Well it’s finally racing season again folks and Thompson Speedway came to life once
again. The day started off with practice and ended shortly thereafter for Whelen
Mod Tour ace, Reggie Ruggerio. A suspected radiator hose blew off in turn 1 and
Richard Savary made hard contact with The Reg in which Savary ended up on top of
Reggie ending his. Savary rolled out his backup car for time trials.
Some heat races started the official start of the Icebreaker and it didn’t take long for
it to become interesting. In mini stock heat race action coming to the line the
Michalski brothers were racing for the lead when Scott Michalski pinched his brother
Steve up into the wall. The result was Steve rolling his ride onto his roof, crossing
the line just like Clint Bowyer at Daytona. Steve emerged unscathed as the Track
safety crew was quick to the scene.
Whelen Mod Tour time trials were up next where Todd Szegedy blistered the field
setting a new track record in the process with a time of 18.457 seconds which equals
out to be just shy of 122 miles per hour on the 5/8 mile. With the redraw it was Rich
Savary (with his backup car) claiming the pole for the 150. Good ol TC, Donny Lia,
Zach Sylvester, Tony Hirschman, Szegedy, Matt Hirschman, Mike Stefanik, Bobby
Santos III and Danny Sammons will make up the top 10 starting spots.
The first feature of the season were the Sunoco mods as 24 of the 28 mods in
attendance took the green. Todd Ceravolo set the early pace as the first half of the
race was clean and green. Just one minor spin by Dan LaJeunesse coming out of
turn two slowed the field. Woody Pitkat did all he could to get by Ceravolo but was
unsuccessful and that’s how they finished. Keith Rocco in his new ride the Interstate
Diesel #6 took 3rd with Tommy Cravenho and John Blewett III rounding out the top 5.
The Late Models were the other feature on Saturday, where Corey Hutchings set
the early pace from his pole position. Following him would be Rick Gentes and Mark
Jenison. A caution on lap 6 slowed the field and was a blessing in disguise for Mark
Jenison as he headed pitside with a flat right rear. Keep your eyes on Jenison, I’m
willing to bet any money he finds victory lane this year. Once racing resumed it was
the Hutchings and Gentes show as they put some distance on the field. A Gentes
bump to the back bumper of Hutchings sent Corey up the track allowing Gentes to
get by for the lead. Jeff Zuidema and Steve Landry were also able to get by.
Zuidema closed the gap on Gentes but was unable to work his way by him and that’s
how they crossed the line for the checkered flag. Conrad Cote ran a quiet race and
claimed the 5th spot.
With the impending rainstorm, Officials decided to postpone Sunday’s activities
until next weekend April 22nd. The weather will be nicer and warmer, so EVERYONE
come on down!
What a difference a week makes! One week ago, we were battling mother nature with
several inches of rain and one week later we are battling the sun with sunburn! But it
was fine by me as Thompson’s Icebreaker kicked off their racing season.
After a quick round of practice for everyone, the mini stocks kicked off the day of
feature events. Andy Publicover and Scott Michalski pretty much ran away from the
field for most of the event. A caution for a minor spin with about 5 to go bunched up
the field and mini stock ace Rick Blanchard had the front two in his radar. But
Publicover would have none of that as he held off the charges of Blanchard who got by
Michalski with 2 to go. Michalski would hold on for 3rd with Mike Anzalone and Mike
Romano rounding out the top 5.
Keith DeSanctis led the the charge in the Limited Sportsman feature and that is
where he stayed, as he wired the field leading green to checker for the Opening Day
win. Just one caution early in the race would slow the field, but even that wasn’t
enough for anyone to mount a challenge for DeSanctis. Ed Puleo, Scott Sundeen,
Larry Barnett, and Scott Cook rounded out the top 5 in a rather uneventful race.
The TIS Mods were up next with only 11 mods taking the green for this growing
division. The short field didn’t matter as they put on the best show of the day at this
point. Leo “Bim” Adams once again led green to checker in this race, but it was the
race behind him that proved interesting. For most of the race Tim Sullivan was
hounded by Kurt Vigeant. Vigeant laid the bumper to Sullivan several times but was
unable to make the pass. On a single file restart on lap 16, Vigeant laid the bumper to
Sullivan one last time in turn 1, putting Sullivan nose first into the wall ending his day.
No call from officials allowed Vigeant to keep the 2nd place spot but was unable to put
any pressure on Adams in the closing 4 laps. Following them to the line would be
Roger Larson, Jr., Richie Ferreira, and Leo Oliveria.
