Ramstrom Wins 2nd Straight Thompson Title
Derek Ramstrom of West Boylston, Mass., finished second in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model finale at Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on Sunday, September 26 — good enough to earn his second consecutive Super Late Model championship at the track. Ramstrom and Mike O’Sullivan — who won the final 30-lap event of the season — finished the year tied atop the standings with 674 points, and Ramstrom was awarded the championship by virtue of his six wins. Ramstrom celebrated his title on his 19th birthday and did so only after blowing an engine in practice before borrowing one from fellow competitor George Bessette. The championship wasn’t clinched until Ramstrom was able to pass veteran Rick Fuller in the closing laps to move into second place.
WHO: Derek Ramstrom, W. Boylston, Mass.
WHAT: No. 35 Charter Communications/Matthews Truck Service and Towing Chevrolet
WHERE: Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn. (.625-mile oval)
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
WHAT: 30-lap Super Late Model Feature
FINISHED: 2nd
STANDINGS: 1st
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DEREK, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
Just to do it two years in a row, that alone means a lot. This year with Thompson it’s pretty awesome because we thought we were going to run the whole NASCAR K&N Pro Series schedule, but then when that didn’t work out we just decided we were going to focus on Thompson again.
Our stuff wasn’t even prepared when the season started — our engine wasn’t freshened, our shocks hadn’t been done, none of that stuff. My whole crew, those guys just worked so hard for this. I couldn’t have done it without them.
At the beginning of the year, we just wanted to race for wins, and we lost a few races because of that. I smashed up a few cars when I got in over my head on the track — but all it did was make the points battle that much tighter. And it’s a pretty cool feeling to win it.
DOES THIS ONE FEEL DIFFERENT THAN YOUR FIRST TITLE IN 2009?
It really does. It’s hard to win one, but it’s harder to stay on top. Everyone in this division was on top of their game. Larry Gelinas was a rocket all the time, and (Mike) O’Sullivan was good every week. Even Ricky Fuller and Mike Stefanik — I mean, it’s just so hard to beat these guys.
All of that made it harder to repeat. And, on top of it, nobody wanted to see me win again — nobody wants to see an 18-year-old kid win two championships in a row.
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY ON SUNDAY. THIS CHAMPIONSHIP DIDN’T COME EASY — NOT WITH A BLOWN ENGINE IN PRACTICE.
Honestly, I was worried. The car felt down on power, and I was turning laps trying to run through all the scenarios in my head, trying to figure out what might be wrong so I could give the crew some feedback. Then I went into Turn 3, the car just locked up and spun out, and there was a big cloud of smoke.
My dad goes frantically running through the pits trying to find someone with a spare motor we can borrow. George Bessette takes him back to his shop and they pull his old engine out of the dust pile — and George basically said, “I’ll be surprised if you guys even get this thing going.”
But that motor was all right, and it definitely did the job.