Icebreaker 04/04/09 - 04/05/09 Overall Racing Stories and Finishes

[LongIslandJam]

04/04/09
Christopher Pole Winner for Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway;
Rocco & Zuidema Win Firsts of Weekend Doubleheader

Ted Christopher of Plainfield, CT, who has been hot behind the wheel with a host of wins already in 2009, started his Whelen Modified Tour title defense in style by winning the Coors Light Pole in qualifying for the Icebreaker 2009 at Thompson Speedway. With a lap of 18.642 seconds (120.890 MPH), Christopher earned his 19th career WMT pole and his eighth career pole at Thompson. Doug Coby, driving for George Bierce, qualified second. There were a few surprises in qualifying including Glenn Reen, Jamie Tomaino and Rowan Pennink rounding out the top-five.

After the redraw, Coby and Pennink will start from the front row on Sunday afternoon while Tomaino will make his record-setting 500th career start. Christopher will ultimately start from the fourth position followed by Mike Stefanik and Reen.

Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, scored his first win of the 2009 season in a fiercely competitive opener for the Sunoco Modifieds. Rocco jumped out from his front row starting spot to take the lead in the early going of the Sunoco Modified Main event. In the early stages of the event Tommy Cravenho ran second with heavy pressure from Josh Sylvester. Todd Ceravolo and Ted Christopher rounded out the top five. The battle for the fifth position with Ceravolo, Christopher, Bert Marvin, and Kerry Malone was beginning to heat up when the first caution of the event flew on lap six for a spin by Harry Rheaume. During the caution, Jimmy Blewett headed down pit road for service.

On the ensuing restart, Rocco resumed his lead while Ted Christopher was on a tear heading back to the head of the pack. After a quick caution for an incident involving Brad Van Houten, the battle at the head of the pack began to heat up between Rocco, Sylvester and Christopher. The battling up front allowed Malone, Marvin and Ceravolo to join the fray.

A pass for the lead by Christopher was negated when the third caution flew on lap 14 for a spin by Andrew Charron. Rocco was up for the challenge on the restart but had his hands full with Christopher and Malone. Christopher was able to make a pass for the lead in turn one but Rocco fought his way back. Coming out of the corner, Christopher bobbled slightly and was collected by Sylvester sending Christopher spinning in front of the field. A number of cars were involved including Danny Cates, Woody Pitkat and Marvin.

The restart pitted Malone against Rocco, who was once again up for the challenge. After another quick caution, things settled down up front with Rocco extending his lead slightly over Ceravolo and Malone. The cars on the move were Christopher and Blewett. The two who had started at the rear of the field were picking off cars one-by-one heading back to the front. On lap 22, Malone gave up the third position heading to pit road with mechanical woes.

As Rocco crossed the line to take down the victory, contact between Cravenho and Christopher sent Christopher head-on into the turn four wall. Christopher took a punishing hit but walked away from the incident. Todd Ceravolo finished a strong second over Eric Goodale, Rowan Pennink, doing double-duty in the Falmouth Ready Mix #31x, and Zach Sylvester. After post-race technical inspection, Goodale was stripped of his third-place finish; moving Pennink and Z. Sylvester up a position and Jimmy Blewett inside the top five.

Defending division champion Jeff Zuidema of North Brookfield, CT, led wire-to-wire to win the first of two Late Model main events scheduled for the weekend. Zuidema capitalized on his pole staring position to lead. Rick Gentes and Tommy O’Sullivan made up the top-three. In the early going, the best battling was a bit deeper in the pack with Wayne Coury, Sr., Mark Jenison, Tom Fox, and Paul Newcomb, Jr.

Fox had made his way past both Coury and Jenison before taking chase of O’Sullivan and Gentes. Only a few laps later, Fox was able to make his way by O’Sullivan while Zuidema was gaining some distance over Gentes.

A quick caution for a spin by John Materas changed the complexity of the race. With only four laps remaining, contact between O’Sullivan and Newcomb resulted with O’Sullivan making hard contact with the outside wall between turns three and four. During the caution, Gentes headed down pit road giving up the third position.

On the restart, Zuidema headed Fox and Mark Oliviera, who inherited the third position. Zuidema was able to stretch his lead over Fox in the final laps to begin his title defense with his first Late Model victory of 2009. Fox started his run with the ShopWurld.com Racing Against Cancer Team with a runner-up finish. Oliviera came home in third followed by Materas and Gentes.

The excitement of opening weekend at Thompson Speedway continues on Sunday beginning at Noon with feature events for all six of the Whelen All-American Series divisions including the second of the double-header for the Sunoco Modifieds and the Late Models. The Whelen Modified Tour will take the spotlight with their 150 lap event at approximately 3:15 PM.

Regular Thursday night racing kicks off at the historic oval on Thursday, May 21, 2009. For complete details visit thompsonspeedway.com (http://www.thompsonspeedway.com).

