TRACK TALK: Thompson to host super weekend

The best racers in the northeast will descend on Thompson Speedway this weekend for the Sunoco World Series.

Few events in New England can match the anticipation that the Sunoco World Series has each year. With Modifieds, Super Late Models, Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Midgets and everything in between scheduled to compete throughout the three-day weekend, fans will have the opportunity to catch their favorite division in action on the Thompson Speedway high banks.

 Practice for all divisions went off on Friday, with qualifying set for Saturday along with some feature events, including the Valenti Modified Racing Series.The remainder of the features will go off on Sunday, with action on the track at just about every time of the day. When there are not cars on the track, it’s likely spectators will find themselves in the middle of a celebration somewhere on the campgrounds, where fans flock together to celebrate the end of the racing season on the high banks.

 “I’ve been going to the World Series since I was a little kid,” Whelen Modified Tour driver Matt Swanson said. “My dad used to own Super Late Models, and we used to go every year. It’s just really cool to be a part of the weekend as a driver and see all the fans that come out just to take in this one event. All of the people come from all over the country just to go to the World Series.”

Swanson drives the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour No. 3 car for team owner Mike Boehler of Freetown. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will perform at Thompson on Sunday in the late afternoon

 The American Canadian Tour, a well-established Late Model series operating in New England and Canada, is back again as the headliner for Saturday night. ACT brings its championship battle to World Series weekend for a 75-lap event that will put invading stars up against track regulars. There is truly nothing like local experience, and with stars of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series ready to give ACT regulars a run for their money, the race is guaranteed to be a fan favorite.

 In the touring series category, multiple New England divisions will flock to Thompson for action on Saturday night. The Street Stock Showdown Series, North East Mini Stock Tour and the Exit Realty Pro Truck Challenge are all on the schedule, giving fans plenty of variety for the value of their general admission ticket. Drivers will flock to Thompson all the way from Maine and farther to compete.

 Modifieds the Valenti Modified Racing Series are scheduled for Saturday. The VMRS races at Thompson are another showcase example of regulars up against invading stars. Even though Thompson doesn’t run Tour-Type Modifieds on a regular basis, most of the drivers in the field have some background at Thompson, whether it be in the Sunoco Modifieds or NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

 Though action on Saturday will roll late into the night, fans won’t be sleeping much before they are back in the stands. Sunday's action gets underway at noon with the winged warriors of the ISMA Super Modifieds tuning up their rides for action. Following pre-race ceremonies, the Sunoco Modifieds kick-off their battle with the championship event for the Whelen All-American Series division. Keith Rocco enters the weekend looking to seal another championship, and it won’t take him much since he enters with a 48-point lead. He will just about finish it by just taking the green. The veteran Modified racer will look to add to his already impressive resume.

 Rocco has challengers such as Troy Talman, Kyle James, Woody Pitkat and NASCAR’s UNOH Youth Achievement national champion, Marcello Rufrano, ready to breathe down his neck chasing the checkered flag.

 Fans will find themselves on the edge of their seats with the 20-lap Limited Sportsman division feature race. While the Sportsman provides some of the best short-track action in New England, the division is known for battles that bring the race for the win down to the final corner, and sometimes down to the final few feet. Shawn Monahan, who leads by 43 points entering the weekend, is looking to earn his second consecutive crown.

 The warriors of ISMA Super Modifieds come into the weekend ready to go full throttle, giving fans another open-wheel winged division to watch. At full speed, midgets flying around Thompson through the high banks are certainly going to be a site for every fan to see. Following ISMA, another winged division, the NEMA Lites, will compete in a 20-lap event.

 The weekend comes to a close on Sunday with the 56th annual Sunoco World Series 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, the 16th and final race of their season. Although Justin Bonsignore has already sealed the championship entering the finale, he will be looking for the clean sweep of Thompson’s 2018 events. With the largest car count of the season expected, and pit strategy playing a major factor in the winner, fans are not going to want to leave early

 Richard Savary of Canton will be among the VMRS field for Saturday's action at Thompson. Savary pickled up a third place in last weekend's VMRS race at the Lee USA Speedway in southern New Hampshire. The event was called, due to rain, some 10 laps short of the race distance.

SuperMoto in Brockton: Another SuperMoto is set for the Brockton Fairgrounds next weekend (Oct. 20-21). ATV racing plus motorcycle practice goes Saturday while the SuperMoto goes off on Sunday afternoon. We got a look at the 2019 Supercross calendar and the late April event at Gillette Stadium was not listed. The Supercross continues to have an on-and-off again love affair with the Foxboro venue.We think that it has a lot to do with the costs to moving the dirt in and packing it down and then removing it.

Information for this column came from press releases and personal notes