NEAR and Pro-4 Modifieds pay a visit; while Maher Takes the Win in the Mini Stock Showdown
By Ryan Lawliss
Winchester, NH – Monadnock Speedway was back in action this time on a cool fall like day! All division of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series was in action and where joined by the Young Guns and Lightning Stocks. In addition The Pro-4 Modifieds and the New England Antique Racers or NEAR also paid the speedway a visit. Matt Kimball in the #50 captured his first Sportsman Modified win of the season. Nathan Wenzel (Young Guns), Matthew Gauffin (Lightning Stocks), Louis Maher (Mini Stocks), Richard Vincent (Thunder Stocks), and Solomon Brow (Super Stocks) all returned to victory lane. NEAR had 2 divisions in action the Sportsman division was won by Joe Keefner and the Modified division was won by Billy Kemp. The Pro-4 Modifieds also had 2 divisions in action with TJ Peters winning the Light division and Doug Meservey Jr. winning the other.
NEAR opened the night of racing; for those that don’t know NEAR are made of cars that ran in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. NEAR runs an exhibition type event that is designed to allow the cars to run while minimizing the risk of damage to these historical cars! In the Sportsman Division Joe Keefner in the 99K won in a car that was originally run in Flemington, NJ on both dirt and asphalt. In the Modified Division it was the 199 of Billy Kemp in a car he drove in the Pro-Stock Division at Monadnock Speedway in the 70’s.
Young Guns took to the track next for their 15 lap feature event. Taylor Striebel in the 57 led the field to the green. Striebel led the first lap but on lap 2 Nathan Wenzel in the 03 took the lead. Wenzel would feel some pressure just around halfway from the 13 of Jake Puchalski but Puchalski was unable to get around Wenzel. Wenzel captured his 5th win of the season. While Puchalski finished 2nd and Sammy Silva in the 28 used a pass on lap 13 to get the 3rd spot. Wenzel was excited in victory lane but had to get ready for the Lightning Stock feature which was set to roll out next.
Lightning stocks rolled onto the track for 25 laps of electrifying entertainment. Eric Banks in the 8 and Josh Carey in the 69 made up the front row. Banks led the first lap but on lap 2 the first caution would fly for the 19 of Randall Phillips spinning in turn 4. Banks and Carey brought the field back to green. Banks wasted no time to resume the lead but would be followed closely by the 68 of Matthew Gauffin who jumped into 2nd on the restart. Gauffin made the pass for the lead on lap 3; Carey would spin on lap 11 bringing out the caution once more. Gauffin and Banks made up the front row for this restart. Gauffin took the lead and Gordon Farnum in the 46 used the restart to get into 2nd. Banks would get a flat tire on lap 23 bringing out the caution while running 3rd. With 2 laps to go the field would restart single file. Gauffin led Farnum and the 129 of Fred Rogers who assumed the 3rd spot. Gauffin held off all challenges to take the win; while Farnum finished 2nd and Rogers finished 3rd.
Mini Stocks zipped onto the track for their extra distance event. Kevin Russell in the 8r and Cory Plummer in the 1 brought the field to the green. Plummer shot out into the lead at the drop of the green and would lead the first 10 laps until Louis Maher in the 69 managed to get around him. Then a lap later Matt Kimball in the 50x passed Plummer to take over 2nd. Maher would set a blistering pace early and was about to put the 6th place car a lap down when Plummer spun in turn 2 on lap 27 bringing out the only caution of the event. Maher and Kimball where set for a battle on the restart but it was Maher that rocketed out to the lead on the restart; while Kimball was pressured for the 2nd spot by Kevin McKnight in the 76 who was running 3rd. Maher held on to take the win, Kimball finished 2nd, and McKnight finished 3rd. Maher spent time in victory lane thanking his family and sponsors for all of their support.
Pro-4 Modifieds took to the track next for their 25 lap feature; the Pro-4’s run both divisions at the same time and name the highest finishing light car the winner for that division. The 80L of Tom Royer and the 4XL of Steve Dumas brought the field down to the green; heading into turn 1 the 9vtL of spun bringing the caution out. On the reattempt of starting the race Dumas takes the lead followed closely by the Royer and the 67 of Doug Meservey Jr. On lap 2 Meservey Jr. took over the 2nd spot and a lap later he made the pass for the lead. The 3L of TJ Peters took over the 2nd spot on lap 3 as well. Lap 15 saw a caution for the Royer and the 86 of Mark Charrette. Meservey Jr. wasted no time on the restart to resume the lead. Peters tried everything to get around Meservey Jr. for the lead but was unable to. Meservey Jr. took the overall win; while Peters finished 2nd and took the win for the Light Division, and the 93 of Randy Clark took 3rd.
