Cravenho Scores Big One in Sunoco Mods at Thompson
Thompson, CT (August 31, 2006): Tommy Cravenho of Raynham, MA scored the victory in the Sunoco Modified main event presented by Independent Truck Service. It was his second win of the season. Cravenho pocketed an additional $200 from Independent Truck Service of Shrewsbury, MA and earned himself a coveted guaranteed starting spot in the 4th Annual North-South Shootout ™ scheduled for November 3&4, 2006 at Concord Motorsports Park. Through the generosity of owners Bruce & Pat Webber, tenth-place finisher Dave Nordman, 15th place finisher Brett LeBlanc, 18th place Rick D’Abate, and 20th place finisher Joe Lemay each received a $200 bonus from Independent Truck Service.
Keith Rocco took the early lead from his pole starting position followed by Tommy Cravenho, co-point leaders Jeff Malave and Woody Pitkat and Todd Ceravolo. The battle for the lead got interesting at lap six with Cravenho pressuring Rocco for the top spot. Malave was stuck to the bumper of the Falmouth Ready Mix #31. The top-five of Rocco, Cravenho, Malave, Pitkat and Ceravolo entered heavy lapped traffic on lap 10.
Rocco diced his way through traffic while Malave was not as lucky. A sliding lapped car of Rick D’Abate got out of shape, clipping the left front of Malave. After getting through the pack of slower cars, the running order was Rocco, Cravenho, Pitkat, Lemay, Ceravolo then Malave.
A spin by fifth-running Lemay spun to bring out the caution on lap 13. Rocco was reported to be leaking fluid while Malave headed to pit road. After an inspection by officials, Rocco headed to pit road to make repairs to his racecar.
On the restart Cravenho was the new leader. Ceravolo had a great run on the restart and after a quick battle with Pitkat took over the second spot. Woody was not done. He held strong on the outside for several laps before falling back in line behind Ceravolo. Buddy Charette was having a great race in the fourth spot.
There was a little bumper tag between Pitkat and Ceravolo as they raced for second. Lemay, Rocco, and Malave were gingerly working their way through traffic. By the time the caution flew on lap 21 for a spin by John Catania all three were back inside the top ten. Lemay was back to seventh, Malave back to ninth and Rocco in tenth.
With Cravenho back out front, Pitkat got the edge on Ceravolo on the restart. Ceravolo took chase in third while getting heavy pressure from Charette. Stephen Masse spun on the front stretch from the sixth position to send the field scattering. Collected in the melee were Rocco and Lemay. Malave barely escaped the incident.
This restart pitted Pitkat to the outside of Cravenho. Malave had rocketed into the fourth spot over Charette on the restart. Malave got a run on Ceravolo but could not make the pass stick. Charette fought back on the outside. In close quarters, Charette was shoved into the marbles and lost ground.
Over the final two laps, Cravenho, Pitkat, Ceravolo and Malave ran under a blanket. In a last effort, Pitkat got low but could not make the pass. Cravenho held on for the win over Pitkat. Ceravolo finished third over Malave and Charette. Pitkat took sole position of the Sunoco Modified point lead with his runner-up finish.