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified (25-lap) Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 3. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 4. Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, CT; 5. Jimmy Blewett, Howell, NJ; 6. Tom Cravenho Jr., Raynham, MA; 7. Tim Sullivan, South Windsor, CT; 8. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 9. Andy Gasper, Andover, CT; 10. Brian McCarthy, Norwich.

Late Model Feature Finish-20-lap (Top Ten): 1. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 2. Tom Fox, Plainfield, CT; 3. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 4. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 5. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 6. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 7. Mark Jenison, Cranston, RI; 8. Jeff Hesselton, Auburn, MA; 9. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 10. Wayne Coury Sr., Milford, CT.

Russ Dowd

[RGeeProductions]

04/05/09
Christopher Starts WMT Title Defense with Icebreaker Victory
Ceravolo Scores Sunoco Mod Victory, Wrenn Makes History with Win
Zuidema Sweeps in Late Models; Arena, Rogers & Sullivan Also Winners

Ted Christopher led the lion’s share of the Icebreaker 150 for the Whelen Modified Tour to start his title defense with a victory. The win was the third Icebreaker victory for the Plainville, CT, driver and the eighth Tour win of his career at Thompson. The victory, the 32nd of his career, puts him solely in fourth on the all-time win list.

Over the final laps of the race, Jimmy Blewett made it exciting. Just before a spin by Woody Pitkat set up a green-white-checker restart, Blewett got alongside Christopher exiting turn three. Christopher was able to do the cross-over move to retain his lead. After the caution, neither Blewett nor Lia ultimately had anything for Christopher.

“He is an interesting character to race with” said Christopher of Blewett.

Blewett finished a strong second to keep the fans on their feet.

“This track owes me one,” said Blewett. “I will win a Tour race here some day.”

Lia, back with the Tour after a stint in the Camping World Truck Series, had a good homecoming with a third-place finish. Ryan Preece finished fourth followed by Todd Szegedy.

Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry, CT, earned a hard-fought victory among a strong field of Sunoco Modifieds on Sunday afternoon. Norm Wrenn of Nashua, NH, kicked- off a new era in full-fendered racing at Thompson Speedway with the first-ever Super Late Model victory. Jeff Zuidema of N. Brookfield, CT, went two-for-two in Late Model competition on Icebreaker weekend winning both ends of the double-header.

Joe Arena of Bristol, CT, turned in a dominating performance to score the victory in the season-opener for the Limited Sportsman division. Chuck Rogers of Quaker Hill, CT, scored his first-ever winner at the Thompson Speedway in the Mini Stocks. Brian Sullivan of S. Windsor, CT picked up where he left off winning TIS Modified features.

The Sunoco Modifieds took to the track on Sunday afternoon to run the second of the Icebreaker double-header. At the conclusion of the 25-lapper, veteran and former Series champion, Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry, CT, was victorious. Ceravolo jumped out to the early lead of the main event followed by Keith Rocco. Mired deep in the field, Kerry Malone and Woody Pitkat were making tracks to the front. When the caution flew on lap 3 Malone was already inside the top ten.

With five laps down, Bert Marvin had moved into the third position and began chasing down the leaders. Malone had worked his way into the fourth spot by lap ten. The two Falmouth Ready Mix cars driven by Tommy Cravenho and Rowan Pennink ran in fifth and six, respectively.

At the halfway marker, things were starting to heat up as Rocco had his hands full with both Marvin and Malone. Smoke billowed from the #15 of Harry Rheaume to bring out the caution cooling the battle for the time being. Under the caution, Pennink headed down pit road for service to his #31x.

On restart, shuffling at the head of the pack resulted in the charging Malone being double-hooked. Things settled down on the ensuing restart as Ceravolo continued to lead with Rocco, Marvin and Cravenho in tow. Pitkat had worked his way into the fifth position.

A restart at lap 18 opened the door for Marvin. Ceravolo headed out in the lead once again. Slight contact between Marvin and Rocco, gave Marvin the edge; moving into the second position. Lap-after-lap Marvin dogged Ceravolo.

On the final lap, Marvin could get up alongside Marvin but could not muster up enough momentum to make the pass. Ceravolo rolled into victory lane for his first win of the season. Marvin had to settle for second followed by Rocco. Pitkat had a strong run to finish fourth. Cravenho completed the top five.

There was a new name for the division but it was the same cast of characters making headlines in the Super Late Model division; formerly known as the Pro Stocks. Veteran competitor, Norm Wrenn of Nashua, NH, put his name in the record books with the first victory.

Jeff Connors jumped out to the lead bringing Mike O’Sullivan and Wrenn along for the ride. The highlight of the Pro Stock race was the three-car battle for the point as the race approached halfway. Connors held the point with O’Sullivan and Wrenn in hot pursuit.

In a single lap, Wrenn went from third to the lead taking second from O’Sullivan and Connors. The driver on the move was Derek Ramstrom, after battling for position for several laps with George Bessette. Once he freed himself of Bessette, the youngster quickly went after Connors. The caution flew on lap 17 for a single-car incident involving Fred Astle.

