Thompson Speedway is not a track where Ronnie Williams has had a massive amount of success racing, but the Tolland driver is changing that fact quickly in 2021.
On Aug. 11 Williams rallied to win to the Truly Lemonade Midsummer Classic 75 Outlaw Open Modified event at Thompson Speedway.
Wednesday the Tolland driver started a streak.
Williams made it consecutive victories at Thompson in driving away from the field late to win the Twisted Tea Tripoint 75 Outlaw Open Modified feature Wednesday at Thompson.
Williams credited the efforts of his Gary Casella owned team for the win.
“It’s unbelievable,” Williams said. “It’s crazy how much speed you can carry through the corner. … The motor definitely helps, but having that thing turn through the center and be able to get on it better than anyone else definitely helps.”
Keith Rocco of Wallingford was second and Chase Dowling of Roxbury third.
Williams went from fourth to second on a lap 36 restart and then go by Jon McKennedy for the top spot on lap 54. From there the field was left fighting for second place.
Rocco ended up passing Dowling for second place with 15 laps remaining. By then Williams was long disappeared out front.
Dowling said he was at the track readying for the Oct. 10 Thompson 300.
“Just getting ready,” Dowling said. “I know when we come back we’re going to need about another 100 horsepower to keep up with that 25 car. But we don’t make excuses. We’re going to come back for that 300 and hopefully get a few more spots.”
How many cars tonight?
Rob,
19 cars started the feature event.
congratulations ronnie!
How many SKs in the 19 car field? Weren’t they getting bonus money to start.
Having spent a lifetime at races listening to announcers as cars roared around the track it strikes me how difficult it is to announce races now that streaming is a big deal. Unlike before fans can hear every word that’s said.
Last night Buckler referred to the CBYD bonus Dowling had won but couldn’t remember to say it was Stafford/Tri Track specific and framed it generically. Around lap 24 he was busy with lap differentials as McKennedy was stalking Dowling and completely missed the fact the 79 had already completed the pass with Falconi making the low key save. About the same time he referred to Dave Etheridge as usually being atop the leader board at Thompson as he was running 11th. True Etheridge came in 7th at last years World Series but this was his only race at Thompson this year and he was not on the leader board when the NWMT was the premier race at Thompson so what was he referring to? It’s just not like it used to be. If you’re announcing races now you really have to be on your game. It has to be tough over several hours and multiple races but maybe it’s like running a long race. You need to conserve so you have something left in the tank to call the headline feature event.
Any Pete Falconi fans out there? Good news he’s going in the NEAR Hall of Fame. Not that familiar with his body of work I’ll assume it’s well deserved but I’d ask why Buckler is still on the outside looking in. His calls are more like fingernails on a blackboard for me but geez Louise he’s been a workhorse at three tracks in Connecticut forever and has done it all from pit reporting to his web show Stories from Victory Lane. Including being the MC at Falconi’s induction ceremony.
So what is the purpose of victory lane interviews? Get driver recognition? Let them express themselves individually? Connect with the fans by giving them insights on what struck them as important in the race they just ran? Give them a chance to mention their sponsors or all of the above? Do they even care about doing victory lane interviews?
Ronnie Williams gets a B+. He mentioned the importance of handling through the corners, Eddie Partridge and another loss in his life. Didn’t single out Gary Casella specifically. The guy responsible for delivering that terrific red 25 that seems to always be competitive wherever it goes and whom ever drives it and has hit on something really good at Thompson.
Dowling gets a C-. Come on Chase you’ve been doing this a long time. A snarky reference to needing 100 more horsepower to compete with the 25 may be a valid point but you don’t say it then say no excuses. Your race was with Rocco at the end and basically you lost that one so an insight as to why that was the case should have been mentioned.
Rocco gets an F. At his best a surly cauldron of insecurity and arrogance but now completely disengaged. Could have cared less about the second place interview and went right into a robotic thanks to sponsors cutting off any hint of an insight to the specific race. Notable because he did the exact same thing at Stafford the week before. Got it Mr. Rocco. fans are stupid, a necessary evil to you enjoying winning races but if it’s only a minute or two so what’s the harm in throwing us a bone and at least pretending to care. Next time just flash the middle finger it’s amounts to about the same thing.
All three Williams, Rocco and Dowling have each enjoyed tremendous success. The impression they leave in victory lane is that each is so jaded at this point it’s just one last chore to get done as quickly as possible.
Congrats to everyone involved in last night’s Thompson show. Solid racing, well run and done by 9:30. Great job by the ACT and PASS promoters who have taken all the risk to make this work at what I think is the best rack in the Northeast for the all classes of racing. Special thanks to Chris Michaud and Tom Mayberry who have re-upped for 2022. If fans want to continue to enjoy quality racing at a track which provides good shows, please buy a ticket and support one or more events. If we as fans lose this for lack of support, we have nowhere to look but ourselves. Grab a friend and go racing!
you cant find the results of this race anywhere to see where all drivers placed.thompson website gives local div results but not this race,they coud fix that.
