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RGeeProductions
05-27-2010, 10:32 PM
Rocco Scores Sunoco Mod Victory at Thompson;
Monahan Dominates Limited 50-Lapper;
Banfield, Gentes, McDermott, & Churchill Also Victorious

On Thursday Night Thompson Thunder at Thompson International Speedway the Limited Sportsman division shared the limelight with the headlining Sunoco Modifieds. Two colorful personalities were victorious on the special night. Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, earned his second win of the 2010 season in the Sunoco Modified division. Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT, took a commanding win in the annual extra distance event for the Limited Sportsman division.

Jim Banfield of S. Glastonbury, CT, wired the field to score a hard-fought victory in the Super Late Models. Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI, took top honors in a wild Late Model event while Cam “Keith” McDermott of Scituate, RI, was victorious in the TIS Modifieds. Randy Churchill, Jr., of Oakdale, CT, was awarded the victory in the Mini Stocks following post-race technical inspection.

Keith Rocco of Wallingford, CT, continued his prowess in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action in Connecticut with a Sunoco Modified victory at Thompson. Danny Cates took over the top spot from pole sitter Tim Sullivan to set the pace in the early going of the main event. The action got hot-and-heavy immediately. Rocco dove low on Christopher and Ronnie Silk to make it three-wide in the opening laps. Silk backed out and Rocco was able to advance two positions in turn one. Rocco easily drove past Sullivan and into the second spot. Rocco immediately ran down Cates. Rocco looked low on Cates on successive laps; to no avail.

Cates and Rocco ran nose to tail while Sullivan had his hand full with Christopher. All battles slowed when the first caution flew when the #5 of Ronnie Silk came to rest on the backstretch. On the restart, Cates was able to maintain his lead. Rocco continued his assault of the leader. Christopher lined up third followed by Pennink.

Rocco dove low in turn three but he could not make the pass stick sliding up the track; allowing Cates to go low to retain his lead. A repeat of the activities a lap later had a much different outcome for Cates. Rocco again dove low in turn three. Cates appeared to be anticipating a slide job by Rocco and checked up in an attempt to do the double crossover move once again. Christopher, however, was in hot pursuit and collected Cates; sending his #24 head-on into the outside wall in turn four.

On the restart, Rocco was able to gain the advantage. Rowan Pennink took chase in second followed by Christopher, Woody Pitkat and Sullivan. At halfway, Rocco continued to lead but Pennink was looking strong in second. The lead duo was beginning to stretch their advantage over Christopher. The remainder of the field had gotten strung out over the distance of the 5/8-th mile. With ten to go Rocco distanced himself by a few car lengths over Pennink while Christopher had once again joined the trio. With five laps to go, Pennink turned up the wick once again to reel in Rocco. With only a handful of laps remaining Rocco, Pennink and Christopher ran nose-to-tail.

Feeling the pressure, Rocco again opened up a two car-length advantage of Pennink, who had fallen into the clutches of Christopher. Rocco streaked under the checkers for his second win of the season at Thompson followed by Pennink, and Christopher. Pitkat and Sullivan rounded out the top-five.

Shawn Monahan of Waterford, CT, scored the victory in the 50-lap Limited Sportsman main event in convincing fashion. Tommy Shea set sail as the leader to start the annual special event. After a quick caution for an incident on lap two, things settled down and the Limited Sportsman heavy hitters began to shine. Scott Sundeen had moved up from his eighth starting position to run second on lap two. On lap three, he was pressuring Shea for the lead. Sundeen was the new leader in turn two. Monahan filled the gap and moved into second on lap four. A turn later, Monahan took over the lead from Sundeen. Chris “Moose” Douton had moved into third. Meanwhile, Larry Barnett was mired back in the eighth position.

Only a pair of green flag laps later, Barnett was in fifth and looking for more. Up front, Monahan had stretched his advantage to a comfortable margin over Joe Arena. The #39 of Moose Douton saw his good run come to an end as he headed to pit road on lap 17.

Monahan watched his lead disappear when the caution flew on lap 18 for a spin by Joe Plonski. On the restart, Monahan was able to quickly regain his advantage. Barnett worked over Sundeen to take third. He immediately went to work on Arena.

