Cates pg 9 9-16-10
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THOMPSON --- An unseasonably cold night set the stage from some heated racing action Sept. 9 at Thompson Speedway. Danny Cates of Chaplin battled back from adversity to score the victory in the Sunoco Modifieds. Larry Gelinas of Buxton, Maine, dominated in Super Late Models to score his fourth victory of the 2010 season. Spirits were riding high as Mike Scorzelli of Malta, NY, and Chad Baxter of Pascoag, RI, scored career firsts in the Late Models and Mini Stocks respectively. Joe Coates of Eastford was tops in the Limited Sportsman division while Brian Tagg of Oxford, CT, wired the field for the TIS Modified victory.
Sunoco Modified (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Danny Cates, Chaplin; 2. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs; 3. Ronnie Silk, Norwalk; 4. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 5. Ryan Preece, Berlin; 6. Tim Sullivan, S. Windsor; 7. Andy Gaspar, Andover; 8. Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA; 9. Henry Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 10. Dave Salzarulo, Monson, MA.
Super Late Model (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, Maine; 2. George Bessette, Danbury; 3. Mike Stefanik, Coventry, RI; 4. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester, MA; 5. Rick Fuller, Auburn, MA; 6. Mike O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 7. Greg Nanigian, Braintree, MA; 8. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury; 9. Mike Rivard, N. Scituate, RI; 10. Scott Rotherforth, Glastonbury.
Late Model (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Mike Scorzelli, Malta, NY; 2. Jeff Hartwell, E. Putnam; 3. Wayne Coury Sr., Milford; 4. John Falconi N. Grafton, MA; 5. Tommy O’Sullivan, Springfield, MA; 6. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 7. John Materas, Voluntown; 8. Mark Jenison, Warwick, RI; 9. Mark Oliveira, Blackstone, MA; 10. Randy Waterman, Danielson.
Limited Sportsman (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Joe Coates, Eastford; 2. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 3. Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 4. Chris Douton, Waterford; 5. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon; 6. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, MA; 7. Steve Kenneway Jr., Lowell, MA; 8. Joe Arena, Bristol; 9. Larry Barnett, Moosup; 10. Shawn Monahan, Waterford.
TIS Modifieds Feature Finish: 1. Brian Tagg, Oxford; 2. Glenn Boss, Danielson; 3. Keith McDermott, Scituate, RI; 4. Shane Michalski, Woodstock; 5. Ryan Morgan, Mystic; 6. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA; 7. John Studley, Framingham, MA; 8. Jason Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 9. Denis Legere, N. Reading, MA.
Mini Stock (Top Ten) Feature Finish: 1. Chad Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 2. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill; 3. Mike Gorgievski, Auburn, MA; 4. Roger Ducharme, Foster, RI; 5. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn; 6. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 7. Lloyd Anderson, Uxbridge, MA; 8. Rick Blanchard, Pascoag, RI; 9. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard; 10. Brent Gleason, Lisbon.
An early race incident could not slow down Danny Cates of Chaplin who bested a stout field of Sunoco Modifieds to score his second win of the season. Wayne Arute brought the field to green but the action was short-lived as contact between the fourth-running Tim Sullivan and outside pole sitter Rowan Pennink on the opening lap got Pennink crossed up in front of the field before the start finish line. As cars scattered a number of cars were collected in the incident including Arute, Ted Christopher, Cates, Dave Salzarulo, Andrew Dzenkowski, and Mark Oberg.
Pennink was able to maintain his momentum during the incident and with a complete restart, led the field to the second attempt at the green flag. Pennink was able to lead the opening lap but the car veered toward the wall in turn one. With Pennink off the pace, the new leader was Silk. Christopher’s bad night continued when his car suffered extensive damage being involved in an incident with John Catania.
Silk was pitted against Pitkat on the lap three restart. Silk held on to the lead back under green. Pitkat dove low entering turn one in a bid for the lead. He got alongside Silk and was able to take over the top spot. Tim Sullivan got racy with Preece for third with Rocco in hot pursuit in fifth.
On lap four, Silk made a move to the low side to retake the lead from Pitkat in turn two. Things really began to heat up behind the new leader. Contact with Sullivan sent Preece into his teammate Pitkat; who spun to bring out the caution. Both Sullivan and Preece were sent to the tail end of the field.
