Rally Time: Danny Cates Tops Sunoco Modified Feature At Thompson Speedway 

THOMPSON – Danny Cates would not be denied Wednesday at Thompson Speedway. 

After a bad mid-race restart that cost him the lead, Cates rallied in the late stages to win the 50-lap Thompson Sunoco Modified feature Wednesday at Thompson Speedway. 

It was the first win in the division since 2024 for the Chaplin driver. Cates took home a $5,000 payday for the victory. 

“I mean, the money to me isn’t really, I mean, that goes to the car owner,” Cates said. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had a win here, so that’s pretty cool. Pretty excited about finally getting these guys a win. You know, they work really, really hard.

“With my business and my family, it’s tough for me to be able to help out in the shop as much as I used to, and they pretty much take care of everything and kind of feel like a loser doing that, but they’re awesome guys, and I owe everything to them.” 

Cates took the blame for the bad restart that cost him the top spot on lap 19. 

“It’s my fault for not getting a better restart, but we were able to stay with them,” Cates said. “It’s really tight. With these guys, even when you’re faster, to be able to pass is another thing, and luckily racing with these guys is really fun, because yeah, you’re gonna rough each other up a little bit, but usually we’re gonna make it to the finish line. Some of the other guys, obviously, haven’t been racing here forever, and it’s a little different, but no, it’s really fun, and happy to be able to finally get one.”

Todd Owen of Somers was second and Keith Rocco of Berlin third. 

“[Cates] definitely had the car to win,” Owen said. “We had a second place car, so, you know, it was a good race between the three of us up front.”

Said Rocco: “I’m glad to see Cates win if I can’t. He’s been at it a long time and always supported this place, so that’s great to see.” 

By lap 11 Cates had opened a nearly two second lead over second place Chase Cook, with Owen in third. 

Owen moved to second on lap 13 while behind him Rocco was up to fourth. 

Cates had opened his lead to 2.4 seconds over Owen by lap 14. Rocco got by Cook for third on lap 15. 

Cates’ lead was nearly three seconds by lap 18, but the advantage was erased when caution flew for a wreck involving Derek Ramstrom and Zack Sangermano. 

On the ensuing restart Cates got shuffled back to fourth with Owen moving to the lead, Cook to second and Rocco to third. Rocco went by Cook for second on lap 20. Cates was back to third by lap 22. From there Owen and Rocco put on a show at the front, with Rocco clawing all over Owen’s bumper for 10 laps, with Cates stalking in third. 

On lap 32 Rocco made a bid to get under Owen through turns three and four. A mistimed cross-over by Owen off of turn four had him riding over Rocco’s left rear coming onto the frontstretch. Owen fell to fourth after the contact, allowing Cates to get to second and Jon Puleo to third. 

Cates found the lane to get by Rocco and move back to the lead on lap 37. Rocco snared the lead back on lap 38. On lap 44 Cates was able to overtake Rocco and quickly pulled away. Owen moved by Rocco for second on lap 46, but Cates had opened a more than half a second lead by that point. 

“I kind of misjudged my crossover with Keith and got up on him, almost ruined my day and his, but at the end of the game we finished top three and I think we ended the race as it probably should have been,” Owen said. 

Said Rocco, who won both Sunoco Modified features on Icebreaker weekend at Thompson April 11 and 12: “Me and Owen were going back and forth there and he just got up over the left rear and cleaned the spoiler off after that. I was kind of a sitting duck, you know, definitely hard to hang on to it with somebody right behind you, but third place, won the two at the Icebreaker, so we’ll move on to the next one.” 

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