by | Apr 11, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Thompson, CT- Mike O’Sullivan fends off Larry Gelinas and Jeff Connors to pick up his third win in the Granite State Pro Stock Series.
Wayne Helliwell, JR pulled away from Keith Caruso and looked strong to begin the race. Defending race winner George Bessette had picked up a couple of spots before falling off the pace on the back stretch with a terminal issue. O’Sullivan, Gelinas, and Connors sat single file in pursuit of Helliwell, who was amongst the fastest cars all weekend. Home track hero Tommy O’Sullivan battled bad luck all weekend long, suffering a failed plug wire a day after his motor let go during practice, taking him out of contention on lap 16. Helliwell’s day would turn sour as the two-time defending ACT champion blew a right front tire in turn 1 and came to rest on the top of turn 3, bringing out the first caution of the day.
On the restart, Mike O’Sullivan jumped to the lead leaving Connors and Gelinas to try and hunt the Springfield, MA driver down. A great battle ensued behind him, as Dillon Moltz and Brad Babb swapped the fourth position multiple times, while Matt Frahm watched from the sixth spot. The outside pole sitter Keith Caruso and Ron Smith made contact in the middle of turns 3 and 4, bringing out the second caution of the day.
O’Sullivan would hold the lead on the restart as Jeff Connors had a handful of race car, and veteran Gelinas took advantage and grabbed the second spot in the closing laps. Neither driver could reel in O’Sullivan, however, as the Flamingo Motorsports Chevrolet cruised to the line for the victory. O’Sullivan now has a pair of second place finishes to go along with today’s win in the Granite State Pro Stock Series at the track he considers home. O’Sullivan commented about the day, “Flawless race car from top to bottom. I knew I could race Jeff on the short run, but he was a little better on the longer run. When the second caution came out, I knew if I could hustle out front for the first few laps and cut the distance in half before he started to catch me, I knew I’d be alright.”
Larry Gelinas ended his double-duty weekend with a second place finish in the Icebreaker. Gelinas was involved in a caution earlier in the day in the Late Model division, a weekly division at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. “I tried to save a bit throughout the race and hope for some cautions and see what happened,” Gelinas stated. “A top three finish is pretty good because we are a low-buck team, so I’m happy with second.”
Connors’ return behind the wheel after a few year hiatus was a successful one with his third place finish. Connors remarked, “Cautions hurt us. If we didn’t have the cautions, I was good reeling him in and I was just waiting. Unfortunately, the car tightened up on me that last caution.” Connors will be sharing the Cassagrande Builders Chevrolet with youngster Cory Cassagrande, and the duo look to make their next appearance at Hudson Speedway on June 15th.
Brad Babb would win the battle for the fourth spot, with Dillon Moltz taking fifth. Matt Frahm, Barry Gray, Derek Griffith, Cory Robert, and Keith Caruso completed the top ten. Moltz and Babb won their respective heat races on Saturday.
The Granite State Pro Stock Series returns to action at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH on May 24th for their fifth race at the facility.
