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.

WHO: Derek Ramstrom, W. Boylston, Mass.
WHAT: No. 35 Charter Communications/Matthews Truck Service and Towing Chevrolet
WHERE: Thompson International Speedway, Thompson, Conn. (.625-mile oval)

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
WHAT: 30-lap Super Late Model Feature
STARTED: 6th
FINISHED: 3rd
STANDINGS: 3rd

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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.