Thompson Local Divisions Ready To Break The Ice And Kickstart 2022 Season


(Press Release from American-Canadian Tour)


Larry Barnett begins defense of his 2021 Limited Sportsman division championship this weekend at Thompson Speedway (Photo: Jim DuPont/RaceDayCT)

The five Thompson Speedway local divisions are ready to roll into the 48th Icebreaker weekend this Saturday, with optional practice on Friday. Everyone coming to the ‘Big-T’ is searching for glory in New England’s opening event and chomping at the bit to start their year off on a high note. 

Modified legend Keith Rocco leads his fellow Sunoco Modified drivers onto the track for their first feature of the year this Saturday. ‘Kid Roc’ will again face off against the young Mike Christopher, Jr. while perennial Thompson Sunoco Modified stars Troy Talman, Jonathan Puleo and John Lowinski-Low look to steal a little glory in the coming year. Sunoco World Series Triple Crown Champion Todd Owen is also expected to start his season at the Icebreaker and face-off with foes Rocco and Christopher, Jr for the top spot. 

While 2021 Late Model Champion Ryan Morgan is ready to defend his title, Tom Carey III might be the biggest player to enter the track for Sunday’s 35 lapper. ‘TC III’ took both the Icebreaker AND Sunoco World Series Late Model victories in 2021 and is well prepared to take his fan-favorite Brookside machine into O’Reilly Auto Parts Victory Lane once again. Both Morgan and Carey will have to face some stiff competition to maintain their 2021 momentum. Stalwarts Woody Pitkat, Brian Tagg, Rick Gentes and Mark Jenison are all expected to put on a show with ACT Late Models across New England welcome to join and open their season early.

The SK Lites are likewise prepared for another year of back-and-forth competition with Anthony Bello taking the division by storm in 2021 with two wins and three second-place finishes in five events. Bello’s closest competitor, 3-time 2021 winner Paul Charette, has indicated he will not be in attendance at the Icebreaker leaving the door open for possible invaders, or allowing Bello to keep at his winning ways in 2022. 

One of the most entertaining divisions, not only at Thompson but across Southern New England, the Limited Sportsman competition is poised to take down ‘Leadfoot’ Larry Barnett. Ryan Waterman is seeking redemption in 2022, keeping tight behind Barnett until his off-color 22nd place finish during October’s Sunoco World Series kept the Danielson, Connecticut driver out of championship contention. Waterman will be joined by the rough and tumble crowd of Corey Fanning, Brent Gleason, Nicholas Hovey and Scott Sundeen in their collective pursuit of ol’ Leadfoot. The Limited Sportsman are not to be missed alongside Sunday’s Icebreaker 125.

The Mini Stocks will also be in tow, starting their 2022 campaign with a 20-lap feature on Saturday. 2021 Champion Jared Roy is ready to battle another season against Russell Barboza and Dave Trudeau in the six events in 2022. Being the first race of the season, it remains to be seen just how many invaders take to the 5/8-mile Thompson highbanks this Saturday. 

Lastly, the Thompson Outlaw Open Modified Series kick-starts their 2022 campaign with the $10,000-to-win Icebreaker 125 on Sunday. Notable drivers like Patrick Emerling, Jonathan McKenney, Ronnie Williams, Chris Pasteryak and Anthony Nocella are all entered for the opening Tour-type Modified event of the Northeast season. Aside from joining the likes of Richie Evans, Jimmy Spencer, Steve Park, Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher AND the $10,000 grand prize, there is also an interesting provisional at stake. 

A Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series provisional for the Granite Capital 100 at Barre, Vermont’s Thunder Road is up for grabs to any Modified driver that takes the Icebreaker green flag, regardless of finishing position. This unique provisional means if a driver starts the Icebreaker 125 they are eligible for the Memorial Day provisional at Thunder Road. This provisional will be awarded on race day to the highest finishing Icebreaker driver who didn’t qualify into the event. 

Like these drivers, we at the American-Canadian Tour and Pro All Stars Series can’t wait to start the New England racing season at Thompson Speedway on Saturday, April 2nd and Sunday, April 3rd. Along with the five Thompson local divisions and the Outlaw Open Modified Icebreaker 125, the weekend will also include PASS Super Late Models, NEMA Lites and the EXIT Realty Pro Truck Series. 

General Admission Combo for both Saturday and Sunday is $60 for adults with ages 12-under $20. Saturday-Only is $30 with 12-under $10 and Sunday-Only is $40 with 12-under $10. 

Pit Admission Combo for both Saturday and Sunday is $75 for adults, 12-under is $40. Single Day Admission, either Saturday-Only or Sunday-Only, is $50 and 12-under for $30. 

