THOMPSON – It was a familiar name in victory lane when it comes to ISMA SuperModified action at the Sunoco World Series at Thompson Speedway Sunday.
The name in third place was also familiar to local fans, but a brand new face on a SuperModified podium.
For the second consecutive year Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford scored victory in the 50-lap ISMA SuperModified feature, an annual highlight of World Series Sunday at Thompson.
Chris Perley of Rowley, Mass. was second.
Modified racing standout Ronnie Williams of Tolland rounded out the podium with a third place in his ISMA SuperModified debut.
McKennedy passed Perley for the lead with about 10 laps remaining in the 50-lap feature.
“I knew when Chris Perley was driving that car [leading] it wasn’t going to be easy,” McKennedy said. “… I was just going as hard as I could there to get him.”
Before Saturday Williams had never turned a lap in a SuperModified anywhere.
“It was a lot of fun,” Williams said. “It’s just a lot different than the normal Modified stuff here with spotters. You don’t know who’s behind you. To go out and finish third next to McKennedy and Perley, I’ll take that. I can’t thank [team owner] Howie Lane enough for letting me do that.
“It just seems like you can send it in a lot better [into the corners] and it’s going stick. I just drive the [SK Modified] the same and the Open and [Whelen Modified Tour] car like that. You drive them all the same, it’s just that the SuperModified is two seconds faster [a lap].”
ISMA SUPERMODIFIEDS Pos., Start Pos., Driver, Car #, Hometown, Laps 1. Jon McKennedy ( 79 ) Chelmsford, MA , 50 Laps 2. Chris Perley ( 11 ) Rowley, MA , 50 Laps 3. Ronnie Williams ( 97 ) Ellington, CT , 50 Laps 4. Mike Ordway Jr. ( 61 ) Windham, ME , 50 Laps 5. Anthony Nocella ( 9 ) Woburn, MA , 50 Laps 6. Otto Sitterly ( 7 ) Oswego, NY , 50 Laps 7. Ryan Locke ( 37 ) Chester, NH , 50 Laps 8. Daniel Connors ( 01 ) Oswego, NY , 50 Laps 9. Kyle Edwards ( 1E ) Bartlett, TN , 49 Laps 10. David Danzer ( 52 ) Oswego, NY , 49 Laps 11. Dan Bowes ( 25 ) Byfield, MA , 49 Laps 12. Joey Payne ( 14 ) Fairlawn, NJ , 48 Laps 13. Bobby Timmons ( 13 ) Windham, ME , 27 Laps 14. Dave Duggan ( 51 ) Milford, NH , 26 Laps 15. Ben Seitz ( 32 ) Bourne, MA , 4 Laps 16. A.J. Lesiecki ( 88 ) Perrysburg, OH , 4 Laps Lap Leaders: Chris Perley, 1-40; Jon McKennedy, 41-50. (1 lead change among 2 drivers) Time of Race: 19 minutes, 3 seconds Margin of Victory: 2.065 seconds Cautions: 1 (lap 4) Heat Winners: Kyle Edwards, Chris Perley
Congrats to Jon McKennedy for the Super modified win. A huge shout to Ronnie Williams. A podium finish first time out, great job.