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Derek Finishes
3rd at Thompson World Series
Derek finished
third in the 30-lap Super Late Model feature at
the World Series of Speedway Racing held at
Thompson International Speedway in Thompson,
Conn., on Sunday, October 17. Ramstrom, the 2010
track champion, started fifth in the 16-car
field. Earlier in the day, he also collected
another piece of hardware after being honored by
the track as the 2010 Super Late Model Most
Popular Driver -- an award voted on by more than
1,000 of the speedway's fans.
STARTED: 5th - FINISHED:
3rd World Series of Speedway Racing
-30-lap Super Late Model Feature
DEREK, HOW WAS YOUR RACE?
The car was tight all weekend. We
just tried throwing new setups at it left and
right. (Second-place finisher Larry Gelinas)
just has an incredible motor, and it shows. He
drives right past me. If I can't get enough of a
run on him on the bottom and get right up to his
door, then I'm done. I know he's driving right
back by me.
All in all, it was a good
weekend. The car's in one piece. We tried some
new stuff with the car, and we know what we can
do next year and what we can get away with.
WITH A BRAND NEW
SETUP THIS WEEKEND, DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FOR
NEXT YEAR?
We're just trying new
stuff to get off the corners with this crate
motor. We need to get through the turns as fast
as possible to keep up with these big engines.
We've just been testing and testing different
things and trying different setups, and the
Wrold Series is definitely the race to try it
because it's not a points race.
Overall,
I'm hapy with everything.
HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE
NAMED MOST POPULAR DRIVER?
It's
amazing. This track is awesome. It's got a great
fan base here. It's just great it to get it two
years in a row. That with two championships --
I'm loving this place.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER
26TH - 4:00 PM
"Derek Ramstrom
Overcomes Blown Motor And Rallies Late
To Win Second Thompson Super Late Model
Championship"
Derek finished
second in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Super Late Model finale at Thompson
International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on
Sunday, September 26 -- good enough to earn his
second consecutive Super Late Model championship
at the track.
Ramstrom and Mike
O'Sullivan -- who won the final 30-lap event of
the season -- finished the year tied atop the
standings with 674 points, and Ramstrom was
awarded the championship by virtue of his six
wins.
Ramstrom celebrated his title on
his 19th birthday and did so only after blowing
an engine in practice before borrowing one from
fellow competitor George Bessette. The
championship wasn't clinched until Ramstrom was
able to pass veteran Rick Fuller in the closing
laps to move into second place.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series - STANDINGS:
1st WHAT: 30-lap
Super Late Model Feature - FINISHED: 2nd
DEREK, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
Just to do it two years
in a row, that alone means a lot. This year with
Thompson it's pretty awesome because we thought
we were going to run the whole NASCAR K&N Pro
Series schedule, but then when that didn't work
out we just decided we were going to focus on
Thompson again.
Our stuff wasn't even prepared when the
season started -- our engine wasn't freshened,
our shocks hadn't been done, none of that stuff.
My whole crew, those guys just worked so hard
for this. I couldn't have done it without them.
At the beginning of the year, we just
wanted to race for wins, and we lost a few races
because of that. I smashed up a few cars when I
got in over my head on the track -- but all it
did was make the points battle that much
tighter. And it's a pretty cool feeling to win
it.
DOES THIS ONE FEEL DIFFERENT THAN YOUR FIRST
TITLE IN 2009?
It really does. It's hard to win one,
but it's harder to stay on top. Everyone in this
division was on top of their game. Larry Gelinas
was a rocket all the time, and (Mike) O'Sullivan
was good every week. Even Ricky Fuller and Mike
Stefanik -- I mean, it's just so hard to beat
these guys.
All of that made it harder to repeat.
And, on top of it, nobody wanted to see me win
again -- nobody wants to see an 18-year-old kid
win two championships in a row.
TALK ABOUT YOUR DAY ON SUNDAY. THIS CHAMPIONSHIP
DIDN'T COME EASY -- NOT WITH A BLOWN ENGINE IN
PRACTICE.
Honestly, I was worried. The car felt
down on power, and I was turning laps trying to
run through all the scenarios in my head, trying
to figure out what might be wrong so I could
give the crew some feedback. Then I went into
Turn 3, the car just locked up and spun out, and
there was a big cloud of smoke.
My dad goes frantically running through
the pits trying to find someone with a spare
motor we can borrow. George Bessette takes him
back to his shop and they pull his old engine
out of the dust pile -- and George basically
said, "I'll be surprised if you guys even get
this thing going."
But that motor was all right, and it
definitely did the job.
Stephanie Jordan Photos
NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series Final Points Race
Preview
Derek attempts to
win his second consecutive Super Late Model
championship at Thompson International Speedway
in Thompson, Conn., with the final points race
of the season at the track on Sunday, September
26.
Qualifying for the 30-lap NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series event begins at 4
p.m.
Ramstrom has six feature wins this
season at the track and leads both Larry Gelinas
and Mike O'Sullivan by two points atop the
standings. Last year, Ramstrom won the track
championship and became the youngest champion in
track history.
POINTS POSITION: 1st
DEREK, HOW ARE YOU
APPROACHING THIS FINAL POINTS RACE?
Well, we're coming down to the wire and it's
going to be pretty insane. My strategy is just
to stay ahead of those guys. If they're ahead of
me at any point in the race, I know that I just
have to stay very close to both of them, if not
ahead of them. That's my strategy.
If I
can start ahead of (Gelinas) and just get away
from him, that would be big. If I can do that, I
can just get out by a couple of car lengths and
try to maintain a nice pace.
DO YOU FEEL PRESSURE
HEADING INTO THIS AS THE POINTS LEADER?
We're really working on the car a lot
before this race. It's important. We really want
to nail the setup and see what we can do. This
is the biggest race of the year for us.
WHAT WOULD A SECOND
STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MEAN TO YOU?
To win the championship two years in a row
would be amazing. We've had a lot of help this
year, so I really want to make this work.
Hopefully we can get the championship and show
my sponsors and everybody else that we're the
real deal.
Friday, September 17th
9th in PASS North at WMMP
Derek finished ninth in the PASS North
Series PASS 150 at White Mountain Motorsports
Park in North Woodstock, N.H., on Friday,
September 17. Ramstrom's finish in the season
finale was his second straight Top-10 in PASS
competition after finishing seventh in the PASS
South Series Labor Day Classic 200 at North
Wilkesboro on September 5.
FINISHED: 9th - LED: 0
time for 0 laps
HOW WAS THE RACE?
We struggled the whole race. We were
pretty fast in practice, and the car felt really
good and comfortable. But the weather
drastically changed, and it got really cool and
overcast and the car was way off.
We were
tight right off the bat (in the feature). We
made a bunch of adjustments, but the car wasn't
reacting to anything we did. I don't know if
something was broken or not -- we'll have to go
back and go through it and see if anything was
wrong that we didnt' find.
THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE
ANY SOLACE IN THE TOP-10 FINISH.
To be honest, I'm not all that happy about it. I
was bombing around in the back for most of the
race. A bunch of cars must have been dropping
out left and right for us to end up where we
did.
As for passing cars, I didn't do
much of that at all. I just think there must be
something wrong with this car.
White Mountain
Motorsports Park Race Preview
Derek Ramstrom of West
Boylston, Mass., returns to PASS North Series
racing for the PASS 150 at White Mountain
Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., on
Friday, September 17. Ramstrom, who has two
career PASS North victories, earned one of his
best career finishes at White Mountain in 2009
when he finished second at the track. He's
coming off a Top-10 finish in a PASS South
Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on
Labor Day weekend. Ramstrom also owns a
two-point lead atop the Thompson International
Speedway Super Late Model standings, where he
competes weekly in the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series. There are just three races
remaining in that season.
BEST CAREER WHITE MOUNTAIN
MOTORSPORTS PARK FINISH: 2nd (May 2009)
LAST RACE AT WHITE MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS PARK:
19th (May 2010)
WHAT:Season Finale --
PASS North Series PASS 150 WHERE:
White Mountain Motorsports Park, North
Woodstock, N.H. (.25-mile oval) WHEN:
6 p.m., Friday, September 17
PASS
NORTH SERIES - POINTS POSITION: 17th
LAST RACE:
Sunday, September 12, PASS 300, Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine
DEREK, WHAT IS IT YOU LIKE
ABOUT WHITE MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORTS PARK?
Honestly, it's
probably because it's a small, short-track with
a good amount of banking. I really don't like
the smaller flat tracks all that much, but I
always tend to run good at the short tracks with
banking like White Mountain has.
It's a really racy track.
The bottom is definitely the preferred way
around there, but you can also work on the
outside if you have to to get around people.
It's a pretty fun place to race.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE
WEEKEND?
We've been really working
hard on the PASS car trying to get it ready. I'm
pretty confident going into this race. It should
be pretty interesting.
We're looking forward to
this. It's the last race of the year for PASS
North, and we'd like to go up and get a Top-3
and really finish off the year on a high note.
