THOMPSON, Conn. – Jon McKennedy brought an end to the abbreviated International Supermodified Ass’n season by winning his third-straight race with the series Sunday during the 58th annual Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
The season was trimmed to three races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all three races being won by McKennedy. He’s won his last four IMSA starts dating back to 2019.
McKennedy started the race in third and battled his way past Otto Sitterly to begin a race-long chase of Chris Perley, who started on the pole by luck of the draw.
The battle up front ended late in the 50 lapper when Perley approached slower cars and in the ensuing cat and mouse game, McKennedy was able to take the lead away on lap 42. He then slipped away, leading the final eight laps to win the race.
“This was a tough race. Whenever you have Chris Perley starting on the pole here at Thompson, you know you have your work cut out for you,” McKennedy said. “He was fast, but I could see he was getting loose. We were both pretty loose throughout the whole race actually, especially coming off the corners.
“I thought it was a pretty good race. At times I got pretty near him. At one time we did make contact in one turn. He took a pretty early entry down at the bottom in that lap. I was pretty much right there. I had to drive the car in the grass. We did touch but luckily we both gathered it up. Then I was able to get back by him a few laps later clean. It was a great race. The guys worked really hard. It just feels really good. I mean we are on a roll. I think we’ve won the last four ISMA races.”
Perley settled for second, with Ronnie Williams, Mike Ordway Jr. and Anthony Nocella completing the top-five.
The finish:
Jon McKennedy, Chris Perley, Ronnie Williams, Mike Ordway Jr., Anthony Nocella, Otto Sitterly, Ryan Locke, Dan Connors, Kyle Edwards, Dave Danzer, Danny Bowes, Joey Payne, Bobby Timmons, Dave Duggan, Ben Seitz, A.J. Lesiecki.