Robie and Leary find Victory lane of the first time this season, Stebbins repeats and Keniston get his first win at Monadnock!
By Ryan Lawliss
Winchester, NH: Monadnock Speedway returned to action after a successful Spring Dash 2018. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series was filled with action as the lightning stocks and young guns joined the racing card. Brian Robie captured his first feature win in the Sportsman Modified division this season. Tyler Leary took the win in the Super Stocks after missing practice. Mike Stebbins won his second race in a row in the Mini Stocks. Leon Keniston got his first ever win at Monadnock Speedway after trying for 10 years in the Lightning Stocks. Chloe Wright won her first Young Guns feature of the season.
The Young Guns took to the track for the first feature of the night. Nathan Wenzel in the 03 would lead the field to the green. Wenzel would lead early but would get loose coming out of turn 4 a few laps in and Chloe Wright in the 17 would seize the opportunity to take the lead. Taylor Striebel in the 57 and Cooper Roberge in the 96 would also use the slip up by Wenzel to gain position on the track. By lap 10 Wright had a commanding lead. The first caution of the race would fly on lap 11 for the 28 of Sammy Silva coming to rest on the top of turn 2 after losing a tire. On the restart Wright would lead the field to the green. But before the field could get going the caution would fly again for a spinning 03VT of Elijah Castillo. Wright would lead the field to the green again, this time jumping out to a commanding lead right away. Striebel would take commend of 2nd on the restart. Roberge would feel pressure from the 12c of Chris Sontag. Wright would hold on to take the win. Striebel would finish 2nd and with a last lap pass Sontag finished 3rd. In victory lane Wright was all business as she was focused on next week. Wright did touch on her missing the feature last week due to transmission problems and was thankful for the hard work of her team during the week to get her back onto the track this year.
Lightning Stocks were on the track next with the hope of electrifying the crowd; Erin Aiken in the 33 and the 13k of Leon Keniston brought up the front row. Aiken and Keniston would bring the field to the green but before a lap could be completed the caution would fly as the 69x of Josh Carey would spin on the backstretch after making contacting with a few other cars. Aiken and Keniston again would bring the field to the green. Aiken and Keniston would go side by side into turn one but it would be Keniston that would lead lap 1. Aiken would settle into the 2nd spot but would soon feel pressure from the 603 of Matt Gauffin. Gauffin would take over the 2nd spot on lap 6. By this point in the race Keniston would have a ½ a straightway lead over Gauffin. Keniston would hold on to win the race. Gauffin finished 2nd and Aiken held on to finish 3rd. Keniston stopped at the start finish line and instead of the standard victory lap, Keniston took a jog down the fence line to share the win with the fans in the stands! Keniston was extremely relieved to finally get a win at “the Dawg” as he said it has been something on his list for some time.
The next feature on the track would be the 25 lap Mini Stock feature. Jaret Curtis in the 33 and the 69 of Louis Maher brought the field to the green but just like the lightning stocks feature the caution would fly before the first lap was even completed. Maher and Curtis would battle side by side thru turns 1 and 2 before Maher would take control of the top spot. Maher would lead until Lap 6 when Mike Stebbins drove his #66 machine past Maher like he wasn’t even there. Stebbins pulled away from the field and would run away with his 2nd win of the season. The show would be the battle between Maher and Curtis for the 2nd spot. Curtis would try everything he could to get around Maher but would not prevail. Maher would hold on to finish 2nd, while Curtis would settle for 3rd after missing last week’s race due to engine trouble and running his back-up car after the motor in his primary car expired during practice. Stebbins was an extremely happy man in victory lane. Stebbins noted that the car still has room for improvement.
