RPW Exclusive: The Champ Trail; Thompson Speedway’s Annual World Series Weekend & More…

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Column Compiled By: PHIL SMITH / RPW – WESTERLY, RI – The annual World Series at Thompson took center stage last weekend.

During the three day weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there were 19 divisions!

A three-day weekend ticket went for $75 and $100 for the pits.  Twenty four cars were pre-entered for the Whelen Modified Tour Series event.

There were many candidates for IronMan of the weekend. Woody Pitkat will led the way, running all 3 Tour Type Modified races, a Late Model race and maybe an ACT Late Model race. That would be 5 races.

Woody drove the Doug Dunleavy #88 in the outlaw Modified 50 lap on Friday and then in the #88 again in the Monaco Tri-Track 75 lap race. For the WMT 150 Lap Race Woody drove the Danny Watts #82 machine.

Matt Swanson was running in all 3 Modified races and the Supermodified race driving the #97. In the 50 lap Outlaw race Matt was in the Gary Casella #25 Modified and then in the Tri-track 75 Lap race Matt again was behind the wheel in the Casella #25 Modified. In the WMT 150 Lap race Matt wheeled his family owned #89 Modified. Matt is very competitive in anything he drives.

Jon McKennedy looks like he could run all 3 Modified races. In all 3 Modified races Jon would be running his own #79 Modified. McKennedy is entered in the Tri-track and WMT Races. As of now McKennedy is not entered in the Supermodified race.

Will the #36 team of Dave Sapienza be running all 3 Modified races in his own Modified #36 Modified? Dave is entered in the Tri-Track race and the WMT Race.

Then we have the young upstart with a lot of talent Joey Cipriano, III Driving the #51 in the Open Modified race and then again in the Modified Tri-Track Race. In the WMT race Cipriano will drive the #15 Modified all for the same owner Fueled Up Motorsports.

It started on Friday night. Running their features were the Pro Trucks, 14 of them, that was won by Al Stone. The Late Models, 13 of them, was won by Derek Gluchach. The Sunoco 604 crate modifieds drew 14 entrants. Todd Owen took the win over Kieth Rocco and Jon Puleo. Twenty three Street Stocks were on hand with Ryan Lineham taking the win.

Saturday saw nearly non-stop racing well into the night. The American-Canadian Tour got the second day of the Sunoco World Series off to a strong start with their Sunoco World Series 75. Brandon Barker and Tom Carey III lead the way to the green flag just before former Thompson Late Model champion Brian Tagg dove sideways across the frontstretch grass to call out the lone caution.

The international roster of drivers kept it lean and green after that, even as several drivers fell out with mechanical issues throughout the 75-lap sprint. In the end, Tom Carey III backed up his September extra-distance win to claim his third career American-Canadian Tour win in the ‘Brookside Ride’ while former Seekonk Speedway champion Ryan Kuhn kept him honest, following just a car-length behind through the second half of the event to claim second. Polesitter Brandon Barker held on to take third over Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette.

Brett Meservy won the Harry Kourafas New England Pro 4 Memorial 22 over Richardi and Ryan Morgan in the #77 taking third. In the Pass Late Model event, DJ Shaw took down the win in dominant fashion with Eddie MacDonald taking second and Corey Casagrande coming home third.

The New England Supermodified Series returned to Thompson Speedway for the second time in 2024. Ben Seitz took a dominant victory in the New England Supermodified Series with Russ Wood and Matt Swanson joining him in victory lane as the Series crowned Bobby Timmons III the 2024 champion.

Returning after their first Sunoco World Series feature on Friday, Derek Ramstrom and Tyler Barry led the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds to green for their track championship finale. Todd Owen took the Sunoco World Series Saturday win over Keith Rocco with the two exchanging words in victory lane as 2024 Thompson Sunoco Modified champion Jon Puleo celebrated a third-place finish to finalize his championship run.

In the Mini Stocks, Jared Roy inherited the lead out front and never faltered, taking his sixth win of the season in a successful track championship defense. Tim Dorr and Kevin Moore rounded out the top three.