Icebreaker Results
4/6/14
POS Car Driver Hometown
1- 08 Mike O’Sullivan Springfield, MA
2- 37ME Larry Gelinas Buxton, ME
3- 51 Jeff Connors Ellington, CT
4- 4 Brad Babb Windham, ME
5- 5 Dillon Moltz Waterbury, CT
6- 14 Matt Frahm Hampstead, NH
7- 29 Barry Gray Belchertown, MA
8- 12 Derek Griffith Hudson, NH
9- 71NH Cory Robert Canaan, NH
10- 2 Keith Caruso Milbury, MA
11- 28MA Greg Nanigian Braintree, MA
12- 48 Ryan Lineham Coventry, RI
13- 92 Billy Brady Marston Mills, MA
14- 95 Ron Smith Oakham, MA
15- 71 Carl Eriksson Deep River, CT
16- 66 Mike Parks Walpole, NH
17- 27NH Wayne Helliwell, JR Dover, NH
18- 16 Tommy O’Sullivan Wilbraham, MA
19- 87 Eric Sands Farmington, NH
20- 15 George Bessette Danbury, CT
CONTINGENCY AWARDS Winner
Sunoco Race Fuels (Heat Win) Dillon Moltz, Brad Babb
MacLellan Metal Finishing Dillon Moltz, Brad Babb
AR Bodies (Hard Luck) Wayne Helliwell, JR
Sherwood Wheels (10th place finisher) Keith Caruso
Bond Auto Parts (Last car on lead lap) Billy Brady
RB Performance (4th place finisher) Brad Babb
RB Performance (7th place finisher) Barry Gray
5 Star Stock Car Bodies (5th place finisher) Dillon Moltz
Crazy Ed’s Powersports (Hard Charger) Derek Griffith
Draco Springs Award (Most positions gained) Derek Griffith
Racer’s Depot (Random drawing) Jeff Connors
by | Apr 11, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Justin Bonsignore NWMT Winner
Thompson, Conn: Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park opened the season in grand style with Keith Rocco of Berlin, Conn. earning two NASCAR Whelen All American Series wins in one day in both the Sunoco Modified and Late Model divisions. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, N.Y. took the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win over Woody Pitkat. Shawn Monahan of Waterford, Conn. earned his second in as many days in the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman division while Steve Dickey, Jr. of Londonderry, N.H. checkered the Monster Mini Stocks. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, Mass. won the Granite State Pro Stock Series 50-lap affair and Vintage Outlaw checkers flew for Joe Baxter of Pascoag, R.I.
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by | Apr 10, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Justin Bonsignore NWMT Winner
Thompson, Conn: Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park opened the season in grand style with Keith Rocco of Berlin, Conn. earning two NASCAR Whelen All American Series wins in one day in both the Sunoco Modified and Late Model divisions. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, N.Y. took the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win over Woody Pitkat. Shawn Monahan of Waterford, Conn. earned his second in as many days in the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman division while Steve Dickey, Jr. of Londonderry, N.H. checkered the Monster Mini Stocks. Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, Mass. won the Granite State Pro Stock Series 50-lap affair and Vintage Outlaw checkers flew for Joe Baxter of Pascoag, R.I.
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by | Apr 10, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Roger Turbush of Riverhead NY won the first event of the 2014 New England Truck Series Season at Thompson Speedway Raceway Park. Turbush defeated series champion Duane Noll by less than half a truck length en route to victory. Five time champion Andy Lindeman was third.
Frank Dumicich Jr. took the green flag from the pole and stretched his front row starting position to an early lead until Duane Noll was able to catch him and make a move alongside in lap 7. The two then ran side by side for the next ten circuits, trading the lead multiple times across the stripe. They would continue racing door to door until Corey Coates’ engine expired with three laps remaining, causing the caution to wave.
On the restart, Chris Turbush stormed past Noll into second place, but made contact with leader Dumicich, Jr. off turn two. The contact sent Dumicich, Jr spinning into the inside wall, and resulted in an aggressive driving penalty for Chris Turbush. Noll inherited the lead with Roger Turbush alongside. On the final restart, Roger Turbush pulled away and was able to hold off a last lap charges from both Noll and Lindeman. Jason Lafayette was fourth and Frank Dumicich Sr. fifth.
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by | Apr 10, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Thompson, CT- Dillon Moltz and Brad Babb took the checkers in their respective heat races at the Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP).
Greg Nanigian and Moltz kicked off the season for the Granite State Pro Stock Series (GSPSS) as they brought the field to green in the first heat, where the RB Performance Chevrolet of Moltz jumped to the lead. The field checked up when Ron Smith spun coming off turn 4, letting Moltz go uncontested until Mike Parks brought out the caution with a spin off the same corner. Moltz had a new dancing partner with Larry Gelinas at his door on the restart, but the result was still the same as Moltz lead start to finish to record the youngster’s first checkered flag in the series. After qualifying, Moltz added “The car is real good. We’re only going to make a small adjustment for Sunday, but overall the race went well.” Gelinas would hold off a hard charging Mike O’Sullivan, who started dead last on the field to finish third. Two-time defending ACT champion Wayne Helliwell, JR, who was fastest in second practice took the fourth spot, while last year’s Icebreaker winner George Bessette settled into fifth.