Sportsman Modifieds roared onto the track next for their 35 lap feature. Joel Monahan in the 03 and Rookie driver Mark Hayward in the 77 would make up the front row to start the race. Monahan would lead the first 2 laps before a caution on lap 2 as the 66 of Ray Sherrick made hard contact with the backstretch wall and would require help from A Plus Towing and the infield crew to get off the track. On the restart Monahan would be joined by the 25 of Brian Robie. Monahan would resume the lead on the restart. The caution would fly on lap 14 for Hayward spinning. It would be determined that Hayward had a little help in spinning out and would be joined at the back of the field by the 98 of Tyler Jarvenpaa. Monahan and Robie would be on the front row for the restart again but this time Robie would best Monahan to take the lead. Monahan would settle into the 2nd spot. The battle would be for the 3rd spot between the 99 of Kim Rivet and the 8 of Keith Carzello. Rivet and Carzello would battle that lasted multiple laps. For numerous laps the 2nd thru 5th place cars would be running nose to tail until lap 27 when Monahan got a little loose coming out of turn 4 allowing Rivet and Carzello to get around him. At lap 30 Robie had a commanding lead as Rivet (running in 2nd) and Carzello (running in 3rd) gave chase. The last caution of the race would fly on lap 32 for the 50 of Matt Kimball spinning out. With fewer than 5 laps to go the field would restart single file. Robie would lead the last 3 laps to take the win. Rivet finished 2nd followed by Carzello in 3rd. In victory lane Robie talked about the struggle of the first race and how happy he was to get the first win of the season out of the way this early. Robie stated he is hopeful that he can build on this finish.
To end the night the Super Stocks would run their 25 lap feature. Marc Curtis in the 27 and Justin Littlewood in the 37 sat on the front row. Marc Curtis took the lead at the drop of the green. Justin Littlewood wouldn’t be able to drop in for 2nd as he would be challenged by the 33 of Solomon Brow. Justin Littlewood and Brow would go back and forth until Brow prevailed on lap 3 to take the 2nd spot. The caution would fly on lap 6 for 26 of Chris Curtis spinning into the infield after making slight contact with Littlewood’s rear panel. Marc Curtis and Brow brought the field back to racing. Tyler Leary in the 11x utilized the restart to take the 2nd spot from Brow. Leary would then set his sights on Marc Curtis and on Lap 15 Leary was able to get around Marc Curtis. The caution would on fly on lap 16 again. Leary and Marc Curtis found themselves on the front row for the restart. The 02 of Geoff Rollins restarted 3rd. Leary took the lead on the restart and Rollins would use the restart to get around Marc Curtis. Marc Curtis would battle Brow the rest of the way for the 3rd spot. Brow would use a lap last pass to take the 3rd spot. Rollins would finish 2nd and Leary took his first win of the season. Leary who missed practice was very pleased with the win. Leary noted after the race that he lost radio contact with his spotter on lap 1. Leary was happy that he was able to use the heat race as a practice as he had a minor motor skip that his team was able to take care of.
Next Saturday May 5th the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series returns to action with the Sportsman Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Thunder Stocks. They will also be joined by the Young Guns and Classic Lites. Racing starts at 6pm.
Sportsman Modifieds: Brian Robie, Kim Rivet, Keith Carzello, Geoff Rolllins, Ben Byrne, Joel Monahan, Mark Hayward, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Brian Chapin, Eric Leclair, Matt Kimball, Mike Smith, Jessica O’leary, Ray Sherrick, Alyssa Rivera
Super Stocks: Tyler Leary, Geoff Rollins, Solomon Brow, Marc Curtis, Cole Littlewood, Ryan Currier, Dennis Stange, Jason Kozacka, Nancy Muni-Ruot, Chris Curtis, Scott Beck, Justin Littlewood
Mini Stocks: Mike Stebbins,, Louis Maher, Jaret Curtis, Matt Kimball, Tim Paquette, Kevin Mcknight, Ethan Marsh, Kevin Pittsinger, Pat Houle, Kurt Cormier, David Elliot, Cory Plummer, Zach Morse, Peter Koch Jr, Eric Banks, Bill Chaffee, Tim Wenzel, Mike Radzuik
Lightning Stocks: Leon Keniston,, Matt Gauffin, Erin Aiken, Randall Phillips, Chris Davis, Josh Carey, Jon Fultz, Ernie Coates, Hillary Renaud
Young Guns: Chloe Wright, Taylor Striebel, Chris Sontag, Cooper Roberge, Nathan Wenzel, Kevin Cormier, Gage Coates, Elijah Castillo, Sammy Silva
