Monahan Takes Advantage of Extra Distance to Return to Victory Lane
By Ryan Lawliss
Winchester, NH: The third time was the charm; as the fan appreciation track party finally happened. On a beautiful day for racing action fans took the opportunity to see the cars and meet the stars. All weekly divisions of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series plus Lightning Stocks and Young Guns were on the schedule for the evening with extra money and an extended distance for the Sportsman Modifieds. All of the weekly winners were repeat winners; Joel Monahan (Sportsman Modifieds), Tyler Leary (Super Stocks), Matt Kimball (Mini Stocks), Ed Lofland (Thunder Stocks), Gordon Farnum (Lightning Stocks) and Sammy Silva (Young Guns).
Young Guns took to the track to start of the evenings racing action with Jake Puchalski in the 13 pacing the field to the green. Puchalski held the lead for the first 5 laps before the caution flew for the 03VT of Elijah Castillo and the 57 of Taylor Striebel getting together; neither car could continue. Puchalski led the field back to green on the restart and held the lead until lap 8 when the 21 of Chris Phelps used the low side to take the lead. Phelps’ lead was short lived as before you knew what happened Sammy Silva took his 28 car to the lead. Silva held on to capture the win, while Phelps finished 2nd and Nathan Wenzel in the 03 came home 3rd. Silva was excited in victory lane to capture another win summing it up with “That was a lot of fun.”
Lightning stocks rolled out next to electrify the fans for 20 laps of racing action. Randall Phillips (#19) and Chris Davis (#16) led the field to the green. Phillips took the lead at the drop of the green but on lap 2 Matt Gauffin drove his #68 machine to the lead. Gordon Farnum in the 46 took the 2nd spot on lap 3 and gave chase for the top spot. The race was slowed on lap 15 for a caution as the 69 of Josh Carey spun. With fewer than 5 laps to go the restart would be single file. Gauffin brought the field back to green but before a lap could be completed the caution flew again as the 4c of Ernie Coates slowed on the front stretch. Gauffin was penalized to the 4th place for contact made a few laps earlier with Farnum causing Farnum to lose the lead. Cale Skillings in the 95x assumed the lead for the restart. Skillings fired off on the restart with Farnum, Gauffin, and the 52 of Tim Leblanc going 3 wide for the battle for 2nd. When the dust settled Farnum was running 2nd and Gauffin was 3rd. On lap 18 Farnum made the pass for the lead and Gauffin followed him past Skillings. On the last lap Leblanc made contact with Skillings causing Skillings to lose his third spot. Farnum took back to back wins, followed by Gauffin and Carey was awarded third due to Leblanc’s last lap contact with Skillings.
Mini Stocks shot out on to the track next for 25 laps of racing. Cory Plummer in the 1 and the 97 of Ethan Marsh made of the front row for the start of the race. Plummer wasted no time to take the lead at the drop of the green but on lap 2 Kevin McKnight in the 76 rocketed to the lead. The caution flew for Marsh as it appeared his motor had expired. McKnight would be joined by Matt Kimball in the 50x on the front row for the restart. McKnight resumed the lead on the restart but Kimball was all over his rear bumper and on lap 6 Kimball managed to get past McKnight for the top spot. The caution would fly one more time on lap 14 as the 50 of Kevin Pittsinger spun on the front stretch and was unable to get going again. Kimball and McKnight once again brought the field back to the green. Kimball shot out into the lead with McKnight in tow. Louis Maher in the 69z raced his way to the front and on lap 21 made the pass of McKnight for the 2nd spot. Kimball held on to take the win, Maher finished 2nd and McKnight finished 3rd.
Super Stocks were next on the track for their 25 lap feature event. Dennis Stange in the 44 and Tyler Leary in the 11x sat on the front row. Stange took the lead on lap 1 but Leary raced back on the outside to take the lead for lap 2. Leary would start to pull away as the field Cole Littlewood in 12 and Solomon Brow in the 33 gave chase. Brow would get past Littlewood on lap 7. Leary had what appeared to be a commanding lead but Brow would work to reel him in. By lap 20 Brow was all over the back bumper of Leary. On Lap 22 Brow got under Leary but unable to make the pass due to a lap car that the leaders caught. Leary held on for this 6th win of the season, Brow finished 2nd and Littlewood finished 3rd. Leary was excited to return to victory lane noting that it had been a while.
