Sanborn Brings Richard Moody Racing Back to PASS Super Late Model Victory Lane 

Thompson, CT — With the weather conditions cooperating one week later than expected, the 49th Icebreaker Weekend at Thompson Speedway successfully opened the 2023 New England racing season with plenty of heart-pounding thrills to set up the summer to come at the Big-T. The Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Icebreaker 125 came down to a stunning green-white-checker in one of the most spectacular open wheeled races in recent memory while winners in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Models and the Thompson local divisions proved themselves as the class of the field.

The 49th Icebreaker 125 included some of the Northeast’s best Modified pilots ready to tackle the highbanks for the $10,000 winner’s share of the $46,000 guaranteed purse. Keith Rocco and Matt Swanson brought the twenty-two-car field to green with Swanson getting the jump in the Gary Casella-owned #25. Swanson would hang tough before a hard charging Ronnie Williams overtook the lead on lap 25 followed by Woody Pitkat and Chris Pasteryak as Swanson slid to fourth. Carl Medeiros Jr. brought out the first major caution on lap 55 with several mid-pack teams taking advantage and heading pit-side for adjustments.

Realigned side-by-side to return the field to green, Ronnie Williams got the jump on a slip-sliding Pitkat with Rocco coming around to steal second. While Williams, Pitkat and Rocco battled hard in the top-three, 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Jon McKenney joined the top-five. McKennedy would make it to third with Anthony Nocella also joining the top-five before Anthony Bello’s spin on lap 72 would bring the first crucial caution. While all the top runners jumped pit side for fresh Hoosier Race Tires, Williams and McKennedy elected to stay on the field to lead the impending restart.

RJ Marcotte stole away the lead from McKennedy and Williams as the tire strategy helped Swanson and Nocella battle for second. Nocella would take the lead on lap 78 with Pitkat following and stretching out their lead before the caution flag flew on lap 107 as the engine expired on Teddy Hodgdon’s machine. Nocella kept  the lead while a four-way battle for second saw Pitkat, McKennedy, Williams and Mike Christopher, Jr. toss and turn for position. Pitkat brought out the final caution on lap 123 after backing into the turn one wall to set up a green-white-checker between Nocella, Williams, McKennedy, Christopher Jr. and Chris Pasteryak. Nocella gave it all he could, but Ronnie Williams rounded the long-standing leader to claim the $10,000 49th Icebreaker 125 over Jon McKennedy and Anthony Nocella. Mike Christopher Jr. brought the Baldwin Racing 7NY home in fourth and Todd Owen powered up to round out the top-five.

Twenty-two PASS Super Late Models made the trip from across New England to join Icebreaker Saturday at Thompson Speedway. ‘The Outlaw’ Eddie MacDonald and Gabe Brown brought the field down for the green flag with Trevor Sanborn having a strong showing from fourth-place before taking over the lead just five laps in. After quelling a challenge by Derek Griffith, Sanborn continued to lead the charge through the very end to take his first win with Richard Moody Racing since July 31st, 2010, and the first of their rekindled partnership for 2023. After a thrilling three-way battle for second place through the final fifteen circuits, Gabe Brown would bring his family team a second-place run followed by Derek Griffith. Eddie MacDonald finished a fourth-place run followed by Johnny Clark for fifth. Honorable mentions go to Scarborough, Maine’s Garrett Hall who tackled a sixth-place run after starting shotgun on the field in 22nd.

The Sunoco Modifieds returned for their doubleheader Icebreaker Weekend in their second 30-lap shootout. Noticeably absent on Saturday was defending champion Stephen Kopcik as the feature field was led to green by young veterans Troy Talman and Jonathan Puleo. Talman got the jump and the lead as Modified standout Todd Owen began to stalk the Oxford, Massachusetts native. Halfway though, Friday winner Keith Rocco joined the top three to pounce under Owen and take over second. With just eight laps remaining Rocco caught up to the rear of Talman and made a move to the inside. Three veteran crossovers between the two would be settled before Troy Talman took the Sunoco Modified victory by just 0.154-seconds over Keith Rocco with Todd Owen rounding out the top-three.