THURSDAY NIGHT
THUNDER on SEPTEMBER 9TH
Derek Scores a 4th, Takes Points Lead
Derek finished
fourth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Super Late Model feature at Thompson
International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on
Thursday night. With the Top-5 run in the 30-lap
main event, Ramstrom assumed the division point
lead by two points with three races remaining as
he tried to win a second consecutive track
championship. Ramstrom battled a tight track
under cool conditions and managed to avoid an
oil spill on the track that collected a number
of cars in an incident early in the race.
NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series - STANDINGS: 1st WHAT: 30-lap Super Late
Model Feature - FINISHED: 4th
DEREK, IT MUST FEEL GOOD TO BE BACK ATOP THE
SUPER LATE MODEL STANDINGS AT THOMPSON.
The
points race is pretty tight. We took the lead,
but Larry (Gelinas) and Mike O'Sullivan are
right there behind us. It should be interesting
the next couple of races.
HOW
DID THE FEATURE PLAY OUT FOR YOU?
Everyone strung right out at the front. When the
caution came out because there was oil spilled
on the track, a bunch of cars started spinning
everywhere. I almost spun out myself. It was
pretty scary, actually.
Then
after that happened, the rest of the race went
green. Everyone just followed each other. The
track cooled off and it really tightened up. You
could really tell that the track changed.
DID
IT SURPRISE YOU THAT THE TRACK TIGHTENED UP THE
WAY IT DID?
It
did. Five uf us just strung out. We were just
staying in line, and everybody just cruised
along because nobody could pass. Nobody could do
anything.
Everyone missed the setup so much, nobody could
pass at all.
TRACK RACE REPORT
- In Super Late Model action, Larry Gelinas made
the winning move on the opening lap and never
looked back en route to his fourth victory of
the season. Gelinas took over the lead from
George Bessette on lap one to set the pace early
in the Super Late Model feature event. With
Gelinas moving away from Bessette, the battle
for third was heating up between Jim Banfield
and Derek Ramstrom. Mike Stefanik ran in fifth
followed by Rick Fuller. After a quick battle,
Ramstrom was able to grab third from Banfield on
lap five.
A lap
later Banfield went spinning into the infield.
He was able to refire and the race remained
under green. The caution did fly on lap seven
for an incident involving point leader Mike
O’Sullivan. After service from his crew,
O’Sullivan was able to rejoin the field.
Gelinas continued to show the way with the race
back under green. Bessette had to defend second
as Stefanik pressed. Ramstrom was being
challenged by Fuller for fourth. O’Sullivan ran
a distance back in sixth. At halfway, Gelinas
held a two car length advantage over Bessette,
with a brewing battle between Stefanik,
Ramstrom, and Fuller.
Over
the long green flag run, Gelinas was able to
stretch his advantage slightly. The remainder of
the top-five ran bumper-to-bumper in a tight
pack. Ramstrom was the first to step out of
line; peeking low on Stefanik. With two laps
remaining, Gelinas had walked out to a sizeable
lead. Bessette ran alone in second ahead of
Stefanik, Ramstrom, and Fuller.
Both
Ramstrom and Fuller jumped out of line on the
final lap but neither could muster up a real
challenge for position. Gelinas scored the
victory over Bessette, Stefanik, Ramstrom, and
Fuller.
With O’Sullivan’s bad luck the
point lead went back to Ramstrom by two points
with two point races remaining.
7th Place at No. Wilkesboro
Derek finished seventh in the PASS South
Series Labor Day Classic 200 at North Wilkesboro
Speedway in North Wilkesboro, N.C. After
starting 18th, Ramstrom made several changes to
his race car before rallying to finish inside
the Top-10 in the first race held at the
historic speedway since 1996. He was one of only
eight cars to finish on the lead lap. In the
25-car starting field, Ramstrom advanced the
most positions from his starting spot of any
driver in the field and was the highest
finishing PASS North Series driver in the event.
WHAT: PASS South Series Labor Day Classic
200 WHERE: North Wilkesboro Speedway, North
Wilkesboro, N.C. (.625-mile oval)
STARTED: 18th - FINISHED:
7th
NEXT RACE: Thursday, September
9, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Thompson
International Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
DEREK, TALK ABOUT YOUR
DAY.
I didn't time trial well at
all, and that really hurt us. We couldn't get
any forward bite (during qualifying); I just
couldn't get any traction. I pitted early to
make a couple of adjustments and free the car
up. It was pretty tight.
We ran probably
70 laps all green, and the car still wasn['t
working all that well. We pitted again, threw a
couple spring rubbers on it, but by then the
tires were really hurting. I was beating the car
up trying not to lose too much ground to the
leaders.
On Lap 135, we pitted with the
field for tires and pulled one of the rubbers
out. We were pretty damn fast. We were still
down a lap, but I passed a bunch of cars -- and
we got a caution with 20 to go and that's when I
got the Lucky Dog and got back on the lead lap.
At that point, I was pretty much just
hanging on. I was trying hard not to get lapped.
I couldn't have gained any ground (on the
leaders). I just couldn't get there.
Overall, I'm glad we came down here. It was a
pretty good race. I just needed to be faster in
the beginning so we didn't get lapped. But we
ended up pretty good, so I'm happy.
WHAT WERE YOUR
IMPRESSIONS OF NORTH WILKESBORO?
It was awesome. Fast. Big, sweeping turns. It's
faster than Thompson, and a really cool place.
Andy Loden's (qualifying time) was faster
than when the Cup cars used to run here. These
guys down here, they time trial fast. They're
really good at that. I need to work on that. I'm
a little rusty with that.
DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN
PREPARATION FOR NEXT SPRING'S 300-LAP PASS RACE
AT THE TRACK?
We did learn some
things. Whether we work with (crew chief Dale
Quarterley) again at North Wilkesboro or even
somewhere else, now we know each other a little
better. I know how Dale operates, and he knows
how I drive.
The crew worked extremely
hard on the live pit stops, and I'd never ridden
on Hoosier rubber before. So, like I said, we
definitely learned a lot.
Open
Practice at North Wilkesboro on Friday, September 3rd
North
Wilkesboro Speedway Race Preview
Derek Ramstrom of West Boylston, Mass.,
heads south this weekend for the PASS South
Series Labor Day Classic 200 at North Wilkesboro
Speedway in North Wilkesboro, N.C., on Saturday,
September 4. The race marks not only the first
PASS-sanctioned Super Late Model event at a
track that held NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races
from 1949-1996 -- but it is also the first time
the track has opened since being closed more
than a decade ago.
Ramstrom has run a
part-time PASS North Series schedule in 2010
with a season-best finish of third at Seekonk
Speedway in Seekonk, Mass., on Aug. 14. He has
two career PASS North victories and has two
poles and two Top-10s in six starts this year.
Currently, Ramstrom sits second in the NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model
standings at his home track of Thompson (Conn.)
International Speedway, where he is the
defending division champion.
WHAT: PASS South Series Labor Day Classic 200 WHERE: North Wilkesboro Speedway, No.
Wilkesboro, N.C. (.400-mile oval) WHEN: 12 noon, Saturday, Sept. 4
DEREK, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING THE
TRIP TO NORTH CAROLINA THIS WEEKEND?
We're all looking forward to it. I've got four
of my own guys going down with us, and we've got
Dale Quarterly coming down to crew chief the car
for us. We've also got a guy from one of Kyle
Busch's pit crews coming down, and he'll
probably help us out with tires.
We're going to give it a shot and see if we can
get prepared for the ($75,000-to-win PASS 300)
at the track next season. There will be a lot of
fast runners down there this weekend, so we'll
just see what we can do with Dale crew chiefing
the car.
WHAT HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE TRACK?
We've got the 9-to-1 (built) motor in the car,
but we thought about taking our Thompson car
with the crate engine. I've heard there's not
going to be a lot of grip there, but the deal
just came together at the last-minute for us and
we really didn't have enough time to change over
everything.
So,
we're taking our PASS car, and we'll see what
happens.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO IN TERMS OF PREPARATION
FOR A 200-LAP RACE THERE?
Pit
stops are going to be the biggest thing for us.
It's a live pit-stop race. The guys have been
practicing their pit stops all this week,
because we are a little rusty on pit stops.
That's what we're working on now, because we
don't want to be losing laps in the race because
of something like that.
THURSDAY NIGHT
THUNDER on AUGUST 26th
Derek Keeps
Podium Streak Alive
Derek Ramstrom of
West Boylston, Mass., finished second in the
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late
Model feature at Thompson International Speedway
in Thompson, Conn., on Thursday night. The
finish marked the fifth consecutive finish of
third or better for Ramstrom, who has six wins
on the season. Ramstrom started eighth, battled
to crack the top-5 through the first half of the
30-lap event and eventually moved into second
behind eventual winner Mike O'Sullivan. As he
chases a second consecutive division
championship, Ramstrom unofficially trails
O'Sullivan by two points with three races
remaining.
