Douton and Michalski Collect NWAAS Wins In Saturday’s Icebreaker Action
Moose Douton opened up the 2015 Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park with a win in the Limited Sportsman feature after patience paid off big dividends for the Waterford, Conn. driver. Douton didn’t know he won until after the race was completed. Other winners in NASCAR Whelen All American Series action were Tyler Hines in the Sunoco Modified Lite division and Scott Michalski in the Monster Mini Stock division. Roger Turbush won in the New England Truck Series, Scott Bigelow in the NEMA Light’s, and Scott Quinn in the Vintage Outlaw’s.
Defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby captured the pole for Sunday’s Icebreaker 150 on Sunday.
In a surprising twist, Moose Douton took the checkers in the 20-lap Limited Sportsman feature after controversial contact took Corey Hutchings out of contention for the win.
“This is just a surprise,” said Douton in victory lane. “I thought I was going to finish third, but hey, I’ll take it any way I can get it.”
Corey Hutchings took the lead over Douton after two previous attempts at a start in the Limited Sportsman feature. Once out front, however, Hutchings was able to pull ahead by a comfortable five car length advantage. Waterman made a run on Douton for the second position, but Douton had the outside lane working in his favor and Waterman could not get by.
Douton and Waterman continued to battle it out side-by-side for the second spot as Hutchings extended his lead. Douton finally settled into the second position by lap seven, but Waterman wasn’t about to give up. On lap eight, Waterman ducked underneath Douton and got up alongside him once again before taking over the second spot.
Hutchings enjoyed the long green flag run as he began to put the tail end of the field a lap down, but maneuvering through lapped traffic allowed Waterman to close up the huge lead Hutchings held. On lap 15, Waterman was on the back bumper of Hutchings.
On lap 17, Waterman dropped to the bottom and attempted to get alongside Hutchings, but Hutchings closed the door. Waterman continued to pressure, and on the final lap, tapped the rear of Hutchings car.
Hutchings went into a slow spin in turn four as the field quickly passed him by. Waterman was penalized by track officials and Douton was declared the winner.
Tyler Hines dominated the Sunoco Light Modified 20-lap feature event, but held off a last lap challenge by Corey Barry to take down the win.
“It was only my second time running out here, but it was a lot of fun,” said Hines.
Glenn Griswold jumped to the lead at the start, but Hines quickly muscled his way up to second. Hines was on the move and drove to the front on the third circuit before settling into a comfortable three car length lead. Corey Barry put himself into contention when he took over the second position and set his sights on Hines.
Hines and Barry pulled away from the rest of the field, but Barry still couldn’t get close to Hines. Meanwhile, the battle for third picked up steam with Griswold holding off Matthew Swanson for the position.
A long green flag run enabled the field to string out around the 5/8th’s mile oval and for Barry to close in on Hines. Time had run out, however, and Hines held off Barry’s last lap challenge to take the checkers.
Persistence paid off for Roger Turbush in the New England Truck Series feature event. After being a force to reckon with all race long, Turbush was able to take the lead from Frank Dumicich, Jr. after a lap 14 restart and never looked back on the way to his first victory of the season.
Erin Sollomitto jumped out to the lead at the drop of the green with Turbush winning a brief battle for second. Dumicich quickly took over the second spot before caution flew at lap four.
Dumicich led the field out of turn two on the restart and settled into the lead with a five truck length advantage over Turbush and Sollomitto. On lap nine, Joshua Stringer spun coming out of turn four and brought the race under caution just as Dumicich and Turbush began to pull away from the rest of the field.
Dumicich and Turbush were side-by-side heading into turn one on the restart, but it was Dumicich out front at the line when it mattered. Turbush kept the pressure on for the lead and continued to challenge before caution slowed the pace once again.
Dumicich and Turbush were banging doors for a complete lap before Dumicich had a slight advantage at the line on lap 14. Coming around turns one and two, however, the two made slight contact resulting in Turbush taking the lead. Dumicich’s tire went down on the following lap and sent him into the turn three wall.
Turbush jumped out to the lead when racing resumed followed by Sollomitto and Eddie Puleo. Turbush was strong and continued to extend his lead as he drove to the checkered flag. Puleo made a last minute challenge on Sollomitto for the second spot, but Sollomitto held him off at the line.
Scott Bigelow checkered the NEMA Light 20-lap race after taking the lead ten laps into the feature. Once out front, Bigelow was unstoppable and took the checkers with a commanding margin of victory.
Avery Stoehr pulled out to a significant lead right from the drop of the green flag, but the man on the move was Bobby Santos III. Stoehr led the first ten laps, but it was Scott Bigelow who flew by for the lead after ten laps. Stoehr spun and brought out a caution on lap 12 with Bigelow, Santos and Paul Scally rounding out the top-three.
