Story By: KYLE SOUZA / THOMPSON SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK – THOMPSON, CT – Hudson, NH’s Derek Griffith went wire-to-wire to capture the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Thompson 75 at the annual Icebreaker on Saturday, April 10. Griffith grabbed the lead in the first corner and was on a rail from there, claiming victory in the headliner for the afternoon session of the 82nd Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park season opener.
Griffith’s win kept the young star perfect on the PASS Super Late Model season. He captured both PASS National Easter Bunny 150 events at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway the previous weekend. Now Griffith also has a win in the PASS North championship opener.
It took less than 500 feet for Griffith to get to the front at Thompson. He started second after winning the second qualifying heat, and when polesitter Ben Rowe had trouble coming up to speed, Griffith and several others shot past.
The only thing that could slow Griffith was the race’s lone caution on lap 3 when Garrett Hall tagged the backstretch wall. When the field went green again, Griffith put the hammer down. Rowley, MA’s Eddie “The Outlaw” MacDonald gave chase as best he could, and could narrow the gap some in traffic, but Griffith restored his margin every time they got clear.
Even as multiple other drivers had strong runs go sour in the unseasonable warm weather, Griffith never wavered. He ultimately put more than half the field a lap down and cruised to an impressive win.
“I love it here,” Griffith said after the race. “I tell people all the time about how cool the Icebreaker is and how big of a weekend it is. You know we travel everywhere and not everybody understands how big of a weekend it is — and not just for PASS…so to come get another (win) here is pretty cool. It’s definitely one to mark off.”
MacDonald finished second with Center Conway, NH’s Gabe Brown a comfortable third. Rowe recovered from his early troubles and held off Rowland Robinson Jr. for fourth. Reigning PASS North champion D.J. Shaw, Johnny Clark, Corey Casagrande, Mike Scorzelli, and Dan Winter rounded out the top-10.
Berlin, CT’s Keith Rocco came out on top of a barnburner to win the Sunoco Modified season opener. Rocco started fourth in the 30-lap main event and took the lead from Oxford, MA’s Troy Talman on a lap-9 restart after Christian Turissi’s spin.
Wolcott, CT’s Mike Christopher moved into the runner-up spot following the second caution on lap 13. Rocco and Christopher pulled away from the field nose-to-tail for several laps, but with seven to go, the real battle began. Christopher dove inside Rocco entering turn 3, the first of what would be six passes in as many laps. Rocco, however, kept putting his Modified out front at the start/finish line where it counted.
As the duo got the two-to-go signal, Christopher finally had the lead by a nose at the line and cleared Rocco entered turn one. Rocco went back underneath him in the third turn, and the two banged nerf bars. Christopher slid up the track, allowing Rocco to get away for another victory in his dominating Thompson Speedway career.
Talman and Todd Owen also got past Christopher thanks to the late contact, finishing second and third in the final rundown. Christopher had to settle for fourth. Danny Cates, Jonathan Puleo, John Lowinski-Loh, Richard Williams, Jason Sundeen, and Paul LaPlante completed the top-10.
Franklin, MA’s Bobby Santos III kicked off his Icebreaker weekend with a victory in the 25-lap NEMA LITES Midgets feature. Santos started seventh in the Matt and Bob Seymour-owned #1, and after a slow start, began him march to the front. He inherited the second spot on lap 13 when Dan Cugini’s Midget shut down, then caught leader Jim Santa Maria with eight laps to go.
One lap later, Santos drove beneath Santa Maria on the front stretch and cleared him entering turn 1. It was no contest from there as Santos sailed to the victory.
Santa Maria came in second followed by Jake Trainor. Kyle Valeri, Richie Coy, Paul Scally, Christopher Vose, Tiana Kibbe, Matt Seavy, and Cugini finched fourth through 10th.
Plymouth, MA Paul Newcomb ended a frenetic two days on a high note by winning the 25-lap Street Stock Open feature. Newcomb started fourth and found an opening early, muscling beneath polesitter Ryan Waterman in turn four to take the lead after two laps.
Candia, NH’s Jimmy Renfrew Jr. was the only driver who could even come close to hanging with Newcomb on the ensuing green-flag run. Renfrew got a shot on a restart with eight laps to go after Zachary Mead’s spin. But the #00 got loose exiting turn four the following lap. Renfrew eventually slid back to fourth as Newcomb marched to the victory.
Waterman finished second with Kyle Gero third. Joe Kohler, Wayne Coury, Bobby Segar Jr., Devin McConologue, Justin Travis, and Nick Hovey also earned top-10 finishes.
