Rollins scores second Sportsman Modified Victory
Winchester, NH: This past Saturday, Monadnock Speedway hosted seven divisions of racing action. Geoff Rollins scored his second win in the Sportsman Modified as did Richard Vincent in the Thunder Stocks. Tyler Leary celebrated his fourth Super Stock win while Mini Stock Kevin McKnight cruised in victory lane for the first this season. Nate Wenzel took his third checkered flag in the Young Guns. The Granite State Legends and Bandoleros visited the high banks with Shaun Buffington (Legends) and Giovanni Ruggerio (Bandoleros) in victory lane.
The Granite State Bandoleros took to the High Banks for the first time for a 20 lap feature. The 16 of Nicholas Hovey would start on the pole. At the start of the race Giovanni Ruggiero took his #7 to the lead and never looked back on his way to capture the win. In victory lane Ruggiero stated he really enjoyed the track that it was a lot of fun to drive and he looks forward to returning.
The Young Guns took to the track for their 15 lap feature event. Nate Wenzel in the 03 brought the field to the green. Sammy Silva in the 28 would chase Wenzel the entire race trying everything he could to take the lead but Silva would be unable to make the pass. On lap 4 Silva got into the back of Wenzel but both drivers were able to recover and hold their positions on the track. Elijah Castillo in the 03vt ran in the 3rd place for the entire race. Wenzel captured his 3rd win of the season. Silva finished 2nd and Castillo finished 3rd. Wenzel reported that they have been trying a few new things on his car but was able to be good enough for the win.
The Granite State Legends took the track for the very first time for their 25 lap feature event. Shaun Buffington in the 23s would set the pace early, but contact with lapped traffic on lap 19 in turns 3 and 4 would send him to the end of the lead lap cars. Buffington would find himself restarting in 11th. The 41 would take over the lead. The 41 of Michael Blasky would lead thru a series of cautions until Blasky was caught up in an accident that would see them to have to head to the pits. The 52NH of Jake Matheson would assume the lead for the final restart on lap 24; however Buffington was able to work his way to 2nd place and was able to make a last lap pass for the win. In victory lane Buffington was excited that he was able to get back to the front. Buffington mentioned that he had to fall back on his experience driving in the rain and on dirt tracks over the last few laps due to what he described as oil on the track. Buffington stated he loved the track and hopes to be back a lot more.
Mini Stocks zipped onto the track for 25 laps of side by side action and they didn’t disappointment. Kevin McKnight in the #76 jumped out to an early lead at the drop of the green but would be slowed by a caution on lap 2 when the 50 of Kevin Pittsinger and the 50x of Matt Kimball made contact. McKnight would resume the lead on the restart. Kimball would drive his way back into the top 5 by lap 15 and by lap 20 took over 2nd place. Kimball would make McKnight sweat a little over the last 2 laps but Kimball was unable to get by McKnight. McKnight took 1st, Kimball finished 2nd, and Mike Radzuik in the #7 finished 3rd. McKnight was happy to get the win after some bad luck the last two races.
Nancy Muni and Solomon Brow brought the Super Stocks out for their 25 lap feature event. Before the first lap could be completed the 43 of Geoff Rollins brought out a caution after losing his right front tire. On the ensuing restart Brow would take the lead, but before the 2nd lap could be completed the 44 of Dennis Stange made contact with the front stretch wall bringing out the caution again. Brow would continue resume the lead on the restart. On lap 7 Muni would spin with help from the 11 of Tyler Leary. Both would go to the back of the field. Brow again would resume the lead on the restart. Lap 10 would see a caution for Rollins spinning. Brow would feel pressure from Marc Curtis in the 27 on the restart but Brow would retain the lead. On lap 20 Brow would start to feel pressure from Leary who had driven back to the front of the pack. On lap 21 Leary would drive underneath Brow for the lead. Leary would hold on for the win. Brow finished 2nd and Curtis finished 3rd. Leary was happy to get back to his winning ways.
The Thunder Stocks thundered onto the track for their 25 lap feature. Doug Maclean and Chase Curtis made of the front row. Curtis thundered to the lead at the drop of the green. Lap 2 would see a caution for Maclean slowing on the backstretch and Hillary Renaud and Josh Nutter coming together in turns 3 and 4. On the restart Curtis would resume the lead. The race would be slowed by 3 more cautions before the halfway mark of the race. Curtis would lead until lap 16 when Richard Vincent would motor around him for the lead. Lap 20 would see Craig Chaffee drive his #28 around Curtis for the 2nd spot. The race would be slowed by one last caution on lap 23. Vincent would hold on to the lead for the win. He would be followed across the line by Chaffee (2nd) and Curtis (3rd). Vincent was happy to be back in victory lane especially after a rough race last time out.
The Sportsman Modifieds would be the last division to take to the track for the night for their 35 lap feature. Alyssa Rivera and Joel Monahan brought the field to green. Rivera took command of the lead early. The race would be slowed by a caution on lap 9 that involved the 25nh of Brian Robie, 52 of Eric LeClair, and the 77 of Mark Hayward. The accident would be the end of the night for Robie and LeClair. Rivera would lead the way after the restart until a lap 12 caution brought out by the 6 of Ben Byrne losing a lot of fluid on the track. Unfortunately Kim Rivet in the 99 got caught up in the fluid ending her night as well. In the restart Rivera would resume the lead but the battle would be behind her for the 2nd spot between Monahan and the 50 of Matt Kimball. Monahan would win that battle. On Lap 19 Geoff Rollins in the 02 would make the pass for the 2nd spot. On Lap 29 Rollins took the lead from Rivera after working to get by for laps. Keith Carzello in the 8 made a lap 30 pass for the 2nd spot. Rollins captured the win, while Carzello took 2nd, and Rivera took down the 3rd spot. Rollins is looking forward to see if he can make it 2 in a row next week.
This weekend, Monadnock Speedway will host the Mini Stock Showdown plus Sportsman Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Lightning Stocks, Thunder Stocks and Young Guns on Saturday (June 16th) at 6pm. On Sunday (June 17th), the Summit Jeep Mudbog Mudslingers return featuring Opens, Pros, Outlaws, Modifieds, 8 cylinder and 4/6 cylinder. Mud starts flying at noon.
Sportsman Modifieds: Geoff Rollins, Keith Carzello, Alyssa Rivera, Joel Monahan, Mark Hayward, Brian Chapin, Mike Smith, Ray Sherrick, Matt Kimball, Kim Rivet, Ben Byrne, JT Cloutier, Brian Robie, Eric Leclair
Super Stock:Tyler Leary, Solomon Brow, Marc Curtis, Dennis Stange, Geoff Rollins, Justin Littlewood, Scott Beck, Cole Littlewood, Nancy Muni-Ruot, Bill Lambert
Mini Stocks:Kevin Mcknight, Matt Kimball, Mike Radzuik, Tim Paquette, Pat Houle, Louis Maher, David Elliott, Jaret Curtis, Kevin Pittsinger, Shelby Avery, Tim Wenzel, Cory Plummer, Kyle Robinson Newell, Peter Koch Jr, Matt Croteau, Ethan Marsh
Thunder Stocks:Richard Vincent, Craig Chaffee, Chase Curtis, James Nowakowski, Bruce Clark, Ben Williams,Dan Comeau, Chris Buffone, Nathaniel Nune,. Hillary Renaud, Ed Lofland, Joshua Nutter, Doug Mclean
Young Guns: Nathan Wenzel, Sammy Silva, Elijah Castillo, Cooper Roberge, Matt Lambert, Taylor Striebel