At halfway, Monahan led Arena, Barnett, Sundeen and Jesse Gleason inside the top five. There were battles throughout the racetrack as the field got strung out. Monahan entered lapped traffic with ease; maintaining a comfortable margin over Arena. Barnett fell back slightly while Gleason made his way past Sundeen.

The running order remained unchanged on the extended green flag run to the checkers with Monahan taking the win handily over Arena and Barnett. Gleason and Sundeen were a distance back to complete the top-five.

Jim Banfield of S. Glastonbury, CT, won a classic battle in the Super Late Models on Thursday night. The victory by Banfield ended Derek Ramstrom’s strong-hold on the SLM winner’s circle. For the opening two laps, the entire field went door-to-door behind the leaders Banfield and Steve Desmarais. Banfield finally freed himself of traffic to take sole possession of the lead. Desmarais was shuffled back as Rick Fuller and Dennis Maxfield moved into the top three. Ramstrom joined the fray laps later.

Banfield continued to lead with Fuller in tow while the battle for the third spot began to heat between Maxfield, Ramstrom and Larry Gelinas. After several laps, Ramstrom was able to make the pass on Maxfield. He immediately ran down the lead duo of Banfield and Fuller.

The top three cars had broken away from Maxfield and the remainder of the field. Lap-after-lap, Ramstrom could get alongside Fuller in the low groove. Despite the battled for second, Banfield could not distance himself from Fuller and Ramstrom. With five laps remaining, Fuller and Ramstrom went side-by-side glued to the back bumper of Banfield. Maxfield ran a half-straightaway behind in third.

Ramstrom, looking for the edge on Fuller, lost control of his mount, spinning and making hard contact with the outside wall in turn one. The caution set-up a single-file restart with three-laps remaining that pitted Banfield against Fuller.

Banfield rocketed out to the lead with Maxfield grabbing second from Fuller. Banfield enjoyed a few car-length advantage while Fuller and Maxfield battle for second. Mike Stefanik made a late race surge. At the checkers, it was Banfield scoring a hard-fought victory. Maxfield crossed the stripe second ahead of Fuller but was relegated to the third spot after making an illegal pass before the start/finish line on the final restart. Stefanik and Gelinas rounded out the top-five.

What started out as a dismal night of Late Model competition ended with the sweet taste of victory for Rick Gentes of Woonsocket, RI. Sophomore driver Damon Tinio led the field to green to start the 25-lap main event for the Late Models. A caution flew on lap three for a skirmish between Tinio and a charging Tommy O’Sullivan. The cars scattered as the two made contact. John Falconi, running third, and Gentes came out on the short-end of the incident. After visiting pit road, both were able to continue in the event. Tinio was shuffled back to the third spot. O’Sullivan was sent to the rear for his involvement in the incident.

John Materas was pitted against Randy Waterman on the ensuing restart. As the lead duo jumped on the gas, Waterman lost the handle on his #76, piling up several cars behind the leader. Jeff Hartwell was impacted several times sending his car rolling on its roof. Mark Jenison, Damon Tinio, and Jeremy Sadowski also sustained heavy damage in the melee.

Materas could not hold-off the charge of Wayne Coury, Sr. on the restart. Coury was the new leader on lap four. Mark Oliveira has made his way into the runner-up spot. The following lap, Coury drifted high exiting turn four getting shuffled all the way back to the fourth spot; handing the lead to Oliveira. His stay on the point was short-lived as Gentes stole the lead away on lap seven exiting turn four. Oliveira settled into second followed closely by John Falconi and O’Sullivan.

Over the final run to the checkers, Gentes could not shake Oliveira while O’Sullivan dogged Falconi. The top four had worked out to a sizable advantage over the remainder of the field. Oliveira was able to close on Gentes on the final laps while O’Sullivan got alongside Falconi. Despite all efforts, the positions did not change. Gentes went on to score the victory over Oliveira. Falconi held on for third over O’Sullivan. Mike Scorzelli rounded out the top five.

