High groove gets Thompson to victory lane

Results

James Thompson took the higher line to the checkers in Saturday’s IMCA Modified main event at Springfield Raceway.

By Ronnie Williams 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Aug. 24) – Bad Boy Mower IMCA Modified point leader James Thompson shocked the field by moving in the high groove on lap 15 and pulled away to record his fifth  fea­ture win of the season at The Quick-Quarter of the Springfield Raceway. 

Thompson, who twice this season has pulled off late-race wins by using the bottom groove to his advantage, showed patience on the ultra-quick surface after the track was hit by heavy rain show­ers both Friday night and Saturday morning. 

After searching for a spot on the track to gain ground on the leaders, Thompson used two early cautions to get position as leader Bobby Pearish and last week’s winner Ryan Gilmore were wag­ing an all-out war for the spot. 

Action went solid green after the lap three caution. Thompson the very quietly picked his spots very carefully.

The lap 15 caution bunched the pack together as Thompson had moved to second and picked the outside lane for the double-file restart to most everyone’s surprise. He wheeled to the upper lane and drove away on the restart, leaving a hard fought battle for the runner-up spot behind him.

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