Sportsman Modifieds were next on the schedule for 35 laps of wheel to wheel action. Alyssa Rivera in the 5A and Matthew Kimball in the 50 made up the front row. Kimball jumped out to the lead on lap 1. On lap 2 Keith Carzello in the 8 took over 2nd and then on lap 3 Geoff Rollins in the 02 made the pass for 3rd. Kimball would lead wire to wire to take his first win of the season. Carzello finished 2nd and Rollins took 3rd. Kimball was joined by a large group of fans and supporters in victory lane to celebrate!
Thunder Stocks thundered onto the track for 25 laps next. Doug Mclean in the 21 and Richard Vincent in the 4 started on the front row. Vincent took off at the drop of the green; while McLean and the 88x of Chase Curtis battled for 2nd with Chase Curtis taking the spot but the caution flew on lap 2 for the 7 of Ben Williams and the 26 of Chris Curtis spinning in turn 1 and 2. Vincent and Chase Curtis brought the field back to racing and it was Vincent that took the top spot. Another caution came out on lap 4 as Williams and Ed Lofland in the 45 got together heading into turn 1. Vincent and Chase Curtis would try it again on the restart with Vincent once again winning that battle; Bruce Clark in the 39 slipped by Chase Curtis for the 2nd spot on the restart. Lap 13 would see the caution fly for McLean who hit the back stretch wall hard. Vincent wasted no time getting back out front on the restart and Chase Curtis followed closely in 2nd. Chris Curtis had recovered from the early lap spin to battle Clark for the 3rd spot on the restart and Chris Curtis prevailed in that battle. The last caution of the race flew on lap 15 for the 88 of Hillary Renaud spinning. The restart ended up being single file which had to be a relief for Vincent. Vincent walked away from field to take the win; while Chase Curtis finished 2nd followed closely by his dad Chris Curtis who finished 3rd. Vincent was happy to have such a great handling car.
Super Stocks had the honor of wrapping up the night with their 25 lap feature. Eric Pomasko in the 71 and Dennis Stange in the 44 where on the front row for the initial start of the race, but before the race could get going the caution came out as Nancy Muni-Root in the 96 spun. The field was quickly reset and set for the start. Stange took the early lead but the race was slowed on lap 2 as Muni-Root spun again bringing out the caution. Stange was joined on the front row by the 33 of Solomon Brow but Stange won the battle and held on to the lead. Lap 3 would see the caution once again as the 27 of Marc Curtis spun. Stange and Brow would try it again and again Stange won the battle. Then on lap 6 Brow was able to get around Stange for the lead. Tyler Leary in the 11x and Cole Littlewood in the 12 had a two lap battle for 3rd which resulted in Leary taking over 3rd on lap 10. Brow continued to pull away from the field but the battle for was the 2nd spot as Leary tried everything he could to get around Stange. Finally on lap 21 Leary was able to finally win the battle and take over the 2nd spot. Brow took the win, Leary held on for 2nd and Stange crossed the line in 3rd. Brow commented in victory lane that he was happy to just get back to victory lane, his 3rd time this season.
Sportsman Modifieds: Matt Kimball, Keith Carzello, Geoff Rollins, Kim Rivet, Joel Monahan, Eric Leclair, Mike Smith, Chris Ignazio, Matt Zenisky, Alyssa Rivera
Super Stocks: Solomon Brow, Tyler Leary, Dennis Stange, Cole Littlewood, Eric Pomasko, Nancy Muni-Ruot, Marc Curtis, Bill Lambert
Mini Stocks: Louis Maher, Matt Kimball, Kevin McKnight, Rich Fournier, Tim Wenzel, Cory Plummer, Pat Houle, Kevin Russell, Tim Paquette, Kevin Cormier, Dave Elliot, Matt Croteau, Peter Koch Jr, Kevin Pittsinger, Chris Davis
Thunder Stocks: Richard Vincent, Chase Curtis, Chris Curtis, Bruce Clark, James Nowakowski, Chris Buffone, Jaret Curtis, Hillary Renaud, Craig Chaffee, Doug McLean, Ed Lofland, Ben William, Dan Comeau
Lightning Stocks: Matt Gauffin,Gordon Farnum, Fred Rogers, CJ Johnson, Chris Davis, Nathan Wenzel, Mike Douglas, Chris Phelps, Ernie Coates, Josh Carey, Eric Banks, Joe Brittain, Randall Phillips, Stephen Lambert, Matt Lambert
Young Guns: Nathan Wenzel, Jake Puchalski, Sammy Silva, Chris Phelps, Taylor Striebel, Gage Coates
