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Valenti Modified Racing Series: Todd Owen wins the battle, Woody Pitkat the war

Kyle Souza

In a race that can only be described as an utter wreckfest, it was Todd Owen who emerged victorious in the Valenti Modified Racing Series finale at Thompson Raceway Motorsports Park after out-dueling Chase Dowling on a late-race restart.

Dowling, who had dominated the large majority of the race, left the door open for Owen, who was surprised that such an opportunity presented itself. Owen also attributed his pass of Dowling in part due to the plethora of experience he has racing SK Modifieds at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday nights.

“He must’ve just gotten a bad start,” said Owen of the race-winning maneuver. “I just drove by him. I was just kinda shocked, myself… All the restarts at Stafford, you just learn to be on top of your game, and that’s what won it.”

Dowling made a late charge back on Owen in the final few laps, but ran out of time, as Owen held him off by a car-length.

“We were super tight when we got back going green,” said Owen of the closing laps. “But with that motor… it just motored down the straightaways, so he would never go back by me.”

It was the second career win for Owen in the VMRS — both of which have come at Thompson.

Meanwhile, Woody Pitkat notched his second VMRS championship.

It was by no means Pitkat’s strongest weekend of the season. He spun into the inside frontstretch wall early in the going, suffering severe damage that banished him to the pits for much of the contest. His 30th-place finish, however, was enough to lock up the 2018 crown by 15 points over runner-up Michael Willis Jr.

“Not the way that I wanted to finish it off,” Pitkat said after the race. “I can’t thank these guys enough. Just everybody. There’s like so many people to thank, it’s unbelievable.”

While not the dream conclusion to the season, it was Pitkat celebrating another championship campaign on the frontstretch at Thompson on Saturday night.

The complete results from the VMRS World Series 50 can be found below.

1. Todd Owen
2. Chase Dowling
3. Matt Swanson
4. Anthony Nocella
5. Anthony Flannery
6. Rob Richardi Jr
7 Bryan Narducci
8. Dave Etheridge
9. Andy Shaw
10. Dave Schneider
11. Amy Catalan
12. Dan Meservey Jr
13. Keith Rocco
14. Colbey Fournier
15 . Donnie Lashua
16. Derek Robbie
17. Dylan Robbie
18. Roy Seidel
19. Matt Mead
20. Jacob Perry
21. Jeff Gallup
22. Mike Willis Jr
23. Robert Bloxson
24. Jeff Malave
25. Cam Sontag
26. Andrew Molleur
27. Timmy Catalan
28. Steve Masse
29. Richard Savary
30. Woody Pitkat
31. CJ Bolton

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Paul Lambert is an aspiring collegiate journalist. A writer and broadcaster, Paul's excited to cover New England short track racing in 2022. Paul has also been published in the Boston Herald, Speedway Illustrated and on Autoweek.com.

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