave the win to Shelly Perry (who crossed the line 2nd), Scott Michalski, Ron Rixham, Mike
Romano, and Steve Michalski all earning top 5’s.
The TIS Mods were next also for a 25 lap affair. This one went green to checker and Chad Hancock motored on for
an impressive win leading the majority of the way. Bart Ramos would finish a distant second, with Roger Larson, Tim
Sullivan, and Glen Boss rounding out the top 5.
The Limited Sportsman were next on the track with Ed Puleo jumping out to an early lead. A couple early cautions
would keep the field close together as Larry Barnett worked his way through the field. Barnett finally caught Puleo
as the two battled for the lead with Barnett looking low as always for a way by. The two ran side by side for several
laps with Puleo running Barnett down the track each lap. Contact in turn 3 and 4 resulted in Puleo spinning around
relegating himself to the rear of the field. This was a just result in Puleo worrying about what’s behind him rather
than what’s in front of him. Had he run his own line, I’m sure he would of finished no further than 2nd. Barnett led
the rest of the way virtually unchallenged. Following him to the checkers were Keith DeSanctis, Glen Boss, Brian
Blaise, and Scott Sundeen.
The SK mods were up next and several cautions in the first 5 laps forced officials to revert to single file restarts. A
potential disaster was averted on the initial green as contact near the front of field stacked the deck but only Keith
Rocco suffered damage with that being a flat left rear tire. Only other action came on the last lap, last turn as
Tommy Cravenho body-slammed his way past Jeff Malave for the win. Cravenho stated that this is SK racing and
those moves need to be made to win. Well I guess that explains why he just races SK’s now instead of any Mod
touring series. Malave salvaged a 2nd place out of the deal with Jimmy Blewett, Todd Ceravolo and Woody Pitkat
rounding out the top 5.
The Pro Stocks were next and their 30 lapper ran caution free. Only skirmish came in the opening laps when a spin
by Jay Macedonio and Jim Banfield got roughed up resulting in spins, but no cautions came out. Both racers being
gentleman fired their machines up and got back on the track. Jeff Connors took command early and never looked
back. In his rear view mirror were Freddy Astle in for 2nd. Norm Wrenn, Jeff Zuidema, and Dennis Maxfield rounded
out the top 5.
With an eye in the sky and an eye on the track the Late Models got their 25 lap contest in the books before the
showers. With a 3 wide move to take the lead in the opening laps Marc Palmisano took a convincing win. Rick
Gentes held down 2nd with Corey Huchings, Dave Trudeau, and Mark Jension all grabbing top 5 spots. The race
ended but no sooner did the race end, rain showers moved in almost like it was planned. The program was
completed in its entirety in about 3 ½ hours.
The ACT Tour was in town for the Bay State 100 at the Cement Palace and it was a show that ran smooth and quick
with the fans seeing a full card of racing and out by 9:30pm.
The Sport Trucks started the night of features and it was a great race for Chad Hancock. Starting deep in the field
he made a mad (but clean charge) through the field and overtook Matt Breault coming out of turn 4 to take down the
win. This had to have been a heartbreaker for Breault as he led the majority of the even with a healthy lead. But
Hancock kept plugging away and found himself glued to Breault’s bumper with 2 to go, completing the pass with feet
to spare. Billy Prisco, Hugh Bowser and Lenny Guy rounded out the top 5.
Just 2 cautions slowed the ever entertaining street stock feature that seemed a little short on cars this week. Tony
Oliveira took down his first win of the year edging out a hard charging Mike Lema. Lema who just a couple years
was struggling to make the field is now in the thick of the points race sitting roughly 5th in points, big kudos go out to
him. Rounding out the top 5 were, Dick Cavallaro, Mass State Trooper John Hanafin, and Paul Lallier.
The ACT Tour took to the track next for their Baystate 100. Management decided to start all 30 late models that
showed up which was a nice move on their part. Rocket Roger Brown took command from his pole starting position
led the majority of the laps and held on for the win that was only slowed by six caution flags. He would be
challenged by Dave Pembroke and then Brent Dragon but neither of them would be able to get out and stay out in
front as Brown was just too strong. Contact between Brown and Dragon resulted in Dragon losing a few spots late
in the race with Brown apologizing during his victory lane interview for the contact. Phil Scott would sneak in and
steal 2nd place over Pembroke and Dragon, with hometown boy Ryan Vanasse taking down 5th.
The A.R.C. pro stocks rounded out the night with their 40 lap feature. Not much to be said about this as Freddy
Astle Jr. wired the field green to checker to take down the win in commanding performance. Finishing WAY behind
would be Dave Silvia, Vinny Annarummo, Tom Scully, Jr. and Todd Annarummo all taking down top fives. Only
incidents would be Dave Darling getting into the back of Dean Pettey who fired it right back up and prevented the
caution from coming out. And one final incident would be as the checkered flag dropped for a minor pileup with
Silvia, Annarummo and the lapped car of Jeramee Lillie. Good racing all around with minimal downtime and
cautions.
There may not be a Seekonk update next Saturday as I may head up to Star Speedway for the True Value mod
race…..this is all weather permitting of course. But until next week, keep the tires on the tar!
Well the weather held off (just barely) for Thompson to get another round of weekly racing in on this past Thursday.
Heat races for all but the pro stocks started the night off, which promptly jumped into main event time.