STARTED: 8th - FINISHED: 2nd - STANDINGS: 2nd
DEREK, TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN.
It
was pretty interesting. I got stuck in the back
for first 15 laps or so but was able to work up
to sixth place (by halfway). After that, the
slower cars started to fan out and I could start
moving forward.
It was (Mike) O'Sullivan,
Larry (Gelinas) and me. It took me a while to
get past Larry. He was tight, and I was tight,
too -- and with that motor of his, it's just
really hard to get by him. It took me five or
six laps to pass him, and then I just started
following O'Sullivan until the race ended.
COULD YOU HAVE WON
THE RACE IF YOU HAD MORE LAPS TO WORK WITH AT
THE END?
Honestly, I was just too
tight. There was no way I was going to pass
(O'Sullivan). We were on old rubber from last
week, and he was really rolling through the
corners.
I kept getting tigher and
tighter. I really had to work the car trying to
get up through the pack early in the race. I
really had to beat the crap out of the car
trying to get up through there because I knew
O'Sullivan was going to take off.
ALL IN ALL, THOUGH, IT
WAS A PRETTY GOOD POINTS NIGHT.
It
was. That's what we're trying to do, because
it's going to be right down to the wire. We've
got to just stay right with or right ahead of
O'Sullivan as much as we can. It's just points
racing now coming down to the end with a few
races to go. We really have to be in the top
three every single race to have a shot.
THURSDAY NIGHT
THUNDER on AUGUST 19th
6th WIN of 2010
for Derek!
TRACK RACE REPORT:
It took until halfway for Derek Ramstrom of
Worcester, MA, to grab the lead in the Super
Late Model main event but once out front the
youngster would never be headed. The opening
laps of the Super Late Model race featured a
tight race between leader Jim Banfield and Derek
Ramstrom. The remainder of the top-five of Mike
Stefanik, Mike O’ Sullivan and Larry Gelinas
were strung out a behind the lead duo.
Lap-after-lap, Ramstrom stayed glued to the back
bumper of Banfield.
Ramstrom started to
get racy on lap 10; peeking on the low side of
Banfield. The battle allowed Stefanik to gain
some ground on the leaders. Gelinas looked to be
running down O’Sullivan for fifth. On lap 13,
Ramstrom got alongside Banfield. He gained
ground in each turn until grabbing the stop spot
in turn one of lap 14.
Once out front,
Ramstrom was able to run out to a 10-car length
advantage. While Ramstrom’s lead grew, things
closed up from second on back. Stefanik had
reeled in Banfield while O’Sullivan caught the
back bumper of Stefanik.
With five laps
remaining and Ramstrom handily out front, the
three-car battle tightened further. O’Sullivan
looked low on Stefanik for third. A lapped car
slowed O’Sullivan’s advances on Stefanik.
Banfield was able to get some breathing room as
O’Sullivan continued to dog Stefanik. With two
laps remaining, O’Sullivan began to look for
running room below Stefanik. Banfield appeared
to slow up making it a freight train to the
finish. Ramstrom streaked to the checkers to
score his sixth win of the season. Banfield held
on for second while Stefanik held back
O’Sullivan. Larry Gelinas rounded out the top
five.
SATURDAY,
AUGUST 14TH
3RD at SEEKONK
PASS 150
Heat Win >
On the pole for the feature
PASS Seekonk
Speedway Race Preview
Derek returns
to the PASS North Series this Saturday, August
14, in the PASS 150 at Seekonk Speedway in
Seekonk, Mass. Ramstrom scored one of his best
finishes of 2009 when the series made its
inaugural visit to the tight .333-mile oval with
a fourth-place run, and after testing there last
weekend with the track's Pro Stock division,
Ramstrom is eager to return. The reigning
Thompson International Speedway Super Late Model
champion will bring his Thompson car to Seekonk
this weekend. He has five wins this season at
Thompson in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
action and is just 10 points out of the lead in
the Super Late Model standings with six races
remaining
BEST CAREER SEEKONK SPEEDWAY
FINISH: 4th (August 2009) LAST RACE AT
SEEKONK SPEEDWAY: 4th (August 2009)
WHAT:
PASS North Series PASS 150 WHERE: Seekonk
Speedway, Seekonk, Mass. (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, August 14
PASS NORTH SERIES -
POINTS POSITION: 17th LAST RACE: July
31, Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. (n/a)
NEXT RACE: Saturday, August 21, Spud Speedway,
Caribou, Maine (.333-mile oval)
DEREK, DO YOU LIKE RACING
AT SEEKONK SPEEDWAY?
Yeah, I do.
It's a difficult track, but it's a lot of fun
once you figure it out. We went there last week
and practiced with their weekly (Pro Stock)
guys, and that was good that we went. We had to
switch up some setup stuff on the car, because
we decided to use our (weekly) Thompson car with
the crate engine in it.
It's really good
that we went and did that. The more seat time
you can get at Seekonk is always a good thing.
NOW THAT YOU'RE
RUNNING A PARTIAL PASS SCHEDULE AND PICKING AND
CHOOSING YOUR RACES, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE TEAM
IS MORE PREPARED AT THE TRACK ON RACE DAY?
I think we are. You've got to test. You just
have to. We weren't able to get there and rent
the track, but what we did still worked out by
going there last Saturday.
We were fast
-- faster than we expected, to be honest. But
I'll be able to tell you after this weekend if
we're doing the right things.
AS THE THOMPSON POINTS
BATTLE COMES DOWN TO THE WIRE, ARE YOU CHANGING
THE WAY YOU RACE?
I'm going to
start points racing, for sure. I mean, it's not
that I want to, but (Larry Gelinas) has been so
fast, so dominating, that I can't go out and
just try and nail out wins like I want to. I 'll
push for that, but won't do anything drastic.
If I'm really trying to win this
championship, I can't afford any DNFs. I could
go out before and take some chances like I have,
but I can't be overly aggressive here at the end
of the year. It's tough at Thompson to be really
aggressive at those high speeds you're running
there.
THURSDAY NIGHT
THUNDER on AUGUST 13th
Ramstrom
Finishes 3rd in Strong
Thompson Effort
Derek
Ramstrom of West Boylston, Mass., finished third
in a caution-free Super Late Model feature at
Thompson International Speedway in Thompson,
Conn., on Thursday night. Ramstrom, the
defending Super Late Model champion at the
track, started sixth in the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series Super Late Model event and
climbed to third just past the halfway mark. He
battled Rick Fuller for several laps over the
final 10 laps of the race, but he never got a
late-race restart that would have gained him
valuable track position on eventual winner Mike
Stefanik. Ramstrom, who has five wins on the
season, closed to within six points of Mike
O'Sullivan for the division lead.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series - STANDINGS:
3rd WHAT:
30-lap Super Late Model Feature
STARTED:
6th - FINISHED:
3rd
DEREK, TALK ABOUT YOUR RUN.
I'm pretty happy with
third. A top-five's always good here at
Thompson. We're trying to win the points now, so
we've just got to stay consistent.
The car was a little too
tight tonight. We just missed the setup. The
weather was pretty crazy today, and we just
missed the setup a little bit. But
congratulations to Mike Stefanik. They were
dominant tonight.
WOULD A LATE-RACE CAUTION AND RESTART HAVE GIVEN
YOU A SHOT AT THE WIN?
It's tough to say.
The car didn't really rotate that well on the
bottom. It was good up on the high line, but
once you start trying to go underneath people
and pass them, it just slows the momentum down
so much.
I
think it might have changed the outcome of the
race -- I might have been able to get by Ricky
there, but it was still pretty tight.
YOU HAD A GREAT BATTLE WITH
RICK. YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
We were
battling there for a while. He'd get me coming
off the turn, and then I'd get him going in. It
was just never-ending. I tried to get him the
center of the turn and just hammer the throttle,
but he had that 'just enough.' I needed a little
more (horsepower). But it was a good battle, and
it was fun racing with him like that.
THURSDAY NIGHT
THUNDER on JULY 29th
Ramstrom Wins
Again At Thompson
Derek Ramstrom of
West Boylston, Mass., led every lap en route to
his fifth feature win of the season at Thompson
International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on
Thursday night. Ramstrom, the defending Super
Late Model champion at the track, now has five
victories in just 10 starts this year. He
started third in the caution-free 30-lap NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series event and had the
lead by the time the field completed the first
lap around the high-banked, .625-mile oval. From
there, Ramstrom went unchallenged to the victory
and gained ground of division points leaders
Mike O'Sullivan and Larry Gelinas.
NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series - STANDINGS: 3rd
WHAT: 30-lap Super Late Model Feature
STARTED: 3rd - FINISHED:
1st (fifth win of season)
DEREK, TALK ABOUT YOUR
WIN TONIGHT.
The car was on rails
tonight. It was amazing. I’ve got to thank the
crew, they all worked extremely hard and I’ve
got to thank the fans for coming out tonight.
