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Sunoco Modified Race of the Day with Rocco vs. Owen, Round #2 Set for Sunday
Alan Ward photos
Thompson, CT — Sunny Saturday greeted the fans at Thompson Speedway to kick off the 52nd Icebreaker with thirty cars filling out the Monaco Modified field. Ronnie Williams quickly took the point with just 75 laps on the board to claim the $10,000 winners share at the end. Berndt would put the hammer down in his #11CT to steal the lead away from Williams with Jon McKennedy taking advantage of the backslide to take second. While McKenndy crept up on Berndt at the front, fans had their eye on Mike Christopher Jr. and Ron Silk as they made their way into the top five by lap thirty.
Chase Grennan’s turn-around dust-up with the turn two wall brought the caution out just before the halfway point. A rough pitstop took Eric Berndt all the way back to 15th on the grid leaving Williams, McKennedy, Trevor Catalano and Christopher Jr. into the top two rows. A wild three-wide restart saw Mike Christopher Jr. take the top spot as McKennedy and Catalano continued to battle on the inside of Williams and Patrick Emerling. As laps ticked down, McKennedy and Christopher went toe-to-toe, swapping the lead back and forth prior to Joey Cipriano’s spin right in front of them with just four laps remaining.
Choosing the top, McKennedy took the highside momentum to the lead leaving Christopher and Emerling to duke it out for second. Jon McKenndy would take the dominant 1.169-second lead to win the Propane Plus Heating & Cooling 75 with Michael Christopher Jr. and Patrick Emerling rounding out the top three. Jake Johnson made better of early handling issues to take fourth with Ronnie Williams holding on for fifth.
The R&R Open Street Stock Series kicked-off Saturday’s racing action at Thompson Speedway with hotshoe Ryan Lineham launching from the pole position. A spirited battle with Jimmy Renfrew Jr. ended early with mechanical woes under the hood of Renfrew’s #00 machine allowing Lineham to continue his lead. Ryan Lineham continued his strong streak in the R&R Open Street Stock Series with the $1,000 win over Shane Gendron and Andrew Gillis at the line.
In one of the strongest fields in recent memory the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds roared to life for the first of two Icebreaker weekend appearances with longtime foes Keith Rocco and Todd Owen leading the field to green. The two competitors swapped the lead end-over-end for the fans on hand and those watching online on the North East Short Track Network. Later labeled a dogfight by the eventual winner, the two wily veterans fought hard with Danny Cates and former champion Jon Puleo waiting in the wings.
Cates began going to bat with Owen for second, allowing Keith Rocco the create the wide margin he needed to go all the way to the opening Icebreaker win. Todd Owen came home second with Jon Puleo to round out the top three. The Thompson Sunoco Modifieds will return tomorrow as part of the Sunday showcase of the 52nd Icebreaker weekend with scores yet to be settled.
The Pro Truck Challenge got their start to 2026 at the Thompson Icebreaker with Jason Paquette and Burt Ouellette swapping the lead early. By the halfway point fellow strong-runner Randy Burr made his way into the mix around Paquette with his sights set on Ouellette. A blown powerplant under the hood of Mercedes Carron’s truck made for a five-lap dash to the end between Burr and Ouellette. While it was an honest chase, Randy Burr stood tall over Ouellette for the win with Dennis Charette rounding out the podium.
Paul Scally got the jump under the green flag but it was Zack Martinez who ran away with a two second lead early. The battle for second became the hot show with Kyle Valeri jumping up into the mix in a three wide move in turn three on lap three! Dylan Coutu went up in flames on lap five to call out the first red flag of the year with a blown motor ruining his day and starting a wild ride that saw him flip on his side in turn one. Back under green it was evident that Martinez was in a league of his own, dominating the Icebreaker 20 lap feature over Kyle Valeri and Joey Bailey.
The Thunderstock Crown Vics rounded out the opening day showcase at Thompson Speedway with a 360-spin for polesitter Dustin Demers leaving John Williams, Jr. the big lead. Seven-time winner last season, Ethan Williams powered up to within striking distance of his father John but the ol’ man got it done for the final win of Icebreaker Saturday over son Ethan and John Dulac third.
Thompson Speedway is back in action tomorrow for a Sunday showcase special headlined by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 alongside the second Thompson Sunoco Modified event of the weekend plus the Late Models, SK Light Modifieds and Street Stocks with a 2:00pm Post Time!
Sunday General Admission is priced at $45 for adults, $15 for kids ages 6-12 with children five and under free on Icebreaker Sunday. For full schedule of events, visit www.thompsonspeedway.com/event-schedule/.
The North East Short Track Network (NESTN) will stream Sunday showcase plus Thompson’s track championship division events on Sunday. Visit www.nestn.tv for more info including Pay-Per-View pricing and ways to subscribe!
