Christopher Starts Busy Weekend with a Sunoco Mod Thriller at Thompson

Thompson, CT: The rain ceased and the clouds parted on Thursday night allowing Thompson International Speedway to host a full night of racing competition. The action included a full card of NASCAR All-American Series racing plus two bonus features. In the Sunoco Modified division, Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT bested Keith Rocco to score the victory. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, earned his first of the season in the Super Late Models while John Materas of Voluntown, CT was the winner in the Late Models.

In the Limited Sportsman division it was Paul Palen celebrating in victory lane. John St. Germain of West Sand Lake, NY, took the All Star Race Trucks victory in a photo-finish. R.J. Marcotte of Millville, MA, scored his first of 2009 in the TIS Modifieds. Tim Taylor of Wauregan, CT and Brad Caddick of New London, CT, share Mini Stock honors.

Ted Christopher of Plainville, MA, missed his Sunoco Modified heat race at Thompson because he was busy qualifying third for the Whelen Modified Tour event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He was forced to start deep in the pack once he arrived in Connecticut. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Christopher made quick work getting to the front of the pack. He waited to the final lap to make the winning move.

Josh Sylvester jumped out from his pole starting position to lead the opening laps. The sparks flew early as Ricky Shawn made hard contact with the outside wall after contact with Kerry Malone. Rowan Pennink and Harry Rheaume were among the others involved. Jimmy Blewett also headed to pit road.

Rocco made quick work moving from the fifth starting position to the second position by lap five. He immediately reeled in Sylvester. He got up alongside the young driver on lap seven and took the lead from Sylvester on lap eight.

Todd Ceravolo ran by himself in third spot. Christopher had worked his way into the fourth spot. Ceravolo had reeled in Sylvester but, in turn, had his hands full with a charging Christopher.

A hard wreck in turn three that involved Wayne Arute, Carl Oberg, and Jodi Johnson slowed the action. Under the caution on lap 16, a host of cars came down pit road including Malone, Woody Pitkat and Bert Marvin.

On the ensuing restart, Christopher got the edge on Ceravolo. A spin by Harry Rheaume necessitated the caution once again.

On the green flag run, Christopher was able to get by Sylvester for second. Danny Cates came rocketing into the picture to run third. Rocco was able to distance himself from Christopher by several car lengths by lap 10. Jimmy Blewett had made his way around Ceravolo and began to pressure Sylvester.

Things settled in as Christopher chased Rocco. Cates ran in third followed by Sylvester, Blewett and Ceravolo. In the late stages of the event, Rocco and Christopher had worked their way out to a half straightaway lead. With two laps remaining, Christopher had caught the back bumper of Rocco. On the white flag lap, Christopher got the edge coming out of turn two. Rocco made one last ditch effort but could not wrestle the lead or the win from Christopher. It is the first win for Christopher since 2005 when he last raced full time at the Speedway.

Rocco had to settle for second over Danny Cates. Sylvester, and Blewett, who was also at Loudon for WMT qualifying, completing the top five. Woody Pitkat and Rowan Pennink, who both also finished in the top ten, made the trip from Loudon as well. Both qualified well. Pennink will start the New England 100 on Saturday fifth on the grid.

George Bessette took the early lead from Jeff Zuidema. He had his hands full with the likes of Ramstrom and Mike O’Sullivan. As quickly as he took the lead, the #15 dropped off the pace; relinquishing his lead to Ramstrom just after halfway. Bessette was not able to continue.

On the restart at lap 15, O’Sullivan used the outside groove to take the lead away from Ramstrom. A pile-up involving a number of cars slowed the pace once again. Back under green, O’Sullivan continued to show the way over Ramstrom. Larry Gelinas was able to take the third spot away from Norm Wrenn.

With only a handful of laps remaining, the race was far from decided as Ramstrom began to apply heavy pressure to O’Sullivan. Wrenn was battling back while Rick Fuller made it a three-car battle for the third position.

On the final lap there was contact between the top two but neither missed a beat. At the checkers, O’Sullivan was able to edge out Ramstrom for his first win of the season. Ramstrom finished a strong second followed by Gelinas, Wrenn, and Fuller.

After a long hiatus from racing, it had been 21 years since John St. Germain of West Sand Lake, NY, had visited victory lane. Germain scored the long-awaited victory by inches over point leader Andy Lindeman in the All-Star Truck Series main event.

