STAFFORD, Conn. — Mike Christopher Jr. and Woody Pitkat took it to the bank with a pair of big victories at the 58th annual Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing Saturday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Christopher passed Chase Dowling with 10 laps remaining to win the $5,000 top prize in the Budweiser Modified Open 75 while Pitkat copped a $4,800 total winner’s purse for dominating the ACT-type Late Model Open.
It was the first career victory in a Tour-type Modified for Christopher, whose late uncle Ted is the all-time winningest driver at Thompson Speedway. Christopher and his Tommy Baldwin Jr.–owned team combined a fast car with a well-played midrace strategy to come on strong and top the 31-car field on a busy Saturday at the Sunoco World Series.
Dowling earned the pole under the American-Canadian Tour “plus-minus” system by passing five cars in his heat race. The young lion set the early pace, easily driving away after a pair of early cautions. But Christopher was coming on strong behind him, moving under Joey Cipriano for the second spot on lap 23 and catching Dowling a few circuits later.
The duo remained nose-to-tail until the third yellow at lap 35 for Glen Steger’s turn-four spin. Most of the lead lap cars elected to pit during the caution to pit for fresh right-side tires. Christopher’s team went one step further, switching the left-side tires and giving up track position in exchange for a better-handling race car.
Dowling restarted fourth behind the three cars that did not pit and tore past all of them within a lap of going back to green. Two more cautions shortly thereafter — one when Todd Owen’s engine expired on lap 42, and another when Josh Zentek spun out on lap 51 — helped Christopher’s charge back through the field.
When the sixth and final yellow came out on lap 53 for a multi-car tangle in turn four, Christopher was up to third. He disposed of Keith Rocco on the restart when Rocco had trouble getting back to speed, then set his sights on Dowling. With the pair approaching slower traffic and lap 65 going on the scoreboard, Christopher made his move, diving inside Dowling for the lead entering turn one. The earlier strategy then truly paid dividends as Christopher pulled away from an increasingly loose Dowling to pocket the $5,000 payday.
Dowling settled for second with Rocco completing the podium. Cipriano ran strong all night to take fourth. Matt Swanson inherited the fifth spot after Andy Shaw was disqualified for an illegal carburetor.
In the 50-lap Late Model Open feature, Pitkat started on the pole after posting a “+4” in qualifying. The many-time Thompson Speedway winner darted away early as Ryan Lineham, Nicholas Johnson, Jake Johnson, Derek Gluchacki, and others duked it out behind him.
Tom Carey III soon cut through the pack from his eighth starting position and was closing on Pitkat when the only caution flew on lap 19 for Jimmy Renfrew Jr.’s stalled machine. Carey glued himself to Pitkat’s bumper following the restart and seemed poised to make a run. As the laps wound down, though, Carey started to fade a bit. Pitkat, meanwhile, remained strong and crept away in the Jeff Hartwell–owned Ford. Pitkat’s wire-to-wire win netted him the $2,000 base purse plus another $2,800 in lap leader money.
Carey ended up second with Jake Johnson third. Gluchacki fended off Matthew Lowinsk-Loh at the finish line for fourth.
Bobby Timmons III also earned a four-figure payday in the 350 Small Block Supermodified Open.
John Zych Jr. was the fastest NEMA Midget of them all as he took the 25-lap Sunoco World Series feature. Zych started fifth and grabbed the lead from Mike Horn just before a lap-eight caution for fluid on the race track.
Randy Cabral moved into second on the restart and started to put the pressure on. However, during the second caution on lap 11 for Andy Lunt’s spin, Cabral suddenly shut down and went pit-side.
Dowling then passed Todd Bertrand for second after the green lights came back on. Dowling tried to catch Zych as the duo pulled away from the pack, but could never mount a serious charge as Zych earned the win.
Bertrand held off Avery Stohr for third. Ben Seitz, Horn, Jake Trainor, Doug Cleveland, Richie Coy and Paul Scally completed the top-10 finishers.
Desmond Skillings took home all the marbles in the North East Mini Stock Tour main event. By winning the race, Skillings also came from behind to win the championship.
Doug Meservey Jr. topped the Pro 4 Modified event.
Ryan Vanasse picked up his second win of the year in the 35-lap Exit Realty Pro Truck Challenge feature.
Seven other divisions held qualifying as part of Saturday’s program, including the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Six-time champion Doug Coby earned the pole for Sunday’s Sunoco World Series 150, putting down a fast time of 19.233 seconds.