September 15, 2021
Williams Runs it Back for Victory in Tripoint Showdown 75 at Thompson
Acttour.com release
Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com photo
Thompson, CT — Tolland, CT’s Ronnie Williams made it two in a row with the Outlaw Open Modified Series by capturing the Twisted Tea Tripoint Showdown 75 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, September 15. Williams followed a similar script to his Midsummer 75 victory in August by coming on strong late in the going to take home another $5,000 top prize at the final tune-up for the $20,000-to-win Thompson 300.
Thanks to the plus-four they earned in their qualifying heats, Williams and Bethlehem, CT’s Chase Dowling led the field to the green flag. Williams paced the first seven laps in his Casella Racing machine before Dowling muscled inside entering turn two, bringing Chelmsford, MA’s Jon McKennedy along for the ride.
After initially coming back on McKennedy, Williams began to drift back in the field. As he did, McKennedy asserted himself, grabbing the point from Dowling on lap 25. McKennedy then led a four-car breakaway of Dowling, Chris Pasteryak, and Richard Savary.
The race shifted on lap 36 when Russ Hersey came to a halt at the pit road entrance, bringing out the first caution. Every lead lap car except McKennedy headed to the pits with all of them putting on a fresh right rear tire and some also making chassis adjustments. Pasteryak won the race off pit road to restart second with Matt Swanson, Williams, Tyler Barry, and Dowling in tow.
McKennedy’s gamble looked good at first as the field diced for second on the restart, which allowed him to open a big lead. But once they got organized, Williams, Dowling, and Swanson ran McKennedy down. Williams gracefully drove below McKennedy coming into turn three on the 52nd circuit, then parried the crossover attempt to reassume command.
Five laps later, Barry’s Modified went up in smoke to trigger the second caution. McKennedy finally decided to pit, handing the second spot to Dowling with Swanson and Keith Rocco in his rear view mirror. Berlin, CT’s Rocco — who had started the feature at tail after problems in qualifying — grabbed third on the restart and took second from Dowling a couple laps later.
But Rocco had nothing for Williams, whose crew had again made all the right calls. The former Stafford Speedway champion was off into the night, pulling farther and farther away over the final laps and making him an early favorite for the Thompson 300 on October 10.
Dowling put some heat on Rocco down the stretch before settling for third. Swanson and Savary had solid top-five efforts while McKennedy could climb no higher than sixth after his late pit stop. Brett Meservey, Pasteryak, Rob Richardi Jr., and Paul Charette completed the top-10.
Williams Runs it Back for Victory in Tripoint Showdown 75 at Thompson
Acttour.com release
Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com photo
Thompson, CT — Tolland, CT’s Ronnie Williams made it two in a row with the Outlaw Open Modified Series by capturing the Twisted Tea Tripoint Showdown 75 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, September 15. Williams followed a similar script to his Midsummer 75 victory in August by coming on strong late in the going to take home another $5,000 top prize at the final tune-up for the $20,000-to-win Thompson 300.
Thanks to the plus-four they earned in their qualifying heats, Williams and Bethlehem, CT’s Chase Dowling led the field to the green flag. Williams paced the first seven laps in his Casella Racing machine before Dowling muscled inside entering turn two, bringing Chelmsford, MA’s Jon McKennedy along for the ride.
After initially coming back on McKennedy, Williams began to drift back in the field. As he did, McKennedy asserted himself, grabbing the point from Dowling on lap 25. McKennedy then led a four-car breakaway of Dowling, Chris Pasteryak, and Richard Savary.
The race shifted on lap 36 when Russ Hersey came to a halt at the pit road entrance, bringing out the first caution. Every lead lap car except McKennedy headed to the pits with all of them putting on a fresh right rear tire and some also making chassis adjustments. Pasteryak won the race off pit road to restart second with Matt Swanson, Williams, Tyler Barry, and Dowling in tow.
McKennedy’s gamble looked good at first as the field diced for second on the restart, which allowed him to open a big lead. But once they got organized, Williams, Dowling, and Swanson ran McKennedy down. Williams gracefully drove below McKennedy coming into turn three on the 52nd circuit, then parried the crossover attempt to reassume command.
Five laps later, Barry’s Modified went up in smoke to trigger the second caution. McKennedy finally decided to pit, handing the second spot to Dowling with Swanson and Keith Rocco in his rear view mirror. Berlin, CT’s Rocco — who had started the feature at tail after problems in qualifying — grabbed third on the restart and took second from Dowling a couple laps later.
But Rocco had nothing for Williams, whose crew had again made all the right calls. The former Stafford Speedway champion was off into the night, pulling farther and farther away over the final laps and making him an early favorite for the Thompson 300 on October 10.
Dowling put some heat on Rocco down the stretch before settling for third. Swanson and Savary had solid top-five efforts while McKennedy could climb no higher than sixth after his late pit stop. Brett Meservey, Pasteryak, Rob Richardi Jr., and Paul Charette completed the top-10.