The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series took over the infield for their Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 on Sunoco World Series Saturday. Stephen Kopcik and Joey Cipriano brought the 33-car field to green with Cipriano getting the opening lead as heavy hitters Patrick Emerling, Jon McKennedy and Woody Pitkat quickly formed on his six o’clock! McKennedy dove to the bottom to lead lap 7 with Cipriano quickly fading to Pitkat the next lap as the balance of the field fell into single file.

A pair of cautions set pit strategy in motion for several teams but McKennedy, Emerling, Pitkat and Matt Hirschman kept their machines at the front of the pack in search of the $10,000 payday.

After each caution cycle, McKennedy continued to assert his dominance out ahead of Pitkat and Emerling while ‘Big Money Matt’ and Kopcik kept themselves in contention among the top runners. With laps winding down, Anthony Nocella and Ronnie Williams began entering the picture as George Bessett Jr. climbed into the top-10 after an earlier pit stop.

With fifteen laps remaining, Hirschman began to gain considerably on McKennedy, pulling to within a car-length in the corners as the two held a straightaway lead over third-place runner Anthony Nocella. With four laps left Hirschman began to look low with lap traffic ahead under the two-to-go popsicle sticks from the chief starter. Jon McKennedy used the lappers to his advantage, holding onto the lead and taking the Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series over Matt Hirschman and Anthony Nocella. Stephen Kopcik held on for fourth and Matt Swanson stole fifth.

Sunday dawned dark and dismal. The decision was made to move up the start time of the Whelem Modified Tour event to 1:00pm. A sign was posted that in the event of rain there would be no refunds. Rain date was Monday, Oct 14. Bet that announcement pissed a few people off!

After the forecast changed the Sunoco World Series schedule on Sunday, the Thompson Street Stocks kicked off the day’s action. While the fan-favorite division put on quite a show on early with championship chasers Ryan Waterman, Leadfoot Larry Barnett, Al Stone III and, defending champion, Corey Fanning. The rough riding started on lap 8 with contact from Aaron Plemons sent championship-hopeful Barnett around in turn three.

What followed was a string of caution after caution involving all four championship chasers at different times before the field switched to single-file restarts. On the final lap, Waterman moved under Barnett in turn three, planting his foot in the firewall to claim the Sunoco World Series win and the championship over Barnett and Corey Fanning at the line.

Twenty two cars went to post as it seemed that Moses parted the seas and let the sun shine in.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour moved up the schedule for the Sunoco World Series 150 presented by FloRacing with qualifying scrapped under the weather-changed schedule, the Modifieds were lined-up based on season-long points. Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore faced off side-by-side at the front with Austin Beers and Patrick Emerling in tow under the initial green flag.

After hitting the wall during practice, Emerling dropped back to the latter half of the top ten as Bonsignore, Silk and Beers paced the field with a growing lead over Tyler Rypkema and Craig Lutz.

Bonsignore took over the lead fifteen laps in with Silk content to ride through the first half of the 150-lap marathon. After conserving through the first third, Craig Lutz began pulling on Bonsignore and Silk and motored around Silk for second on lap 67.

The handling seeming to slow up the championship contender, Matt Hirschman also made his way around Silk on lap 87 to take third. The first caution flag flew on lap 92 as Joey Cipriano spun around off turn four with teams hurriedly getting ready on pit road.

Craig Lutz won the race off pit road with Hirschman, Austin Beers and Ronnie Silk in tow as Bonsignore lost five spots with a disastrous pit stop.

Back under green, Lutz led laps but Silk came back with a vengeance to the front of the field as Bonsignore followed close behind. Bonsignore began to pour down on Silk with 35 laps remaining, testing runs to the inside line before the pair pulled up on lap traffic. Bonsignore powered under Silk to lead lap 121 but the real battle was for third as Anthony Nocella came out of no-where to take on Austin Beers.

Nocella finally took over the third-place position on lap 137 and went after Silk’s second-place spot! Time ran out with Justin Bonsignore taking the Sunoco World Series 150 presented by FloRacing win over a hard-charging Anthony Nocella and Ron Silk. Rounding out the top five wereAustin Beers and Matt Hirschman.