The top three of Wrenn, O’Sullivan and Ramstrom continued to pace the field through a pair of quick cautions. Les Rose, Jr. was making his presence known with only a handful of laps remaining. The veteran competitor had passed Jay Macedonio to enter the top five. He immediately ran down Bessette but ran out of time to advance any further. On the final lap, as Wrenn was heading to the checkers and the first Super Late Model win at the Speedway, Zuidema encountered problems in turn two. Wrenn was followed to the checkers by O’Sullivan and Ramstrom. Bessette came home fourth over Rose.

Jeff Zuidema of N. Brookfield, MA, was the dominant force in the Late Models, not only on Sunday, but all weekend. At only one point during the 20 lap main event did Zuidema’s win ever look like it might be in jeopardy. After a restart for the one and only caution of the event on lap 14, Gentes gave Zuidema a run for the money. A bobble by Gentes provided the breathing room and that was all Zuidema needed to streak to the checkers.

“That’s what you gotta love about Rick Gentes, he never gives up,” said Zuidema in victory lane.

Gentes settled for second ahead of Mark Oliveira. Paul Newcomb, Jr., and Tom Fox rounded out the top five.

Joe Arena of Bristol, CT, led wire-to-wire to take down the win in a caution-free Limited Sportsman feature event. He took the lead from pole sitter Larry Barnett after a quick battle. Once out front, Arena was able to distance himself from Barnett and the remainder of the pack. In a groove, Arena was able to maneuver through lapped traffic without missing a beat. Arena visibly pumped his fist as he streaked under the checkers for his first victory of the 2009 season. Barnett finished second followed by Eric Grant, Ed Puleo and Chris Douton completed the top-five.

Brian Sullivan of S. Windsor, CT, scored the victory in the first TIS Modified main event of the 2009 season. Sullivan waited until late in the race to make his move. Sullivan chased early leader Leo Oliveria through lap 14 before taking over the point coming out of turn two. Once out front, Sullivan checked out distancing himself from a battle for the second position between Glenn Boss, Oliveira, and Richie Ferreira. At the checkers it was all Sullivan, Ferreira edged out his teammate Oliveira for second. Boss, in a borrowed mount, came from scratch on the field to finished fourth. McDermott recovered to finish fifth.

In the early going of the Mini Stock main event, Chuck Rogers of Quaker Hill, CT, was in the heat of an intense four-car battle for the lead, in the mid-portion of the event he was the class of the field. At the end, he was the winner on Icebreaker Sunday. Right from the drop of the green flag, the action was fast and furious with a four-car battle for the lead that featured Scott Michalski, Rogers, Andy Publicover and Steven Michalski. The battle cooled when Michalski and Publicover tangled in lapped traffic. Once solidly out front, Rogers was able to keep his composure through a number of restarts to claim the victory. Brad Caddick came from deep in the pack, to finish second over Eric Bourgeois, Mike Viens, and Rick Blanchard.

Russ Dowd

[RGeeProductions]

Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 2. Bert Marvin, Waterford, CT; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 5. Tommy Cravenho, Raynham, MA; 6. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 7. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Square, PA; 8. Eric Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 9. Josh Sylvester, Lebanon, CT; 10. Zach Sylvester, Lebanon, CT.

Super Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 2. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 3. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 4. George Bessette, Danbury, CT; 5. Les Rose, Jr., Southbridge, MA; 6. Jay Macedonio, Somerset, MA; 7. Marc Curtis, Worcester, MA; 8. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT; 9. Wayne Dion, Warwick, RI; 10. David Darling, Seekonk, MA.

Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield, MA; 2. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 3. Rick Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 4. Paul Newcomb, Jr., Bryantville, MA; 5. Tom Fox, Plainfield, CT; 6. Wayne Coury, Sr., Milford, CT; 7. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 8. Jeremy Sadowski, Voluntown, CT; 9. Randy Waterman, Killingly, CT; 10. Mark Jenison, Cranston, RI.

Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 2. Larry Barnett, Ledyard, CT; 3. Eric Grant, New Milford, CT; 4. Ed Puleo, Branford, CT; 5. Chris Douton, Waterford, CT; 6. Jay Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 7. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 8. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT: 9. Paul Coutu, Jr., Thompson, CT; 10. Joe Campbell, Moosup, CT.

TIS Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Brian Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 2. Richie Ferreira, Raynham, MA; 3. Leo Oliveira, Rayham, MA; 4. Glenn Boss, Danielson, CT; 5. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 6. Bart Ramos, Putnam, CT; 7. Tyler Poulin, Millville, MA; 8. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 9. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA; 10. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA.

Mini Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill, CT; 2. Brad Caddick, New London, CT; 3. Eric Bourgeois, E. Haddam, CT; 4. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 5. Rick Blanchard, Pascoag, RI; 6. Nathan Taylor, Wauregan, CT; 7. Billy Pomposelli, Chepachet, RI; 8. Bill Schoeler, Warwick, RI; 9. Steven Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 10. Steve Romjue, Coventry, RI.

Russ Dowd