We stay with the open wheeled racecars as the Sunoco Mods were up next for their
second feature of the Icebreaker. And sticking with true Sunoco Mod action, there was
plenty of carnage to be had all around. After the first caution of the day, the ensuing
restart (which unfortunately was a false start) proved costly for Keith Rocco in his new
Interstate Diesel ride. Contact between he and Woody Pitkat sent Rocco hard into the
turn two wall, ending his day way too soon. One lap later Bert Marvin and Tommy
Cravenho got into it in the turn 3 neighborhood with officials penalizing Marvin for his
actions, sending him to the rear of the field. Marvin’s day went from bad to worse as
the next caution would involved him again, this time sending him pitside for repairs on
the right front suspension. But up front it was a battle between Todd Ceravolo and
Jimmy Blewett. They raced hard and mostly clean with Blewett slightly getting into
Ceravolo to gain the lead, a move Blewett would end up apologizing for at the end of
the race during his Victory Lane interview. Once the smoke cleared it was Blewett in for
the win, followed by Ceravolo. Dave Salzarulo, would manage to miss everything and
come home with a career best 3rd place, followed by rookie Danny Cates and John
Blewett III.
The Late Models would tackle the high banks next and with one event for them in
the record books, they started this race just as they ended their first one. Rick Gentes
and Jeff Zuidema led them to the green, with Zuidema getting the early lead with
Gentes and Corey Hutchings breathing all over him. Zuidema and Gentes battled hard
and clean running side by side for the first half of the race with Zuidema working the
outside groove. A restart shortly after halfway allowed Gentes to finally sneak by
Zuidema for the lead, leaving Zuidema and Hutchings to duke it out for second.
Zuidema would hold on for second over Hutchings at the stripe. Mark Oliveria would
come home fourth and Mark Jenison, raced his way from deep in the pack to grab his
first top 5 of the early season.
The Pro Stocks were up next and this race was a snoozefest. Jeff Connors would
take the lead from his pole starting position and lead green to checker in this caution
free 30 lapper. He and Les Rose checked out from the field and neither one were
challenged for the top spots during the event. Mike O’Sullivan would work his way up to
third at the checkered flag over Seekonk Speedway standout Mike Brightman, as Norm
Wrenn would round out the top 5.
With all the Whelen All American Series features in the book, it was time for the main
event. The Whelen Modified Tour would end the day with their 150 lapper. Richard
Savary and good ol Ted Christopher would lead the 36 car field to the green, with TC
getting the early edge, leading the first 23 laps. After a few early cautions, a lap 69
caution would bring most of the leaders in for pitstops. Everyone would make it out but
TC, as a stub from the hub would lodge itself onto the caliper costing him a lap. Once
back to green Donny Lia in the Mystic Missle would lead the way until lap 97. Then the
fresh tires of James Civali, John Blewett III and company joined the race up front. Civali
wrestled the lead from a fading Donny Lia and would battle side by side with Blewett just
like Loudon last year. Carnage with the top running guys of Jimmy Blewett, Tony
Hirschman and others began to take place late in the race, as it seemed that once you
got into the top 5, something would happen. Hirschman and Jimmy Blewett would get
together causing right front damage to Hirschman’s ride ending his day. On lap 118
during a caution period, John Blewett III would pull his maching behind the wall with
overheating issues. With about 20 laps to go, Donny Lia would drop like a rock in the
running order with what was to be determined as a broken trailing arm bracket would
end his day just shy of the full 150 laps. A hard charging Reggie Ruggiero would get a
great run under Chuck Hossfeld and Ron Yuhas coming out of turn 2 on lap 143. But
that’s where it ended as contact between he and Yuhas going down the backstretch
would end both racer’s day just a few laps shy of the end. With a green/white/checker
restart it was James Civali’s race to lose. But that would be the case as he got a good
jump on Hossfeld and led him to the checkers. Surviving all the late race cautions
would be Ronnie Silk, Jimmy Blewett, and Matt Hirschman to round out the top 5.
Well that about wraps up the Icebreaker, as Thompson Speedway will open for
regular weekly racing on May 24th. I hope to have a full report for you come then!
several inches of rain and one week later we are battling the sun with sunburn! But it
was fine by me as Thompson’s Icebreaker kicked off their racing season.
After a quick round of practice for everyone, the mini stocks kicked off the day of
feature events. Andy Publicover and Scott Michalski pretty much ran away from the
field for most of the event. A caution for a minor spin with about 5 to go bunched up
the field and mini stock ace Rick Blanchard had the front two in his radar. But
Publicover would have none of that as he held off the charges of Blanchard who got by
Michalski with 2 to go. Michalski would hold on for 3rd with Mike Anzalone and Mike
Romano rounding out the top 5.
Keith DeSanctis led the the charge in the Limited Sportsman feature and that is
where he stayed, as he wired the field leading green to checker for the Opening Day
win. Just one caution early in the race would slow the field, but even that wasn’t
enough for anyone to mount a challenge for DeSanctis. Ed Puleo, Scott Sundeen,
Larry Barnett, and Scott Cook rounded out the top 5 in a rather uneventful race.
