This Saturday, Martinsville Speedway roars back to life for the first of two straight weekends of racing in Virginia.

This time, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will invade to crown their 2024 champion in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, while there will also be a 100-lap Mazda MX-5 Cup Series event.  The NASCAR Playoffs will be back at Martinsville from November 1-3, including the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series.

But first, the Tour champion will be crowned.

​Justin Bonsignore enters the weekend up by 10 points on defending series champion Ron Silk for the crown. Bonsignore is a three-time series champion, with his last coming in 2021. Bonsignore enters Martinsville with 44 career Whelen Modified Tour wins, tied for second all-time with Reggie Ruggerio. Silk may have struggled at North Wilkesboro last week, but the driver of the No. 16 did enough to seal the title at Martinsville last year and would love to end the year with a Grandfather Clock.

Other names to watch in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event include Matt Hirschman, Austin Beers, Patrick Emerling, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and more.

The Mazda MX-5 Cup Series will also be on track, providing a different dose of racing. The anticipation for the event is high - with a total purse of just about $63,000. This is a non-points race for the series, their first ever on an oval track.

Fans who can’t make it to the track can see the NWMT season-finale live on FloRacing.TV.

North Wilkesboro Speedway roared back to life this past weekend for a doubleheader of racing with four feature events over two days. In the midst of the racing action, three champions were crowned, while one driver took back the championship lead in his respective division heading for the season-finale.

In the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT), the finisher of the weekend on Sunday, Justin Bonsignore drove the No. 51 to Victory Lane in the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150. Driving for Ken Massa Motorsports, Bonsignore was actually the only Modified winner of the weekend. He swept both events - including the NWMT and Saturday’s SMART Modified Tour feature event.

On Sunday, Bonsignore dominated the race after starting third, leading the most laps and roaring to a convincing victory. The win allowed Bonsignore to jump back in front in the NWMT championship standings with just one race left in their season on October 26 at Martinsville Speedway. The victory was also his 44th career in the series, tying him for second all-time with Reggie Ruggerio.

Behind Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, a former Wilkesboro winner, finished second, with pole sitter Austin Beers grabbing third.

“This car is two-for-two this year on the Whelen Modified Tour,” Bonsignore, who drove a different car to victory each day, said. “Just a great job by everyone. These cars have been lights out. It’s just really special. Forty-four wins… it’s cool. But there’s a bigger goal next week. I’m looking forward to Martinsville… it can’t come soon enough.”

Talk about a monster weekend of racing.

North Wilkesboro Speedway will host the CARS Tour Pro Late Models and Late Model Stocks, the SMART Modified Tour and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour all over two days this weekend, October 19-20, as the 2024 race season winds down to the championship conclusion for three of the four divisions.  

Saturday marks the championship feature events for both CARS divisions along with the SMART Modified Tour. Sunday is the penultimate race of the season in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title battle.  For fans who are able to make the trip, advance tickets are available online at northwilkesborospeedway.com/events. For those who can't, FloRacing.TV will have the entire event live.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Title Battle Heats Up Heading To Wilkesboro

With just two races left in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the championship battle is heating up. Defending and two-time series champion Ron Silk currently holds a five-point edge on three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore, coming off another battle between the two last weekend at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Bonsignore added his third win of the season, while Silk finished third, allowing Bonsignore to trim the gap from 11 down to five points. 

In third, just 21 points back, three-time season winner Patrick Emerling also isn't out of it. Emerling will need Silk and Bonsignore to stumble a bit in the final two, but he's shown the speed and consistency to race near the front of the field all year. Between the three (Bonsignore, Silk, Emerling) they have won all but four of the 14 events completed during the 2024 season. Other winners include Austin Beers, Matt Hirschman and Jake Johnson.

The entry list is led by the three of them, who will continue their battle into the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 on Sunday afternoon, which begins at 2PM. The entry list also includes Austin Beers, defending race winner Matt Hirschman, NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bobby Labonte, former Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman and many more of NASCAR's top Modified starts. 

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour practice is from 10:30-11:30AM, followed by qualifying at 1 p.m. and the green flag at 2 p.m.

SMART Modified Tour: Five Eligible Drivers, One Champion To Be Crowned

After a turn of events in their most recent event at South Boston Speedway, the SMART Modified Tour will now have five drivers eligible to race for the series championship this Saturday at North Wilkesboro. They include: Burt Myers, Luke Baldwin, Carson Loftin, Ryan Newman and Danny Bohn. After a post-race technical discussion, the decision was made to move the title finale from three to five cars, adding Newman and Bohn to the mix.

