On Sept. 10, 2017 Ted Christopher won the first of two SK Modified features on the card that day at Thompson Speedway. It was the 99th career victory at Thompson Speedway for Christopher and ultimately proved to be his last visit to victory lane. Christopher was killed in a plane crash while flying to a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event on Sept. 16, 2017.
Republished from RaceDayCT on Sept. 10, 2017
THOMPSON – The Thompson Speedway record book won’t show a victory for SK Modified driver Todd Owen Sunday at the track.
But at the end of the day Sunday it was Owen and his team walking away with the big trophy and the bigger purse check than everybody else.
Owen used three solid finishes to capture the overall victory of Thompson Speedway’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified 20/20 Sprint Sunday.
Owen, of Somers, finished second in the first 20-lap feature and third in the second 20-lap feature. In the final 10-lap shootout Owen finished second to Troy Talman of Oxford, Mass.
“That’s ultimately the race, you’ve got to be there every segment,” Owen said. “… It definitely wasn’t a car that shouldn’t have been up front to contend. We had to start in the back [in the first two events], so I’m real happy with the way it ran. It was just an awesome day for us for sure.”
Woody Pitkat of Stafford was third in the final shootout segment. Talman led every lap of the shootout portion.
It proved to a successful but demanding 24-hour stretch for Owen, his team and his SK Modified.
Owen finished second to Keith Rocco in the 35-lap SK Modified feature Saturday night at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl and then went back to the shop after the event to prepare the same car to run at Thompson.
“We ran it back last night and changed the rear [end] and got done about 1:30 in the morning and got here this morning,” Owen said. “It’s just great to see all of my guys, they’re their asses off for me. They all work hard and we’re having a good time.”
Ted Christopher of Plainville got his 99th career victory overall at Thompson in the first 20-lap SK Modified feature of the day.
Owen went by Talman for the lead on lap 13 of the first event. On lap 19 Christopher got under Owen coming off of turn two and took the lead for good into turn three.
“It was fun,” Christopher said. “It’s been a while since we had an SK [Modified] win here. … We had a really good car today. It’s the second time I’ve driven it and I can’t wait to race the rest.”
“The rest” proved not so good for Christopher as he went stalking win No. 100 in the second feature. On lap 16 of the second feature Christopher moved into second past Ryan Preece. But on lap 17 restart Christopher looked more like a pinball coming off of turn two, getting bounced into the wall in a scrum near the front. The end result was Christopher’s car going airborne on a hard hit into turn three.
Keith Rocco of Wallingford went on to win the second 20-lap feature with Preece, of Berlin, finishing second.
“It’s tough,” Rocco said. “It’s pretty much impossible to drive away unless you’ve got a car that’s about a half a second faster.”
Thanks for that look back in time Shawn. Hard to believe it’s been 3 years already.
Already 3 years…
Great, timeless picture Shawn!