By Lou Modestino
The Thompson International Speedway is preparing to honor those who excelled in the racing competition during the 2012 season. The track’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series featured seven different divisions of race cars competing at the historic speedway and the efforts of top finishing race teams will be rewarded on Friday, December 14 and Saturday, December 15 . These events will be held at the Raceway Restaurant and Lounge on the grounds of the Thompson Speedway.
Because of the large number of competitors that typically attend the track’s annual awards banquets, two nights have been set aside to accommodate all of those expected to be part of the gala celebrations. Friday’s banquet will spotlight the efforts of competitors in the track’s Late Model, Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman and Monster Mini Stock divisions. Saturday’s gathering will focus on the Sunoco Modifieds, Super Late Models, Thompson Modifieds and the LKQ/Keystone Lite Modifieds.
Awards will be presented to the race teams finishing the year In the top ten in points in the Sunoco Modifieds, Late Models, Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman and Monster Mini Stocks. The Super Late Models ran a very limited schedule in 2012 and as a result the top five will be honored. The top five will also be honored in the Thompson Modified and LKQ/Keystone Lite Modified divisions.
Ryan Preece will occupy the head table as the champion of the track’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature division. Preece drove the Al and Kathy Moniz # 31 Sunoco Modified to an impressive ten wins during the extremely competitive 2012 season. Preece had a great season. In nineteen outings, he never finished outside the top five and posted an amazing 922 track points.
Derek Ramstrom gained his third Thompson title in the Super Late Model division by a mere six points over Jim Banfield. Each of Ramstrom’s championships has been extremely close with the 2010 contest ending in a tie with Mike O’Sullivan. NASCAR’S tie breaking procedures were used to determine the champ. His 2009 title was also decided by a margin of only six points.
Late Model championship honors will go to Tommy O’Sullivan for the second year in a row. O’Sullivan had a very strong year claiming eleven wins in an eighteen-race schedule. However, the driver with the most wins at Thompson in 2012 was LKQ/Keystone Lite Modified driver Cam McDermott. McDermott, who was the 2011 Thompson Modified champ, chose to move up to the Lite Modified division rather than attempt to defend his Thompson Modified crown. It proved to be a very good move for the Scituate, RI driver as he won fourteen of the seventeen-race schedule.
John Lowinski-Loh, Jr., the 2011 Thompson Modified division Rookie of the year, claimed the top spot in that division with nine wins and 876 points. He will be honored for his championship season as will Scott Sundeen who took top honors in the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman division. Sundeen visited victory lane eight times and racked up 790 points. He also received national recognition from NASCAR for winning of the sanctioning body’s Division III asphalt track competition. Fellow Limited sportsman competitor, Jesse Gleason, finished second in this national competition.
Thompson’s extremely popular Monster Mini Stock division saw another close race for the division’s crown. But, after eighteen races, Chad Baxter won it all by a margin of eight points over Eric Bourgeois. Baxter was one of eleven drivers who graced victory lane in 2012 making the Monster Minis the most unpredictable and competitive division in Thompson’s race program.
Special awards will also be a big part of the banquets. Rookie of the Year, Most Improved driver, the Chief Starter’s award and the John Hoenig Memorial award will be presented. The names of special awards recipients are not announced prior to the actual presentations.
Each of the awards banquet evenings will begin with a social hour at 6:30 p.m. with dinner and the awards ceremonies beginning at 7:30 p.m. Everyone attending must have a ticket to present at the door since the banquets are invitation only events. Anyone seeking information on Thompson’s awards banquets may call the track office at 860-923-2280.
Picking a favorite in any auto race is difficult. Picking the winner of an Indoor Three Quarter (TQ)Midget feature event is almost
impossible. Yet three talented drivers, hailing from three different states, figure to be among the competitors with a distinct advantage at 1st Mariner Center on December 8 in Baltimore, Md., December 31 at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., and at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on February, 1-2, 2013. The three indoor auto racing events are produced by Len Sammons
Motorsports Productions.
Erick Rudolph, of Ransomville, N.Y., won indoors this past year in Atlantic City. Mike Tidaback of Little Falls, N.J., is a past winner in Atlantic City and a past champion of the outdoor American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association. And Ryan Tidman of Levittown, Pa., won the ATQMRA TQ Midget driving championship in each of the past two years.