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by | Apr 10, 2014 | New
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park kicked off the 2014 race season Saturday night with Shawn Monahan of Waterford, Conn. and Steve Michalski of Brooklyn, Conn. earning the overall division wins in the all-new Segment Saturday portion of Icebreaker weekend. Woody Pitkat set fast time in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying for his first career Coors Light Pole Award. In other action, John Studley of Framingham, Mass. was victorious in the Lite Modified division, Roger Turbush won the New England Truck Series feature, and Scott Quinn won the Vintage Outlaw race.
Scott Sundeen took the early lead in the first of three segments for the Limited Sportsman division, but was slowed by a caution after one lap. Sundeen and Corey Hutchings took the field back to green, but it was all Hutchings at the line. Sundeen stayed on his bumper with Shawn Monahan a close third until yellow marked the end of the segment. On the final lap, Jeff Van Pelt and Chris Bisson tangled in the middle of turns one and two.
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by | Apr 9, 2014 | Maine, Oxford Plains Speedway
NEW BANDIT DIVISION RULES POSTED
Oxford Plains Speedway is pleased to announce the birth of the new Bandit division for four cylinder cars. This entry level division will compete periodically on Friday night’s of the Budweiser, Oxford Championship Series. This division is basically a bone stock class and will hold strict to the rules and inspections. This novice class will allow only drivers that haven’t competed in the Outlaw / Outlaw Sportsman class, Street Stocks, Late Models, Pro Late Models / Super Late Models or Mini Stocks divisions that are equivalent to these. Eligible drivers include Runnin’ Rebels, Sport Trucks, Cruisers, and Ladies, however you must have a different car than what you would race for on the Oxford Acceleration Series. You may now register for this division to secure your number. License fee is just $25.
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by | Apr 9, 2014 | Connecticut, Stafford
(Stafford Springs, CT)—For Somers native Todd Owen, NAPA Victory Lane at Stafford Motor Speedway has been an elusive piece of real estate. Owen has 5 career SK Modified® feature wins at Stafford to go along with 7 ProStock wins. Although Owen was winless in 2013 and his feature win in 2012 was his first since the 2006 season, Owen is determined to drive his #81 into the winner’s circle this season.
“I feel confident going into the NAPA Spring Sizzler,” said Owen. “We have Cooker Construction back on board along with Barnes Pools and we just gained Start/Finish Motorsports as a sponsor. It’s been such a cold winter that we got a late start with the car. We just got the car back from the powder coater and we’re ready to go. We’ve gone through the car completely and made some changes to it. We’re starting off with a fresh motor and we need to be more consistent than we were last year. It’s going to be tough with my MRS schedule since we’re going to miss a couple of races but last year the two races I was supposed to miss it ended up raining so I was able to run at Stafford. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather and getting back to the weekly grind. My goal is to finish races. We had a bad wreck towards the end of the season and the car seemed like it didn’t come back like it was before that, so that’s why rebuilt it.”
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by | Apr 8, 2014 | Connecticut, Stafford
(Stafford Springs, CT)—In the 8 NAPA Spring Sizzlers run since 2006, only 4 drivers, Doug Coby, Donny Lia, Ted Christopher, and Doug Coby, have visited victory lane. But one driver who has quietly put in some great Sizzler performances and is on the verge of breaking into that Sizzler winners club is Huntingdon Valley, PA native Rowan Pennink. In only 6 career Sizzler starts, Pennink has accumulated 3 top-5 and 4 top-10 finishes with a career best finish of second in 2011. Coming off a win in the 2013 season ending race, Pennink is feeling good about his chances of putting his #93 Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet into NAPA Victory Lane.
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by | Apr 8, 2014 | Connecticut, Thompson
Thompson, CT –17 year-old racer Derek Griffith is hoping to make his Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park debut a memorable one.
The Hudson, NH native arrived at the historic 5/8th mile oval with a new car and renewed aspirations to starting off the 2014 season in the same fashion, as the youngster started off the 2012 season. At that time, the 15 year-old Griffith streaked out an impressive second place finish in the season opening race, held at Mondanock Speedway and continued on for a season ending top-10 points standing.
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