Thompson, Conn.: Woody Pitkat won his second career pole for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour by setting fast time in a rain-delayed qualifying Saturday night at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the Sunoco World Series of Auto Racing. Steve Masse collected a convincing win in the Valenti Modified Racing Series while Toby Wells won the North East Mini Stock Tour feature. Phil Lausier won in the Pro Four Modified race while NASCAR Whelen All American Series victories went to Wayne Coury, Jr., Nick Anderson and George Rego.
Rain postponed qualifying procedures initially for two hours, but it got underway just after 5 p.m. with eleven cars taking time. A heavy rain cell delayed the conclusion until 7:30 p.m. when the rest of the field was able to complete qualifying laps. Pitkat put down a lap of 119.579 mph for the pole, which was his second this season and second at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Steve Masse started on the pole and led every lap of the 75-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series feature. Masse put the car together last minute, and all his efforts paid off with his second win of the 2014 season. Justin Bonsignore wrapped up the championship.
“I put this car together in a week. I got the engine on Wednesday and I put it in Fridayand it’s an unbelievable engine,” said Masse.
Masse jumped to the lead at the drop of the green flag, but an accident in turn one slowed the action before the first lap was complete. Masse returned to the point when racing resumed with Woody Pitkat and Keith Rocco taking over second and third respectively.
The field strung out single file as they ticked off the laps, and by lap 15, Masse was at the tail end of the field. Pitkat was not intimidated by Masse’s torrid pace, and remained within three car lengths of him the entire time.
Masse excelled in lapped traffic and pulled away from Pitkat by the lap 25 mark, but Pitkat closed back in within a few car lengths by lap 30. Justin Bonsignore, who had moved into the third spot, was about ten car lengths behind Pitkat.
The race went under caution at lap 32 after a three-car accident in turn two that called for an extended clean up by track crews. On the restart, Masse took the outside groove and drove in front of Pitkat to resume his position in the lead. The top-three – Masse, Pitkat and Rocco – ran nose-to-tail over the next several laps as they pulled away from the rest of the field. Rocco dropped off by lap 38 as he started to slip back by a car length as Pitkat stayed right on Masse’s bumper.
The second caution flew on lap 49 when Tommy Barrett, Jr. spun coming off of turn four. The race went back to green fairly quickly, but Donnie Lashua brought the caution back out again on the start after hitting the outside retaining wall at the start/finish line.
Masse jumped to the front once again on the restart, but the man on the move was Richard Savary who shot past Pitkat for the second position. Eric Goodale and Rocco rounded out the top-five. Savary, like Pitkat before him, could not reel in Masse. On lap 62, Rocco made a move on Goodale for the fourth position and set his sights on Pitkat before cautioned closed the gap for him at lap 65. The accident, which involved championship contender Justin Bonsignore, brought out a red flag condition. Brian Schofield of Monson, MA, who hit the turn three wall, was removed from the car and transported to the hospital for further evaluation.
Masse jumped right back out front when racing resumed nearly an hour later with Rocco riding his bumper in second. The duo pulled away from Savary, who was now in third, and Rowan Pennink in fourth. The down time did not affect Masse at all, who pulled ahead to a three-car length advantage as the race hit the 70-lap mark. Caution flew just shy of the finish at lap 73 to set the stage for an exciting green-white-checkered finish.
Masse and Rocco charged to the green on the restart, but just as he had all night, Masse jumped to the front. Pitkat took over second while Savary got shuffled back to fourth. Masse did not look back and soared to the checkers unchallenged.
Toby Wells put an exclamation point on a successful season with a win in the North East Mini Stock Tour season finale Saturday night after already having clinched the series championship.
“I come to win every week we go racing,” said Wells in victory lane.
Nick Maniatis and Justin King brought the field to green with Maniatis taking the early lead. King didn’t give up that easily and challenged on the next circuit to take over the top spot. Maniatis locked onto King’s bumper, but couldn’t get a run on him as Matt Sonnhalter got into the mix as well. The top four – King, Maniatis, Sonnhalter and Glen Thomas – were nose-to-tail when caution flew at lap seven.
Maniatis had a slight advantage at the drop of the green and settled in out front coming out of turn two. King and Thomas rounded out the top-three.
An exciting battle emerged for the third spot as Toby Wells made a challenge on Thomas for third. He got up alongside Thomas and the two fought side-by-side. The battling duo came upon a lapped car to make it three-wide before Wells maneuvered his way through and moved into third. Wells was still on the move, however, and challenged King for second a few laps later. After taking over the position, Wells set his sights on Maniatis and was closing in before caution slowed the pace.
Maniatis jumped back out front, but a three-wide battle for second place didn’t end well for King, who lost several spots after turning around in front of Thomas. Maniatis and Wells brought the field back to green in a drag race into turn one. Wells looked to the outside and then the inside coming out of turn two before taking over the lead on lap 16. Caution flew before the lap was complete, however, and returned Maniatis to the head of the field.