Silk was pitted against Rocco on the restart. Rocco looked like he was shot out of a cannon to take over the lead. Rocco lost the handle and the lead when his car bolted up toward the wall in turn two. Rocco lost several positions as Silk inherited the lead.
Cates immediately drove to the outside groove going wheel-to-wheel with the new leader Silk. On lap six, Cates was able to steal the top spot from Silk. Pitkat had fully recovered to move into the third position. He caught Silk and immediately began to apply pressure for second. Rocco was marching back to the front as well. On lap 12, Rocco began to work over Preece for fourth.
Up front, Cates was getting away from the field while Pitkat and Silk swapped grooves back and forth as they swapped the second spot. Preece and Rocco were locked in a similar battle for the fourth spot.
At halfway, Cates continued to stretch his advantage as Silk and Pitkat continued to duke it out for second. Rocco had taken over the fourth spot, but still had his hands full with Preece. A little further back Andy Gaspar, Pennink and Sullivan jockeyed for position.
On lap 18, Pitkat was finally able to get by Silk for second.
The running order with ten to go, found Cates leading Pitkat, Silk, Rocco and Preece inside the top five. Cates hit lapped traffic allowing Pitkat to cut into the lead. Sullivan had gotten by Pennink and set his sites on Gaspar. Sullivan was able to take over the sixth sot on lap 26.
With only two laps remaining, Pitkat continued to reel in Cates. On the white flag lap, Pitkat had chopped the lead down two car lengths. Pitkat ran out of time as Cates ran to his second victory of the 2010 season.
In Super Late Model action, Larry Gelinas made the winning move on the opening lap and never looked back en route to his fourth victory of the season. Gelinas took over the lead from George Bessette on lap one to set the pace early in the Super Late Model feature event. With Gelinas moving away from Bessette, the battle for third was heating up between Jim Banfield and Derek Ramstrom. Mike Stefanik ran in fifth followed by Rick Fuller. After a quick battle, Ramstrom was able to grab third from Banfield on lap five.
A lap later Banfield went spinning into the infield. He was able to refire and the race remained under green. The caution did fly on lap seven for an incident involving point leader Mike O’Sullivan. After service from his crew, O’Sullivan was able to rejoin the field.
Gelinas continued to show the way with the race back under green. Bessette had to defend second as Stefanik pressed. Ramstrom was being challenged by Fuller for fourth. O’Sullivan ran a distance back in sixth. At halfway, Gelinas held a two car length advantage over Bessette, with a brewing battle between Stefanik, Ramstrom, and Fuller.
Over the long green flag run, Gelinas was able to stretch his advantage slightly. The remainder of the top-five ran bumper-to-bumper in a tight pack. Ramstrom was the first to step out of line; peeking low on Stefanik. With two laps remaining, Gelinas had walked out to a sizeable lead. Bessette ran alone in second ahead of Stefanik, Ramstrom, and Fuller.
Both Ramstrom and Fuller jumped out of line on the final lap but neither could muster up a real challenge for position. Gelinas scored the victory over Bessette, Stefanik, Ramstrom, and Fuller. With O’Sullivan’s bad luck the point lead went back to Ramstrom by two points with two point races remaining.
Mike Scorzelli of Malta, NY, cruised to his first career victory at Thompson Speedway in a caution-free Late Model main event. In the early going, Jeff Hartwell and Scorzelli were locked in a heated battle for the lead. John Falconi and Mark Jenison also ran fender-to-fender for the second position. Deeper in the pack Wayne Coury, Sr., Mark Oliveira, Tommy O’Sullivan and Rick Gentes were mixing it up from fifth on back.
Coury was able to free himself of Oliveira and immediately began to run down the battle for third. Contact between Falconi and Jenison allowed Falconi to move into third. On lap eight, the pursuit by Scorzelli paid off as he was able to take the top spot. Coury continued to apply pressure to Falconi.
At halfway, Scorzelli enjoyed a ten car length advantage over a great battle between Hartwell and Falconi. Coury, Jenison, O’Sullivan, Gentes, Materas and Oliveira ran inside the top-ten. Coury took over the third position from Falconi; leaving Falconi to fight off a hard-charging O’Sullivan, who had already worked his way past Jenison.