Thompson’s wildest division had a calm start to their 2023 track championship season. Led to green by Corey Fanning and Travis Jurcik, Fanning led the way through tight competition provided by Ryan Waterman, Jason Chicolas and Larry Barnett. The lone caution would fly for the spinning Tim Poulin against the backstretch wall and bunched the leaders for a final, five-lap charge. ‘Kid Chaos’ Corey Fanning led off the restart and took it right to the checkered flag followed by Waterman and Chicolas to round out the top-three. Defending champion ‘Leadfoot’ Larry Barnett took fourth with Brent Gleason rounding out the top-five.

The SK Lite Modifieds took the biggest local field of the weekend in feature action led by Alexander Pearl and John O’Sullivan. Pearl, in his defense of winning the last SK Lite feature during the World Series in 2022, held the lead until the second post-caution restart saw stalwart John O’Sullivan take charge. O’Sullivan would keep the lead to the very end in no-contest fashion followed by Tyler Chapman and Isaiah Newcomb to round out the podium. Alexander Pearl and Amanda West would round out the top-five.

After several local teams joined in with the Mighty Mini Stock Series on Friday, the Mini Stocks began their championship season on Saturday afternoon. Led by multi-time winners Dave Trudeau and Jarred Roy, Roy would get the upper hand early until Tommy Silva began battling with Roy halfway through. Although awarded the checkers on the track, Silva refused technical inspection giving the win to Jarred Roy with Ryan Pomposelli moving up to second and Rick LaFlesh rounding out the top-three.

Next up at the Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park will be a new beginning for the Thompson Outlaw Open Modifieds as they compete in the first of three Dash for Cash events on the 5/8-mile oval. Alongside the $5,000 to win, 50-lap sprint will be the visiting New England Supermodified Series, both setting up for a collection of New England’s best open wheeled talent on Wednesday, June 21st. Also included in 2023’s first Wednesday-night showdown will be local championship series events for the Late Models, SK Lite Modifieds, Limited Sportsman and Mini Stocks. Full schedule and pricing for the Wednesday, June 21st event will be released in the near future.

For more information, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @ACTTour.

For technical information concerning all PASS divisions, and for media or marketing questions, please contact passracing@roadrunner.com or visit www.proallstarsseries.com.  Don’t forget to "Like" the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow on Twitter @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.

For general Thompson Speedway inquiries, call (860) 923-2280, email oval@thompsonspeedway.com, or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. You can follow Thompson Speedway on Facebook and Instagram at @ThompsonSpeedway or on Twitter at @ThompsonSpdwy.

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park – Thompson, CT

49th Icebreaker – Day #2

Saturday, April 8, 2023

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

(Finishing Position, Car #, Driver, Hometown)