The car count’s a little small (in the Super
Late Model division) but we all still try to put
on a good show for you guys.
WERE YOU WORRIED AT ALL
ABOUT LARRY GELINAS CHASING YOU DOWN IN THE
CLOSING LAPS?
I was really trying
to run away from Larry, he’s been real fast the
last three weeks. I just knew if I got out ahead
of him and maintained a fast pace, I was hoping
that he wasn’t going to catch me. It worked out
good and there were no cautions, so it helped
out.
17th in PASS
and 2nd in NWAAS
Derek finished 17th
in the PASS North Series PASS 75 at Thompson
International Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on
Thursday, July 22. Ramstrom was running in
second place on lap 31 of the event when his
brakes let go heading into the first turn on the
fast, .625-mile, high-banked oval. Ramstrom,
who'd struggled with brake issues all day during
practice, barely made it to the starting grid in
time for his heat race as the team attempted to
make repairs to the No. 35 Chevrolet's brake
system. Prior to the PASS 75, Ramstrom finished
second in the track's NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series 30-lap Super Late Model feature.
STARTED: 4th - FINISHED:
17th - LED: 0 time for 0 laps
NEXT
PASS RACE: Sat., August 14, Seekonk Speedway,
Seekonk, MA
DEREK,
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CAR IN THE PASS 75?
I was just following (leader) Preston
Peltier for 10 or 15 laps, just saving the car
because I felt like we had the car to beat. The
brakes started getting spongy. I tried putting
some rear brake into it, and it didn't work. It
just kept getting worse.
After that, I
just lost the pedal completely, and there was
nothing I could do. I had no way to slow the car
down.
DID THE
BRAKE ISSUES TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE?
We struggled with that all day. We barely
made the heat race and had to start at the rear,
because we were working on it. We borrowed some
calipers from DJ Shaw's team and put those on
and went out, and we were pretty good in the
heat race.
STILL,
YOU HAD A NICE RUN IN THE WEEKLY SUPER LATE
MODEL FEATURE.
Our regular
Thompson car went really good. We had no
problems with that all day.
It took me a
few laps to get by (Mike) O'Sullivan for second,
and then I started chasing down (winner) Larry
Gelinas. I just didn't have enough time, but to
get second was a good day.
Thompson International Speedway PASS 75 Race
Preview
Derek holds home
track advantage when the PASS North Series heads
to Thompson International Speedway in Thompson,
Conn., for the PASS 75 on Thursday, July 22.
Ramstrom, the reigning NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series Super Late Model champion at
Thompson, is the defending champion of the PASS
75 and a four-time feature winner at the track
this season alone. The 18-year-old driver will
pull double duty on Thursday, competing in both
the PASS 75 -- a PASS North Series points race,
as well as the third of five races in the PASS
National Championship series -- and the 30-lap
Super Late Model feature for the track's regular
competitors.
BEST CAREER THOMPSON
SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (July 2009) LAST RACE AT
THOMPSON SPEEDWAY: 1st (July 2009)
PASS North Series
LAST RACE: July 17, Beech Ridge, Scarborough,
Maine (.333-mile oval) NEXT RACE: July 31,
PASS 150, Riverside, Groveton, N.H. (.25-mile
oval) POINTS POSITION: 17th
DEREK, HOW NICE IS IT TO
RUN A PASS RACE AT YOUR HOME TRACK?
It means a lot. It's a big boost of
confidence, and I come at it with a different
approach.
I really feel like I have the
upper hand racing there every single week. My
whole team knows it, and I think they act in a
completely different manner -- because we're
going there to run top-3 or win and that's it.
It changes the whole mentallity for the whole
day.
WHAT WILL YOU
DO IN TERMS OF PREPARATION TO BE READY TO RACE
IN TWO DIFFERENT EVENTS ON THE SAME NIGHT?
We've got all the help we need because it's
nice and close to our house, so we've got the
teams split up in two. We've got two different
people leading the two teams, and we've got
different people working on the two cars.
It's something I learned to do last year --
running both a (K&N Pro Series car) and a PASS
car on the same night -- and that was harder,
with two separate teams, two separate
everything. With all the guys that help us out
on a weekly basis, we just split them up now and
go for it.
HOW
DIFFERENT ARE THE TWO CARS TO DRIVE?
They're a lot different. One has a lot more
horsepower than the other.
You can drive
the PASS car a lot harder. The Thompson car,
you've got to be a lot smoother, a lot easier on
it. But the PASS car, that's the car with big
steam. Jumping back and forth, it might take me
a lap or two to get back into the rhythm with
each car, but I've been in both of them enough
now that it's not that big of a deal.
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JULY 15th
BAD LUCK PLAGUES
RAMSTROM AT THOMPSON
THOMPSON, Conn. -- Derek
Ramstrom's bad luck compounded itself on
Thursday night.
After
a flat tire stopped his bid in a race for second
place in the early going, Ramstrom was involved
in two more incidents and was forced to settle
for a 12th-place finish in the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series 30-lap Super Late Model
feature at Thompson International Speedway.
Ramstrom pulled his No. 35 Charter
Communications/Matthews Truck Service and Towing
Chevrolet behind the wall on lap 18 and did not
return to competition.
"I was
going to pass (George Bessette) and I cut down a
right front," Ramstrom said. "We had to pit for
that, obviously, and then more stuff just
happened after that. It was a mess."
Ramstrom headed into the night as the division
points leader with four feature wins to his
credit this season.
He
returns to action next weekend for a shot at two
wins in one night. Ramstrom will compete in the
reguarly scheduled 30-lap Super Late Model
feature, as well as the PASS National Series
75-lap event at Thompson on the same night.
Ramstrom recorded his first top-10 finish of the
season in PASS competition on Tuesday night in
the Bastille 200 at Lee USA Speedway.
10th at PASS
NORTH LEE USA BASTILLE 200
Derek Ramstrom of West
Boylston, Mass., finished 10th in the PASS North
Series Bastille 200 at Lee USA Speedway in Lee,
N.H., on Tuesday, July 13. Ramstrom started on
the pole for the first time this season, and the
part-time PASS competitor and reigning Super
Late Model champion at Thompson (Conn.)
International Speedway led the first five
circuits before settling into the top-3 and
riding out the early portion of the event.
Ramstrom lost valuable track position on a pit
stop -- when lug nuts were left off his right
rear tire -- leaving him to scramble for his
first top-10 finish of the season in four
starts. WHAT: PASS North Series
Bastille 200 WHERE: Lee USA Speedway,
Lee, N.H. (.333-mile oval) STARTED:
1st - FINISHED: 10th - LED: 1 time
for 5 laps
NEXT RACE:
Saturday, July 22nd, Thompson International
Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
DEREK, TALK ABOUT YOUR
NIGHT.
I started on
the pin and Scott Chubbuck got by me and then
Kelly Moore passed me. I just followed Kelly for
a while. I tried to save the car, but it just
got too loose. I'd go to turn the wheel and the
car would just snap around on me. I struggled
with that all night.
Next time we come,
I just need to tell the crew to make some
different adjustments because we're trying a
different setup now in the car. It's a different
feel, and I've just got to get used to it and
adapt to it.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE PIT STOP?
We pitted about lap (100), and we
only got one lug nut on the right rear. We
dropped the car (off the jack), but I had to
come back in and we had to fix it. We lost a ton
of ground, and that's where I made the wrong
adjustment on that pit stop right there.
DO YOU TAKE SOME
SOLACE IN THE FACT YOU GOT YOUR FIRST TOP-10 OF
THE SEASON?
Yeah, but
I'm a little frustrated.
It's something
we've got to get used to. We've just got to keep
testing this setup and hopefully get an idea of
how it's supposed to feel and the way that I
like it.
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JULY 8th
Derek Survives Long Day
to Finish 2nd at Thompson
THOMPSON, Conn. --
Derek finished second in the 30-lap Super Late
Model feature at Thompson International Speedway
on Thursday night, July 8. Ramstrom battled a
myriad of problems in practice and a tight race
car in the feature to post his fifth top-2
finish in seven starts at Thompson this season.
Unofficially, Ramstrom took the division's
points lead, breaking a three-way tie with Mike
O'Sullivan and Dennis Maxfield as he tries to
win a second consecutive Super Late Model
championship. Ramstrom started third in the
field and battled eventual winner Larry Gelinas
for the lead throughout the caution-free feature
event as part of Thompson's NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series program.
STARTED: 3rd
- FINISHED: 2nd
NEXT: July 13, PASS North
Series Bastille 200, Lee USA Speedway, Lee, N.H.
(.333-mile oval)
DEREK, IT WAS A LONG DAY. TALK ABOUT ALL THE
PROBLEMS YOU ENCOUNTERED.
We
definitely had a pretty crazy day. We got there,
and we had trouble with the shocks right off. We
couldn't get gas in them, so we were running
around like animals trying to get that figured
out. Then in the second practice we went out and
the rear end of the car caught fire. It was the
fuel cell, so I pulled into the pits and they
told me it was the fuel pickup line that was
loose, and we fixed that.
