Legendary name gets honored with win
Christopher counts victory at Thompson as 100th for uncle
THOMPSON — On Sept. 10, 2017, Ted Christopher recorded his 99th career victory at Thompson Speedway with a win in the track’s SK Modified division.
Christopher, recognized as one of the greatest short-track racers of his generation, was killed in a plane crash six days later. In victory lane at Thompson Speedway, Christopher’s memory lives on. Painted in victory lane is “TC 99”, remembering the track’s winningest driver.
Mike Christopher Jr. has seen that remembrance plenty, but Saturday the Wolcott driver and nephew of Ted got to celebrate for the first time in that spot. Christopher used a last-lap pass of Troy Talman to win the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature. In victory lane Mike Christopher Sr. — Ted’s twin brother — exploded with emotion, celebrating as his son got out of the car.
It was the first win at the .625-mile oval for Mike Jr., a track where his father and uncle had so much success previously. He counted the victory as No. 100 for his late uncle.
“It feels good to finally get here and get No. 100 for Ted Christopher,” Mike Jr. said. “I always thought of it when they put that thing there, that he had 99 [wins]. It’s like ‘How can I get one more?’ ”
Talman, of Oxford, Mass., was second and Todd Owen of Somers third.
“Just to win up here, man it feels so good,” Mike Sr. said. “My brother’s won so much here, I’ve won so much here. And to finally get a car and see the kid chase him down like that, it was just great to watch.”
Talman jumped past Kyle James for the lead at the start. Mike Jr. got by James for second on lap 11 and set sail cutting into Talman’s big lead.
By lap 28 Christopher had closed within a car length. On the final lap he got under Talman off turn two and used a diving run into turn three to overtake Talman. In turn four Talman tried to cross over, but contact had him sliding to save his car as Christopher jetted to the checkered.
“I knew it was me and Talman there at the end,” Christopher said. “We were catching him, catching him, catching him. … I figured I might as well save it for the last lap and make it a show for the fans.”
Christopher got his first SK Modified victory at Stafford Speedway exactly one year ago on June 15, 2018. He went on to record four wins at Stafford last season.
Ted Christopher is also the winningest driver at Stafford with 131 career victories, 109 of those coming in the SK Modified division. Mike Sr. is fifth on the all-time SK Modified win list at Stafford with 28 victories.
“Winning those races at Stafford [Motor] Speedway last year and then to finally come here and get a win, it really feels good, especially for my family and what the Christopher name means for auto racing here in New England,” Mike Jr. said. “To represent [my uncle] in that way, my uncle’s name and [my dad’s] name and now my name too, it feels good to finally get a win at Thompson.”
Saturday’s results