The driver that beats the other four on Saturday will win the championship for the SMART Modified Tour in 2024. 

Loftin came out of the gate swinging, winning five of the first seven races. Baldwin has two victories, including a $20,000 to win King of the Modifieds trophy at South Boston in the spring. The driver of the No. 7VA for Sadler-Stanley Racing will chase the Rookie of the Year and season championship all in one at North Wilkesboro.

Newman is a two-time winner this season as well, while Myers needed to win to get into the finals and accomplished the goal in the last event at South Boston Speedway last Saturday. Bohn picked up his first career SMART Modified Tour win at Carteret County Speedway in August.

Not only will the title be on the line, but the race is also drawing a strong entry list of drivers.  CARS Late Model tour standout and former Hickory Motor Speedway track champion Landon Huffman, three-time NASCAR Mod champion Justin Bonsignore, Matt Hirschman, NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Labonte and others are all pre-entered. 

The SMART Modified Tour race is the middle of three feature events on Saturday, with the green flag scheduled to drop at 7:15 p.m., live on FloRacing.TV. 

CARS TOUR BATTLES DOWN TO THE WIRE - THE REMAINING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE CARS TOUR

A long, grueling season for the zMAX CARS Tour will conclude with two champions being crowned at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday evening.

Both the CARS Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model Tour points battles remain tight heading into the season finale. Last weekend at Tri-County Motor Speedway saw Brenden Queen take over the LMSC Tour points lead from Connor Hall, while Kaden Honeycutt’s victory enabled him to make up crucial ground on Spencer Davis in the PLM Tour standings.

North Wilkesboro is the perfect location for two drivers to make their mark on both CARS Tour and short track history. Enriched with tradition since it first opened to the public back in 1947, North Wilkesboro’s schedule now regularly features the CARS Tour, which expanded its presence at the facility this year with a second event.

The next chapter in North Wilkesboro’s story coincides with the last one of the CARS Tour’s 2024 campaign. No matter the outcome, there will be two new drivers joining an elite group of CARS Tour champions that consists of Josh Berry, Bobby McCarty, Carson Kvapil, Deac McCaskill and Luke Fenhaus, among others.

Track Facts:
Track: North Wilkesboro Speedway
Location: North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Length: .625 mile
Laps: 125 (LMSC) / 100 (PLM)
CARS LMSC Tour races: 3
CARS PLM Tour races: 2
North Wilkesboro LMSC winners: Carson Kvapil (1), Brenden Queen (1), Treyten Lapcevich (1)
North Wilkesboro PLM winners: Augie Grill (1), Tristan McKee (1)

ECMD 125 schedule

LMSC Entry List (25 cars): #00 Chase Burrow, #03 Brenden Queen, #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr., #1 Andrew Grady, #2 Brandon Pierce, #2W Ryan Wilson, #4 Dylon Wilson, #8 Carson Kvapil, #11v Buddy Isles Jr., #15 Ryan Millington, #17 Kaden Honeycutt, #22 Connor Hall, #26 Peyton Sellers, #28 Landon S. Huffman, #28G Ryan Glenski, #29 Brent Crews, #44 Conner Jones, #45 Parker Eatmon, #55 Isabella Robusto, #70 Travis Baity, #71 Aaron Donnelly, #71P Casey Pierce, #77 Treyten Lapcevich, #81 Mini Tyrrell, #82 Connor Mosack

PLM Entry List (22 cars): #00 Jimmy Renfrew Jr., #6 Tristan McKee, #6B Brandon Lopez, #8 Tate Fogleman, #8C Terri Crider, #15 T.J. DeCaire, #17 Hudson Bulger, #22G Dusty Garus, #24 Jake Bollman, #24B Lanie Buice, #28 Nathan Gregg, #29 Spencer Davis, #33 Daniel Webster, #35 Caden Kvapil, #43 Nick Loden, #43H Joshua Horniman, #44 Logan Jones, #47 Kaden Honeycutt, #51 Travis Braden, #67 Cameron Bolin, #97 Dylan Garner, #99 Edward Cheslak

Brenden Queen looks to parlay second half momentum into LMSC Tour title

It took Brenden Queen nearly the entire summer, but he finally overtook Connor Hall in the CARS LMSC Tour standings following a setback sustained from a crash at Caraway Speedway.

