THOMPSON – Woody Pitkat left the track fuming Sunday following the 25-lap Late Model feature at Thompson Speedway.
Pitkat was knocked out of the lead by Ryan Morgan in the Late Model feature on a green-white-checkered finish.
Then Pitkat funneled that rage against the competition in the SK Modified field.
Pitkat went to the lead on lap six and then held off Keith Rocco and Ronnie Williams on a green-white-checkered to win the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature Sunday at Thompson Speedway.
“I got a raw deal in that Late Model race,” Pitkat said. “… I just was really mad and wanted to win. When I get mad for some reason I race a little harder.”
Williams, of Tolland, was second and Rocco, of Wallingford, third.
It was the second SK Modified victory of this season at Thompson for Pitkat, of Stafford.
“I wanted to win one today really bad because my family was here,” Pitkat said. “They don’t get to come out every time. It’s nice to win when your family’s here.”
Pitkat’s anger ultimately was unneeded. Morgan ended up being disqualified from victory in the Late Model feature for refusing to allow his car to be inspected after the event.
Pitkat went by Todd Owen for the lead on lap six and had checked out from second place Keith Rocco when the caution flew on lap 29.
On the restart Pitkat chose the inside lane, but he was immediately second-guessing himself. In the Late Model feature he had picked the outside for the green-white-checkered finish and got knocked up the track in turn one by Morgan on the inside.
“I was kind of second guessing it because I got cleared out in the Late Model race taking the top,” Pitkat said. “And I won before taking the top with Keith on the bottom. … I just thought that looking who was lined up behind who, I thought [Williams] would be a better pusher than [fourth place Todd Owen] so I just decided to take the bottom.”
On the restart it was Williams that helped Pitkat clear Rocco, but it was also Williams that then went on the attack. Williams got under Pitkat and the pair came to the white flag side-by-side. Pitkat was able to clear Williams off turn of turn two on the final lap.
“I know he’s got a good car here, good power,” Pitkat said. “He gave me a good push to clear Keith.”
It was the second time this season that Pitkat has won both the SK Modified and Late Model feature’s on the same day at Thompson.
“It’s pretty cool to do the double again,” Pitkat said. “Cool enough to do it once, so it’s really cool to do it again.
Dan Avery should put Woody in the 17 at Stafford, and ditch that idiot Reen!
Ryan Morgan is such a loser and a cheater for refusing Tech Inspection post race
Andrew Bombara, Ryan Morgan had nothing to do with declining my tech, he was racing in the sportsman feature and didn’t even know the decision was made to decline tech until after the race. Come to the 31 pit next week and we can talk face to face about the situation rather than bash him here!!! See if you have balls to show your face!!!
Jmorgan? YOUR tech. What exacty does that mean?
I meant the tech……..
“the tech”, obviously it wasn’t my tech, but thanks for the correction.
Thanks for the correction, I meant to say the tech
Thanks for the correction, I meant to say “the tech”……
the tech!
Obviously I didn’t mean to say “my tech”
Meant to say “the”, thanks for the correction
The way I see it when you or your team refuses to go to tech , you pretty much admitted your a cheater or just maybe not that smart
Obviously that’s not what I meant to say……….. If it was mine we would have passed tech, lol This is what Thompson has promoted by not following ACT rules that mandate a FORD to run a restrictor plate on tracks bigger than a 1/2 mile!!!!
The tech
That’s not what I meant to say
Elect. I agree 100%. If you’re not cheating you let them look
No tech no 🏁
Elect, you should be the next president…….
didn’t the tire guys just get a reprieve for improper interpretation of a rule..??? you could have pleaded your case to terry eames.. probably overturn a ruling …let you go as he was a supporter when Ryan ran Waterford
Here we go it’s the Ford’s fault that the 31 refused to give up the carb. Next are we going to hear that the Russians were involved. There has been 3 Ford wins and Four Chevy wins so far. I would think that a normal, reasonable person would think that the division is racing on an equal field based on wins.
