Cat & Mouse in Jon McKennedy’s $5,000 Dash for Cash Win over Woody Pitkat
Column By: Cale King / ACT MEDIA – THOMPSON, CT – Joshua Gerard and Shane Gendron brought the R&R Open Street Stock Series to green to kick off Friday’s racing action. Gendron shot off like a rocket with Austin Erickson in hot persuit as Ryan Lineham made short work of his march to third by lap ten. While Lineham continued his run to take the lead on lap fourteen, Erickson and Andrew Gillis got physical for third-place before the field strung out in between several caution periods. Ryan Lineham finally took the long-winded win over Jason Woodard and Austin Erickson.
By taking the green flag in their final 30 lap main event of the season, Todd Owen took the 2025 Thompson Sunoco Modified championship but wanted more on a chilly Sunoco World Series Friday. Starting third on the grid, Owen methodically shot underneath Rookie of the Year Zach Sangermano and Keith Rocco to steal the lead by lap ten and motored to make it a perfect night with the win and the championship over Rocco and Sangermano at the line.
Brian Tagg and Rookie of the Year Jared Roy brought the Late Model field to green for the final time in 2025. Like Todd Owen, Jake Johnson took the championship by crossing underneath the green flag but found himself at the head of the pack by lap four. After a pair of early quick-spins, Johnson lived up to his ‘Jet’ nickname to take the win over Jacob ‘Rowdy’ Burns in second and closest championship competitor Tagg in third.
Rookie of the Year Bill Porter led the Mini Stock field to green with point leader and eventual champion Dave Trudeau in tow. Coming back from a heat race mix-up, Ryan Pomposelli took over the lead on lap two in a physical battle with Randy Churchill and Icebreaker winner Andrew Krzeminski. Side-by-side, Krzeminski made a strong bid to bookend his season at Thompson with a Sunoco World Series win but Pomposelli wasn’t giving up. Keeping the momentum up on the outside groove, Ryan Pomposelli got the chilled crowd on their feet with a 0.003-second lead at the line over Andrew Krzeminski and champion Dave Trudeau.
It was Woody Pitkat and Patrick Emerling facing off at the head of the final 50-lap Dash for Cash of the season for the Outlaw Open Modifieds with Pitkat immediately taking a strong lead. A pair of early spin cautions soon pitted Pitkat against Jon McKennedy, a multi-time Dash for Cash victor. McKennedy showed the way as Pitkat, Patrick Emerling and Ronnie Williams watched from afar. Pitkat began to make up ground with twenty laps to go, pulling McKennedy in the corners ever so slightly each lap.
McKennedy showed his cards with ten laps to go, proving it was nothing but a little game of cat and mouse as all eight cylinders truly showed their stuff in the closing circuits. Jon McKennedy powered to the $5,000 win with Woody Pitkat forced to watch from nearly two seconds behind along with Patrick Emerling in third. It was certainly a notebook night for the Outlaw Open Modifieds with many expected to compete with these same cars in tomorrow’s 75th annual Race of Champions 150. Technical inspection remains ongoing as of press time Friday night.
Ethan Williams ran away with the Thunderstock Crown Vic 15-lapper over Dylan Cabral and Scott Cestodio with their first feature of World Series weekend before returning tomorrow afternoon. Jamie Falconi earned the STAR Vintage Late Model honors while Darryl Dutch took the Vintage Modified top marks.
Thompson Speedway is back in action for the second and final day of the 63rd Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing tomorrown, Saturday, October 11. The ‘Super Saturday’ program is highlighted by a twin bill for both the 75th annual Race of Champions 150 AND the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour World Series 150 with special visits by the New England Supermodified Series (NESS), NEMA Lites, Pro-4 Modifieds, Pro Truck Challenge Series and more with a 12:30pm Post Time on Saturday.
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.
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For general Thompson Speedway inquiries, call (860) 923-2280, email oval@thompsonspeedway.com, or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. You can follow Thompson Speedway on Facebook and Instagram at @ThompsonSpeedway or on Twitter at @ThompsonSpdwy.