Richie Brooks took the lead on a lap 3 restart from early leader John St. Germain. A lap later, St. Germain was able to retake the lead. Gee Perry followed through and into second leaving Brooks to fend off the third spot of Brandon Warren. Up front, Perry began to pressure St. Germain for the top spot. On lap 10, it was a four car battle for the third spot between Andy Lindeman, Brooks, Howard Payne, and Warren.

Lindeman moved into the third spot all alone and began to run down the lead duo of St. Germain and Perry. On lap 15, Perry got along side the leader St. Germain. The two went side-by-side for a lap before Perry settled back in line. Perry, looking to make a run on the leader in turn one after a restart, got out of shape; opening the door for point leader Lindeman to move into second. In the closing laps, the top four ran nose to tail.

St. Germain got loose exiting turn two allowing Lindeman to get up alongside the leader with two laps to go. They went side by side over the distance of the final lap. At the checkers, St. Germain edged ahead to take the victory by a bumper. Lindeman settled for second followed by Perry, Payne, and Warren.

John Materas of Voluntown, CT ended a three-year winless streak by taking down an impressive win in the Late Model division. Tommy O’Sullivan led through lap 8 before Materas got up alongside making it a race for the top spot. While the two ran side by side, it allowed by Mark Oliveira and Rick Gentes to join the fray. At halfway it was a four-car battle for the lead between O’Sullivan, Materas, Oliveira and Gentes. Materas would get the edge to lead at the crossed flags. Gentes was able to move by Oliveira to move into third. At lap 14, Gentes had worked over O’Sullivan to take second.

The action cooled for a spin by Damon Tinio. The caution changed the complexion of the race as second-running Gentes retired from the event. Sullivan had trouble on the restart falling back to the backside of the top ten. The top three were Materas, Oliveira and Zuidema.

Up front Materas was able to get a little breathing room while Oliveira and Zuidema battled. Jay Stuart came out on top of a heated battle with Pete Yetman. A few laps later, Corey Hutchings was able to make his way by Yetman to move into the top five.

It was an emotional victory for Materas, who was greeted in victory lane by fellow competitor Gentes. Oliveira finished a strong second over Zuidema. Stuart and Hutchings completed the top five.

Paul Palen jumped out to the early lead in the Limited Sportman feature event. Once out front, Palen withstood a number of restarts. Through much of the event, Palen enjoyed a comfortable lead. He was never seriously challenged en route to his first win at Thompson.

In victory lane, Palen credited Late Model competitor Corey Hutchings with some set-up advice that proved to be the key to his victory.

Chris “Moose” Douton continued to be strong in the division to come home in the second spot. Jay Sundeen joined the duo on the podium. Paul Coutu, Jr. and Joe Arena, who made a great run from deep in the pack, completed the top-five. SK Modified racer Shawn Monahan returned to his roots driving the #55 normally driven by Ed Puleo, to finish sixth. Divisional point leader Larry Barnett recovered from an early race incident to finish tenth.

R.J. Marcotte of Millville, MA, scored the victory in the TIS Modified main event after a good battle with Glenn Boss. Boss and Marcotte were locked in a heated battle for the lead during much of the main event. Marcotte got up alongside the leader Boss on lap 11 and looked as if he was going to make the pass to take over the top spot; but an incident that involved the likes of Cam McDermott brought out the yellow ending his bid at the lead.

On the restart, Marcotte made a cross-over move exiting turn two to take over the top spot. In the closing stages of the event Marcotte enjoyed a five-car length advantage over Boss. Brian Sullivan had moved into the third spot but was never a factor for the win. Marcotte went on to score his first TIS Modified feature win of the 2009 season. Boss, Sullivan McDermott and Richie Ferreira rounded out the top five.

Tim Taylor continued his domination of the Mini Stock division with a commanding win in the make-up Mini Stock main event from June 11, 2009. Taylor took the lead and would never be headed en route to his third straight victory. Scott Michalski could do nothing by chase Taylor to finish second. Brad Caddick, Jeff Moffat, and Tim’s young son Nathan Taylor rounded out the top five.

Brad Caddick of New London, CT, scored his first win of the season in the regularly scheduled Mini Stock main event. The division’s nightcap featured a great battle between Caddick and Nathan Taylor for the top spot. The two went door-to-door lap-after-lap. Taylor led the lion’s share of the event before giving up the top spot to Caddick. Caddick scored the victory over N. Taylor, Roger Ducharme, Chuck Rogers, and Steven Michalski.