StHillare is two faced, he was the biggest cheater when he raced, even admitted it to me after he saw another competitors motors!!
Congratulations Woody on the double, double
You refusing tech has nothing to do with the tech staff, the track or any other oddball theory you decide on.
It’s cheating.
If Mark was cheating when he races I would think that would make him a good tech official because he would have the knowledge of how a cheaters think and would look in different areas of the cars.
Are three Ford wins imbalance in Ford’s favor if the vast majority of cars are Chevy’s?
Hey LM, I’m sure I have more on the ball than you, maybe they are Russian’s!!! I’m sure you have never spent a dime on racing and are another wanna be!!! Racing on a level playing field is what the ACT officials want to see if tracks race by there rules which Thompson doesn’t, the rules states “any track bigger than a 1/2 mile a restrictor plate needs to be run”, talk to ant ACT engine builder and they say the track is wrong by not following the rules of ACT, in which they claim they are following! Again, you too can stop by the 31 trailer and talk in person rather than behind a fake name on a forum!! If you have balls!!!
You didn’t want to talk to me Sunday remember. Lol
I guess what it comes down to is because the fords don’t have a plate on them it caused you to refuse tech or to cheat. Interesting 🤔.
I don’t have a dog in the fight, but as a bystander I have a question to further my own knowledge…
Aren’t the rules published and made available to all competitors before the race, or for that matter, before filing an entry form?
If they are, it really shouldn’t matter whether TSMP exactly follows ACT rules. If not, there are other issues. I understand that many series change rules based on specific tracks, restrictors or or off, pit rules, restarts, tire counts… I don’t see a specific track making a specific rule exception as long as all competitors are aware when entering the event.
Am I missing something? Thanks for any insight.
I’m not seeing the Late model rules on the Thompson web site. Is that something or me not knowing where they are?
Doug,
Try scrolling down on this link.
Doug, you’re right for the public, like me… http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/competitor-info-0 has the Late Model rules missing, but links to documents for other divisions.
I’m asking because I’d assume the published rules are available somewhere, and would be provided to the competitors as they file entries, even if on paper. If not, that’s a pretty big problem if something is different from a published set of rules competitors think they’re following.
Thank you Mr. Courchesne.
Yup there’s the rules. Exceptions to the ACT rules clearly laid out like the spacer plate in Fords.
“iii) Ford Late Model teams are not required to run the mandated ACT restrictor plate. We
reserve the right to institute the ACT mandatory restrictor plate to all Ford competitors at any
time, if competitive balance dictates that TSMP needs to do so for the quality of our racing
product. ”
This fan is with Barry. Why the rhubarb?
Hi everyone it’s me Jason the owner of the 31 I am stating to all the 31 as a team made the wrong decision on Sunday to do something that every team has done themselves therefore we accept the punishment we have received and like in all of our posts in the past on to the next race and further more I as a car owner for over 18 years 275 races and 35 wins 2dq I will take those odds any day Everyone pushes the rules to the limit.
That was refreshing! I’ve always felt cheating was a part of racing and an art form in many ways. You get caught, try to be smarter the next time.
Congrats to Woody for both wins. Have Known Woody for about 35 years, and have watched him mature into one of the best drivers in the northeast. As far as the LM winner not allowing his car to be inspected…CHEETING…once you enter tech the officials have the right to inspect any part of your car…so what else was wrong? The whole restrictor plate story doesn’t give. Just my opinion.
Guess what you are still a LOSER
Shine wow tell me how you really feel lol you can’t bate me I am comfortable in my skinn
WOW. Such anger. Nobody needs that on here man.
I say Shine is an idiot and Jason Glaude is a pretty stand up guy, admitting his error for all to see and read and being a man about it. Using is real name helps too! Hiding behind a fake screen name and insulting people is just cowardly lets be honest.