Sixth thru 10th included Chase Dowling, Patrick Emerling, Craig Lutz, Dave Sapienza and Kyle Bonsignore.

Following victory lane ceremonies for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the AZ Roofing SK Light Modifieds took on the high banks under the leadership of Meg Fuller and John O’Sullivan out front. Meg Fuller put the hammer down on the outside lane to lead lap one but 2024 track champion Tyler Chapman quickly took over the post.

David Webb and Gerard Giordano collided on the backstretch to bring out the first caution on lap 9. After playing games for a false start, Chapman took the restart lead over Nick Hovey while the two duked it out lap after lap. The two ran side by side with Hovey pulling him down low entering the corners but Chapman held strong on the outside lane.

The two crossed each other over in each corner 5, 6, 7, 8 times in the final five circuts with Tyler Chapman taking his seventh win of the season by just 0.074-seconds over Nick Hovey with Meg Fuller taking home third.

The NEMA Lites returned to Sunoco World Series weekend for their annual 25-lap main event under the command of Brayden Egan and Dylan Coutu at the head of the pack. As if shot from a cannon, championship hopeful Kyle Valeiri jumped from the latter half of the top ten to first on lap one and quickly put distance between himself, Coutu and point leader Randy Cabral in the opening laps.

Kyle Valeiri took down the dominant Sunoco World Series win over Randy Cabral and Joey Bailey in the green to checkered 25-lap sprint.

The Evolve Bank & Trust Pro Truck Challenge was last to pull onto the Thompson oval just as rain began to pick up overhead. Following track drying efforts, Pro Truck Challenge officials opted to cancel the remainder of the event and end the Sunoco World Series one feature short.

Late last week, NASCAR announced that the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at North Wilkesboro Speedway has been rescheduled for Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. ET.

The SMART Modified Series winds up their season at North Wilkesboro on October 19 which will make for a busy weekend at the North Carolina speedway.

Both events at North Wilkesboro will be shown live by FloRacing.

The all new book, The Modified Years At Stafford, by the Grace of God and 600 hp, is gaining interest and has become a must have in race fans and competitors library. Race by Race, Year by Year, it’s all there. Read all about it! Books are now available on Amazon.com and Coastal 181 (877-907-8181 toll free) and are available thru Stafford’s web site in their store. Order yours now. Makes a great gift!

With the cooperation of the Arute family another book has been published with pictures and biographies of the 50 Greatest Drivers at Stafford.

The Stafford Motor Speedway had become the epicenter of NASCAR Modified racing in the northeast by the late 1980’s. From its dirt beginnings to its lightning-fast asphalt, Stafford had become the toughest and most gratifying track to score a victory. The Arute family which has owned and guided the destiny of the facility commissioned their thousands of loyal fans to name their favorite drivers. In alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone:

Tom Baldwin, Gene Bergin, Brett Bodine, Geoff Bodine, Ken Bouchard, Ron Bouchard, Mario “Fats” Caruso, Rene Charland, Ted Christopher, Leo Cleary, Tim Connolly, Jerry Cook, Corky Cookman, Pete Corey, Fred DeSarro, Richie Evans, Mike Ewanitsko, Ed Flemke, Sr., Jeff Fuller, Rick Fuller, Ernie Gahan, Bill Greco, Bo Gunning, Ray Hendrick, George “Moose” Hewitt, Tony Hirschman, George Janoski, Charlie Jarzombek, George Kent, Buddy Krebs, Randy LaJoie, Jan Leaty, Jerry Marquis, Mike McLaughlin, Ray Miller, Steve Park, Bob Polverari, Bob Potter, Brian Ross, John “Reggie” Ruggiero, Greg Sacks, Ollie Silva, “Wild” Bill Slater, Jimmy Spencer, Mike Stefanik, Carl “Bugsy” Stevens, George Summers, Jamie “The Jet” Tomaino, Maynard Troyer and Satch Worley.

Books are priced at $17.95 each and be purchased at the track at the Novelty Booth or at the Stafford Motor Speedway on line store. Books are also available at Amazon.com and at Coastal181 (877-907-8181).