The TIS Mods were up next with only 11 mods taking the green for this growing
division. The short field didn’t matter as they put on the best show of the day at this
point. Leo “Bim” Adams once again led green to checker in this race, but it was the
race behind him that proved interesting. For most of the race Tim Sullivan was
hounded by Kurt Vigeant. Vigeant laid the bumper to Sullivan several times but was
unable to make the pass. On a single file restart on lap 16, Vigeant laid the bumper to
Sullivan one last time in turn 1, putting Sullivan nose first into the wall ending his day.
No call from officials allowed Vigeant to keep the 2nd place spot but was unable to put
any pressure on Adams in the closing 4 laps. Following them to the line would be
Roger Larson, Jr., Richie Ferreira, and Leo Oliveria.
We stay with the open wheeled racecars as the Sunoco Mods were up next for their
second feature of the Icebreaker. And sticking with true Sunoco Mod action, there was
plenty of carnage to be had all around. After the first caution of the day, the ensuing
restart (which unfortunately was a false start) proved costly for Keith Rocco in his new
Interstate Diesel ride. Contact between he and Woody Pitkat sent Rocco hard into the
turn two wall, ending his day way too soon. One lap later Bert Marvin and Tommy
Cravenho got into it in the turn 3 neighborhood with officials penalizing Marvin for his
actions, sending him to the rear of the field. Marvin’s day went from bad to worse as
the next caution would involved him again, this time sending him pitside for repairs on
the right front suspension. But up front it was a battle between Todd Ceravolo and
Jimmy Blewett. They raced hard and mostly clean with Blewett slightly getting into
Ceravolo to gain the lead, a move Blewett would end up apologizing for at the end of
the race during his Victory Lane interview. Once the smoke cleared it was Blewett in for
the win, followed by Ceravolo. Dave Salzarulo, would manage to miss everything and
come home with a career best 3rd place, followed by rookie Danny Cates and John
Blewett III.
The Late Models would tackle the high banks next and with one event for them in
the record books, they started this race just as they ended their first one. Rick Gentes
and Jeff Zuidema led them to the green, with Zuidema getting the early lead with
Gentes and Corey Hutchings breathing all over him. Zuidema and Gentes battled hard
and clean running side by side for the first half of the race with Zuidema working the
outside groove. A restart shortly after halfway allowed Gentes to finally sneak by
Zuidema for the lead, leaving Zuidema and Hutchings to duke it out for second.
Zuidema would hold on for second over Hutchings at the stripe. Mark Oliveria would
come home fourth and Mark Jenison, raced his way from deep in the pack to grab his
first top 5 of the early season.
The Pro Stocks were up next and this race was a snoozefest. Jeff Connors would
take the lead from his pole starting position and lead green to checker in this caution
free 30 lapper. He and Les Rose checked out from the field and neither one were
challenged for the top spots during the event. Mike O’Sullivan would work his way up to
third at the checkered flag over Seekonk Speedway standout Mike Brightman, as Norm
Wrenn would round out the top 5.
With all the Whelen All American Series features in the book, it was time for the main
event. The Whelen Modified Tour would end the day with their 150 lapper. Richard
Savary and good ol Ted Christopher would lead the 36 car field to the green, with TC
getting the early edge, leading the first 23 laps. After a few early cautions, a lap 69
caution would bring most of the leaders in for pitstops. Everyone would make it out but
TC, as a stub from the hub would lodge itself onto the caliper costing him a lap. Once
back to green Donny Lia in the Mystic Missle would lead the way until lap 97. Then the
fresh tires of James Civali, John Blewett III and company joined the race up front. Civali
wrestled the lead from a fading Donny Lia and would battle side by side with Blewett just
like Loudon last year. Carnage with the top running guys of Jimmy Blewett, Tony
Hirschman and others began to take place late in the race, as it seemed that once you
got into the top 5, something would happen. Hirschman and Jimmy Blewett would get
together causing right front damage to Hirschman’s ride ending his day. On lap 118
during a caution period, John Blewett III would pull his maching behind the wall with
overheating issues. With about 20 laps to go, Donny Lia would drop like a rock in the
running order with what was to be determined as a broken trailing arm bracket would
end his day just shy of the full 150 laps. A hard charging Reggie Ruggiero would get a
great run under Chuck Hossfeld and Ron Yuhas coming out of turn 2 on lap 143. But
that’s where it ended as contact between he and Yuhas going down the backstretch
would end both racer’s day just a few laps shy of the end. With a green/white/checker
restart it was James Civali’s race to lose. But that would be the case as he got a good
jump on Hossfeld and led him to the checkers. Surviving all the late race cautions
would be Ronnie Silk, Jimmy Blewett, and Matt Hirschman to round out the top 5.
Well that about wraps up the Icebreaker, as Thompson Speedway will open for
regular weekly racing on May 24th. I hope to have a full report for you come then!