Although he now holds the points lead over Hall, Queen knows he cannot grow complacent ahead of North Wilkesboro Speedway. Only a small margin of error exists between him and Hall, which is why Queen plans to adhere to the same mindset that has garnered him and Lee Pulliam Performance so much consistency over the second half of the year.

“We don’t want to overthink it and we want to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Queen said. “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I know we’re going to give all the effort we can put in and try to not take ourselves out of contention.”

Queen used the accident at Caraway as a reset point for his 2024 campaign. Since that evening in July, Queen has recorded seven consecutive top five finishes, all of which helped him gradually chip away at Hall’s championship lead.
One bad race at Tri-County Motor Speedway in 2023, in which he ran out of fuel in the closing laps, prevented Queen from mounting a challenge against Carson Kvapil for the LMSC Tour title. The sting from narrowly missing out on a championship has stuck with Queen, but it has also served as motivation during his top five streak.

With Queen having previously won at North Wilkesboro in 2023, he feels confident about delivering one more strong performance on Saturday evening. Flawless execution is something Queen knows will be imperative if he wishes to secure the first CARS Tour championship for himself and Pulliam’s Late Model Stock operation.

“A CARS Tour championship would be the biggest thing I’ve accomplished,” Queen said. “I’ve won track championships and all that, but to win on the tour would be something. I don’t know how many more opportunities I have to be on the tour, so this could be it. I’d definitely like to go out with a bang.”

Connor Hall anticipates tough challenge in re-taking LMSC points lead

After holding the CARS LMSC Tour points lead for most of the 2024 season, Connor Hall now finds himself second to Brenden Queen heading into Saturday’s season-finale.

A multi-car crash at the midway point of last weekend’s race at Tri-County Motor Speedway collected Hall and forced him to limp home with a 13th place performance. The setback came at an inopportune time for Hall, but he is staying optimistic as he looks to re-take control of the points lead and earn his first LMSC Tour title.

“We have a good chance, but I’d be lying if I said beating [Queen] was going to be easy,” Hall said. “There is no shortage of trying right now, but it’s one thing to lose and another thing to lose when you truly give it your all. Hopefully that’s not the case, but we’re going to go down swinging.”

There were a lot of unknowns for Hall at the start of 2024 when he joined Nelson Motorsports, but the cohesion has been apparent from their first race. Aside from his lone LMSC Tour victory at his home track of Langley Speedway, Hall also earned a Virginia Triple Crown victory with Nelson in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.

With Hall set to move on to JR Motorsports’ Late Model Stock team in 2025, he wants to deliver Nelson’s team another LMSC Tour title before departing the program. Nelson has more LMSC Tour championships than any other owner by amassing three with Bobby McCarty, but the organization has not obtained one since the 2021 season.

The season ending at a high-grip track like North Wilkesboro Speedway will put more emphasis on Hall and Nelson finding more raw speed to match Queen’s pace. Outdueling Queen on Saturday would be a fitting end to a stellar 2024 for Hall that saw him obtain his second consecutive NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship.

“The reason why I want to win it so bad is because I’d love to win the national [title] and CARS Tour [title] in the same year,” Hall said. “I don’t think anybody has done that, so it’d give me one notch on the belt that isn’t similar to other people. There’s two things I want to accomplish in Late Model Stocks before I leave; a CARS Tour championship and a Martinsville clock.”

Spencer Davis on cusp of championship in rookie PLM Tour season

One of the more versatile drivers entered across the two CARS Tour divisions in 2024 is Spencer Davis, who has starts in Modifieds, Super Late Models and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on his resume.

Davis is one race away from locking up the CARS PLM Tour championship in his debut season, but he only holds a small advantage over Kaden Honeycutt in the point standings. Fending off Honeycutt will not be easy for Davis, who emphasized the importance of keeping his car out of trouble at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday.

“It’s the same thing we do every weekend, we’re coming out here trying to win,” Davis said. “If not, you got to be smart and try to get the best finish you can. Don’t put yourself in a sticky situation, but you also have to hope for the best.”
Consistency followed Davis from the first green flag of the year at Southern National Motorsports Park. The Throwback 276 at Hickory Motor Speedway was Davis’ only finish outside the top 10 this year, as he boasts an average finish of 4.0 with two victories at Florence Motor Speedway and South Boston Speedway.

Davis is thankful for the opportunity to compete in straight-rail cars again and commended the hard work of his crew towards providing always providing great cars. Efficiency was the expectation when Davis committed to the PLM Tour, but the young group of competitors like Honeycutt successfully kept him honest each week.