Wells drove right back out front using the outside groove on the restart leaving Maniatis to battle with Thomas and Justin Larsen for the second positon. His night made a drastic turn for the worse when contact was made that sent Maniatis right into the turn one wall.
Wells and Thomas brought the field back to green, but it was short-lived as another two-car wreck in turn one brought the caution out yet again.
The restart went single file with Wells out in the lead. Once the race went green, Wells pulled ahead to a commanding ten car length lead over Thomas as he soared to the checkers and further solidified his championship-earning season.
Wayne Coury, Jr. scored the victory in a rain-shortened 15-lap Outlaw Sportsman feature event.
“The car was awesome tonight,” said Coury. “It definitely was going away on me at the end. I’m excited to be here two years in a row. I can’t ask for anything more!”
Coury jumped to the lead past pole-sitter Paul Newcomb, Jr. at the start of the Outlaw Sportsman feature and immediately pulled out to a commanding lead. Dave Trudeau settled into third, but met with a challenge from Cory Casagrande by the eighth circuit. Casagrande used the inside groove to drive by coming out of turn two for the third spot.
At lap 10, Coury led Newcomb, Casagrande, George Rego, and Trudeau. Newcomb was reeling in Coury, but Casagrande was coming up quick as well. By the white flag lap, only a few car lengths separated each position. On the final circuit, Coury got hung up by a lapped car in turn four, but quickly maneuvered around him to hold off Newcomb and take the checkered flag.
Nick Anderson captured the win in the Monster Mini Stock 15-lap feature event Saturdaynight after rain pushed the event to the first race of Sunoco World Series weekend. Anderson took the lead from Ed Field and never looked back en route to his victory. Mike Viens secured the 2014 Monster Mini Stock championship.
“This thing was perfect all weekend. It’s been my dream to win the World Series ever since I was little. It feels awesome to be here!” said Anderson in victory lane.
Field and Anderson paced the field to green and ran a full lap side-by-side before Field got a nose-length advantage on lap two. Anderson kept his foot in the throttle, however, and did not make Field’s run up front easy. On lap four, the duo were door-to-door once again, but this time it was Anderson ahead by a nose on lap six. Once out front, Anderson was able to pull ahead to a comfortable three car length lead.
On lap ten, Anderson led Field, Dave Trudeau, Chad Baxter, and Joe Baxter. The field ran single file over the next several laps as they attempted to catch Anderson, who extended his lead lap after lap. Anderson remained out front for the remainder of the race before collecting the checkered flag.
Phil Lausier scored a hard-earned win in the Pro Four 22-lap Harry Kourafas Memorial race after holding off the hard-charging Dan Meservey, Jr. in the final lap.
Randy Cabral took the early lead in the Pro Four Modified feature, but Lausier wasn’t going to make it easy for him and filled his rear view mirror. Dave Richardi settled into third. The trio ran a tight battle in the early laps, but Cabral pulled away by the fifth circuit. Richardi’s night, however, ended early when he clipped the outside retaining wall in turn three at lap seven and had to bring his machine behind the wall.
Cabral returned to the point when racing resumed with Lausier still hot on his tail. Dan Meservey, Jr. moved into third with Robin Berghman making his way up to fourth. Cabral was strong, but fell out of the lead when he headed to pit road.
Lausier inherited the lead and led the field back to green after a caution at lap 20. Meservey looked to the inside of Lausier, but couldn’t complete the pass and had to settle back in behind Lausier. Meservey tried again in turn two of the final lap and the duo got side-by-side, but Meservey fell off the pace and Lausier picked up the win.
George Rego earned the win in the 12-lap Outlaw Street Stock feature event.
Crystal Serydynski jumped to the lead with Steve Kenneway and Rego rounding out the top-three. The attention shifted to the battle for second as Rego dove underneath Kenneway for the spot on lap two. On lap five, the No. 19 made a challenge on Rego for the second position but couldn’t get underneath him to make a run.
Caution flew at lap nine when Ray Negley went off the pace on the backstretch. Serydynski and Rego brought the field back to green with Serydynski jumping to the front. Rego and the No. 19 were in a tight battle right behind her for second when contact was made. Serydynski made a slow spin in front of the battling duo to bring out the caution.
Rego drove to the front on the restart with the No. 11 taking over second. Rego pulled ahead to a commanding five car length advantage as he soared to the checkered flag.
The New England Truck Series race took the green flag, but had to call it after two laps due to time contraints.
Tyler Chapman took the early lead in the New England Truck Series, but quickly lost it when he went sliding across the backstretch on lap two after contact in turn two. Others involved in the squirmish included Paul Varricio, Sr. and Joshua Stringer.
Bert Oullette and Frank Dumicich Jr. raced side-by-side for the lead, but it was Oullette who had the advantage when the caution flew at lap two.