Over the final stages of the event, Scorzelli continued to enjoy a sizeable advantage over Hartwell. Coury ran alone in third while Falconi and O’Sullivan duked it out for the fourth spot. On the white flag lap, Coury had caught Hartwell while O’Sullivan and Falconi continued to do battle. Scorzelli cruised under the checkers for the popular victory. Hartwell held off Coury for second while Falconi took home fourth over O’Sullivan.
Joe Coates of Eastford, CT, held back the youth of the Limited Sportsman division to score his first win of the 2010 season. William Wall jumped out to the early lead of the Limited Sportsman 20-lap feature event. The rookie competitor was able to gain some distance on the field as the battle for the second spot escalated between Steve Kenneway and Coates. The action was slowed for an incident involving Shawn Monahan and Mike Palin on the backstretch.
On the lap five restart, Wall had to defend his lead against Coates, who now ran second. Jesse Gleason had moved into the third spot; making it a three-car battle for supremacy. A lap later, Coates was the new leader leaving Wall to fend off Gleason. The action was just as hot from the fourth position on back with Jason Chicolas, Mike Romano, Kenneway, Scott Sundeen, Chris Douton, Joe Arena and Larry Barnett all in the thick of battle.
Wall was able to successfully hold off Gleason while Chicolas lost spots to Romano, Sundeen, and Douton. Romano continued his march toward the front taking third from Gleason. Sundeen followed through to also advance his position over Gleason. Romano immediately ran down Wall in second while Sundeen also joined the fray. With two laps to go, Wall had caught the back bumper of Coates.
The top-four ran nose-to-tail over the final laps. Coates led the train to victory lane claiming the victory over the pair of rookies. Wall had the best run of the season with his runner-up finish. What would have been Romano’s career best finish in the Limited Sportsman was nullified in post race technical inspection. Sundeen was officially scored in the third position followed by Douton and Gleason in the top five.
A lot of hard work in the race shop during the week paid big dividends for Brian Tagg of Oxford, MA, in the way of a TIS Modified feature victory. Tagg set the pace in the opening laps of the 15-lap main event. The leader had plenty of company with Glenn Boss and Shane Michalski taking chase. R.J. Marcotte and Ryan Morgan were waging a battle of their own for fourth. Deeper in the pack, John Studley and Keith McDermott vied for track position.
Michalski was getting racy from the third position; allowing Tagg to motor out to a two-car length advantage over Boss. Morgan was able to slide by Marcotte taking McDermott along for the ride. McDermott continued his forward progress stealing the fourth spot from Morgan. Up front, the distance between the top-three had stabilized with Tagg holding a slight advantage over Boss, who enjoyed a similar margin over Michalski. McDermott had caught the lead trio.
On lap 17, McDermott took over third from Michalski. He dove low in turn three looking to take over second from Boss. A bit of bumper tag between Boss and McDermott cooled the battle for second. Tagg went on to post a much-needed victory over Boss, McDermott, Michalski and Morgan.
Chad Baxter wired the field to score his career first Mini Stock feature victory at Thompson Speedway. Chad Baxter was able to run out to a comfortable lead in the Mini Stock main event as Roger Ducharme, Chuck Rogers and Dwayne Dorr vied for the second position. Mike Viens was on the move taking over the fifth spot from Joe Baxter on lap four. Both Dorr and Viens were able to get by Rogers. The duo also took spots from Ducharme, relegating Ducharme to fourth.
At halfway, C. Baxter continued to lead what was now a fierce battle for second between Dorr and Viens. The two were side-by-side with Dorr holding an ever so slight advantage. The complexion of the event changed on lap 10. The caution flew to erase C. Baxter’s huge lead. Dorr was sent to the rear for his involvement in the incident.
On the restart C. Baxter once again had to content with Roger Ducharme. C. Baxter was able to bolt back out to the lead. Ducharme had his hands full with Rogers and Mike Gorgievski. On lap 11, Rogers was able to make the pass and move into second. A bobble by C. Baxter exiting turn four on lap 13 allowed Rogers to close. C. Baxter was flawless on the final lap and was able to score the victory. Rogers extended his point lead with his runner-up performance. Gorgievski finished third ahead of Ducharme and Steve Michalski.