Having previously worked with Honeycutt as his spotter in the ARCA Menards Series West, Davis knows how challenging it will be to maintain the PLM Tour points lead. Davis is ready for a frantic battle up until the last lap on Saturday evening but would love nothing more than to celebrate his first major racing title.

“A championship would mean a lot,” Davis said. “I haven’t run for a championship since I raced go-karts. I kind of ran for one in [the ARCA Menards Series East] way back in the day, but never had a good [chance] at it. It’d mean a lot to have a championship [trophy] sitting on my office desk the Monday after North Wilkesboro.”

Fresh off Tri-County win, Kaden Honeycutt ready for one last run at PLM title
Entering Tri-County Motor Speedway with an 11-point deficit, Kaden Honeycutt needed a big evening to have a feasible chance at chasing down Spencer Davis for the CARS PLM Tour championship.

Everything went according to plan for Honeycutt, who inherited the victory after Tristan McKee was penalized for an infraction on the final restart. Despite erasing a good portion of his deficit, Honeycutt still heads into North Wilkesboro Speedway trailing Davis and needing to maximize points so he can usurp him on Saturday night.

“Spencer has been really good this year with being consistent,” Honeycutt said. “It’s going to come down to winning the race and leading laps. A pole would definitely help out too [in regards] to bonus points.”

The journey towards this point in Honeycutt’s season has been an unorthodox one. After starting 2024 driving the No. 51 for Mavrick Page Motorsports, Honeycutt moved over to Bryson Lopez Racing starting at the second Ace Speedway race and has not finished outside the top five once since then.

Displaying speed from his opening outing with Bryson Lopez eased some of Honeycutt’s nerves about continuing his pursuit of a PLM Tour title with a different team. The Tri-County triumph only validated Honeycutt’s confidence in Lopez’s operation and firmly believes he can bring them a PLM Tour title in their first season with the series.

Although he is now with Bryson Lopez, Honeycutt also credited Mavrick Page Motorsports for helping lay the foundation towards a potential championship run. With everything Honeycutt has experienced to reach this point in the year between two teams, the last thing he wants is for his effort to be rewarded with a runner-up showing in the PLM Tour standings.

“I ran second to Bobby [McCarty] a couple of years ago in a [Late Model] Stock a few years ago and I was running second the next year, but I didn’t finish out the year,” Honeycutt said. “I was probably going to finish second again. I don’t want to finish second again. I want to try and win this for sure.”

​A big weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway will see the zMAX CARS Tour share the track with the SMART Modified Tour. The CARS PLM Tour championship race kicks off the festivities on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. ET, with the CARS LMSC Tour wrapping up the night after the SMART Modified Tour at approximately 9 p.m. ET.

FloRacing will provide live flag-to-flag coverage of the CARS Tour season finale at North Wilkesboro.

14th Thompson Speedway Victory Leaves Him in Sole Possession of Third All-Time on Tour Win List

Story by Kyle Souza

THOMPSON, Conn. – Justin Bonsignore was in Thompson Speedway victory lane again on Sunday afternoon. For the 14th time in his career, Bonsignore captured victory on the high-banks in Connecticut - leading the most laps and taking the lead back late after a pit road miscue to rocket to another win. 

The victory was Bonsignore’s 43rd career on the Whelen Modified Tour, giving him sole possession of third place all-time. His 14th career Thompson win also put him just one off Mike Stefanik’s record of 15.

“We worked hard all summer, but haven’t had the best car,” Bonsignore said. “We brought back ‘Old Faithful’. This car has been sitting bare bones since the last Martinsville race and we finally got it back together. It got us back into Victory Lane at Thompson and the guys did a great job today with the quick turnaround. It’s humbling to be around Reggie and Teddy and to have your name mentioned with them is really special. Obviously we try not to think about that stuff while we’re still racing, but it is really awesome to have that much success in this series over the 15 years that we’ve been here. Hopefully we’ve got another 14 or 15 years in us if we can stay competitive.”

Also on the podium, Anthony Nocella charged from the back to the front to finish second and Ron Silk was third.

With the win, Bonsignore closed within five points of Ron Silk in the championship battle with two races remaining. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to the track at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, October 20. The series will then visit Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 26, for the season-finale.

