Thompson Icebreaker Marks End Of Long Northeast Offseason

At least the name isn’t literal this year.

New England’s long five-month motorsports offseason draws to a close on Friday with the 48th running of Thompson Speedway’s legendary Icebreaker. While plenty of teams in the six-state region have already started their seasons, none have been able to do so on home turf.

The famed Connecticut oval will host nine divisions of short track cars over the three-day Icebreaker. The Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models and Thompson’s own Outlaw Open Modified Series will anchor Saturday’s and Sunday’s feature racing programs, with Friday serving as an option test day for teams seeking a warmup.

And with temperatures in the low fifties through the weekend, the need for a warmup is likely to persist through Sunday.

This weekend’s Icebreaker is the second to be promoted through a joint venture between American-Canadian Tour managing partner Cris Michaud and PASS owner and promoter Tom Mayberry. Michaud and Mayberry, longtime collaborators with their respective touring series, stepped forward in the summer of 2020 after multiple factors had idled Thompson’s oval-track program. Two successful events that summer and fall paved the way for a six-race schedule in 2021 and a similar itinerary for 2022.

PASS, New England’s premier Super Late Model touring series, got off to an early start with a mid-March road trip to North Carolina. The series’ twenty-first year opened with back-to-back Easter Bunny 150 features at Hickory Motor Speedway, a throwback to PASS’ presence outside the Northeast. Ryan Moore and NASCAR star William Byron claimed wins in the only two PASS National Championship events held outside New England.

LOOKING BACK: Griffith Unstoppable in PASS Icebreaker Opener

Saturday’s Thompson tilt, then, kicks off the PASS North Super Late Model season in earnest. Seven-time PASS North champion Johnny Clark skipped the Hickory road trip, but will be at Thompson to defend his crown and likely seek an eighth championship. Clark, title runner-up Dan Winter, and fellow 2021 full-timers Ben Rowe and Kate Re are among the 22 teams entered.

Saturday’s PASS Super Late Model showdown is the first event of the PASS North schedule. (Jeff Brown photo)

One team absent from the entry list is that of Derek Griffith. The Hudson, N.H. phenom has won three out of the last five PASS features at Thompson, including a 2021 sweep, and finished second in the other two. However, Griffith is slated to make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on Saturday at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, forcing him to forego a shot at a third straight Thompson trophy.

Griffith’s absence hardly means the race is wide-open; former Thompson winners DJ Shaw and Eddie MacDonald are sure to factor heavily into the outcome.

Saturday’s schedule is rounded out by appearances for Thompson’s Sunoco Modifieds and Mini Stocks, the traveling NEMA Lites midget cars, and the EXIT Realty Pro Truck Series. Sunday’s schedule includes the remainder of Thompson’s home divisions: SK Lite Modifieds, Limited Sportsmen (akin to a street stock) and ACT-rules Late Models.

But the focal point of Thompson’s Icebreaker has traditionally been Tour-type Modifieds. And true to that legacy, the Sunday itinerary concludes with a $10,000-to-win feature for the beloved ground-pounders. For a second season, the Icebreaker’s main event – and every event on Thompson’s 2022 schedule – will be sanctioned under the Outlaw Open Modified Series banner.

Modeled on the successful Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series, Thompson’s flagship Modified program is built around a rulebook that accommodates top performers from many Tour-type Modified programs, including the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the Tri-Track Series itself. Ron Silk won last year’s Icebreaker under the Outlaw rulebook, with Connecticut weekly ace Keith Rocco taking the $20,000 prize in October’s Thompson 300.

LOOKING BACK: Ron Silk Rallies To Win Icebreaker 125

Like Derek Griffith, the NASCAR Modified Tour is racing in Richmond this weekend. The Friday-night feature poses a logistical hurdle for Tour teams looking to chase Sunday’s formidable purse. Friday’s results could affect which teams ultimately attempt the double, but Jon McKennedy and car owner Tim Lepine are among those to have hinted at their intent. McKennedy was dominant in the Thompson 300 before a mechanical issue forced him to the pits with ten laps to go.

Ron Silk came on strong late in last year’s Icebreaker 125 to pick up the first Outlaw Open Modified Series trophy. (Jeff Brown photo)

Last year’s Icebreaker weekend faced a different sort of logistical hurdle. A pessimistic forecast calling for a Sunday rainout forced officials to move all feature racing to Saturday, with Sunday’s feature lineup kicking off not long before sunset Saturday.

With a drier forecast in store for this weekend, such a change does not appear to be in the cards in 2022.

The Icebreaker sets the stage for an April full of opening weekends for tracks and tours that have been idle since October. The ACT Late Model Tour opens its 2022 campaign at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in two weeks, joined by PASS in the second edition of the Northeast Classic. The following week, Stafford Motor Speedway opens its gates for the 50th anniversary of the Spring Sizzler. PASS is slated to return to the Connecticut track for its first visit since 2012, but the story of the weekend will be Sunday’s non-NASCAR Sizzler feature, with a $130,000 purse on deck and a $15,000 winner’s portion. The big touring weekends continue into May, with the region’s bullrings returning to weekly racing throughout the month.

But it starts Friday in Connecticut’s so-called Quiet Corner, where after five peaceful months, engines will roar once again.

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