Francis Hammel,
The results of every race Wednesday night can be found on this page: Thompson Results Page 2021. The results of every feature run at Thompson Speedway in 2021 can be found if you click that link. Also, the Casagrande Builders RaceDayCT Result page is updated live with top-10 results from each feature during events covered by this website.
found it,thanks.
Good comment Bruce. I hope to get to the World Series. I was seeking information on it last week and couldnt find a day by day schedule or pricing yet. Did they mention anything last night? I am wondering if they are going to do separate admission for each day like they did for the Ice breaker.. I think they did that due to Covid crowd restrictions which I dont think are in place now so it will be interesting to see what direction they go.
I noticed Stafford isnt running tomorrow night. I know they used to take the week off before the Fall final weekend off but I thought they changed that the last few years. Weather doesnt look great anyway. Tomorrow will be the 4th anniversary of TC’s passing,. I think it would have been a great opportunity to memorialize TC with a special event at the track. They do the TC 13 lap shoot out which is great but I would love to see a 113 lap race or a race with a lap count of his total Stafford wins 131.. If that is too many laps do total SK wins 109 laps. .Last night, I finally was able to get through the Youtube documentary on TC. It was well done, just tough to get though. If you are local racing fan, and you are if you are here, please try to watch it. They interviewed Shaun, a bunch of racers and TC’s family is for it. There is so much great stuff in there. I wasnt the biggest TC fan, in fact I rooted against him just because I had some good friends that unrelentingly cheered for him. I had to take the other side, Well after watching that documentary, they were right and I was wrong everyone who wasnt racing against him should have been cheering for him. He was a really great person. I watched TC where ever he was on the track because something was going to happen around him. He was the show/ The documentary does a great job covering his racing accolades and his life off the track. There are a lot of great stories and information I didnt know about him. Its worth watching especially around the anniversary of his passing.
Has anyone out there ever experienced being on a live microphone in front of a live audience or on live camera giving an interview under abnormal circumstances?
Let’s set the stage. A local grass roots driver just finished a 100 lap race inside of a 100 plus degree car for what seems to be forever. It’s 90 degrees out with 70 percent humidity. They have been battling all day or night for every spot they can get. The driver is dressed in a fully encapsulated fire suit, gloves, nomex hood, helmet, sweating like a pig. Hasn’t had a drop of fluid to drink, adrenaline running through them, doesn’t have time to catch their breath and collect their thoughts. Then almost immediately, someone is shoving a live microphone in their face with everyone watching wanting an interview. They don’t know what to expect for questions and the interviewer wants immediate gratification. They have to be quick on their feet to respond and hope it comes out correctly. And we are going to grade them on how they respond?
Have you ever noticed that the Q&A’s in a racing victory lane ceremony are pretty much cookie cutter? Wouldn’t you think drivers become robots after hearing the same-ole every time? Who are we to grade anyone how they respond? People have their own personality and react differently.
Then we have the announcer. I tune them out and concentrate on the racing action. That’s what I am there for not to grade the announcer on what they say.
Is there any thing else we can criticize?
How about just thank God we have the opportunity to witness great racing action.
BTW, Bruce I agree with your post.
Bring on the Thompson 300!
Buckler and Falconi frequently referenced the tires (plural) that McKennedy was sure to change on his eventual pit stop. However, it was clear that only one new tire was allowed. I don’t mind the “grenading his way into the lead” comments, but I like to know key info like the number of new tires allowed during the race.
I believe Dowling swapped the left side tires then changed the right rear that I thought was a terrific strategy but apparently not good enough.
I think it’s a fair to critique announcers. They are paid professionals and in many cases with decades of experience. Fair if you sight the specific instances which I did. Not fair to do generic hit bits just for sport.
Drivers in victory lane not fair to grade. They are amateurs and unless we’re part owner of their car or sponsoring them the typical fan has no standing with them in any regard. They’re doing the interviews based on track requirements or to advance their standing or that of their sponsors but have no obligation to try to do it well.
That said I don’t buy the notion they’re all hot and tired as an excuse. Especially the more experienced ones like the three from the tour mods on the podium last night.
I am a fan of what drivers say in victory lane it’s a window into their character. It’s a stressful time but also a moment to bask in the sun of accomplishment. An accomplishment relatively few drivers get to experience when you consider the totality of every participant in motorsports. If they are jaded or bored and squandering the moment then why is it fair to mention their driving errors that we do all the time in this forum and not their fan interaction failures when they know better?
I think I will grade drivers podium appearances from time to time mainly because many do it so well and what’s the harm in recognizing it. Conversely if a driver basically is saying screw you like Rocco did last Friday and yesterday I’m sure he could care less about what some nobody is giving him for a grade.