Southern New England young-gun Connor Souza sealed the deal at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday, earning his first Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour win at the Magic Mile.
After rain was forecasted for Sunday’s originally scheduled date, Mother Nature brought down plenty of sunshine on the hallowed grounds of New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon. The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour got a strong start to the 2026 season under the April rays with Brandon Barker and Connor Souza both building a +6 handicap in heat race qualifying to join the front row.
After Barker showed the way early it was young-gun Connor Souza who took over and launched away with the lead. As Souza began to pull away, the best race on track saw Jonathan Bouvrette trying to dig underneath Justin Prescott for seventh-place lap after lap. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Brandon Barker’s hot rod went cold underneath the crossed flags signaling the halfway point, bringing his battered machine behind the wall during the competition caution just one lap later.
Yet another picture-perfect day greeted the fans at Thompson Speedway to finish off the 52nd Icebreaker with the help of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
Single car, time-trial qualifying saw Mike Christopher Jr. leading much of the session before Matt Hirschman and Jon McKennedy both tied with a 19.125-second lap. Hirschman would lead the twenty-nine car field to green for the Icebreaker 150.
McKennedy took over the top spot with a strong inside exit off turn two, leading the pack as Christopher Jr. and Stephen Kopcik dug in and followed in second and third. McKennedy’s day almost came to a grinding halt with Trevor Catalano backwards by the turn two gate with the leader narrowly escaping calamity as the yellow lights flashed. A long green flag run would follow with McKennedy leading the way as Matt Swanson cut his way through to third on the grid before Ronnie Williams’ left rear decided to leave the building on lap 107.
Jon McKennedy pocketed $10,000 in the opening Monaco Modified Icebreaker 75 at the Thompson Speedway on Saturday.
The race featured a competitive field of thirty cars. Ronnie Williams quickly took the point with just 75 laps on the board to claim the winners share.
The action was intense throughout the event. Berndt stole the lead away from Williams, and McKennedy took advantage of the backslide to secure second place. Mike Christopher Jr. and Ron Silk also made their way into the top five by lap thirty.
Chase Grennan’s turn-around dust-up with the turn two wall brought caution out before the halfway point. A rough pitstop took Eric Berndt back to 15th on the grid, leaving Williams, McKennedy, Trevor Catalano, and Christopher Jr. in the top two rows.
