Thursday
Thunder - Thompson - 6/4
A Win for Derek
Derek found his way back to Victory Lane
Thursday night at Thompson Speedway. The #35
Super Late Model took the green deep in the
field for the feature race. Derek took his time,
showing the patience of a seasoned veteran as he
picked off the cars one by one. Derek was
exceptional on restarts as he overtook the
leader. The race ended with a
green/white/checker restart, Derek leading the
field and crossing the finish line first,
bringing the Ramstrom Racing Team to Victory
Lane for the first time this season.
Derek dedicated this win to a good friend of the
team, Frank Belsito, who passed away recently.
This Thursday, June 11, is West Boylston night
at Thompson Speedway. Derek and the team are
giving free tickets to any West Boylston
Student. Derek will have his car on the midway
during the evening, signing autographs. We will
have T shirts, hats and stickers available for
purchase.
Please visit
www.thompsonspeedway.com or call
774-696-1993.
The team will be headed north to Canada on
Saturday, June 13th for the next PASS race!
Thompson Website Race Story: Derek Ramstrom of
Worcester, MA, entertained with an impressive
run to the Super Late Model checkers. Fred Astle,
Jr. held on to the lead; holding back the
charges of a hungry Jeff Connors. A bobble by
Astle on lap six opened the door for Connors and
a host of other drivers. Astle slipped back to
the tail-end of the top ten.
Steve Desmarais was holding strong in second
while Dave Silvia, Marc Curtis, and Ramstrom
jockeyed for position. Contact between Silvia,
Curtis and Ramstrom gave Norm Wrenn some running
room inside the top five. Connors maintained his
lead over Desmarais and Silvia.
The first caution flew on lap 17. During the
short green flag run, Ramstrom had begun his
mark to the front. By the time the caution flew
again, he was second. With ten laps to go,
Ramstrom caught Connors. Wrenn, Desmarais and
Macedonio were three-wide for third.
Ramstrom meanwhile got
alongside Connors. He settled back in line only
to make another run with five laps remaining. On
lap 25, Ramstrom drove by Connors and into the
lead. Once out front, Ramstrom immediately began
to distance himself from the field.
A last caution for a spin by the Curtis set up a
green/white/checker restart. Ramstrom, unfazed
by the restart, cruised to the checkers for his
first win of the season. Connors settled for
second over Wrenn. Mike O’Sullivan and Les Rose,
Jr. completed the top five.
Super Late Model Feature Finish 30-Lap Feature
(Top-Ten) Finish:
1. Derek Ramstrom, Worcester,
MA; 2. Jeff Connors, Ellington, CT;
3. Norm Wrenn, Nashua, NH; 4. Mike O’Sullivan,
Springfield, MA;
5. Les Rose, Jr. Southbridge,
MA; 6. Dave Silvia, Warwick, RI;
7. Steve Desmarais, Westport, MA; 8. Jay Macedonio,
Somerset, MA;
9. Jeff Zuidema, N. Brookfield,
10. Jim Banfield, S. Glastonbury, CT.
Points Standings:
1 - 1m - NORMAN WRENN - 146
2 - 35 - DEREK
RAMSTROM - 142
3 - 62 - LESLIE ROSE, JR - 132
4 - 08 - MIKE O'SULLIVAN - 130
5 - 51 - JEFF CONNORS - 118
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Thursday
Thunder - Thompson - 5/28
Rained Out |
White Mountain Motorsport
Park
Saturday, May 23rd - 4 PM
DEREK 2nd!
-2nd-Derek-.jpg)
| Battling to
the front from a 15th place starting spot, Derek
raced with the #4 of Ben Rowe who moved into
first and held Derek off for the last fifteen
laps. Travis Benjamin had been flying in the
lead, but a tangle with Rowe on lap 135 saw
Benjamin's #17 spun into the infield. Richie
Dearborn took 3rd in his #33. |
51 Leftovers: PASS North at White Mountain
By Mike Twist
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RAMSTROM FINDS HIMSELF A
RUNNER-UP FINISH
Besides race winner Ben
Rowe, there were plenty of other drivers who
appeared to have very quick racecars at White
Mountain - Kelly Moore, Travis Benjamin, Cassius
Clark and Tony Ricci, just to name a few. But
all of those guys had trouble pop up during the
race, and as they say, to finish first (or
second), you must first finish.
Derek Ramstrom stayed out of trouble all race
long, and while he might not have appeared to
have as quick of a car, he did survive to finish
in the second spot.
“It was pretty crazy,” said Ramstrom. “I started
in the back and had some luck in the beginning.
I worked my way up to the front and had fun…a
lot of fun.”
Shadowing Ben Rowe, a master of White Mountain
who has now won a total of eight PASS North
races there, was a good experience for Ramstrom
in the closing laps.
“I can watch his style and how he drives it in
and drives off,” said Ramstrom. “I can just kind
of learn his moves.”
Ramstrom now sits third in the PASS North
standings.
“We've been trying to maintain top fives and top
tens. Other than Unity, we've been going pretty
good.”
