{"id":25917,"date":"2019-10-02T07:15:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T11:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=25917"},"modified":"2019-10-02T06:03:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T10:03:23","slug":"three-drivers-separated-by-three-points-in-thompson-mini-stock-title-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2019\/10\/three-drivers-separated-by-three-points-in-thompson-mini-stock-title-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Drivers Separated By Three Points in Thompson Mini Stock Title Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scott Michalski, Steve Michalski & Doug Curry Set To Fight For Crown at Sunoco World Series<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Kyle Souza, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THOMPSON, Conn. — <\/strong>The closest of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park\u2019s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship battles is going to go right down to the final lap of the Mini Stock feature on Sunoco World Series weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, just three points separate the top three drivers in the Division V class \u2013 with former champion Scott Michalski showing the way over Steve Michalski and Doug Curry. Scott is the only one of the three to have previous championship glory, but the other two are no stranger to Victory Lane. Steve has eight career Thompson wins, while Curry, who busted onto the scene in 2019, has two victories in the nine races so far this season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

All three drivers will battle it out for the crown as part of the 57th<\/sup> annual Sunoco World Series at Thompson, October 11-13. The Mini Stocks will qualify on Friday night and run their 15-lap finale as part of the Saturday program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy car hasn\u2019t really been up to speed,\u201d Scott Michalski said. \u201cI parked my car for two years, so when I went back racing, I went to the Icebreaker to have fun and turn some laps, and I said, \u2018why not, I\u2019ll go back and run another race\u2019. It kind of hooks you in.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Michalski has one victory this season, which came during the Thompson 125 in June. Other than his win, Michalski has finished inside the top 10 in all nine races. His worst finish is a seventh-place effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working trying to better the car,\u201d Michalski said. \u201cI had my front end destroyed, and it was basically starting from square one again. I was like four tenths off for the whole season and the last race I was three tenths off. I need those three tenths and I think I might have found them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he looks to earn a second track title, Michalski is feeling confident going into the finale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have just as good of a shot as they do,\u201d he said. \u201cAll three of us have a great shot. It\u2019s anyone\u2019s show.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Curry, the season has been about getting a full grip on Thompson, while also finding the speed he needs under the hood. His original plan wasn\u2019t to run Thompson full-time, but now, he\u2019s right in the thick of a championship battle he doesn\u2019t want to lose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt just worked out,\u201d Curry said. \u201cDespite the bad luck, we\u2019ve been fast, and had some good runs. Just a few races ago we were 35 points out, and here we are now, one point out. Win or lose, it says a lot about our team and our attitude. We never give up. We just keep digging no matter what the situation is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curry\u2019s season has been filled with success. He might have switched to a different car early in the year, but since then, he\u2019s been on fire. In the last six races, he\u2019s finished inside the top three all but once, and he finished 15th<\/sup> with a car failure in the other.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never over until it\u2019s over, until the last checkered flag flies,\u201d Curry said. \u201cWe just have to keep doing what we are doing. Ever race is a little bit different \u2013 sometimes you must be a bit more on the defensive, and sometimes you have to be more on the offensive. I just approach the World Series the same I have approached the last nine races \u2013 go out there and try to win, and if you can\u2019t win, get what you can get.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Curry, the rebound in the standings has partly been because of his success in heat races, where he\u2019s earned crucial points. He knows the Sunoco World Series heat race on Friday night is going to be important in the points battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe heat race is huge, we\u2019ve gained a ton of points in those this year,\u201d Curry said. \u201cIn total, we\u2019ve won over half of the heat races. Five points is five points, and for me, the heat race is going to be just as important as the feature. I could have the point lead going into the feature, which would change how I approach it, but I could also come out of the heat race more points out. It\u2019s going to be important.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year after coming close to the Mini Stock title over at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Curry just wants to seal the deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would be everything to me. This is all I\u2019ve ever wanted \u2013 I just have wanted to be a champion,\u201d Curry said. \u201cWhen I lost at the Speedbowl last year, it was like someone ripped my heart out of my chest. I\u2019m really hoping this is my year of redemption.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Michalski is no stranger to success in the Mini Stock division. He\u2019s accomplished plenty of checkered flags in his career at Thompson, but not the championship quite yet. He\u2019s hoping to change that this year, after what\u2019s been a trying few months for his team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a few different cars,\u201d Steve Michalski said. \u201cMy throttle hung in a heat race, and I demolished the primary car, and that was a stretch where there were a few races in a row, so we had to hop into another car in our stable. We ended up blowing that one up that night, but we got a top 10. We just had bad luck after bad luck.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with all those failures, Steve Michalski still has found a way to be in contention going into the finale. He\u2019s third, just three points back, and he\u2019s got some extra motivation and an old friend coming with him to the last race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe good news is the primary car is back and I feel more comfortable in that, we are bringing our best piece to the show and it should be a really good one,\u201d Steve Michalski said. \u201cThe backup cars, one was a little bit under power, and the other we had some break issues. In the primary car, we\u2019ve been dialed in well and we know where it wants to be. I\u2019m very confident in the car.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He just hopes all the bad luck is behind him in time for the champion celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just go out there and race and get the best finish we can,\u201d Steve Michalski said. \u201cIt\u2019d be great to win. I\u2019ve always ran out there for fun. We put a lot of time and a lot of work and effort into this. I\u2019ve never won it, but I\u2019ve come close. We\u2019re in position to win it, so we have to take advantage.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 57th<\/sup> annual Sunoco World Series will take the green flag on Friday, October 11, and roll through Sunday, October 13. The event begins on Friday, with practice sessions running throughout the afternoon, and heat racing set to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. Feature racing on Friday includes the Granite State Pro Stock Series, Late Models, Open Vintage Modifieds and Senior Tour Auto Racers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, action begins early with practice at 9 a.m., while qualifying begins at 2:30 p.m. There are 10 different feature races planned for Saturday night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, action begins at 1 p.m., with the season-finale for Thompson\u2019s Sunoco Modified division. The NEMA Lites, ISMA Supermodifieds and TSMP Limited Sportsman will also join the headliner of Sunday — the Sunoco World Series 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admission to the paddock area for the entire three days is $75, with grandstand general admission set at $55. Any seniors (65+), veterans and active military will have general admission tickets priced at $50, while kids 12 and under are free in general admission.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson\u2019s annual breakfast and dinner buffets will also take place during Sunoco World Series weekend. The breakfast buffet runs from 7-11 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and is $14 per person. The dinner buffet runs from 5-10 p.m. on Saturday night only and is $24 per person. For any children 12 and under, the dinner buffet is $14.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Michalski, Steve Michalski & Doug Curry Set To Fight For Crown at Sunoco World Series  By Kyle Souza, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park  THOMPSON, Conn. — The closest of Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park\u2019s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship battles is going to go right down to the final lap of the Mini Stock feature on Sunoco World […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-thompson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25918,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25917\/revisions\/25918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}