For more information about the American-Canadian Tour, contact the ACT offices at (802) 244-6963, media@acttour.com, 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 passracing@roadrunner.com 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 oval@thompsonspeedway.com, or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com. You can follow Thompson Speedway on Facebook and Instagram at @ThompsonSpeedway or on Twitter at @ThompsonSpdwy.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Thompson Speedway – Thompson, CT
52nd Icebreaker – Day I
Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series – Propane Plus 75 (75 Laps)
1. 79 Jon McKennedy Chelmsford, MA
2. 00 Mike Christopher, Jr. Wolcott, CT
3. 1NY Patrick Emerling Orchard Park, NY
4. 15 Jake Johnson Rehoboth, MA
5. 50 Ronnie Williams Ellington, CT
6. 179 Austin Beers Northampton, PA
7. 06 Tyler Chapman Ellington, CT
8. 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead, NY
9. 11CT Eric Berndt Cromwell, CT
10. 8 Kyle Bonsignore Mooresville, NC
11. 5CT Chris Pasteryak Lisbon, CT
12. 25 Steven Chapman Ellington, CT
13. 89 Matt Swanson Harvard, MA
14. 92 Anthony Nocella Berlin, MA
15. 85 Trevor Catalano Ontario, NY
16. 76 Brett Meservey Brewster, MA
17. 88 Woody Pitkat Bellingham, MA
18. 51CT Joey Cipriano Plymouth, CT
19. 07 Teddy Hodgdon Danbury, CT
20. 39 George Bessette, Jr. Danbury, CT
21. 6 Troy Talman Oxford, MA
22. 55x Nikolas Hovey Chaplin, CT
23. 19 Jeffrey Battle Dunstable, MA
24. 31 Noah Korner Avon, CT
25. 1 Stephen Kopcik Newtown, CT
26. 16 Ron Silk Norwalk, CT
27. 04CT Dylan Izzo Monroe, CT
28. 38 Chase Grennan Glen Cove, NY
29. 76CT Dana DiMatteo Canton, CT
30. 20 Paulie Hartwig III Galloway, NJ
R&R Street Stock Open Series – (50 Laps)
1. 19RI Ryan Lineham Hope Valley, RI
2. 7 Shane Gendron Tyngsboro, MA
3. 77 Andrew Gillis Ashland, MA
4. 68VT Jason Woodard Waterbury Ctr., VT
5. 73 Larry Barnett Moosup, CT
6. 36NH Nate Hamblett Derby, VT
7. 55 Nick Anderson Westminster, MA
8. 03 Joshua Gerard W. Wareham, MA
9. 86 Jon Porter Baltic, CT
10. 17NH Blaine Darman Londonderry, NH
11. 07VT Sam Caron Milton, VT
12. 19 Dylan Cabral Richmond, RI
13. 67 Aaron Plemons Uncasville, CT
14. 30 Charles Beal Ledyard, CT
15. 25 Al Stone III Durham, CT
16. 00 Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. Candia, NH
17. 75 Ryan Waterman Danielson, CT
18. 35 Kris Watson Kenduskeag, ME
DSQ 85 Michael Viens Seekonk, MA
DNS 19R Ryan Pomposelli Smithfield, RI
DNS 52 Charles Canfield East Haven, CT
Pro Truck Challenge – (35 Laps)
1. 32 Randy Burr
2. 151 Burt Ouellette
3. 1 Dennis Charette
4. 94 Jason Paquette
5. 2 Duane Noll
6. 05 Randy Churchill, Jr.
7. 90 Alan Coates
8. 6 Andrew Pelligrini
9. 29 Jaysin Beal
10. 20 Evan Heilborn
11. 53 Sean Caron
12. 77 Adrien Paradis
13. 28 John Pereira
14. 47 Todd Taylor
15. 52 Mercedes Caron
16. 42 Chris Palamar
DNS 5 Chris Taylor
Thompson Sunoco Modifieds – (30 Laps)
1. 09 Keith Rocco Berlin, CT
2. 81 Todd Owen Somers, CT
3. 7 Jon Puleo Branford, CT
4. 2 Danny Cates Chaplin, CT
5. 77 Chase Cook Norwich, MA
6. 35 Derek Ramstrom Worcester, MA
7. 24 #Mikey Flynn Hampden, MA
8. 47 Zack Sangermano Plainfield, CT
9. 1 #Andrew Brousseau Charlestown, NH
10. 12 Rob Schultz Neptune, NJ
11. 24MA Nathan Pytko Oxford, MA
12. 57 Justin Beecher Billerica, MA
13. 99 Mike Mayberry Naples, ME
14. 4 Zach Leone Worcester, MA
15. 86 Robert Georgiades E. Hampton, CT
NEMA Lites – (20 Laps)
1. 7 Zachary Martinez
2. 17 Kyle Valeri
3. 35 Joey Bailey
4. 47 Randy Cabral
5. 36 Jack Dumas
6. 30 Paul Scally
7. 42 RJ Deighton
8. 88 Tyson Adamik
9. 59 Brayden Egan
10. 94 Tiana Kibbe
11. 28 Michael Pernisiglio
12. 53 Dylan Coutu
Thunderstock Crown Vics – (15 Laps)
1. 4 John Williams, Jr. Promfret Ctr., RI
2. 14 Ethan Williams Promfret Ctr., RI
3. 2 John Dulac Swansea, MA
4. 88 Chase Curtis Rutland, MA
5. 35 Tucker Haskill Saco, ME
6. 42 Dustin Demers Quinebaug, CT
