Pete Brittain never gave up and kept on plugging. That earned him a
second place finish when he passed Rick Kluth with just two laps
remaining. “Our race car was awesome today. We don’t have the laps around this
place that Matt (Hirschman) has, but at the end of the race I think we
were just as good as him – maybe a little better. I don’t know for sure
because I never got to him. We started eighth and he started third and
the race ended before we could catch up. Matt is going really good and
getting a lot of laps in a lot of racecars at a lot of racetracks
right now. It seems like wherever he goes he’s really good. Whenever we go
to the race track, if he is there I know he’s one of the guys I have to
beat to win.
“I didn’t try and beat up the car at all today. I just picked my spots
when they came and didn’t over-drive the car because I knew I had to
make it last and get there. It worked out well. We had a really good car
at the end, just as good at the end as it was in the beginning.
“I love racing here. I just wish it was closer to home because I
love this racetrack. I like the high speed tracks like Oswego and here.
It’s also nice to get some added recognition by racing here. When you
walk into the pit area there are a thousand Modifieds in there and you
are loving it to death. You are right in the heart of Modified country
and all the best Modified drivers ever came from this area. It’s a
thrill to race here.”
* * *
Rick Kluth has had a 2007 season to forget. He began the year
missing races because of mechanical problems and has struggled most of the
way to this point. But on Sunday he was all smiles after the race
because of his third place finish.
“I’m really happy with today,” he grinned. “This was a great day
for us. It was a lot of fun running up front. This is the third time
I’ve been here at Thompson and this is the first time we came here and
were good. The motor was fresh, so that helped. The experience I gained
here the first two times helped a lot as well. I couldn’t run with Matt
(Hirschman) but that didn’t frustrate me. I haven’t been close enough
in a long time to even see that, so it actually felt good. He had us
covered and was doing what he had to do. His experience here really helped
him, I think.
“I lost second (to Pete Brittain) right at the end and it was
frustrating but it wasn’t, too. At that point in time I’m happy just to be
in that position, second or third. I had a left front that started
bouncing with about 30 laps to go that hurt me. I tried to fight Pete but
at the same time I wasn’t going to be stupid, either. Third is better
than where we might have ended up. You have to be smart sometimes.
“This is a great way to head into Oswego for the 200. In the
Labor Day race there I was good but something broke on the car. I think
we’re going to be good when we go back.”
* * *
Lee Sherwood made it back to fifth after pitting on lap 58.
“Overall things didn’t go too bad. We’re leaving here in one piece with a
top-five finish. I don’t know if pitting helped us at all but I don’t
think it hurt us. We probably would have finished about where we did no
matter what, so it didn’t have any effect on our day.
“It’s hard to pass here at Thompson, especially when we RoC guys
don’t really know the place, I’m sure it gets easier as you run here
more. Obviously there is a way to pass here because there are people
doing it, but we haven’t figured it out. There is certainly an advantage to
the guys with local experience over us but it’s that way at any
racetrack where we go. There are always some people who have more experience
than we do and there are tracks where we have more experience than
them. It’s just the nature of the game. It doesn’t bother me at all; in
fact, I’m glad to have those guys running this race with us because they
are good racers and we need more guys like them in this series.”
* * *
Weather was threatening all day at Thompson. When I arrived just
before noon it was raining hard just a few miles away, but dry at the
track. The skies remained threatening but the racing got underway. After
the RoC feature the Sunoco Modifieds (SK-type racecar) took to the
track for their feature. After that, the True Value Modifieds pulled out
of the pit area for their 75-lap feature under a drizzle. The race was
halted after two laps and when it began to pour the racing program was
cancelled from that point. The make-up for the TVMRS 75 and the NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour 150 is now Saturday, September 22, directly against
the Race of Champions at Oswego. That will affect both events in terms
of racecars and fans, but this late in the year the calendar starts to
get crowded with winter looming not far enough in the distance.
Sometimes tough choices have to be made.
Roc PR/Bruce Boucher
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