Doing all of
that, we missed one of the practices, so
(Thompson Speedway official Ben Dodge) gave us
some extra practice time. As soon as I went out
on the track, I could tell it was down a little
on power. I called my crew, and the pickup line
was all burnt. I guess it was crushed on the
inside, so we had to change that.
It was
definitely chaos. We had no crew chief and he's
also our spotter, so my dad had to spot for the
first time. But I'm really impressed with the
whole crew and the way they kept working so we
could get out of there with a second-place
finish.
SO, YOU
HAD NO HEAT RACES TONIGHT AND YOU WENT OUT
WITHOUT GETTING BACK ON THE TRACK?
Yeah, and we didn't have our crew chief
tonight, so I was calling the shots. I
over-tightened the car a little bit. We were
pretty tight right from the beginning, and it
was tough to pass Larry. He was really quick.
With our crate engines, when the car gets really
tight, it becomes really hard to pass.
DID YOU THINK YOU HAD A
SHOT TO CATCH LARRY GELINAS FOR THE WIN?
We were right there, side-by-side right up
until the final lap. I was working him and
working him, and I really thought I could get
him. I thought his car would slow up more than
it did. I was right there though, and it was a
thriller right to the checkered flag.
With all the power Larry has under that hood,
though, it was going to be really tough to get
by him.
17th at Canaan Fair Speedway
- 7/3/10
Derek finished 17th
in the PASS North Series Firecracker 150 at
Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., on
Saturday, July 3. Ramstrom had a right front
tire go flat early in the race, sending his car
into the backstretch wall on the .333-mile oval
-- the site of his first career Super Late Model
victory in the now defunct PASS Outlaw Late
Model series. It was Ramstrom's second flat tire
in three PASS starts this season and came after
the 18-year-old driver had worked his way inside
the top-10 in the running order.
DEREK, YOU HAD A ROUGH
NIGHT.
I was just following Richie
Dearborn up through the pack. The car was going
really good and we got up to sixth or seventh
place. Then for about 10 laps after that it
really started going away on me.
All of a
sudden, we popped the bead on the right front
tire, and it went straight into the wall. There
was nothing I could do.
HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT
WHEN THINGS LIKE THAT HAPPEN?
We
just can't catch a break with these tires in the
PASS races. At Beech Ridge (in May) we were
going good, and then we had a flat tire. Then we
had the same thing again tonight.
It's
too bad, because we had a really good car.
PASS
North Series Canaan Fair Speedway
Race Preview Derek returns to a
track with some sentimental value this weekend
for the PASS North Series Firecracker 150 at
Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., on
Saturday, July 3. Though Ramstrom has never
competed in a PASS North Series event at Canaan,
he does have a Super Late Model win at the
track. He earned his first career PASS Outlaw
Late Model victory at Canaan in 2006 en route to
the championship that season. Ramstrom ran the
first two events of 2010 before returning to
weekly competition at Thompson International
Speedway in Thompson, Conn., where he's posted
four wins in six races.
DEREK, HOW EXCITED ARE
YOU TO GET BACK TO PASS NORTH SERIES RACING?
I'm excited. I like traveling around for
races, and the PASS series is always a lot of
fun. Like anywhere, I guess you can have your
share of 'controversy,' but the atmosphere there
is always fun to be a part of.
There's a
lot of good guys in that series, a lot of good
competition, and it's always a challenge for us.
I can't wait.
YOU
TESTED AT CANAAN LAST WEEKEND. HOW DID THAT GO?
We were quick, which was good. One of the
local guys there said we were as fast as they
usually run for lap times, so we know we were
right there. It went pretty good for us, but
we'll obviously be able to tell when we get
there with other PASS cars on the track with us.
It takes a little bit to adjust to getting
back in the PASS car. It's got a little more
horsepower, a little more throttle response than
(the weekly car). So it took me about 20 or 30
laps to get back into with swing of it. But you
know what? That's why we go test.
NOW THAT YOU'RE A
'PART-TIME' TEAM WITH PASS, DO YOUR GOALS
CHANGE?
No, I
don't think so. I want to get a top-3 finish out
of there. I miss being on the podium in PASS at
the end of races. This is a chance to show that
we belong there, back at the place where I got
my first (PASS Outlaw Late Model) win.
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JUNE 24th
Ramstrom Grabs Fourth Win
Of The Season At Thompson
Derek Ramstrom of
West Boylston, Mass., won his fourth feature
event of the season at Thompson International
Speedway in Thompson, Conn., on Thursday night.
Ramstrom, the defending Super Late Model
champion at the track, has four victories this
season in just six starts. He started fourth in
the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
event and sprinted to the lead before the field
completed the first lap. From there, Ramstrom
went unchallenged to the victory and moved into
a 3-way tie atop the division's point standings
with Mike O'Sullivan and Dennis Maxfield.
WHAT: 30-lap Super Late Model Feature
STARTED: 4th - FINISHED: 1st (fourth win of
season) - STANDINGS: 1st
DEREK, HOW DID IT FEEL TO
GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE AFTER A COUPLE OF RACES
WHERE LUCK DIDN'T GO YOUR WAY?
It
was pretty awesome, for sure. The car was great,
and it just seemed like the rest of the guys
weren't going to have a chance. I'm glad for all
our guys after the bad luck we've been having.
It was probably pretty boring for the fans,
but we started fourth and the car just took
right off. For us, it was an excellent race. It
really was.
Thompson
Track Race Report
- After a run of three-straight victories to
open the 2010 season, Derek Ramstrom of
Worcester, MA, returned to his winning ways
posting his fourth Super Late Model feature win
in six starts. It took Ramstrom only a single
lap to move from the fourth starting position to
the head of the class. Ramstrom made quick work
of Larry Gelinas, Dave Silvia, and George
Bessette to take the lead.
Mike
O’Sullivan moved passed Dennis Maxfield to move
into the fourth position. The battle was far
from over as contact between O’Sullivan and
Maxfield, allowed Maxfield to get up along side
O’Sullivan once again. The top-three were
meanwhile able to pull away. Ramstrom held a
five-car length advantage over Bessette, who
enjoyed an equal margin over Gelinas.
At
halfway, the balance of the field was strung out
over the length of the speedway. The only thing
that changed over the second half of the event
was the distance between the top three. Ramstrom
extended his margin over Bessette while Gelinas
had reeled in Bessette. O’Sullivan cut into the
advantage that Gelinas had previously held in
third.
With three laps remaining,
O’Sullivan dove low underneath Gelinas in an
attempt to steal third. O’Sullivan could get
alongside Gelinas exiting the corners but could
not muster up a pass on the straightaway. In the
end, the recent High School graduate scored his
fourth victory of the season. Bessette came home
second over Gelinas, O’Sullivan, and Maxfield.
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JUNE 17th
NEW
ATTITUDE: Ramstrom Vows To Learn From
Experience
WEST BOYLSTON,
Mass. -- Derek Ramstrom doesn't want to play the
nice guy anymore.
After his No. 35
Charter Communications/Matthews Truck Service
and Towing Chevrolet spun while racing for the
lead off the final corner of Thursday night's
30-lap Super Late Model feature at Thompson
International Speedway, Ramstrom said he's
finally reached his breaking point. He was
credited with a 10th-place finish and was more
upset by the loss of a possible victory than the
loss of points toward a potential championship.
"I'm kind of fed up with it all, to be
honst," said Ramstrom, 18. "I'm sick of being
the nice guy. We're trying to go out and win
races, but I don't think these other guys have
any respect for me."
Ramstrom started 8th
in the 15-car field as part of the track's
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program, and
he quickly worked his way onto the rear bumper
of former track champion Mike O'Sullivan.
Ramstrom tried several different moves to get
past O'Sullivan -- but never could pull off the
pass for the lead.
Finally, entering the
final two turns, Ramstrom tried to get under
O'Sullivan -- first getting picked by a lapped
car on the bottom of the track and then getting
pinched down to the apron by the leader.
Ramstrom's left side tires caught the infield
dirt, and he spun out as O'Sullivan went on to
win.
"After all these incidents, it's
just ridiculous," said Ramstrom, who also was
involved in an accident two weeks earlier while
racing with the leaders. "Hopefully, it will be
different this week. I know that I can't let
this stuff keep happening, and I know what I
have to do about it."
Ramstrom said that
learning the ins and outs of close-quarters
racing comes with experience.
"Look at
O'Sullivan and all the championships he's won at
Thompson. He has a ton of experience at racing
like this -- and so he should be good at it.
It's just a learning curve for me.
"It's
only going to make me better as a driver and get
me prepared for whatever other series I race
with in the future."
Thompson's Super
Late Model division returns to action on
Thursday night, June 24, with a 30-lap feature.
Racing begins at 5:45 p.m.
