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  *Comments on Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park:*
  View the most recent comment <#13> | Post a comment <#post>


  1.   Cooper posted:
  03.27.2010 - 7:11 pm
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Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut, USA, is a
5/8th mile paved oval racetrack that was once known as the Indianapolis
of the East. It was the first asphalt-paved racing oval track in the
United States and is now under the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
banner. Each year Thompson hosts one of the great fall variety events
"The World Series of Auto Racing" highlighted by the ISMA Super
Modifieds and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. This event frequently
draws over 600 race cars in 15 separate divisions over three days.

Until the 1980s the track had a unique barrier outside turns 1-2 and 3-4
made of dirt fill. The track has endured some tragic moments which have
claimed the lives of DeSarro, Harry Kourafus Jr., Corky Cookman, Tom
Baldwin, Sr., John Blewett III, and most recently Shane Hammond (April
6, 2008). DeSarro's death prompted a memorial fund-raiser which drew the
largest crowd to date and the Northeast's best drivers in an open
competition Modified race with no purse. Both Evans and Bodine mounted
their cars with wings.

NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart paid a memorable visit to
Thompson, and after besting Ted Christopher in a celebrity match race,
took Christopher's backup modified and started 24th and last in the
night's feature race. Using a racing line unfamiliar to track regulars,
Stewart smoked the field and won.

Hoenig's son Donald and grandson D.R. continue to operate the
family-owned facility. The road course is abandoned, serving as paddock
and staging areas for the oval track. Thompson operates a very
successful Thursday night NASCAR weekly racing series along with many
special events. The Hoenig's also operate an 18 hole golf course and
clubhouse/restaurant on the property.


  2.   chris o posted:
  08.29.2012 - 8:54 pm
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track still active


  3.   RaceFanX posted:
  04.15.2013 - 4:33 pm
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Home of the famous Icebreaker modified race


  4.   Anonymous posted:
  07.12.2014 - 6:54 pm
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The road course is in use as of 2014, hosting a variety of SCCA and
private events.


  5.   Windows Millennium Edition posted:
  04.15.2016 - 9:19 pm
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I only live 10 minutes away from this track. It also has some exciting
racing.


  6.   Andy U posted:
  12.11.2018 - 8:51 pm
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Is there any info on why there were three different lengths of races?


  7.   Timothy_Eklund posted:
  06.05.2019 - 10:21 am
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The k&n race for Thompson has been canceled for..... low car counts!
Only 10 cars were entered at the time.


  8.   RaceFanX posted:
  06.05.2019 - 12:53 pm
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Aw man, that's the fun Busch North throwback race too. Bummer.


  9.   ScottB posted:
  06.05.2019 - 3:01 pm
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The recent car counts here have been OK for the Whelan Mods and ACT Late
Models, but this series has not been doing as well. They had 20 in 2017
when it returned to the East schedule after an 8 year absence, then it
fell off to 13 last year and now this.

There is a certainly an overall downward trend in the sport, but somehow
this specific combination of track and series is really just not working
out.


  10.   possum posted:
  06.05.2019 - 8:24 pm
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@9 - I think the problem is a combination of Thompson being a long way
from the "home" of that series (most of the races, and most of the
teams, are in the southeast), combined with the race not being scheduled
back-to-back with Loudon this year. I'm going to guess in prior years
some of the teams stayed in the area between the races, rather than
hauling back and forth; this year they probably decided to just make one
haul up, for the Loudon race.


  11.   Bayne&BowmanFan posted:
  10.14.2019 - 9:57 am
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Why do the Modifieds race here 4 times a year? That seems a little
excessive.

Also, Justin Bonsignore has won 7 out of the last 8 Modified races.


  12.   ScottB posted:
  10.14.2019 - 12:43 pm
   Rate this comment:      (1)      (0)

They race here often for two reasons:

1. History: It's pretty much the Martinsville of the Northeast, been
here since the early days of the sport.

2. The Modifieds have always been popular with fans in the New England
region.

It is an odd scheduling quirk though.


  13.   RacingDude00 posted:
  12.11.2020 - 11:16 am
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No races at Thompson for the modified tour in 2021 as of now as their
full schedule was just announced


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