Thompson’s Ice Breaker

This past weekend NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series teammates Renee Dupuis and Dave Etheridge competed in the Featherlite Modified Series, NASCAR Touring season opening event at Connecticut’s Thompson International Speedway.  

On Saturday afternoon, a total of 47 cars attempted to qualify - thru time trials – into the 38-car field. Etheridge’s impressive time earned him the third starting spot – his career best FMS qualifying effort. Dupuis, about a tenth of a second behind, qualified 15^th in what NASCAR declared as the fastest starting field in Thompson’s storied history. As an interesting side note, during qualifying runs at the 5/8^th mile facility, the top-15 cars remarkably posted average speeds of over 119 MPH. 

At the start of the 150-lap race, Etheridge easily maintained his top-ten position, while Dupuis steadily worked her way toward the top-ten. On lap 45 Etheridge ended-up with severe right-side damage after tangling with a past champion. In the meantime, Dupuis made a scheduled pit stop to take on three new tires and then set about working her way back up thru the pack. In the end, Dupuis came home on the lead lap in 14^th place. Easily, it was one of her team’s most aggressive and competitive runs in recent memory. Etheridge, who was unable to make necessary repairs, was awarded a disappointing 34^th place finishing position (Todd Szegedy, the apparent winner of the race, was disqualified after failing NASCAR’s post race inspection). 

As a result, Dupuis is ranked 14^th with Etheridge 34^th in the season-long points championship. 

Next up, both competitors will travel to Stafford Motor Speedway (Stafford Springs, CT) for the running of the 33^rd annual Spring Sizzler. The event will be televised on WCTX - Connecticut's UPN Station – at a date and time yet to be announced. We look forward to sending out an update after the show.