10th for Derek
after Last Lap Spin
Thompson
Track Race Report
- The Super Late Model main event found
Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA, coming out
on top of a three-car battle to score the
victory. George Bessette, O’Sullivan and Larry
Gelinas made easy work of the front row starters
to run in the top-three positions early. On lap
three, O’Sullivan took over the top spot from
Bessette. As Gelinas pressured Bessette for
second, Derek Ramstrom joined the battle at the
head of the field.
O’Sullivan was able to
gain a sizable advantage as Bessette, Gelinas,
and Ramstrom continued to battle for second. On
lap 7, Ramstrom stormed by Gelinas. Less than a
lap later he took over second from Bessette and
began to hunt down O’Sullivan.
Ricky
Fuller, Jim Banfield and Mike Stefanik caught
Gelinas. Contact between Fuller and Banfield
ended Fuller’s night as he headed to pit road on
lap 13.
At halfway, Ramstrom was glued to
the back bumper of O’Sullivan. Gelinas got along
side Bessette for third. Stefanik joined the
battle. Gelinas was able to move into third
opening the door for Stefanik as well. The
action slowed when Jeramee Lillie and Dave
Silvia made hard contact on the front stretch.
O’Sullivan was up for the challenge on the
restart to retain his lead. Gelinas was looking
racy on the restart giving Ramstrom a run. When
things shook out, O’Sullivan continued to lead
Ramstrom, Gelinas, and Stefanik. Bessette ran in
a distant fifth.
With less than 10 laps
to go, O’Sullivan had to go on the defensive as
Ramstrom began to apply serious pressure.
Ramstrom could get along side O’Sullivan
lap-after-lap. Gelinas stuck the nose of his #48
in to make it a three-car race for the lead.
Stefanik was in striking distance in fourth.
Coming out of four to take the checkers,
O’Sullivan, Ramstrom and Gelinas came out of the
corner three-wide. Giving it everything he had
on the bottom groove, Ramstrom lost the handle
on his car; spinning to the infield leaving
O’Sullivan and Gelinas to duke it out for the
win. O’Sullivan crossed the stripe with the
victory followed by Gelinas and Mike Stefanik.
Banfield and Bessette rounded out the top five.
RAIN OUT
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JUNE 10th
Ramstrom Ready
To Get Back On Track This Week
WEST BOYLSTON,
Mass. -- Derek Ramstrom doesn't care much for
points racing, particularly in New England's
weekly short-track ranks.
In fact, the
recent high school graduate and reigning
Thompson International Speedway track champion
is very clear about what he wants to get out of
the rest of 2010, which already includes three
feature wins in four starts at Thompson.
"We've got to go out and get some wins,"
Ramstrom said. "That's really what has to matter
most to us right now."
Ramstrom stormed
out of the gates by winning the first three
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late
Model events of the season at his home track,
and he seemed on his way to a fourth consecutive
victory on May 27. That's when a rear brake
vibration, however, caused his car to snap loose
as he battled Rick Fuller for second place in
the late going of the event and ended up hitting
the turn one wall to end his night with a rare
DNF.
"I was just fighting for that fourth
win, and I really shouldn't have been pushing
that hard," Ramstrom admitted. "I probably only
had a second-place car, but I was really trying
to push Rick Fuller. I had a really bad
vibration in the rear brake -- so bad it was
making the car hop, and it got me extremely
loose. I got crossed up going into (turn) one
and it unloaded the car on me and went straight
into the wall."
Following an off weekend,
Ramstrom trails Dennis Maxfield by two points
atop the Super Late Model standings as teams
return to Thompson for a 30-lap feature event
this Thursday night -- the unofficial beginning
of the summer stretch.
Ramstrom said his
team will be ready for the changes summer heat
brings to the high-banked 5/8-mile oval.
"The track does change a ton when it does get
heat in it," he said. "Just like last year, it
seems we started the season with a dominant
setup in the car and we could go out and just
dominate. But once the track starts changing,
we've got to change the setup a little bit so
that we can continue to go after those wins.
"The track usually gets loose when it gets a
lot of heat in it. I like to run a tight car at
that track, so we've just got to switch up the
setups a little bit when it starts getting hot."
While he's focused on repeating as
Thompson's Super Late Model champion, Ramstrom
will continue to run a partial PASS North Series
schedule. In years past he's run the entire PASS
schedule in his No. 35 Charter
Communications/Matthew's Truck Service and
Towing Chevrolet, but Ramstrom believes scaling
back the touring efforts will serve the team
better over the long haul.
"We were
always going week to week to week and trying to
keep up with that," said Ramstrom, who has two
career PASS North victories, including one at
Thompson last summer. "We tried to figure out
the tracks during practice. That approach works
sometimes -- you get lucky and nail the setup
when you unload the car and everything's
perfect. But there are also times when you're
scrambling just to keep up.
"This summer
we're going to step back and do some testing and
really figure out the car before we go places,
so we can try and nail the setup and really nail
down some wins. It's something we couldn't ever
fit into our schedule before, but now we're
going to really look at the schedule and
evaluate things and pick the tracks we're strong
at."
Because, Ramstrom said, they've got
to keep the big picture in mind.
"We need
to get some wins -- that's really what we're
trying to get. We've been at this series for a
while now, and we need to nab some wins."
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on JUNE 3rd
RAIN OUT
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on MAY 27th
Derek's
Strong-Hold Ends
Thompson
Track Race Report
- Jim Banfield of S. Glastonbury, CT, won a
classic battle in the Super Late Models on
Thursday night. The victory by Banfield ended
Derek Ramstrom’s strong-hold on the SLM winner’s
circle. For the opening two laps, the entire
field went door-to-door behind the leaders
Banfield and Steve Desmarais. Banfield finally
freed himself of traffic to take sole possession
of the lead. Desmarais was shuffled back as Rick
Fuller and Dennis Maxfield moved into the top
three. Ramstrom joined the fray laps later.
Banfield
continued to lead with Fuller in tow while the
battle for the third spot began to heat between
Maxfield, Ramstrom and Larry Gelinas. After
several laps, Ramstrom was able to make the pass
on Maxfield. He immediately ran down the lead
duo of Banfield and Fuller.
The top three
cars had broken away from Maxfield and the
remainder of the field. Lap-after-lap, Ramstrom
could get alongside Fuller in the low groove.
Despite the battled for second, Banfield could
not distance himself from Fuller and Ramstrom.
With five laps remaining, Fuller and Ramstrom
went side-by-side glued to the back bumper of
Banfield. Maxfield ran a half-straightaway
behind in third.
Ramstrom, looking
for the edge on Fuller, lost control of his
mount, spinning and making hard contact with the
outside wall in turn one. The caution set-up a
single-file restart with three-laps remaining
that pitted Banfield against Fuller.
Banfield rocketed
out to the lead with Maxfield grabbing second
from Fuller. Banfield enjoyed a few car-length
advantage while Fuller and Maxfield battle for
second. Mike Stefanik made a late race surge. At
the checkers, it was Banfield scoring a
hard-fought victory. Maxfield crossed the stripe
second ahead of Fuller but was relegated to the
third spot after making an illegal pass before
the start/finish line on the final restart.
Stefanik and Gelinas rounded out the top-five.
Derek stands second in points with 182,
2 behind Dennis Maxfield.
150
Laps for the Super Late Models Saturday, MAY
22nd - 4 PM No. Woodstock, NH
RACE
REPORT - Started 19th - Finished 20th
NORTH WOODSTOCK,
N.H. -- Derek Ramstrom finished 20th in
the PASS 150 at White Mountain
Motorsports Park on Saturday. Ramstrom
was trying to move from the middle of
the pack when he was spun off of the
track's fourth turn following contact
with Joey Doiron's No. 73 car on lap
110.
DEREK, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE
NO. 73 CAR?
I had to slow down a ton to try
and get it down to the bottom (of the
racetrack), and he rear-ended me.
DID IT TAKE YOU BY SURPRISE?
Yeah, it did. He came over and
apologized. It's one of those racing
deals. Next time, he's just got to try
and be a little more patient, I guess.
HOW WAS THE CAR PRIOR TO THE
INCIDENT?
We were pretty fast all day, but
we changed up the setup a little bit. We
thought we were going to get tight -- as
the night moved on, the track gets a
little bit cooler and we thought we were
going to get tight. We made a little bit
too many adjustments and (I was) just
struggling to pass people back in the
pack. I couldn't work the outside groove
at all. It was a tough night.
NEXT RACE: Thursday, May 27,
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super
Late Model 30-lap feature, Thompson
Int'l Speedway, Thompson, Conn.
Photos by Norm Marx
White Mountain
Motorsports Park Race Preview
Derek heads back to
the type of track where he's encountered a great
deal of success early in his PASS North Series
career, entering the PASS 150 at White Mountain
Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H., on
Saturday, May 22. The 18-year-old driver earned
his first career PASS victory on a similar
quarter-mile at All-Star Speedway in Epping,
N.H., in 2008 and last year finished second in
this event on the high banks at White Mountain.
Ramstrom aims to turn his luck around after a
tire issue in the season-opener at Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway earlier this month forced him to
lose valuable positions while pitting under the
green flag.