Thunder stocks thundered onto the track for their 25 lap feature event. Dan Comeau in the 09 and Hillary Renaud in the 88 brought the field to the green. Comeau took the early lead as Renaud gave chase followed closely by the 88x of Chase Curtis. Then suddenly on lap 8 Chase Curtis headed into the pits under green. James Nowakowski in the 9 took over the 3rd spot. The caution flew on lap 14 as Nowakowski spun going into turn 1 and the 28 of Craig Chaffee spun to avoid contact. As that was occurring Jaret Curtis in the 33 made contact with the 8 of Frank L’etoile on the backstretch causing Jaret Curtis to get a flat right rear tire. Comeau and Renaud lead the field back to the green and it was Comeau who jumped out to the lead; followed closely by the 45 of Ed Lofland. Then on lap 16 Lofland took the lead. The caution flew for the last time on lap 17 as Chaffee and L’etoile spun on the backstretch. Lofland and Comeau made up the front row for the restart. Lofland resumed the lead as Comeau dropped into 2nd. Richard Vincent in the 4 took advantage of Comeau dropping off the pace around lap 20 and Renaud followed along to take over 3rd. Lofland held on for the win, while Vincent finished 2nd and Renaud rounded out the top 3.
Sportsman Modifieds entered the track for the last feature of the evening for a 40 lap feature event. Alyssa Rivera in the 5A and Tyler Jarvenpaa in the 98 started on the front row. Jarvenpaa wasted no time taking the lead. Joel Monahan in the 03 followed Jarvenpaa around Rivera. Lap 3 would bring out the first caution flag of the event with the 62 of Joe Kendall came to rest on the backstretch with a flat tire. Jarvenpaa and Monahan led the field to the green on the restart. Jarvenpaa resumed the lead but Monahan was glued to his rear bumper. Monahan kept providing pressure for the lead but was on unable to make a move to get past Jarvenpaa. Lap 33 brought out the caution again this time for the 99 of Kim Rivet spinning. Jarvenpaa and Monahan brought the field to the green again but before a lap could be completed the caution flew again this time for Rivera spinning on the front stretch. Jarvenpaa and Monahan tried it again. This time they raced side by side for the lead; during this battle Keith Carzello took his #8 machine to 3rd. On lap 36 Monahan finally wrestled the lead away from Jarvenpaa. Lap 37 would bring the final caution of the race as Rivera would spin once more. The field would restart single file with Monahan pacing the field. Monahan held on to take the win followed by Jarvenpaa (2nd) and Carzello (3rd).
The next race will be Saturday September 8th at 6pm with all the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series division plus Lightning Stocks, Young Guns and NE Antique Racers. The Mini Stocks will go extra distance with bonus money and the Lightning Stocks will be up for bonus money too. For more information, log onto the speedway’s website at www.monadnockspeedway.com.
Sportsman Modifieds: Joel Monahan, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Keith Carzello, Matt Kimball, Alexander Pearl, Geoff Rollins, Kim Rivet, Joe Kendall, Mike Smith, Mike Hall Jr, Chris Ignazio, Eric Leclair, Alyssa Rivera, Ben Byrne
Super Stocks: Tyler Leary, Solomon Brow, Cole Littlewood, Dennis Stange, Eric Pomasko, Dave Striebel, Scott Beck, Bill Lambert, Joel Monahan, Nancy Muni-Ruot
Mini Stocks: Matt Kimball, Louis Maher, Kevin McKnight, Rich Fournierk, Tim Wenzel, Cory Plummer, Dave Elliot, Desmond Skillings, Peter Koch Jr, Kevin Cormier, Kevin Pittsinger, Nadine Coates, Ethan Marsh, Kevin Russell, Tim Paquette
Thunder Stocks: Ed Lofland, Richard Vincent, Hillary Renaud, Bruce Clark, Jaret Curtis, Frank L’etoile, James Nowakowski, Dan Comeau, Chase Curtis, Craig Chaffee, Ben Williams, Doug Mclean
Lightning Stocks: Gordon Farnum, Matt Gauffin, Josh Carey, Cale Skillings, Tim Leblanc, Chris Davis, Eric Banks, Ernie Coates, Randall Phillips
Young Guns: Sammy Silva,Chris Phelps, Nathan Wenzel, Jake Puchalski, Burch Mclean, Taylor Striebel, Elijah Castillo, Gage Coates