For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, [email protected], or visit www.acttour.com. You can also get updates on Facebook and Twitter at @ACTTour.

For technical information concerning all PASS divisions, and for media or marketing questions, please contact [email protected] or visit www.proallstarsseries.com.  Don’t forget to “Like” the Pro All Stars Series on Facebook or follow on Twitter @PASSSLM14 to keep up with breaking news as it happens.

For general Thompson Speedway inquiries, call (860) 923-2280, email [email protected] or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. You can follow Thompson Speedway on Facebook and Instagram at @ThompsonSpeedway or on Twitter at @ThompsonSpdwy.

Comments

  1. Wait for it. Is it coming? The announcement. Icebreaker 2022, the condensed version ala 2021 on Saturday? Went pretty well last year aye?

  2. Joe Trudeau says

    Why is it so difficult to have a entry driver roster for all divisions available?

  3. wmass01013 says

    Because if the rosters are SMALL then people will not show up and pay $60

  4. It’s also kinda difficult to nail down. Very few series at any level put out entry lists these days. More often than not, NWMT will have a withdrawal or an addition. Sometimes they will have several withdraws. An event like icebreaker could have cars dependent on their Richmond result, and for the lower divisions it could depend on any number of reasons to race or not.

    I would rather no entry list than one that ends up being off by several cars. Tri track used to do that fairly often a couple of years ago.

  5. Hillary 2024 says

    It’s not difficult, they just choose not to. What’s the rain date for Sunday?

  6. Joe Trudea, I have never seen an “official entry list” for regular weekly divisions for specific weeks at any track. There might a driver roster, but those are not even exactly accurate. The Stafford SK roster each year will have multiple drivers listed with 2 different numbers because they switch teams around. Then there are drivers who are listed who reserve numbers in the offseason, then never show up for any races during the year. Even with PASS who release an entry list for ever series race they end up not being spot on. That’s because people will wreck\have mechanical issues in a previous week, so they miss a future race they had entered in advance. Then there are drivers who almost never pre-enter a series race and just show up at the track that day.

  7. I’ve never heard that request before. Seeking entry lists for all divisions. Don’t think that’s necessary at all it’s the headline act entry list fans want to see and should see in my view.
    Are we talking about rosters or entry lists they’re two different things.
    With regard to tour modifieds the NWMT, Stafford, Thompson-Act-Pass, Tri Track all have a registration process and all require fees. Generally speaking if a team pays the fee for a specific race or series of races they tend to show up with a few exceptions as noted.
    All tour modified events have entry lists. Stafford once again being the gold standard as they keep their entry list live with information on each team entered you can access any time you like on their web site. Most others provide an entry list at some point I know this because our Pick-ems depend on them.
    Thompson-ACT-Pass does have an entry list. They promote their events right here on RaceDayCt dropping names and talking about their entry lists. They could publish them at some point if they chose to like just about every other promoter. I suspect they have not because at times their entries have been anemic and/or the field of cars slow to fill out.
    I don’t share the sentiment that it’s better to have no list then one with a few cars that decide not to participate. Most fans are looking for the top names or the lack of them.
    Bottom line, it’s a reasonable expectation that if you are going to attend an event promoters should be providing some indication of who you are going to see in the race that gets top billing.
    Ideally it’s a promotional tool. Stafford using it to maximum affect on the Sizzler. If you don’t use it to promote your event the greatest odds are there isn’t much there to fire up the fan base.

  8. what is odd about the lack of entry list for the Thompson open mods is that PASS SLM puts out an entry list for every event. PASS’s owner is one of the promoters involved in running Thompson. At times the PASS list has been kind of short but there was still a list out for every event I have checked. The list might have 10-12 cars but come race day they had around 20 cars. I am guessing there is no pre entry for the Thompson races. I think that may be why they dont put out one. Surprising because the pre entry process allows the tire vendor to bring enough tires to support all the racers. Maybe they have a pre entry list and it is really light on count or name drivers like some speculated.

    Having an entry list based entirely on speculation is worse than no entry list at all. You see some promoters (nationally not locally) putting out lists including drivers that go on social media to say they will not be at the race never intended to race there and have no idea why the promoter thought he would be there. That is an outright lie, you can get away with it once, after that most fans are going to feel duped and avoid supporting your shows.

  9. ” I am guessing there is no pre entry for the Thompson races. ”

    “Entry Form Released For Icebreaker 125 At Thompson Speedway
    February 23, 2022 by RaceDayCT Staff Report ”

    http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/uploads/1/3/2/8/132820123/tsmp22_-_april_2-3_-_icebreaker_125_official_entry.pdf

  10. I am thinking i am incorrect with my assumption. Thanks for the correction. Doug.

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