The mini stocks started the night with a 25 lapper, their longest of the year. Brad Caddick jumped out to early lead
only to have a caution take that lead away for a stray bumper laying in the turn four area. On the restart, Rick
Blanchard took command leaving Caddick behind to battle with Shelly Perry and Scott Michalski. Blanchard led the
rest of the way taking what he thought would be yet another win. But post race tech resulted in him and Caddick
being DQ’ed. This gave the win to Shelly Perry (who crossed the line 2nd), Scott Michalski, Ron Rixham, Mike
Romano, and Steve Michalski all earning top 5’s.
The TIS Mods were next also for a 25 lap affair. This one went green to checker and Chad Hancock motored on for
an impressive win leading the majority of the way. Bart Ramos would finish a distant second, with Roger Larson, Tim
Sullivan, and Glen Boss rounding out the top 5.
The Limited Sportsman were next on the track with Ed Puleo jumping out to an early lead. A couple early cautions
would keep the field close together as Larry Barnett worked his way through the field. Barnett finally caught Puleo
as the two battled for the lead with Barnett looking low as always for a way by. The two ran side by side for several
laps with Puleo running Barnett down the track each lap. Contact in turn 3 and 4 resulted in Puleo spinning around
relegating himself to the rear of the field. This was a just result in Puleo worrying about what’s behind him rather
than what’s in front of him. Had he run his own line, I’m sure he would of finished no further than 2nd. Barnett led
the rest of the way virtually unchallenged. Following him to the checkers were Keith DeSanctis, Glen Boss, Brian
Blaise, and Scott Sundeen.
The SK mods were up next and several cautions in the first 5 laps forced officials to revert to single file restarts. A
potential disaster was averted on the initial green as contact near the front of field stacked the deck but only Keith
Rocco suffered damage with that being a flat left rear tire. Only other action came on the last lap, last turn as
Tommy Cravenho body-slammed his way past Jeff Malave for the win. Cravenho stated that this is SK racing and
those moves need to be made to win. Well I guess that explains why he just races SK’s now instead of any Mod
touring series. Malave salvaged a 2nd place out of the deal with Jimmy Blewett, Todd Ceravolo and Woody Pitkat
rounding out the top 5.
The Pro Stocks were next and their 30 lapper ran caution free. Only skirmish came in the opening laps when a spin
by Jay Macedonio and Jim Banfield got roughed up resulting in spins, but no cautions came out. Both racers being
gentleman fired their machines up and got back on the track. Jeff Connors took command early and never looked
back. In his rear view mirror were Freddy Astle in for 2nd. Norm Wrenn, Jeff Zuidema, and Dennis Maxfield rounded
out the top 5.
With an eye in the sky and an eye on the track the Late Models got their 25 lap contest in the books before the
showers. With a 3 wide move to take the lead in the opening laps Marc Palmisano took a convincing win. Rick
Gentes held down 2nd with Corey Huchings, Dave Trudeau, and Mark Jension all grabbing top 5 spots. The race
ended but no sooner did the race end, rain showers moved in almost like it was planned. The program was
completed in its entirety in about 3 ½ hours.
The ACT Tour was in town for the Bay State 100 at the Cement Palace and it was a show that ran smooth and quick
with the fans seeing a full card of racing and out by 9:30pm.
The Sport Trucks started the night of features and it was a great race for Chad Hancock. Starting deep in the field
he made a mad (but clean charge) through the field and overtook Matt Breault coming out of turn 4 to take down the
win. This had to have been a heartbreaker for Breault as he led the majority of the even with a healthy lead. But
Hancock kept plugging away and found himself glued to Breault’s bumper with 2 to go, completing the pass with feet
to spare. Billy Prisco, Hugh Bowser and Lenny Guy rounded out the top 5.
Just 2 cautions slowed the ever entertaining street stock feature that seemed a little short on cars this week. Tony
Oliveira took down his first win of the year edging out a hard charging Mike Lema. Lema who just a couple years
was struggling to make the field is now in the thick of the points race sitting roughly 5th in points, big kudos go out to
him. Rounding out the top 5 were, Dick Cavallaro, Mass State Trooper John Hanafin, and Paul Lallier.
The ACT Tour took to the track next for their Baystate 100. Management decided to start all 30 late models that
showed up which was a nice move on their part. Rocket Roger Brown took command from his pole starting position
led the majority of the laps and held on for the win that was only slowed by six caution flags. He would be
challenged by Dave Pembroke and then Brent Dragon but neither of them would be able to get out and stay out in
front as Brown was just too strong. Contact between Brown and Dragon resulted in Dragon losing a few spots late
in the race with Brown apologizing during his victory lane interview for the contact. Phil Scott would sneak in and
steal 2nd place over Pembroke and Dragon, with hometown boy Ryan Vanasse taking down 5th.
The A.R.C. pro stocks rounded out the night with their 40 lap feature. Not much to be said about this as Freddy
Astle Jr. wired the field green to checker to take down the win in commanding performance. Finishing WAY behind
would be Dave Silvia, Vinny Annarummo, Tom Scully, Jr. and Todd Annarummo all taking down top fives. Only
incidents would be Dave Darling getting into the back of Dean Pettey who fired it right back up and prevented the
caution from coming out. And one final incident would be as the checkered flag dropped for a minor pileup with
Silvia, Annarummo and the lapped car of Jeramee Lillie. Good racing all around with minimal downtime and
cautions.
There may not be a Seekonk update next Saturday as I may head up to Star Speedway for the True Value mod
race…..this is all weather permitting of course. But until next week, keep the tires on the tar!