Keith “Cam” McDermott of Scituate, RI, bested the field of TIS Modifieds to score his first win of the season. There were three leaders before the completion of lap two in the 15-lap main event including Jason Sundeen, McDermott and last week’s winner R.J. Marcotte. When things shook out, Marcotte had the top spot. His stay at the head of the field was short-lived as only a lap later McDermott reasserted himself as the leader once again. Pole sitter Sundeen came along with for the ride. Shane Michalski moved into the third spot.

(continued)

RGeeProductions
05-27-2010, 10:33 PM
At the halfway marker, McDermott had begun to stretch his advantage over Sundeen. Early leader Marcotte retired from the event on lap 11. Michalski began to apply pressure to Sundeen in second. McDermott was able to extend his lead as Michalski continued to pressure Sundeen. Things settled down with two-to-go allowing McDermott to run unchallenged to the checkers. Sundeen, Michalski, Ryan Morgan and John Studley rounded out top-five.

Randy Churchill, Jr. of Oakdale, CT, crossed under the checkers in second but wound up with the victory following tech. The car of apparent winner Nate Taylor failed ride-height negating the win. Taylor jumped out from his front row starting spot to lead the opening laps of the feature. In the early going, Dwayne Dorr and Randy Churchill quickly worked their way into the top five. Taylor enjoyed a comfortable lead as the battle for the second spot waged between no less then five cars including Chad Baxter, Dorr, Churchill and Scott Jussaume. With Dorr showing a bit of smoke, Churchill got a great run to get by Dorr. Jussaume followed through relegating Dorr to fourth.

Churchill made a bold move coming off turn two to take over the second spot from Baxter. Jussaume was looking to make a move on Churchill; however, a pack of lapped cars impeded his progress. Jussaume went to the grass but lost ground to Churchill. This allowed Churchill to gain some breathing room in second.

Over the final circuit, lapped traffic allowed Churchill to catch Taylor. But the teen driver persevered in an apparent victory. Post race technical inspection shook up the finishing order inside the top five as Dwayne Dorr was also disqualified following the event. Churchill was named the winner over Jussaume, defending champ Michalski, Chuck Rogers and Fred Michalski.


Sunoco Modifieds Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 3. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 4. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs, CT; 5. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor, CT; 6. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk, CT; 7. Glenn Griswold, Vernon, CT; 8. John Catania, Agawam, MA; 9. Andy Gaspar, Andover, CT; 10. Andrew Charron, N. Grosvenerdale, CT.

Super Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT; 2. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 3. Dennis Maxfield, Fitchburg, MA; 4. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 5. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 6. George Bessette, Danbury, CT, 7. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 8. Daryl Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 9. Steve Desmarais, Somerset, MA; 10. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA.

Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 2. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 3. John Falconi, N. Grafton, MA; 4. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 5. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 6. Wayne Coury, Sr., Milford, CT; 7. Randy Waterman, Danielson, CT; 8. John Materas, Voluntown, CT; 9. P.J. Howard, Norwood, MA; 10. Damon Tinio, Mendon, MA.

Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Shawn Monahan, Waterford, CT; 2. Joe Arena, Bristol, CT; 3. Larry Barnett, Ledyard, CT; 4. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 5. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 6. Paul Coutu, Thompson, CT; 7. Jason Chicholas, Sutton, MA; 8. Brandon Plemmons, Uncasville, CT; 9. Scott Fanning, Mapleville, RI; 10. Tommy Shea, New London, CT.

TIS Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1. Keith “Cam” McDermott, Scituate, RI; 2. Jason Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 3. Shane Michalski, Woodstock, CT; 4. Ryan Morgan, Mystic, CT; 5. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 6. Brian Tagg, Oxford, CT; 7. Tyler Poulin, Pascoag, RI; 8. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA. DNS-Denis Leger, N. Reading, MA.

Mini Stock Feature Finish: 1. Randy Churchill, Jr., Oakdale, CT; 2. Scott Jussaume, Danielson, CT; 3. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 4. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill, CT; 5. Fred Michalski, Dayville, CT; 6. Jeff Moffat, Warwick, RI; 7. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 8. Leo Defevers, Brooklyn, CT; 9. Bert Ouellette, Dayville, CT; 10. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA.

Russ Dowd