Two days before the White Mountain race,
Ramstrom also captured a podium finish in the
Super Late Model feature at Thompson
International Speedway (CT).
“That's good too. We didn't wreck the car and
had two good finishes this week. We've got a
good team and everyone's working hard, so that
is working well this season.”
But as nice as podium finishes are, there is one
thing that Ramstrom would much prefer.
“We just want to get some wins. That's what is
next.” |
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Thursday, May 21st
First Thursday Night Thunder Show
3rd Place Finish - 2nd in Points Standings
Thompson Speedway began
TNT, Thursday Night Thunder and Derek finished
the race with class and determination. Derek
started his heat race deep in the field and was
boxed in and was unable to get a decent finish,
relegating him to a middle of the pack for the
start for the Super Late Model feature race.
The green waved on the feature and the #35
Ramstrom Racing Machine made quick work of
picking off the cars in front of him. After a
couple of cautions Derek found himself trying to
take down the leader, Les Rose. Derek was racing
for the lead when he was run out of room coming
out of turn two and spun into the infield. Derek
did a great job getting control and causing no
damage to either himself or anyone else in the
field. Derek had to start at the rear of the
field, with about 20 laps left in the 30 lap
feature race.
Derek methodically picked off the cars in front
of him, putting on a show racing Jeff Zuidema
for many laps, looking like their cars were
superglued together for several laps. Derek
brought home the #35 car in third place, a
finished he and the entire team were extremely
happy about. Derek is second in points at
Thompson, just eight points out of first. |
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UNITY RACEWAY - SAT. MAY
16TH
PASS NORTH 150
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11th for Derek at Unity Raceway |
The draw for last in the
third heat left Derek with a poor heat finish
and a a back of the field starting spot for the
feature.
Early race action saw the #35 pick up a few
spots to settle into 13th. But the handling of
the #35 was off and Derek just couldn't make
much headway. An 11th was the final result
in a quick race that only had
four cautions. |
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51 Leftovers: PASS North at Beech Ridge
Staples, Shaw, Moore,
Bates,
Ramstrom,
& More
By Mike Twist |
Derek in the Speed51
Short Track Draft
2009 HERE |
Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway - Sat. May 2nd
The PASS 150 |
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5th for Derek at Beech Ridge |
The Ramstrom Team headed
north on Saturday for the second PASS race of
the season. Beech Ridge is a track that Derek
really enjoys racing at and generally does very
well. Derek was pleased with the car right off
the hauler and the team made minimal adjustments
during the practice rounds. Derek won his heat
race and was ready for the 150 Lap feature.
Derek started outside pole, with Matt Fraham on
the point. Derek got an excellent start and took
off when the green flag waved. Derek had a
commanding lead, no one was near him for the
first fifty laps. On the restart Derek had some
fierce competition from Cassius Clark. The two
cars battled for position and finally Clark took
the spot away. The #35 machine began to tighten
a bit but Derek never fell below the fifth
position the entire 150 lap race. Derek battled
on the last lap with the #60 machine of DJ Shaw
for the forth position but Shaw got him by a
nose racing to the checkers. Derek finished 5th,
an outstanding run.
Derek is in the 5th position in the fierce
battle for the PASS North point chase. Only four
points separate Derek from points leader,
Cassius Clark.
The next race for the Ramstrom Racing team will
be a PASS North race at Unity Raceway on May
16th. Thompson begins it’s weekly series on
Thursday, May 21st.
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Speed51 Trackside Now Report HERE
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Race Finishing Order at PASS HERE
Derek posted
fast lap of the race at a 15.247 |
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Derek
6th at Speedway 95 |
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Race finishing order at PASS Here |
PASS PRESS RELEASE -
Hermon ME (April 19) Johnny Clark fired his Car
Crushing/Port City Race Cars Impala SS under
Richie Dearborn and Cassius Clark on lap 136 of
Sunday’s Pro All Stars Series (PASS) NAPA 150 to
take the opening day win at Speedway 95 in
Hermon ME. Clark got into Dearborn on the
backstretch in a side by side battle for the
lead and Dearborn dropped his right rear off the
backstretch, slipping back to fourth at the
finish after leading much of the day. Cassius
Clark raced back from an early race incident to
capture second place. Chubbuck came home third
after running up front all day . Dearborn and
Adam Bates rounded out the top five.
The defending PASS North Champion beat Cassius
Clark to the stripe by .389 seconds.
Derek Ramstrom,
Chris Staples, John Flemming, Ben Rowe and
Donnie Whitten raced home sixth thru tenth.
Fifteen cars finished on the lead lap.
Dearborn, Ramstrom
and Cassius Clark each earned heat race wins.
Derek started in fourth in the heat and moved
almost immediately into the lead for an easy win
and a front row start in the feature.
Cassius snatched the lead away from pole sitter
Dearborn on lap six but Kelly Moore's NAPA Chevy
was charging and it looked like he might have
something for Clark. They battled tooth and nail
for several laps before the pair got together,
spinning out of the top two spots on lap fifty
six. Clark fell back to thirteenth and Moore
restarted fourteenth. Scott Chubbuck was the
beneficiary, restarting in the lead, but
Dearborn and Chris Staples soon made their way
by. Those three ran nose to tail at the halfway
mark, with Johnny Clark fourth and Ramstrom
fifth. Staples had a great run going, keeping
the pressure on Dearborn and battling back and
forth with Chubbuck for the second spot.