Thompson, CT — Out-of-character weather greeted the American-Canadian Tour faithful with clear skies and plenty of sunshine on Sunoco World Series Saturday at Thompson Speedway. Windham, Maine’s Brandon Barker earned the pole position in the Chad Sullivan-owned Epping Express with New Salem, Massachusetts-driver Tom Carey III bringing Roger McHugh’s Brookside Ride an outside pole starting spot in Plus/Minus heat race qualifying. Drama sparked pit-side following qualifying action with both Erick Sands and Derek Gluchacki disqualified from their heat race results with both deemed too wide in post-heat tech inspection.

The lone caution in the Sunoco World Series 75 occurred as the field flew underneath the initial green flag with former Thompson Speedway champion Brian Tagg sliding through the infield grass, the nose of his J.V. Mechanical Chevy Camaro taking a shot on the infield wall before returning to the tail of the field. With the Sunoco World Series 75 under green, Carey quickly led from the dominant outside groove over Barker as former Seekonk Speedway champion Ryan Kuhn followed suit.

As the field strung out, the latter-half of the top ten went to work on each other. The top five runners of the American-Canadian Tour, DJ Shaw, Gabe Brown, Derek Gluchacki, Kasey Beattie and Alexendre Tardif swapped paint and battled hard for position as they attempted to move up the chain in the early goings. Both the American-Canadian Tour championship and the Brookside Equipment Sales Southern New England Triple Crown heavy on their minds, Shaw, Gluchacki and Brown fought hard to enter the top ten runners as Carey began to make space at the head of the field.

Unfortunately for Tardif, the ‘Fireball’ went up in smoke with power-steering fluid creating constant dark grey smoke that prompted officials to send him pit side for evaluation. Tardif was not the only one facing mechanical woes in the long green flag run on the tough Thompson 0.625-mile oval. Rookie hopeful and Thunder Road track champion Kaiden Fisher dropped out after 35 laps with a broken sway bar while Bryan Wall Jr. limped pit side nineteen laps later with broken left-rear suspension.

Meanwhile Tom Carey III set sail out front with Ryan Kuhn keeping him honest just a car-length behind. With ten laps remaining Kuhn began to gain on Carey in the corners but Carey’s confidence kept him on an even keel. Tom Carey III took down the Sunoco World Series 75 win by less than half a second over Ryan Kuhn with Brandon Barker holding on for third in the 75-lap sprint. Saturday’s victory would be Carey’s fourth career American-Canadian Tour victory, his second on Sunoco World Series weekend at Thompson Speedway.

Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette, also a former World Series champion, came home fourth overall with DJ Shaw rounding out the top five. Gabe Brown was hot on Shaw’s heels for sixth followed by a hard-charging Derek Gluchacki, rookie Jeremy Sorel, Oxford winner Jesse Switser and former Thompson Speedway champion Ryan Morgan rounding out the top ten.

The American-Canadian Tour finishes off the 2024 season at the Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, Massachusetts on Saturday, November 2 with the Haunted Hundred. Both the American-Canadian Tour champion and the Brookside Equipment Sales Triple Crown champion will be crowned at the Concrete Palace alongside the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series and the Street Stock Open for a rip-roaring end to the 2024 season!

For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.acttour.com.  You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.

The ACT Sunoco World Series 75
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, CT
Saturday, October 12, 2024
OFFICIAL RESULTS


American-Canadian Tour – (75 Laps)
1.         5MA    Tom Carey III               New Salem, MA
2.         72MA  Ryan Kuhn                  East Bridgewater, MA
3.         0NH     Brandon Barker          Windham, ME
4.         41QC   Jonathan Bouvrette   Blainville, QC
5.         04VT    DJ Shaw                       Center Conway, NH
6.         47NH   Gabe Brown                Center Conway, NH
7.         03MA  Derek Gluchacki         Dartmouth, MA
8.         7MA    #Jeremy Sorel             Westfield, MA
9.         25NH   Jesse Switser               W. Burke, VT
10.       31CT    Ryan Morgan              North Franklin, CT
11.       27NH   Cam Huntress             Rochester, NH
12.       36NH   Erick Sands                  Derry, NH
13.       45NH   #Kasey Beattie            St. Johnsbury, VT
14.       9MA    Brian Tagg                   Oxford, MA
15.       33QC   Remi Perreault           St. Paul, QC
16.       31VT    Stephen Donahue      Graniteville, VT
17.       15QC   Christopher Bedard    Levis, QC
18.       77NH   Bryan Wall Jr.              E. Kingston, NH
19.       21QC   Alexendre Tardif         Notre Dame des Pins, QC
20.       18VT    #Kaiden Fisher            Shelburne, VT