$10,000-to-Win Open Outlaw Modified Icebreaker – 125 Laps

1.         50W     Ronnie Williams          Ellington, CT

2.         79        Jon McKennedy           Chelmsford, MA

3.         92        Anthony Nocella         Woburn, MA

4.         7NY      Mike Christopher, Jr.  Wolcott, CT

5.         81        Todd Owen                 Somers, CT

6.         5CT      Chris Pasteryak           Lisbon, CT

7.         25        Matt Swanson             Harvard, MA

8.         179      Anthony Bello             Newtown, CT

9.         5MA    RJ Marcotte                 Millville, MA

10.       01NY    Artie Peterson Center Moriches, NY

11.       1          George Bessette, Jr.    Danbury, CT

12.       57        Keith Rocco                 Berlin, CT

13.       31C      Andrew Charron         E. Greenwich, RI

14.       88        Woody Pitkat              Bellingham, MA

15.       55CT    Teddy Hodgdon           Danbury, CT

16.       28        Buddy Charette           Woodstock, CT

17.       4NH     Tommy Barrett           Millis, MA

18.       50M     Carl Medeiros, Jr.        Westport, MA

19.       33        Paul Buzel                   Trumbull, CT

20.       43        Devin O'Connell          Madison, CT

21.       17        Kevin Folan                  N. Attleboro, MA

DNS     08        Nick Halkowicz            Shelton, CT

PASS Super Late Models – 75 Laps

1.         44        Trevor Sanborn           E. Parsonsfield, ME

2.         47B      Gabe Brown                Center Conway, NH

3.         12G      Derek Griffith              Hudson, NH

4.         17MA  Eddie MacDonald       Rowley, MA

5.         54        Johnny Clark               Hallowell, ME

6.         94        Garrett Hall                 Scarborough, ME

7.         39        Max Cookson               Pittsfield, ME

8.         88        Brandon Barker          Westbrook, ME

9.         60        D.J. Shaw                     Center Conway, NH

10.       7CT      Cory Casagrande         Stafford Springs, CT

11.       12        Dennis Spencer, Jr.     Oxford, ME

12.       73D      Joey Doiron                 Berwick, ME

13.       21        Josh King                     Vernon, VT

14.       20        Joe Pastore                  Gorham, ME

15.       27NH   Wayne Helliwell, Jr.    Dover, NH

16.       40RI     Mike Mitchell              Cumberland, RI

17.       18        Michael Scorzelli         Feura Bush, NY

18.       17        Kevin Folan                  W. Attleboro, MA

19.       24J       JP Josiasse                   Ennismore, ON

20.       29        Austin Teras                Gray, ME

21.       28        Rowland Robinson, Jr. Steuben, ME

22.       50        Andy Shaw                  Center Conway, NH

Sunoco Modifieds – 30 Laps

1.         3          Troy Talman                Oxford, MA

2.         57        Keith Rocco                 Berlin, CT

3.         81        Todd Owen                 Somers, CT

4.         7          JP Puleo                       Branford, CT

5.         47        Anthony Bello             Newtown, CT

6.         22        Isaiah Newcomb          Plymouth, MA

7.         28        Rich Gautreau             S. Windsor, CT

Limited Sportsman – 25 Laps

1.         11        Corey Fanning             Mapleville, RI

2.         75        Ryan Waterman          Danielson, CT

3.         7x        Jason Chicolas             Sutton, MA

4.         73        Larry Barnett               Moosup, CT

5.         01        Brent Gleason             Griswold, CT

6.         51CT    Travis Jurcik                Moosup, CT

7.         51        Bert Ouellette             Ellington, CT

8.         38        Jon Porter                   E. Lyme, CT

9.         1          Nathan Taylor             Brooklyn, CT

10.       80        Tyler Trott                   E. Hartford, CT

11.       26        Michael Rotundo         Rehoboth, MA

12.       67        Aaron Plemons            Uncasville, CT

13.       8          Josh Gerard                 W. Wareham, MA

14.       10        Hank Stott                   Medway, MA

15.       66        Tyler Cinamella           Willimantic, CT

16.       22T      Tim Poulin                   N. Grosvenordale, CT

DNS     36        Scott Sundeen             Sutton, MA

SK Lite Modifieds – 25 Laps

1.         15        John O'Sullivan           Norwich, CT

2.         41        Tyler Chapman            Ellington, CT

3.         22        Isaiah Newcomb          Plymouth, MA

4.         7          Alexander Pearl          Salem, CT

5.         15x      Amanda West             Colchester, CT

6.         27        Corey Caddick             Stafford, CT

7.         2          Meghan Fuller             Auburn, MA

8.         16CT    Ethan Durocher           Plainfield, CT

9.         32        Tom Abele                   Norwich, CT

10.       09        Cassandra Cole           Westbrook, CT

11.       16        Nickolas Hovey            Chaplin, CT

12.       78        Evan Bourgois             E. Haddam, CT

13.       16MA  Todd Douillard            Palmer, MA

14.       24        Nathan Pytko               Oxford, MA

15.       03        Jaden Brown               Kunkletown, PA

16.       26        Steve Kenneway          Lowell, MA

17.       24H      Frank Hirt                    Danbury, CT

18.       28CT    George Perreault        Woodstock, CT

19.       36RI     Michael Cooper          Pawtucket, RI

20.       71        Peter Lopuch               Redding, CT

21.       52        Anthony Forino           Waterbury, CT

Mini Stocks – 20 Laps

1.         1CT      Jarred Roy                   Moosup, CT

2.         19        Ryan Pomposelli         Smithfield, RI

3.         9CT      Rick LaFlesh                 Griswold, CT

4.         97        Dave Trudeau              Marshfield, CT

5.         82        Kevin Moore               Moosup, CT

6.         44        Steve Michalski           Brooklyn, CT

7.         7          Kyle Wing                    Marshfield, CT

8.         22        Brad Caddick               Wyoming, RI

9.         40        Nadine Coates             Newport, NH

10.       54        Eric Finkbein, Jr.          Columbia, CT

11.       10        Keith Ballou                 Pascoag, RI

DSQ     31        Tommy Silva               Gales Ferry, CT*

*Disqualified for Refusing Post-Race Inspection