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09/26/2012 |
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THOMPSON
GEARING UP FOR WORLD SERIES |
 With
the Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing presented
by Town Fair Tire and Xtra Mart only three weeks
away, the Thompson International Speedway if in full
swing preparing for the incredible three-day racing
spectacular.
This year’s World Series event, October 12-14, will
be the biggest World Series ever with special
attention directed to the Saturday night portion of
the program. In previous years, roughly half of the
participating divisions ran their feature events on
Saturday night in front of large crowds who enjoyed
the incredible diversity of race cars and race
trucks. This year, that same Saturday night fun will
be significantly increased with the addition of a
Valenti Modified Racing Series 75-lap feature event.
Divisions that will be part of the feature event
lineup on Saturday will qualify on Friday except for
the Valenti Modifieds. VRMS competitors will qualify
and race on Saturday. The divisions racing on Sunday
will qualify early Saturday afternoon.
The divisions that race on Saturday will include the
Pro 4 Modifieds, N.E. Trucks, Late Models, Monster
Mini Stocks, Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman, Thompson
and Lite Modifieds and the three “outlaw” divisions.
Add to these races the full program from the Valenti
Modified Racing Series and fans will have an extra
special racing weekend.
Sunday is the day when the rest of the big guns get
rolled out onto the speedway. These divisions will
have qualified on Saturday and include the Super
Modifieds of ISMA, NEMA Midgets, the NASCAR Whelen
Modified Tour, Sunoco Modifieds and Super Late
Models.
Championships in many divisions are on the line at
the World Series and this year will probably follow
this tradition. With one race between now and the
World Series, Doug Coby holds a 21 points advantage
over Ryan Preece. Coby’s lead is 24, 54 and 69
points ahead of former champs Ron Silk, Donny Lia
and Todd Szegedy respectively. With the points chase
so close, the chances are very good that the
champion will be crowned at Thompson.
The ISMA Super Modifieds also have an exciting
championship race on their hands. Mike Lichty leads
Tim Jedrezehk by a mere 31 points with a Seekonk
outing before they reach Thompson. Lou Cicconi is
only 64 markers back with Johnny Benson 103 points
off the pace.
The race for the 2012 NEMA title is basically a
two-man duel. Randy Cabral finds himself with a slim
cushion of 23 points over Russ Stoehr. Todd Bertrand
is third in the standings some 173 points off the
leader’s pace. The Midgets, however, have two races
on their schedule before the World Series and
anything is possible before the October 14th date at
Thompson.
Jon McKennedy sits on top of the points listings for
the Valenti Modifieds. With three races remaining in
the 2012 campaign, McKennedy holds an advantage of
57 points over Rowan Pennink and an 87 points edge
over defending champ Chris Pasteryak. Norm Wrenn and
Louie Mechalides round out the top 5. The VMRS has
one more race event after the World Series weekend
to determine their 2012 champion.
Pro 4 Modified competition will be tight with Bob
Richardi, Jr. leading Dave Richardi and Phil Lusier
in the points battle. Duane Noll, on the other hand,
will roll into Thompson with the New England Truck
Series division bearing a huge points lead over
Jason Lafayette.
With all of the division championships on the line,
the World Series will be the final opportunity for
most to secure a division title. This puts a lot of
pressure on all competing teams to have their best
race of the season.
The full three-day schedule of events is posted on
Thompson’s web site. www.thompsonspeedway.com World
Series of Speedway Racing general admission tickets
are available by contacting the track’s office
during the week. Fans typically get their tickets
early to avoid the long ticket lines on race days.
For tickets or other information, call 860-923-2280. |
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Source: Russ Dowd / Thompson International Speedway
Posted: September
26, 2012 |
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