Owen & Rocco Get Rabid in Last Lap Tangle for Thompson Sunoco Mod Win

Thompson, CT — The American-Canadian Tour got the second day of the Sunoco World Series off to a strong start with their Sunoco World Series 75. Brandon Barker and Tom Carey III lead the way to the green flag just before former Thompson Late Model champion Brian Tagg dove sideways across the frontstretch grass to call out the lone caution. The international roster of drivers kept it lean and green after that, even as several drivers fell out with mechanical issues throughout the 75-lap sprint. In the end, Tom Carey III backed up his September extra-distance win to claim his third career American-Canadian Tour win in the ‘Brookside Ride’ while former Seekonk Speedway champion Ryan Kuhn kept him honest, following just a car-length behind through the second half of the event to claim second. Polesitter Brandon Barker held on to take third over Quebec’s Jonathan Bouvrette.

Brett Meservey led the New England Pro-4 Modifieds to green for the annual Harry Kourafas Memorial 22-lap main event on Sunoco World Series Saturday. Meservey showed the way throughout the early circuits, his only trouble saw lap traffic stall his run around lap 12 as Rob Richardi, Jr. began creeping closer. Richardi made his presence known during the miscue for Meservey but Brett Meservey remained unshaken, taking the Harry Kourafas Memorial 22 over Richardi and Ryan Morgan in the #77 taking third.

New York’s Mike Scorzelli and Maine’s Dominic Curit led the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models to the start of their 50-lap main event with Curit getting the drive on the outside lane. Coming from the back of the pack, DJ Shaw, Wayne Helliewell and Corey Casagrande followed Curit’s play, driving hard on the outside groove into the top five. Making it look like child’s play, Shaw dove underneath Curit to lead lap 8 while Eddie MacDonald sat mired in mid-pack traffic, desperately hoping for a breaking point. Engine problems for Helliwell took him out of contention prior to the halfway point as MacDonald went to work on Casagrande for third. Although MacDonald broke free from traffic, the gap was too much without a caution to re-rack the field. DJ Shaw took down the Sunoco World Series win in dominant fashion with Eddie MacDonald taking second and Corey Casagrande coming home third.

The New England Supermodified Series returned to Thompson Speedway for the second time in 2024 to crown their season-long champion on Sunoco World Series Saturday. Ryan Battle led the way to green but it was Ben Seitz that beat the Dunstable driver back to the line. Seitz powered away with the lead as Battle fell under attack by open-wheel legend Russ Wood in the opening laps. Wood moved under Battle for second with Matt Swanson following suit the next time around but Seitz held strong to a half-track lead by lap 13. Ben Seitz took a dominant victory in the New England Supermodified Series with Russ Wood and Matt Swanson joining him in victory lane as the Series crowned Bobby Timmons III the 2024 champion.

Returning after their first Sunoco World Series feature on Friday, Derek Ramstrom and Tyler Barry led the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds to green for their track championship finale. Tempers from Friday seemed to boil over to Saturday with Ramstrom finding himself in the backstretch grass on lap one while Barry, Isaiah Newcomb and Keith Rocco played bumper cars at the head of the field. Friday night winner Todd Owen remained the only car riding the low lane looking for inches while Rocco made the crossover on Barry to lead lap 6. Barry began to backslide before himself and Rob Summers made contact in turn four sending both cars to the back of the pack on lap 11.

Keith Rocco felt division titan Jon Puleo pour the pressure on at the halfway point, just inches off his rear bumper with Todd Owen staying within striking distance in third. Puleo used the slide-job to take over the lead on lap 17 with Rocco using the same technique to lead lap. Staying in contention, Owen made the dive-bomb move on Rocco in the final corner of the final lap with the two making heavy contact down the frontstretch and across the line under the checkered flags. Todd Owen took the Sunoco World Series Saturday win over Keith Rocco with the two exchanging words in victory lane as 2024 Thompson Sunoco Modified champion Jon Puleo celebrated a third-place finish to finalize his championship run.

Following the wild Sunoco Modified main, Dave Trudeau and Steve Michalski started the Thompson Mini Stocks on the right foot. The top six cars drove under a blanket, two and sometimes three wide at the head of the pack before things went sour on lap 5 with Kevin Moore, Trudeau and Michalski getting together along the backstretch wall to call out the caution. The wilds continued as championship hopeful Ryan Pompselli got the black flag with an unsecured hood cited as the culprit. Pomposelli jumped into the infield pit road and Steve Michalski took out any aggression he might have had from the lap 5 scuff-up by ripping Pomposelli’s hood off allowing the young racer to rejoin the field. Jared Roy inherited the lead out front and never faltered, taking his sixth win of the season in a successful track championship defense. Tim Dorr and Kevin Moore rounded out the top three.

The Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series took over the infield for their Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 on Sunoco World Series Saturday. Stephen Kopcik and Joey Cipriano brought the 33-car field to green with Cipriano getting the opening lead as heavy hitters Patrick Emerling, Jon McKennedy and Woody Pitkat quickly formed on his six o’clock! McKennedy dove to the bottom to lead lap 7 with Cipriano quickly fading to Pitkat the next lap as the balance of the field fell into single file. A pair of cautions set pit strategy in motion for several teams but McKennedy, Emerling, Pitkat and Matt Hirschman kept their machines at the front of the pack in search of the $10,000 payday.

After each caution cycle, McKennedy continued to assert his dominance out ahead of Pitkat and Emerling while ‘Big Money Matt’ and Kopcik kept themselves in contention among the top runners. With laps winding down, Anthony Nocella and Ronnie Williams began entering the picture as George Bessett Jr. climbed into the top-10 after an earlier pit stop. With fifteen laps remaining, Hirschman began to gain considerably on McKennedy, pulling to within a car-length in the corners as the two held a straightaway lead over third-place runner Anthony Nocella. With four laps left Hirschman began to look low with lap traffic ahead under the two-to-go popsicle sticks from the chief starter. Jon McKennedy used the lappers to his advantage, holding onto the lead and taking the Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series over Matt Hirschman and Anthony Nocella. Stephen Kopcik held on for fourth and Matt Swanson stole fifth.  

Thompson Speedway closes out the 2024 season with the finale of the 62nd Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing on Sunday, October 13. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco World Series 150 presented by FloRacing highlights the Sunday schedule with track championships decided for the Street Stocks and the AZ Roofing SK Light Modifieds along with special visits from the NEMA Lites and the Evolve Bank & Trust Pro Truck Challenge. Post Time is set for 1:30pm on Sunday, October 13.

62nd Sunoco World Series Super Saturday
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, CT
Saturday, October 12, 2024
RESULTS

Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series – Constantine Paving & Sealing 75 (75 Laps)
1.         79        Jon McKennedy          Chelmsford, MA
2.         60        Matt Hirschman         Northamption, PA
3.         92        Anthony Nocella         Woburn, MA
4.         1          Stephen Kopcik           Newtown, CT
5.         25        Matt Swanson             Harvard, MA
6.         39        George Bessette, Jr.    Danbury, CT
7.         07NY   Patrick Emerling         Mooresville, NC
8.         50        Ronnie Williams         Ellington, CT
9.         31        Noah Korner               Avon, CT
10.       57        Keith Rocco                 Berlin, CT
11.       5CT      Chris Pasteryak           Lisbon, CT
12.       00        Mike Christopher, Jr.  Wolcott, CT
13.       36        David Sapienza           Riverhead, NY
14.       8          Chris Finocchario        Macdeon, NY
15.       55CT    Teddy Hodgdon          Danbury, CT
16.       88        Woody Pitkat              Bellingham, MA
17.       13        Max Zachem               Oakdale, CT
18.       19        Jeffrey Battle              Dunstable, MA
19.       28        Buddy Charette          Woodstock, CT
20.       81NY   Mark Stewart              Wading River, NY
21.       55x      Jacob Perry                 Kannapolis, NC
22.       8NY     Tyler Barry                  Griswold, CT
23.       15        Jake Johnson              Rehoboth, MA
24.       48        Glen Steger                 Copiague, NY
25.       51CT    Joey Cipriano              Plymouth, CT
26.       11        Corey DiMatteo          Farmington, CT
27.       76        Brett Meservey           Brewster, MA
28.       3          Tyler Rypkema             Owego, NY
29.       81        Todd Owen                 Somers, CT
30.       07        Kyle Bonsignore         Mooresville, NC
31.       78        Walt Sutcliffe              East Haven, CT
32.       55        Ryan Doucette            Framingham, MA
DNS     47        Joey Mucciacciaro      Wolcott, CT


American-Canadian Tour – (75 Laps)
1.         5MA    Tom Carey III               New Salem, MA
2.         72MA  Ryan Kuhn                  East Bridgewater, MA
3.         0NH     Brandon Barker          Windham, ME
4.         41QC   Jonathan Bouvrette   Blainville, QC
5.         04VT    DJ Shaw                       Center Conway, NH
6.         47NH   Gabe Brown                Center Conway, NH
7.         03MA  Derek Gluchacki         Dartmouth, MA
8.         7MA    #Jeremy Sorel             Westfield, MA
9.         25NH   Jesse Switser               W. Burke, VT
10.       31CT    Ryan Morgan              North Franklin, CT
11.       27NH   Cam Huntress             Rochester, NH
12.       36NH   Erick Sands                  Derry, NH
13.       45NH   #Kasey Beattie             St. Johnsbury, VT
14.       9MA    Brian Tagg                   Oxford, MA
15.       33QC   Remi Perreault           St. Paul, QC
16.       31VT    Stephen Donahue      Graniteville, VT
17.       15QC   Christopher Bedard    Levis, QC
18.       77NH   Bryan Wall Jr.              E. Kingston, NH
19.       21QC   Alexendre Tardif         Notre Dame des Pins, QC
20.       18VT    #Kaiden Fisher             Shelburne, VT


Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models – (50 Laps)
1.         60        D.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH
2.         71MA  Eddie MacDonald       Rowley, MA
3.         7CT      Cory Casagrande        Stafford Springs, CT
4.         32Q     Alex Quarterley          Westfield, MA
5.         18        Michael Scorzelli         Feura Bush, NY
6.         54        Johnny Clark               Hallowell, ME
7.         19        Rusty Poland               Naples, ME
8.         5          Dominic Curit             Saco, ME
9.         17        Kevin Folan                 North Attleboro, MA
10.       27NH   Wayne Helliwell, Jr.    Dover, NH


New England Supermodified Series – (40 Laps)
2024 NESS Supermodified Champion: Bobby Timmons
1.         11        Ben Seitz                     Bourne, MA
2.         41        Russ Wood                 Pelham, NH
3.         97        Matt Swanson             Harvard, MA
4.         47        Jim Storace                 Kingston, NH
5.         13        Bobby Timmons         Windham, ME
6.         51        Vern Romanoski         Strong, ME
7.         14        Ryan Battle                 Dunstable, MA
8.         22        Mark MacIver             Stafford, NH
9.         5          Rob Summers             Manchester, CT
10.       53        Dave Duggan               Milford, NH
           
New England Pro-4 Modifieds – Harry Kourafas Memorial (22 Laps)
Top-5 Finishers of 16 Cars Present
1.         5          Brett Meservey
2.         0          Rob Richardi, Jr.
3.         77        Ryan Morgan
4.         88        Josh Badam
5.         12        Avery Stohr    
           
Thompson Sunoco Modifieds – (30 Laps)
2024 Thompson Sunoco Modified Champion: Jon Puleo
1.         81        Todd Owen                 Somers, CT
2.         09        Keith Rocco                 Berlin, CT
3.         7          Jon Puleo                    Branford, CT
4.         22        #Isaiah Newcomb       Plymouth, MA
5.         2          Danny Cates               Chaplin, CT
6.         76        Tyler Barry                  Griswold, CT
7.         99        Rob Summers             Manchester, CT
8.         40        Mike Mitchell             Cumberland, RI
9.         4          #Zach Leone                Worcester, MA
10.       55        Derek Ramstrom        Worcester, MA
11.       22x      Tom Sekulski               Nesconcet, NY
12.       27        Chase Cook                 Norwich, MA


Mini Stocks – (15 Laps)
2024 Thompson Mini Stock Champion: Jared Roy
1.         1CT      Jared Roy                    Moosup, CT
2.         16        Tim Dorr                      Gales Ferry, CT
3.         82        Kevin Moore               Moosup, CT
4.         9CT      Richard LaFlesh           Griswold, CT
5.         78        Eric Bourgeois             Oakdale, CT
6.         7          Kyle Wing                    Windham, CT
7.         19x      David Dorr                  Gales Ferry, CT
8.         73        Eric Julian                    Willimantic, CT
9.         84        Bill Schoeler                Warwick, RI
10.       81        Glynn Roy                   Moosup, CT
11.       19        Ryan Pomposelli         Smithfield, RI
12.       39        Derek Farnham           Bethel, VT
13.       05        Randy Churchill Jr.      Waterford, CT
14.       44        Steve Michalski           Brooklyn, CT
15.       97        Dave Trudeau             Mansfield, CT
16.       40        Nadine Coates             Wrentham, MA