Freeport, NY’s Gerard Giordano Jr. won a photo finish over Warwick, RI’s Ryan Vanasse in the 35-lap EXIT Realty Pro Truck Challenge feature. Vanasse had pulled away in the middle stages of the event, but Giordano had the better long-run truck and ran him down with seven laps to go. The fourth and final caution came out soon after, setting up a four-lap dash to the finish.
Vanasse initially cleared Giordano on the restart. With two laps to go, though, Giordano ducked back inside. Entered turn for the final time, the duo touched and got sideways. After gathering it up, they banged doors again coming to the line. It was Giordano, the former series champion, edging Vanasse by 0.015 seconds for the win.
Waterford, CT’s Emma Monahan had a strong run for third. Duane Noll, Connor Souza, Joe Arena, Andy Lindeman, Todd Taylor, Joseph Coates, and Randy Coates opened their season with top-10 finishes.
Sterling, CT’s Jared Roy continued his domination of the Thompson Mini Stocks with a victory in their 15-lap feature. Roy came from seventh on the starting grid to run down Steven Michalski at the halfway mark. After ducking inside Michalski as the leaders completed lap nine, Roy completed the pass entering turn one a circuit later.
Coming out of turn four the next time around, Michalski broke loose and spun to bring out the race’s only caution. Roy had a rear-view mirror full of Gales Ferry, CT’s Thomas Silva over the final four laps, but held on for the victory. Dave Trudeau, Douglas Curry, and Charles Canfield completed the top-five.
THOMPSON SPEEDWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
THOMPSON ICEBREAKER — AFTERNOON SESSION
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
PASS SUPER LATE MODELS
Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps
1. ( 2 ) Derek Griffith ( 12G ) Hudson, NH , 75 Laps
2. ( 3 ) Eddie MacDonald ( 17MA ) Rowley, MA , 75 Laps
3. ( 4 ) Gabe Brown ( 47 ) Ctr. Conway, NH , 75 Laps
4. ( 1 ) Ben Rowe ( 4 ) Turner, ME , 75 Laps
5. ( 8 ) Rowland Robinson Jr. ( 20 ) Steuben, ME , 75 Laps
6. ( 6 ) D.J. Shaw ( 60 ) Ctr. Conway, NH , 75 Laps
7. ( 5 ) Johnny Clark ( 54 ) Hallowell, ME , 75 Laps
8. ( 14 ) Cory Casagrande ( 7CT ) Stafford Springs, CT , 75 Laps
9. ( 12 ) Mike Scorzelli ( 18 ) Feura Bush, NY , 75 Laps
10. ( 19 ) Dan Winter ( 81 ) Deerfield, NH , 74 Laps
11. ( 16 ) Shane Clark ( 21 ) Wintersport, ME , 74 Laps
12. ( 17 ) Jake Matheson ( 52 ) Hillsboro, NH , 74 Laps
13. ( 18 ) Anthony Constantino ( 14C ) Turner, ME , 74 Laps
14. ( 9 ) Keith Rocco ( 48 ) Berlin, CT , 74 Laps
15. ( 20 ) Kate Re ( 10 ) Harrison, ME , 74 Laps
16. ( 21 ) Brandon Turbush ( 17X ) Manorville, NY , 71 Laps
17. ( 15 ) Kevin Folan ( 17 ) N. Attleboro, MA , 68 Laps
18. ( 7 ) Brandon Barker ( 88 ) Windham, ME , 62 Laps
19. ( 11 ) Devin O’Connell ( 43 ) Madison, CT , 42 Laps
20. ( 10 ) Jake Johnson ( 15MA ) Rehoboth, MA , 31 Laps
21. ( 13 ) Garrett Hall ( 94 ) Scarborough, ME , 2 Laps
SUNOCO MODIFIEDS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Keith Rocco ( 57 ) Berlin , CT
2. Troy Talman ( 3 ) Oxford , MA
3. Todd Owen ( 81 ) Somers , CT
4. Mike Christopher Jr. ( 82 ) Wolcott , CT
5. Danny Cates ( 2 ) Chaplin , C
6. Jonathan Puleo ( 7 ) Branford , CT
7. John Lowinski-Loh ( 33 ) Thompson , CT
8. Richard Williams ( 59 ) 0 , 0
9. Jason Sundeen ( 26 ) Douglas , MA