With twenty five to go Cassius Clark had
recovered from his early spin and looked like he
was ready to challenge Dearborn for the win;
Johnny Clark worked his way up to third and
local hero Scott Alexander was running a fine
fourth as Staples faded back from the lead pack.
Alexander’s day would eventually end in the
tires off turn four with the finish line in his
sights.
It all came to a head on a lap 136 restart and
Johnny Clark showed his hand, clashing with
Dearborn to grab the lead. Despite Cassius'best
efforts to run him down, it was Johnny at the
checkers by two car lengths. |
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PASS NAPA 150 at
Speedway 95 |
Naples ME (April 14)
The Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North season
kicks off Sunday April 19th at Speedway 95 in
Hermon Maine with the NAPA 150 and fans of the
fastest full fender short track series in the
east are asking themselves, “can Ben Rowe Rowe
score three PASS super late model wins in a row
and lead the points in all three title chases?”
It will be no easy task, but the four time PASS
North champion is definitely on an early season
roll. With PASS South wins at Dillon (SC) Motor
Speedway and Hickory (NC) Motor Speedway already
under his belt, Rowe leads both the PASS South
and National Championship title chases. A win in
the NAPA 150 and a good run in his qualifying
race could put Rowe on top of the North Series
points as well, a feat never accomplished since
PASS started the South super late model series
in 2006.
Rowe will have his hands full with a strong
field of super late models that will include
defending PASS North champ Johnny Clark, 2008
race winners Travis Benjamin, Adam Bates, Derek
Ramstrom and 2008 PASS Rookie of the Year D.J.
Shaw, Scott Chubbuck, Kelly Moore and a host of
new talent including Steve Legendre and John
Dabrowski.
If licensed drivers are any indication, the PASS
Sportsman and Mod divisions should see their
ranks grow in 2009. Many of the top guns in the
Sportsman class are back on board for 2009,
including Steve Bennett Sr., 2008 Rookie of the
Year Kyle Hart, Mike Landry, Duane Seekins,
Shane Tatro and many more. New names and
veterans dot the Mod list, including Greg Ellis,
Scott McDaniel, Steve Bennett Jr. and Dan Somes.
The Mods “move up” to 10 inch tires this season,
and the quick, economical class should be even
more exciting in 2009.
- NAPA Two for
One Discount Coupon:
2 Adult Tickets for $10.00 each!
If you’ve made it this far, you’re in for an
additional treat! NAPA will be offering a Two
for One discount coupon, valid exclusively at
the NAPA 150 at Speedway 95 this Sunday, and for
the Father’s Day weekend (6/21) race at Unity
Raceway. The two for one coupon brings the price
of two adult tickets down to $10.00 each.
“We felt it was an opportune time to give back
to the fans that have supported PASS in the
North for nine seasons now,” said series
President Tom Mayberry, “ and with the
cooperation of NAPA we are able to offer this
coupon for these two events. “ The Two for One
coupon will be available in Bangor area NAPA
stores late this week.
PASS North goes green for
the first time in 2009 at Speedway 95 on Sunday
April 19th at 2:00 PM sharp. |
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Norm Wrenn
scored a comfortable victory in the Super
Late Model feature at Thompson. Mike O'Sullivan
barely held off
Derek Ramstrom
for second place, while George Bessette finished
fourth. The
race for the lead had been fierce, but clean.
At one point, the battle for that position was
three-wide.
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The Ramstrom Racing Team would
especially like to thank
our sponsor for the weekend:
.
John Walker,
President of
ALUMI-NEX MOLD Inc.
.
Thanks for his support of this
important
beginning of the 2009 Season.
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Jamie Williams Photos |
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Sunday, April 5,2009
The 2009 racing season has finally kicked off
with the Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway in
Thompson, CT. Derek has been shaking the #35
Super Late Model down for a couple of weeks and
was ready for the season opener.
Saturday brought freezing temperatures but
spirits were hot when Derek took the track for
qualifying. He ran great and finished third,
putting him in the 5th starting spot for the
feature race on Sunday.
Sunday was a much sunnier and slightly warmer
day and Derek was psyched to be back in the car
for the feature race. The #35 started 5th on the
grid. Derek was smooth and patient, letting the
leaders battle it out. At about lap 15 Derek
worked his way into the 3rd spot and began
chasing down Mike O’Sullivan and Norm Wrenn. His
car seemed a bit loose in the corners and he
just didn’t have enough to catch the leaders,
relegating him to a third place finish. When
Derek was congratulated after the race his only
comment was “That was fun!”.
The next event for Derek and the Ramstrom Racing
Team is the season opener for PASS. This race is
scheduled for April 19th at Speedway 95 in
Bangor, ME.
Thompson Speedway is off until they kick off
their “Thursday Night Thunder” series on May
21st. |
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