Rudolph, 20, will be driving the same Timex Morgan owned, Rochester, N.Y. based car he used to dominate indoor racing last year.
“You can’t stand still in racing and even though the car was fast last year, we made some changes it that should make it better,”
Rudolph said. Tidaback, 40. is behind the wheel of the same nearly decade old TQ he has owned and driven effectively both indoors and out. “I’m looking forward to racing in a new building in Baltimore and to coming back to Atlantic City,” Tidaback said.
Tidman, 25, struggled indoors with Lenny and Donna Boyd’s No. 1B TQ, actually failing to transfer into the main event in one indoor
event last season. “It was a big disappointment last winter,” Tidman said. Yet Tidman clinched the 2012 ATQMRA outdoor driving championship before the final race of the season had even started, an indicator of his and his team’s prowess.
Other TQ drivers who have entered the Indoor aces are Ted Christopher, Plainville, Ct.; Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Ken Andreas, Hamilton, NJ., Steve Craig, Levittown, Pa., Tony DiMattia, Malvern, Pa., Paul Lotier, Lebanon, Pa., Erik Musto, Lockport, N.Y., Shawn Nye, Lancaster, N.Y, Mike Osite, Brooklyn, N.Y, Tim Proctor, Hamilton, N.J., the Quinones sisters Amamda and Ginny from Indian Trail, N.C., and Jonathan Reid, Lockport, N.Y.
Entries have been coming in at a steady rate as well for the Baltimore, Providence. and Atlantic Champ Kart class. Heading this list are Glen Meisenhelder, Feeding Hills, Ma., Ron Midford Jr., Tolland, Ct., Brandon Ruszek, Wallingford, Ct., and the Sullivan brothers, Brian and Tom of South Windsor, Ct. Registration forms, technical rules and race procedures for both
events are available on line at www.aarn.com or by calling 609-888-3618.
The addition of the Baltimore race to the previous two events provides TQ drivers and Champ Kart racers with three major events
in three destination cities. “Baltimore is a great location for an Indoor race,” said event organizer Len Sammons. “It is easily accessible from central Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. We expect the event to be as popular as our Atlantic City and Providence races have become in its very first year.”
The 1st Mariner Center is near the very popular Camden Yards and is in the middle of Baltimore’s trendy Inner Harbor area, a tourist
mecca with dozens of shops, restaurants and attractions. The host hotel will be the Holiday Inn directly across the street from the Center.
The Providence race in Dunkin’ Donuts Center is the fifth Indoor race at that venue promoted by Sammons. The December 31 scheduling – on New Years Eve – has provided race teams and their followers with a rare opportunity to compete against one another, then party the night away and herald the coming of the new year.
The Clarion Inn in Seekonk, Mass. will serve as the host hotel for the Providence Indoor race. Located less than ten minutes from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Clarion guests will enjoy the ease of parking their vehicles at no charge in a secured area. Reservations, available at a reduced nightly rate of $89, may be made by calling l-508-336-7300. With making reservations, ask for
the “Indoor Racing” special rate.
Entry forms for two-day Boardwalk Hall Indoor Race, featuring TQ Midgets, Champ Karts and Tobias Slingshots are now available on line. The 2013 running at Boardwalk Hall will be the eleventh event under Len Sammons Motorsports Productions. Racing indoors in Boardwalk Hall took place for the first time in 1938.
Joseph T. Castellucci, 80, died unexpectedly Thursday, November 8, 2012, in the Addison Gilbert Hospital. He was the husband of Dorothy F. (Caulk) Castellucci. Born in Medford on March 9, 1932, he was the son of the late Generine S. and Sabina (Galiazzo) Castellucci. He and Dorothy had resided in Beverly for forty years, prior to moving to Gloucester in 2011. He raced under the name of Joe Cast for many years at the now shuttered Westboro Speedway and other venues for many years.
From Friday through Sunday the Connecticut Convention Center in Harford, CT will host the International Auto Show at 9 a.m. Each Day.
On Sunday the Thompson Speedway Clubhouse in Connecticut will be the scene of the NEAR Hall Of Fame Pioneer Induction. The doors open at 10 a.m. with dinner served at 1 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony.