FMS Bud 150 Postponed; Ceravolo Takes Point Lead with Sunoco Modified Feature
Win; Palmisano, Sundeen & Rixham Share Weekly Series Honors 

 

Thompson, CT:  The NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series 150-lap race at the Thompson International Speedway was postponed after ten laps due to an accident and the lateness of the hour. The accident involved Tom Baldwin of E. Patchogue, NY.   Baldwin was transported to Hubbard Regional Hospital in Webster, MA.  At press time, no further information on his condition was available. 

 The event will be completed in it’s entirety at a soon to be announced date.  Details will be available on the Speedway’s website, www.thompsonspeedway.com as soon as they become available. 

 The event, which started late due to inclement weather, found rookie Sean Caisse of Pelham, NY on the pole after a setting fast time with a lap of 18.999 seconds at 118.427 miles per hour.  The top-three at the time of the red flag was Ted Christopher, Bobby Santos, III, and Caisse.

 Thursday night did see some racing action as the New England Dodge Dealers presented a night of NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series action with Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry, CT scoring the win in Sunoco Modified action.  Other winners included Marc Palmisano of S. Deerfield, MA in the Late Models, Scott Sundeen of Douglas, MA in Limited Sportsman division and Ron Rixham of Jefferson, MA in Mini Stock action. 

 Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry, CT held off a host of hard-charges to score his fourth feature win of the season.  The win put Ceravolo back atop the point standings over Jeff Malave and Kerry Malone.  Richard Savary led early but had his hands full holding off Bert Marvin.  On lap four the lead was Marvin’s.  A hard-charging Todd Ceravolo motored into the second spot over Savary and Adam Norton.  The first caution of the event flew on lap five when Jeff Malave and Kerry Malone crashed in turn two.  Malave was able to continue after heading down pit road; Malone was not as lucky. 

 On the restart, the battle was between Marvin and Ceravolo, who began to distance themselves from the field.  The caution flew again when Gunning and Christopher crashed on the front stretch.  Contact between the leaders Marvin and Ceravolo brought out the caution again when Marvin spun in turn two.  Ceravolo inherited the lead when the field went back to green. 

 Marvin was on a tear moving from deep in the pack and back into the fifth position by lap 18.  The #43 of Adam Norton dropped off the pace at lap 19 relinquishing the second spot and bringing out another caution.  The new line-up for the restart pitted Eric Berndt to the outside of Ceravolo.  He could not muster up much of a threat and quickly had to defend the second position.  Marvin headed back to second and had his sights set on the lead once again. 

 The battle was on for the lead between Ceravolo and Marvin.  Marvin got a great run coming out of turn two on lap 25 but could not make the pass stick.  It was the last real charge as Ceravolo went unchallenged to the checkers.  Marvin completed an amazing come back to finish second.  Christopher and Malave each recovered nicely to finish third and fourth respectively.  Savary rounded out the top five. 

 Marc Palmisano of S. Deerfield, MA has run strong each week and on Thursday night he turned one of those runs into his second Late Model win of the season.  A side-by-side battle for the lead between Palmisano and Rick Gentes highlighted the 25-lap main event.  Palmisano had a comfortable lead through lap 10 before Gentes moved in to contend for the top spot.  The two went door to door for a handful of laps before Gentes slid coming out of the corner giving Palmisano a slight advantage. 

 In the waning laps, Palmisano appeared to get a little breathing room but with two laps to go Gentes tried once again with similar results.  Coming for the checkers Gentes, peeked to the outside of the leader but decided to settle in behind for second.  It was a popular win for Palmisano.  Gentes came home second followed by Scott Bronczyk, Corey Hutchings, and Dennis Botticello. 

 Scott Sundeen of Douglas, MA took the lead early in the Limited Sportsman main event and never looked back as he motored to his fourth feature win of the season.  Walt Hovey posted his best finish of the year finishing second.  Paul Coutu, Jr., Larry Barnett, and Keith DeSanctis rounded out the top five.  Sundeen was able to gain a small amount of ground on point leader Larry Barnett.   

 Ron Rixham of Jefferson, MA got the monkey off his back with his first feature win of the season.  Rixham took the lead from pole sitter Randy Jurcik on lap 2 and motored out to a sizeable lead through halfway.  Under green flag racing conditions two-time feature winner Andy Publicover ran solidly in second but seemed to be making little gain on the leader.  

 Rixham watched his lead dissipate when the caution flew on lap 10 for a scary moment that involved Todd Henshaw and Mike Romano, who barrel rolled in turn four.  Both drivers were okay.  Once back under green, Rixham was able to maintain his lead.  Publicover made a charge on the final lap but could not muster up a pass.  Rixham turned his impressive run into his first win of the season.  Publicover settled for second with Eric Bourgeois, Roger Larson, Jr., and Scott Michalski in tow inside the top five.  After post race technical inspection Scott Michalski’s #51 was disqualified moving Jurcik into fifth. 

 Due to time constraints the Pro Stock feature event was postponed for a date to be announced in September. 

 Sunoco Modified Feature Finish (Top Ten):  1.  Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry, CT; 2. Bert Marvin, Waterford, CT; 3. Ted Christopher, Plainville, CT; 4. Jeff Malave, Manchester, cT; 5. Richard Savary, Canton, MA; 6. Harry Rheaume, Oakdale, CT; 7. Eric Berndt, Rocky Hill, CT; 8. Darin Renihan, Woodbury, CT; 9. Frankie Malec, Foster, RI; 10. John White, Baiting Hollow, NY. 

 Late Model Feature Finish (Top Ten):  1. Marc Palmisano, S. Deerfield, MA; 2. Rick Gentes, Woonsocket, RI; 3. Scott Bronczyk, Thompson, CT; 4. Corey Hutchings, Salem, CT; 5. Dennis Botticello, Suffield, CT; 6. Ryan Posocco, Stafford, CT; 7. Charles Bailey III, N. Stonington, CT; 8. Woody Pitkat, Stafford, CT; 9. Dennis Perry, Hopkinton, RI; 10. R.J. Marcotte, Millville, MA. 

 Limited Sportsman Feature Finish (Top Ten): 1.  Scott Sundeen, Douglas, MA; 2. Walt Hovey, Jr., Scotland, CT; 3. Paul Coutu, Jr., Brooklyn, CT; 4. Larry Barnett, Ledyard, CT; 5. Keith DeSanctis, Monson, MA; 6. Joe Arena, Kensington, CT; 7. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 8. Kevin Mason, W. Warwick, RI; 9. Danny Cates, Chaplin, CT; 10. Todd Chambers, Putnam, MA. 

 Mini Stock Feature Finish (Top Ten) 1.  Ron Rixham, Jeffeson, MA; 2. Andy Publicover, Sudbury, MA; 3. Eric Bourgeois, E. Haddam, MA; 4. Roger Larson, Jr., Milford, MA; 5. Randy Jurcik, Chaplin, CT; 6. Jason Paquette, Norwich, CT; 7. Rick Blanchard, Pascoag, RI; 8. Steven LaBreck, Millbury, MA; 9. Leo Defevers, Jewett City, CT; 10. Gerard Bertelette, N. Smithfield, RI.