10. Paul LaPlante ( 02 ) N. Scituate , RI
11. Darin Renihan ( 44 ) 0 , 0
12. Max Zachem ( 27 ) Preston , CT
13. Christian Turrisi ( 76 ) Clinton , CT
14. Joe Allegro Jr. ( 08 ) Vernon , RI
15. Dylan Izzo ( 11X ) Monroe , CT
NEMA LITES MIDGETS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Bobby Santos III ( 1 ) Franklin, MA
2. Jim Santa Maria ( 97 ) Burlington, CT
3. Jake Trainor ( 29 ) Medway, MA
4. Kyle Valeri ( 17 ) Monument Beach, MA
5. Richie Coy ( 19 ) Haskell, NJ
6. Paul Scally ( 30 ) Raynham, MA
7. Christopher Vose ( 3 ) Gloversville, NY
8. Tiana Kibbe ( 94 ) Fairfield, CT
9. Matt Seavey ( 16 ) Pittsfield, NH
10. Dan Cugini ( 51 ) Philadelphia, PA
11. Anthony Payne ( 44 ) Fairlawn, NJ
12. Kevin Park ( 2 ) Foxboro, MA
13. Mikey Pernisiglio ( 28 ) Ronkonkoma, NY
14. Brayden Egan ( 59 ) Asford, CT
15. Joe Bailey ( 21 ) Monroe, NJ
16. Dylan Coutu ( 53 ) Griswold, CT
17. Randy Cabral ( 35 ) Plymouth, MA
STREET STOCK OPEN
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Paul Newcomb ( 7 ) Plymouth, MA
2. Ryan Waterman ( 75 ) Danielson, CT
3. Kyle Gero ( 19CT ) Baltic, CT
4. Jimmy Renfrew Jr. ( 00 ) Candia, NH
5. Joe Kohler ( 43 ) Scituate, RI
6. Wayne Coury ( 17CT ) Milford, CT
7. Bobby Seger Jr. ( 17 ) Hermon, ME
8. Devon McConologue ( 18 ) West Newfield, ME
9. Justin Travis ( 45 ) North Smithfield, CT
10. Nickolas Hovey ( 16 ) Chaplin, CT
11. Jon Porter ( 38 ) East Lyme, CT
12. Michael Malbaurn ( 64 ) Moosup, CT
13. Zachary Mead ( 25 ) Putnam, CT
14. Kristopher Kay ( 8 ) Dudley, MA
15. Vinny Panglinan ( 53 ) Warwick, RI
16. Jeremy Washburn ( 78 ) Willimantic, CT
17. Tom Shea ( 45B ) Somers, CT
18. Christopher Buffone ( 2 ) Belchertown, MA
19. Randall Waterman Jr. ( 57 ) Danielson, CT
20. Aaron Plemons ( 67 ) Uncasville, CT
21. Paul Williams ( 13 ) Stoughton, MA
DNS Jim Silvia ( 116 ) Middletown, RI
DNS Corey Fanning ( 47 ) Mapleville, RI
EXIT REALTY PRO TRUCK CHALLENGE
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Gerard Giordano Jr. ( 15 ) Freeport, NY
2. Ryan Vanasse ( 31 ) Warwick, RI
3. Emma Monahan ( 78 ) Waterford, CT
4. Duane Noll ( 2 ) Trumbull, CT
5. Connor Souza ( 38 ) East Providence, RI
6. Joe Arena ( 01 ) Wethersfield, CT
7. Andy Lindeman ( 3 ) Poestenkill, NY
8. Todd Taylor ( 47 ) Stonington, CT
9. Joseph Coates ( 91 ) Ledyard, CT
10. Randy Burr ( 32 ) Middleboro, MA
11. Jim Boyle ( 02 ) East Windsor, CT
12. Nathan Smith ( 55 ) 0
13. Joe Liscawitz ( 4 ) 0
14. Dave Koenig ( 97 ) Oceanside, NY
15. Brandon Hunt ( 84 ) East Windsor, CT
16. Robert Busch Jr. ( 17 ) 0
17. Devon Jencik ( 23 ) Canton, CT
18. Allen Coates ( 90 ) Ledyard, CT
19. Jason Ferreira ( 24 ) Lowell, MA
20. Andrew Morin ( 10 ) Old Saybrook, CT
21. Ariana (Ari) Jencik ( 33 ) Canton, CT
22. Brad Caddick ( 48 ) Wyoming, RI
23. Chris Taylor ( 5 ) 0
24. Lucas Leone ( 1 ) Southington, CT
25. Dylan Cabral ( 19 ) Richmond, RI
THOMPSON MINI STOCKS
Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown
1. Jared Roy ( 1 ) Sterling , CT
2. Thomas Silva ( 31 ) Gales Ferry , CT
3. Dave Trudeau ( 97 ) Mansfield , CT
4. Douglas Curry ( 2 ) Bosrah , CT
5. Charles Canfield ( 25 ) East Haven , CT
6. Steven H. Michalski ( 44 ) Brooklyn , CT
7. Russell Barboza ( 4 ) Plainfield , CT
8. Kevin Moore ( 04 ) Moosup , CT
9. Scott Quinn ( 20RI ) Harrisville , RI
10. Nadine Coates ( 40 ) Newport , NH
11. Raymond Herman Sr. ( 91 ) Baltic , CT