BEST
CAREER WMMP FINISH: 2nd (May 2009) LAST RACE AT WMMP: 2nd (May 2009)
PASS
NORTH SERIES LAST RACE: Saturday, May
1, PASS 150, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway,
Scarborough, Maine (26th-place finish) NEXT RACE: Saturday, June
12, Speedway 660, Fredericton, Nb POINTS POSITION: 21st DEREK, WE'LL PUT
YOU IN THE CATEGORY OF DRIVERS WHO LIKE WHITE
MOUNTAIN, OK?
Yeah,
definitely. I love White Mountain. We always
seem to run really strong there. I like the high
banks, and like I said, we always seem to run
well on those kind of tracks.
DESPITE THE FACT THAT YOU
CALL ONE OF NEW ENGLAND'S BIGGEST TRACKS -- THE
5/8-MILE THOMPSON (CONN.) SPEEDWAY -- YOUR HOME,
QUARTER-MILE TRACKS ARE WHERE YOU'VE SEEMINGLY
BEEN AT YOUR BEST.
I just
seem to have taken to those tracks. I really
have a good feel in the car on high-banked
tracks, whether it's Thompson or White Mountain.
White
Mountain kind of resembles All-Star a little
bit, in that they have some banking and they
have that frontstretch wall that comes out at
you off the corner.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A
TURNAROUND AFTER A COUPLE WEEKS OFF FOLLOWING
THE TOUGH DAY AT BEECH RIDGE?
Definitely. I'm pumped to get back behind the
wheel, and I can't wait. I'm looking forward to
running at White Mountain. It's always run to
run up north against some of the good
competition up there.
FIRST
THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER on MAY 20th
Scott and Trevor Nickel Photos,
Official Photographers for
Thompson Speedway
No Slowing Ramstrom at Thompson
THOMPSON, Conn. -- Derek Ramstrom is
batting 3-for-3 on the young season.
The
reigning Thompson International Speedway track
champion won his third feature event of the
season in as many starts on Thursday night,
driving away late to win the 30-lap Super Late
Model event on the opening night of the track's
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series schedule.
Ramstrom, 18, of West Boylston, Mass., said
it was almost as easy as it looked in his No. 35
Charter Communications/Matthews Truck Service
and Towing Chevrolet.
"The car was just
phenomenal," he said in victory lane. "The car
was just so good, it wasn't that hard to race."
Ramstrom battled his way to the front of the
13-car field prior to the halfway mark, taking
the lead from Larry Gelinas and checked out to a
nearly half-straightaway advantage he never
relinquished.
After winning four events
during the 2009 season, Ramstrom has won all
three of his Super Late Model starts thus far in
2010 -- including a doubleheader sweep of 25-lap
features for the division during Thompson's
annual "Icebreaker" back in April.
Next up for
Ramstrom is the PASS North Series 150 at White
Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock,
N.H., on Saturday, May 22.
Derek Goes 3 for 3 in 2010
TRACK RACE REPORT: Hot
off two wins on Icebreaker weekend, Derek
Ramstrom of Worcester, MA, came into Thursday
night as the man to beat in the Super Late
Models. Following the first TNTT event, Ramstrom
remains undefeated. Larry Gelinas rocketed out
to a comfortable lead right from the drop of the
green flag. Dennis Maxfield ran in the second
spot as Derek Ramstrom had quickly worked his
way into the third position. After an early
restart, Ramstrom was able to take over the
second position from Maxfield.
Two of the
division’s heavy hitters Mike Stefanik and Mike
O’Sullivan were involved in a tandem spin on the
front stretch. Both were able to continue and
the race remained green. Ramstrom immediately
caught Gelinas. After a pair of laps, Ramstrom
was the new leader.
At halfway, Ramstrom
had gained a sizable advantage over Gelinas. The
battled was brewing between Maxfield, Fuller and
Bessette. Bessette began looking low on Fuller.
The two made some slight contact as Bessette
made the pass exiting turn four. Fuller hooked
Bessette on the front stretch sending Bessette
head on into the outside wall entering turn one.
Fuller was sent pit side for his actions.
On the restart, Ramstrom was pitted against
Gelinas. Ramstrom was easily able to regain his
lead. Gelinas fell into the grasp of Maxfield.
Once things sorted out Ramstrom led by a
half-straightaway over Gelinas, who had a
comfortable margin over Maxfield. Marc Curtis
began to run down Maxfield as Mike Stefanik was
picking his way through the field.
In the
end, Ramstrom went unchallenged to the checkers
followed by Gelinas. Maxfield finished third.
Curtis held off a late race bid by Stefanik. The
running order was shuffled following post race
tech when both Curtis and Stefanik were
disqualified. Jeramee Lillie and Steve Desmarias
were the remainder of the official top-five.
Ramstrom Geared
Up For Thompson Title Defense
WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. -- The youngest
track champion in Thompson International
Speedway history will attempt to become the
youngest back-to-back champion in the track's
history, as Derek Ramstrom begins the weekly
grind of his Super Late Model title defense at
the facility this week.
Thompson's weekly program kicks off this
Thursday night, May 20, with a NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series 30-lap feature for the Super
Late Models.
The
18-year-old Ramstrom, who won four times en
route to the division title in 2009, won Super
Late Model features on consecutive days at the
track early last month as part of the
season-opening "Icebreaker" weekend. Ramstrom
has a 4-point lead atop the standings over Mike
O'Sullivan as the season begins in earnest
Thursday.
"It's a good opportunity for me to go out and
try and repeat," said Ramstrom, driver of the
No. 35 Charter Communications/Matthew's Truck
Service and Towing Chevrolet. "I have a lot of
track time there now, and every week I seem to
run better and better. I'm just more on top of
my game when I race there, and I know I can win
the championship again."
His
start to the 2010 campaign provided proof that
he's more than capable of repeating. Ramstrom
started on the outside pole in the first 25-lap
feature of the year and rolled to victory lane,
and less than 24 hours later he waged a
side-by-side battle with the former division
champion O'Sullivan -- which he won on the final
corner of the final lap. A few more performances
like the ones on opening weekend, and Ramstrom
will be well on his way to title No. 2.
"I
have a lot of confidence coming into this
season, and we're already off to the best
(two-race) start we've ever had," Ramstrom said.
"And, as a team, we know we're going to be
really good at Thompson. I'm excited to get
going there every week."
Thompson's NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
season runs weekly, every Thursday night through
Sept. 16.
Saturday, May 1st - PASS 100 - 26th Place
Fast Car, Bad Luck For Ramstrom
By Travis
Barrett
SCARBOROUGH, Maine -- From the
qualifying rounds right through the feature last
weekend, Derek Ramstrom hopes he got all of his
bad luck for the 2010 PASS North Series season
right out of the way.
Ramstrom was forced to settle for a 26th-place
finish in the season-opening PASS 150 at Beech
Ridge Motor Speedway on Saturday. Ramstrom
started just 28th in the 31-car field after he
was wrecked by another car during qualifying,
and his charge through the field in the main
event was thwarted by a ill-tempered tire.
"We
had a really fast car," Ramstrom said. "Then the
right front (tire) started going bad, and it
just wouldn't turn anymore. Eventually it go so
bad we had to pit under green -- and it was
pretty much over from there."
Ramstrom's Charter Communications/Matthew's
Truck Service and Towing No. 35 Chevrolet was,
indeed, fast in the early going of the PASS 150.
The 18-year-old driver need just 65 laps to pick
up 15 positions on the track -- with the benefit
of just one caution flag to bunch the field
together.
Less than 10 laps later, Ramstrom was running
10th.
His
forward progress soon slowed, though he was able
to maintain a top-10 run with just 20 laps to
go. Eventually, the car's handling worsened to
the point where the only logical move was to pit
for a new tire.
Ramstrom next races on May 20 on the opening
night of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
action in the Super Late Model division at
Thompson International Speedway. Two nights
later, he'll join the PASS North Series for
round two of the 2010 season at White Mountain
Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H.
"We'll go see what we can do there," said
Ramstrom, who opened his year with back-to-back
Super Late Model wins during the Icebreaker at
Thompson last month.
Ramstrom Eyes
More Super Late Model Starts
By Travis
Barrett
- WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. -- Hoping
to capitalize on the momentum created earlier
this month at the season-opening Icebreaker
event at his home track, Derek Ramstrom has
altered his 2010 racing plans.
The
youngest track champion in Thompson (Conn.)
International Speedway history, Ramstrom will
attempt to win a second consecutive title in the
track's Super Late Model division. After winning
both ends of an Icebreaker doubleheader for the
Super Late Models, Ramstrom took a hard look at
returning to weekly competition full-time.
"It's a good opportunity and to go out and try
and repeat," said Ramstrom, 18, who originally
planned to race only a partial schedule at
Thompson. "I have a lot of track time there now,
and every week I seem to run better and better.
I'm just more on top of my game when I race
there and know I can win the championship again.
