FELLOWS, CHASE CURTIS, WENZEL, DOUGLAS JOIN ROBIE AS MONADNOCK CHAMPS
Five 2020 Track Champions Crowned September 26 at Monadnock Speedway
By Gary Dutton
WINCHESTER, N.H. – Aaron Fellows (Croydon, NH), Chase Curtis (Rutland, MA), Nathan Wenzel (Granby, MA), and Mike Douglas (Northfield, MA) each won championships Saturday, September 26 at Monadnock Speedway, with Fellows and Wenzel both scoring Super Saturday feature wins on the final event of the season.
NHSTRA Modified ace Brian Robie had clinched his division’s 2020 crown a week earlier but, strongly in the hunt for top NASCAR Division 1 points – he entered Saturday’s event tied for fourth in the national ranking – the Sunapee speedster was third in Saturday’s 40-lap main event.
Swanzey, NH hot shoe Todd Patnode, the speedway’s Modified champion a year ago, moved up to second in the final 2020 tally by winning his fourth feature race of the year. Hillary Renaud (Vernon, VT) & topped the Street Stocks, impressive in her second victory of the summer.
The Heartbreak of The Day trophy went to Gordon Farnum Sunday. The six-race-winning Mini Stock hot shoe was an early-race victim, dropping him deep in the field and six points shy of a championship.
In the Modified 40-lapper, Patnode took the lead from Rookie of The Year Solomon Brow on lap 20 and never looked back. Brian Chapin followed Patnode to the front but could advance no farther. Robie (Sunapee, NH) concluded his championship season third on the day, just ahead of Brow.
Hillary Renaud led all the way to win her second Street Stock feature of the season Sunday. Chase Curtis, who entered the season finale two points ahead of his twin brother Jaret, got up for second on lap three and followed Renaud the rest of the way to earn the championship. Chris Buffone was third.
In the season-long battle of the talented still-live-at-home 16-year-old twins, Chase earned the 2020 Monadnock Street Stock crown six points ahead of brother Jaret.
Aaron Fellows took control on lap five of the Late Model Sportsman feature and blasted away to his 12th win of the summer, finishing far ahead of Justin Littlewood and 14-year-old hot shoe Camdyn Curtis.
While Fellows had also won the night before to wrap up his 13th championship at Claremont, his 2020 Monadnock crown is his first title ever at the high-banked speedplant.
Nathan Wenzel won the Mini Stock championship by dominating Saturday’s 25-lapper for his second win of the year. When six-time winner Gordon Farnum saw his championship hopes evaporate because of someone else’s bull-and-jam racing on lap three, Wenzel had a clear path to the title.
Kevin Cormier came from tenth on the starting grid to earn runner-up honors, and 2019 division champion Louie Maher Jr. was third.
Green Mountain Boy Kodi Sabins, the day after he’d both announced his engagement and won the 2020 championship at Claremont, dominated the Pure Stock feature. Coming from way back in row eight, Sabins took the lead from rookie Brandon Lavoie on lap15 and then drove away, taking the checkers far ahead of Lavoie and Joey Jarvis.
Mike Douglas, seventh on the day, earned his first-ever track championship, unseating 2019 track champ Chris Davis, who finished fourth on the day and second on the season.
In the mayhem of the nightcap 62-lap Linda Zubrino Memorial Enduro, Matt Gauffin came from 48th on the starting grid and passed Leon Keniston on lap 45 to top the frantic 70-car field.
GSPSS regular Josh King was dominant in winning a five-car, ten-lap Spectator Race.
Saturday’s Championship Day event was the 15th and final program of the pandemic-shortened 2020 racing season at the high-banked quarter mile. None of the track’s 2019 titlists were able to duplicate their success of last summer.
Monadnock Speedway will close out the 2020 Season hosting two Mudbogs on Sunday, October 4 and Sunday, October 18. More information can be found at monadnockspeedway.com.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 25 RESULTS:
Pure Stocks: Kodi Sabens, Brandon Lavoie, Joey Jarvis, Chris Davis
CJ Johnson, Nick Houle, Mike Douglas, Robert Shaw, Cory Lofland, Matt Lambert, Jason Leray, JD Stockwell, Doug Nelson, Steve Zebrowski, Sean Lantas, Dylan Adams, Jim Decroucy, Bruce Clark, Justin Faford, Jimmy Zellman
Mini Stocks: Nathan Wenzel, Kevin Cormier, Louis Maher II, Tim Leblanc, Kevin McKnight, Kevin Clayton, Jeff Asselin, Jeff Heath, Todd Taylor, Jake Puchalski, William Chaffee, Ethan Marsh, Pat Houle, Gordon Farnum, Shelby Avery
Late Model Sportsman: Aaron Fellows, Justin Littlewood, Camdyn Curtis, Cole Littlewood, Robert Hagar, Willie Kuhn, Joe Bates, Tyler Lescord, John Meany, Scott Beck, Matt Winter, MIke Heffernan, Nancy Muni Ruot, Eric Martel, Keith Johnson, Dan Comeau
Street Stocks: Hillary Renaud, Chase Curtis, Chris Buffone, Jaret Curtis, Mike Radzuik, Tim Wenzel, Nathan Wenzel, Richard Vincent, Robbie Streeter, Ed Brehio IIINHSTRA Modifieds: Todd Patnode, Brian Chapin, Brian Robie, Solomon Brow, Cory Plummer, Joel Monahan, Brad Zahensky, Kevin Pittsinger, Jerry Gomarlo, Eric Leclair, Kim Rivet, Trevor Bleau
Photos courtesy of Emily Miller
