By Shawn Courchesne



THOMPSON, CT — une 20, 2008- The Whelen Modified Tour showed off a new racing format at Thompson International Speedway on Thursday.

Instead of the normal 125-150 lap event, track owner Don Hoenig decided on a plan for a 75-lap race in which caution flags didn't count.

The sprint format seemed to make the drivers more aggressive, which made the event more about dodging spinning cars than racing.

In the end, Ron Silk of Norwalk came out of the wreckfest to win the New England Dodge Dealers 75.


The race was slowed 13 times by cautions.

Silk passed Ted Christopher on a lap 53 restart and then held off Christopher over the final 22 laps for his second career victory.

"I thought I would be all right if we could get him on a restart and we finally got him," said Silk, who got his first victory at Thompson last season.

"His car was good, but it took a long time to get going. I'm just happy I had to beat the best. Teddy is the best and it feels good to beat him."

Christopher, of Plainville, held on for second and Mike Stefanik of Coventry, R.I., was third.

"When we would get the lead and pull away, we would get in a good groove," Christopher said. "But then when you're chasing, you're using a little bit more and we were just a little too free at the end there."

It was the first victory for Silk with Hillbilly Racing, the North Carolina-based team he joined over the winter.

"We're just really excited to be here," Silk said. "We had an awesome car all race. The car just kept getting better and better."

Starting Young
For the second consecutive week high school sophomore Derek Ramstrom of Worcester won the 30-lap Pro Stock feature.

Last week Ramstrom, 16, started at the front on the way to his first victory at the track. This week Ramstrom had to do a little more dicing, coming from the fifth spot, passing George Bessette for the lead on a lap 20 restart.

"I was really nervous [on the restart] but [Bessette] gave me a lot of respect," Ramstrom said. "I made the pass and it worked out well. It's amazing."

Bessette, of Danbury, held on for second and Fred Astle Jr. of Westport, Mass., was third. ... Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry held off Keith Rocco of Wallingford to win the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature. Kerry Malone of Needham, Mass., was third.

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