"I have a lot of confidence coming into
this season."
Part of Ramstrom's confidence comes in having
started this season with a ride on the NASCAR
K&N Pro Series East. He said that while he's
stepping back from that opportunity for the time
being, it was a tremendous learning experience.
He
hopes to translate what he learned in the K&N
Pro Series toward his Super Late Model efforts,
which includes an ambitious schedule of PASS
North Series events in addition to Thompson's
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly
program.
"The K&N Pro Series was a great opportunity --
it really was -- but it just didn't work out the
way I hoped," said Ramstrom, who posted a
career-best finish of 6th in the K&N Pro Series
season opener at Greenville Pickens Speedway in
March. "If anything, I just feel like I need to
be a little prepared going forward, maybe.
There's just so much competition on that series
that you've got to be ready mentally more than
anything.
"I
know that I have the talent to be there under
the right circumstances, just like everybody
else."
For
a young driver looking for exposure, Ramstrom
feels that PASS -- which sanctions races from as
far north as Canada and as far south as Georgia
and includes a national championship series --
rivals NASCAR's regional tours in terms of
recognition. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers
Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Regan Smith and others
have all competed in PASS events.
"There's just a phenomenal amount of competition
in PASS," he said. "Every week, there are at
least a dozen guys at every race that can win.
That's big for me, where you know that coming
down to the end of close races, you really have
to have a lot of confidence to get the job done.
"PASS is a great series with really good
exposure. They race all around the East Coast,
with a ton of different drivers and driving
styles. A lot of people don't know how good a
series it really is, and I'm looking forward to
running there some more."
Ramstrom said that when he's back with his
family-operated Super Late Model team, he'll be
better prepared from having competed in NASCAR's
feeder division.
"We're going to be really good, which is great,"
said Ramstrom, who won four NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series events at Thompson last
season, as well as a PASS North Series race.
"Just running those couple of K&N Pro Series
races with the team I was working with, it
definitely helped me out mentally. I'll
definitely be more prepared for PASS racing, and
hopefully the things I picked up from the K&N
Series will help me there."
The NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series schedule at Thompson
International Speedway begins May 20 with a
30-lap Super Late Model feature.
In the meantime,
Ramstrom will join the PASS North Series when it
opens its 2010 season this Saturday, May 1, with
the PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in
Scarborough, Maine.
Derek Ramstrom: PASS North Series Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Race Preview
Reigning
Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway track
champion Derek Ramstrom makes his 2010 PASS
North Series debut in the seaon opener at the
PASS 150 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in
Scarborough, Maine, on Saturday, May 1. A
two-time winner on the PASS North Series in his
career, Ramstrom finished 10th in the final PASS
standings a year ago, despite not competing in
the full schedule. He posted four top-5 and
seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts, while also
winning four Super Late Model features at
Thompson over the course of the season there.
Ramstrom made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
starts this season with a career-best finish of
6th at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway in
March, and he also won a pair of Super Late
Model features during Icebreaker weekend at
Thompson earlier this month.
WHO: Derek
Ramstrom, West Boylston, Mass. TEAM:
Charter Communications/Matthew's Truck Service &
Towing No. 35 Chevrolet BEST
CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 3rd
(September 2007) LAST
RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 31st
(September 2009)
WHAT: PASS North
Series PASS 150 WHERE: Beech Ridge
Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile
oval) WHEN: 3 p.m., Saturday, May 1
PASS NORTH SERIES LAST RACE: N/A NEXT RACE: Saturday, May 22, White
Mountain Motorsports Park, North Woodstock, N.H.
DEREK, HOW MUCH
ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK INTO A
SUPER LATE MODEL THIS WEEKEND?
It's going to
feel really good. Just running those couple of
K&N Pro Series races with the team I was working
with, it definitely helped me out mentally. I'll
definitely be more prepared for PASS racing, and
hopefully the things I picked up from the K&N
Series will help me there.
PASS is a great
series with really good exposure. They race all
around the East Coast, with a ton of different
drivers and driving styles. A lot of people
don't know how good a series it really is, and
I'm looking forward to running there some more.
WHAT'S
THE KEY TO HAVING SUCCESS AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR
SPEEDWAY? YOU HAD TWO REALLY GOOD RUNS THERE
LAST YEAR.
You mean other
than just staying in the top-5 all weekend?
(laughs).
No the biggest thing is that you want to
be able to use the outside groove. If you're
able to pass guys on the outside, you'll be good
to go. It always seems there that halfway
through the race, all the good cars move up to
the high line to pass. When you go to Beech
Ridge, you've got to have the mindset of running
in that top line right from the beginning -- I
just do concentrate too much on the bottom
anymore.
I like Beech
Ridge. It's a nice facility, and it's always
competitive.
IS YOUR
TEAM A BETTER RACE TEAM NOW THAN IT WAS AT THIS
TIME A YEAR AGO?
Yeah, we are.
Definitely. We've really come a long way over
the past year. We've got a lot of new guys on
the crew, and we really seem to have come
together.
I think one of
the biggest things I learned (in the NASCAR K&N
Pro Series) was about driver-crew chief
communication. That's one thing where we've
gotten a lot better with our Super Late Model,
too.
THE
ICEBREAKER - APRIL 10-11
Ramstrom Breaks The Ice
With Pair Of Wins
SCOTT &
TREVOR NICKEL PHOTOS
By Travis
Barrett-
THOMPSON, Conn. -- Derek
Ramstrom got his Super Late
Model season off to a fine start
at Thompson International
Speedway.
The reigning track champion
swept a pair of 25-lap features
for the division as part of the
track's annual Icebreaker event
over the weekend.
"It was great to come right out
and win two races like that,"
Ramstrom said. "It was a big
boost of confidence -- just huge
for the whole team. I needed
that."
The 18-year-old driver from West
Boylston, Mass., became the
youngest champion in Thompson
history last year after winning
four Super Late Model races on
the season. In just two days,
he's already halfway to that
total this year.
Ramstrom
won't defend his track
championship in 2010, instead
opting for a full schedule of
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races
complemented by partial PASS
North Series and Thompson weekly
schedules. The lightened
workload at Thompson has changed
his motivation, he said.
"We're going out to race for the
win every time," Ramstrom said.
"We'll go out and do whatever it
takes to get to the checkered
flag first. It's wreckers or win
for us."
On Saturday, Ramstrom started on
the outside pole in the 16-car
field and waited until leader
Louie Mechalides encountered a
transmission problem on an early
restart. He took the lead and
never looked back en route to
winning.
Less than 24 hours later,
Ramstrom started from the pole
but conceded the lead to Mike
O'Sullivan. The two cars spent
the final 10 laps racing
door-to-door, with O'Sullivan
holding the high line and
Ramstrom occupying the low side
of the high-banked race track.
As the two
cars rolled through the final
corner with the checkered flag
in sight, Ramstrom got a run
under O'Sullivan and won the
drag race to the start-finish
line by half a car length.
"It wasn't easy at all,"
Ramstrom said.
"I could tell his car was tight
in the center of the corner, and
I did a little high-low move and
moved him up the track. I gave
him a little bump and run, and
it worked."
Ramstrom's
family-owned No. 35 Chevrolet
won't be back in action until
May, with an eye on being back
on track for either the PASS 150
at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway
(Scarborough, Maine) on May 1 or
the beginning of Thompson's
weekly Thursday Night Thunder
series on May 20.
"This is the best we've ever
started out for a season,"
Ramstrom said. "We've had a
couple tough weeks in the K&N
Pro Series and this is how you
rebound."
SUNDAY APRIL 11TH
POS. CAR # FIRST NAME LAST NAME
1 35 DEREK RAMSTROM
2 08 MIKE O'SULLIVAN
3 1 NORMAN WRENN
4 0 DENNIS MAXFIELD
5 52 DAVID DARLING
6 48 LARRY GELINAS
7 13 JAMES BANFIELD
8 6 STEVE DESMARAIS
9 15 GEORGE BESSETTE
10 11 DARYL STAMPFL
11 96 MATTHEW ZENISKY
12 10 HENRY STAMPFL
13 14 REY LOVELACE
14 50 JERAMEE LILLIE
15 27 MIKE BRIGHTMAN
16 59 MICHAEL RIVARD
SATURDAY APRIL 10TH
POS. CAR # FIRST NAME LAST NAME
1 35 DEREK RAMSTROM
2 08 MIKE O'SULLIVAN
3 0 DENNIS MAXFIELD
4 1 NORMAN WRENN
5 6 STEVE DESMARAIS
6 13 JAMES BANFIELD
7 52 DAVID DARLING
8 27 MIKE BRIGHTMAN
9 15 GEORGE BESSETTE
10 50 JERAMEE LILLIE
11 11 DARYL STAMPFL
12 96 MATTHEW ZENISKY
13 10 HENRY STAMPFL
14 14 REY LOVELACE
15 59 MICHAEL RIVARD
16 48 LARRY GELINAS