Scally had to be pushed to the infield when it was discovered that oil was leaking from his machine allowing Paul Bigelow to move into the third spot for the restart. Santos also had to be pushed to the infield after his car would not start.
Brothers Scott and Paul Bigelow paced the field back to green with Scott leading the field into turn one. After some shuffling around, Stoehr settled into the second spot and Dan Cugini in third. Up front, Scott Bigelow opened up a half-a-straightaway lead. Cugini, meanwhile, wheeled his way into the second position, but ran out of time and could not stop the momentum that Bigelow had.
Scott Michalski held off Nick Anderson and took down the first win of the season for the Monster Mini Stock division.
“If we had gone a few more laps, Anderson would have got me,” admitted Michalski in victory lane.
Louie Bellisle and Michalski paced the field to green with Michalski holding a slight advantage at the completion of the first lap. A slow car on the front stretch brought out the first caution, but Michalski drove back to the lead when racing resumed. Bellisle and Larry Loomis, Jr. weren’t going to make it a runaway for Michalski, however, and stayed glued to his back bumper over the next several laps.
Loomis pulled ahead of Bellisle on lap five, but Nick Anderson was the man on the move and took over second on lap eight. Anderson got a run on Michalski for the lead on the ninth circuit, but a caution put that charge on hold.
Michalski had the advantage on the outside groove for the restart, but a four-car crash in turn two brought the yellow out before the lap was complete. Michalski was flawless on the restart once again and drove right back out front when the green flag returned. Meanwhile, Bellisle slid back into the second spot on lap nine using the outside groove. Anderson fought back with a side-by-side battle and allowed Michalski to pull away by a couple of car lengths up front.
Anderson closed back in to Michalski’s bumper for the final lap of the event, but Michalski could not be stopped and soared to the checkered flag.
Scott Quinn took the early lead in the Vintage Outlaw feature event and never looked back en route to the first victory of IceBreaker 2015 weekend. Joe Baxter didn’t hang back quietly, but the No. 4 machine closed the door at every challenge Baxter gave. A caution slowed the pace on lap seven, but Quinn shot out to a commanding lead on the restart. Bill Bernard took over second from Baxter, but never got a chance to catch Quinn before the checkers waved.
MONSTER MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Scott Michalski, S. Killingly, CT; 2. Nick Anderson, Oxford, MA; 3. Eric Bourgeois, East Haddam, CT; 4. Louis Bellisle, Lisbon, CT; 5. Mike Viens, Seekonk, MA; 6. Ed Field, Deep River, CT; 7. Larry Loomis, Jr., Moosup, CT; 8. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, CT; 9. Mike Viens, Putnam, CT; 10. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI.
LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Moose Douton, Waterford, CT; 2. Scott Sundeen, Sutton, MA; 3. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 4. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 5. Josh Wood, Palmer, MA; 6. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill, CT; 7. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale, CT; 8. Dwayne Door, Ledyard, CT; 9. Mike Malbaurn, Sterling, CT; 10. Chris Livewire Meyr, Norwich, CT;
NEMA LITE FEATURE FINISH (TOP-FIVE): 1. Scott Bigelow, East Hampton, CT; 2. Dan Cugini, Marshfield, MA; 3. Avery Stoehr, Lakeville, MA; 4. Paul Bigelow, Kensington, CT; 5. Anthony Payne, Fair Lawn, NJ; 6. Juris Kupris, Brooklyn, NY; 7. Meg Cugini, Marshfield, MA; 8. Kevin Park, 9. Bobby Santos, III, Franklin, MA; 10. Paul Scally, Raynham, MA.
NEW ENGLAND TRUCK SERIES FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Roger Turbush, Riverhead, NY; 2. Erin Sollomitto, E. Quoque, NY; 3. Eddie Puleo, Branford, CT; 4. Bert Oullette, Ellington, CT; 5. Frank Dumicich, Sr., E. Quoque, NY; 6. Tyler Chapman, Mystic, CT; 7. DJ McGouran, Westerly, RI; 8. Pete Cayer, Bristol, CT; 9. Joshua Stringer, East Killingly, CT; 10. Frank Dumicich, Jr., E. Quoque, NY.
LITE MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH: 1. Tyler Hines, North Haven, CT; 2. Corey Barry, Plainfield, CT; 3. Matthew Swanson, Acton, MA; 4. Shayne Prucker, Stafford Springs, CT; 5. Glenn Griswold, Vernon, CT; 6. Carlos Gray, Manchester, CT; 7. Chris Correll, Old Lyme, CT; 8. Paul French, Andover, CT; 9. Kyle Trayner, Marlborough, MA