Rob I think you can read between the lines my first post says it all I don’t think I said anything about the ford issue and for the record I refused tech and they were tech carbs so what does that tell you da
For the record the Morgan team has a valid point of Thompson favoring the higher HP Ford engines in the Late Models by not following ACT rulebook. For the record I am an unaffiliated fan. I enclose the rule from page 6 of their 2019 rule book:
Ford motors must have 1.600” RESTRICTOR PLATE at all ACT events held on tracks of
½ mile or over. Plates will be supplied by ACT Tech on day of race, AND MUST BE
RETURNED TO ACT DAY OF EVENT
So, in other words, ACT OWNS the plates, holds the plates, and distributes and collects the plates at their own events. Weekly Thompson events are NOT ACT events, so they have no access to restrictor plates.Competition at Thompson appears, at least at a quick glance, to be relatively equal. They follow the ACT rulebook, but are NOT an ACT event. What’s the big deal here?
Jason, first off thanks for not hiding behind a screen name. Yes your carb may have been questionable, but I have a sick feeling that there may be more. Once you enter the tech area the officials have the right to look at any piece of the car they want to. Carb being checked, maybe they look at the intake manifold, maybe they don’t. I was involved with a team for the better part of 25 years, and I hold my head high knowing that our car was always 100% legal. Never had to worry about tech. We raced Thompson back when the Stafford and Thompson cars were the same. Only had 1 win at Thompson at the Icebreaker. We actually finished 2nd but tech was tranny’s. The winners was totally illegal ours had rust inside, as we had pulled it from the junkyard, changed the lube and threw it in. The officials actually laughed at it. But, that day we got credited with the win.Point being, keep it legal and have no worries, knowing you beat them fair and square.
Well, there you have it. Can’t run a restrictor plate, if one was never supplied.
Back in the day, Mike Pettit wanted to build a FORD motor for us. Problem was, back then if your motor was a Ford your Chassis also had to be a Ford, along with the body. Keep in mind this was the era when bodies were stock panels. The only full frame Ford was the crown Victoria. So yes we would have had a horsepower advantage, we just couldn’t figure a way to build a competitive chassis.
Rich C , restrictor plates are little more than a simple spacer with holes under the carburator and not a complicated item. They are used to level the playing field when engines of varying horsepower are allowed to race together and are very simple to tech. Thompson claims they follow ACT rules in the Late Models. I guess they must be only the ones they choose to. Currently they are giving the fords an unfair advantage according to the ACT rulebook.
After reading some of these posts I am amazed. If you do not understand how and why restrictor plates are used in racing why do you post foolishness? Must be written by “Beer Stand Racers” who never actually owned or worked on a race car.
Richard Oloff – No Kidding. I didn’t know what a restrictor plate was. Thanks for stating the obvious to me. From the Thompson Rulebook (10.j.iii) “Ford Late Model teams are not required to run the mandated ACT restrictor plate. We reserve the right to institute the ACT mandatory restrictor plate to all Ford competitors at any time, if competitive balance dictates that TSMP needs to do so for the quality of our racing product.”
Again – It is NOT AN ACT EVENT. It does NOT AWARD ACT POINTS. TSMP chooses to follow ACT rules at their events, with modifications. And this isn’t the ONLY modification to the rules that Thompson has chosen to implement. Go look at the rulebook. You might just learn something.
The frustrating part isn’t understanding the spacer plate that pretty much everyone here does I would guess. The Frustrating part is Richard continuing to say that Thompson follows ACT rules. They don’t. If they did they wouldn’t be printing extensive rules and stating specifically where they deviate from the ACT rules as has been stated twice in this thread. If they did that have a link to ACT rules.
Now you can keep saying that Thompson says they follow ACT rules and Thompson may for the most part try to adhere to the majority of the ACT rules but Thompson obviously DOES NOT STRICTLY FOLLOW ACT RULES.
Ok. So you can also say Thompson does not follow the ACT rules because according to ACT rules you have to weigh 2800 but at Thompson you only have to weigh 2770 after qualify according to ACT rules you must weigh 2800 after qualifying but I don’t hear anybody complains about that.
Jason that COMMIT was not for you ,it was for sour grapes of whatever
SORRY