WINCHESTER, NH – Adam Norton won his fourth Sportsman Modified feature race of the summer Saturday, August 17, at Monadnock Speedway and, on the six-division card of racing, Young Gun Joel Monahan earned his first career victory lap.
Other winners at the high-banked quarter-mile included Super Stock rookie Tom Carey III, who won the third event of his freshman season, and Marshall Usher, victorious for the second time in the Thunder Stocks. Mike Parker topped the 50-lap NE Mini Stock Tour main event, and Brandon Trezzi carried the checkers in the NE Champ Kart feature.
Joey Kendall paced the sizzling field for the first four laps of the Sportsman Modified feature, then giving way to Adam Norton. Tyler Jarvenpaa grabbed the deuce spot on lap eight, with Bill Kimball following him forward to snatch third a lap later.
Kimball took second from Jarvenpaa on lap 15, and the trio would run nose to tail the final 15 laps, with Norton holding strong to score his fourth win of the season. Kimball came home second, with Jarvenpaa, Kendall, and Danny Stebbins rounding out the top five.
Kimball’s runner-up finish allowed him to boost his division points lead over Jarvenpaa. Brian Chapin, on the other hand, saw his championship aspirations take another punch in the gut when his engine uncorked, a week after his car was badly wrecked in a horrendous crash along the backchute.
Josh Wood and Tyler Lescord hit the stripe even as lap one went in the books in the Super Stock main. A lap later, Wood had taken the point and immediately begun to stretch his lead over Lescord and Robert Hagar.
John Lavoie, from row four, was on the charge from the top of the track, pulling into third just before the leading Wood abruptly slowed and disappeared pitside. Wood’s demise put Lescord in the lead, with Lavoie then shadowing him for three laps until taking control.
Lescord’s strong run would go to waste on 18, when he slammed the turn two wall after contact with a spinning car, then ricocheted into the infield grass, heavily damaging Bill Johnston’s ride as he caromed off the wall.
Lavoie and Eddie Brehio III crossed the stripe dead even on laps 19 and 20, with Tom Carey III glued to their bumpers. Lavoie opened the door ever so little on lap 23, with Carey muscling his way under the leader and then running out the race from the point.
With Carey winning his second feature in as many weeks, and the third of his rookie campaign, Lavoie was strong in the runner-up slot, and Brehio used his third-place finish to expand his points lead. Hagar and Craig Smith completed the top five.
Cole Littlewood set the pace on lap one of the Young Guns feature, with Mike McGoldrick Jr. and Joel Monahan close behind. Monahan grabbed the lead on lap two, and then ran out the race from the point to win his first-ever feature.
McGoldrick and Littlewood traded the deuce spot for the balance of the race, with Littlewood holding it the last six laps to score a hard-earned runner-up finish. McGoldrick finished in his shadow to come home third, with Cameron Sontag and Sonja Carey rounding out the top five.
Danny Field set a fast pace through the first 16 laps of the NE Mini Stock tour 50-lapper, with former Monadnock strongman Toby Wells rocketing from his row-six starting position to seize control on lap 17.
Lady Luck would not be riding in Wells’ car on this Saturday though. Holding off Mike Parker and Emerson Cayer for 33 laps, the Dublin, NH pilot had the checkers in sight when his ride abruptly threw a wheel in turn four of the final lap.
With Wells suddenly hobbled, Parker led Cayer under the checkers to score his first Monadnock win ever. Cayer was second to add to his Tour points lead, with steady Danny Field coming home third. Wells was able to salvage a fourth-place finish, with Glen Thomas rounding out the top five.
Jason Barden had built up a big lead over the first 20 laps of the Thunder Stock feature, then seeing it all go to waste when ridden into the backchute wall. Barden’s misfortune was all Marshall Usher needed to grab the lead and dash off to his second win of the summer.
Steady Joe Ethier finished his hard night’s work in second, with Tyler Janovsky coming home third. Paul Barnard and Henry Martin rounded out the top five.
In the NE Champ Karts event, Brandon Trezzi used a slick last-lap drafting pass to score the win. Scott Foster was second.
This Saturday, August 24, New England’s fastest high-banked quarter-mile will present a six-division card of racing, highlighted by the Victor Johnson Memorial 100 presented by Swanzey Oil, featuring the stars and cars of the Valenti Modified Racing Series.
The Sportsman Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Lightning Stocks, and Young Guns will all be in action too, with post time at 6 p.m.
Top Sportsman Modifieds: Adam Norton, Bill Kimball, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Joe Kendall, Keith Carzello, Alyssa Rivera, Dylan Bodreau, Jeff Beckwith, Jeremy McCutcheon
Top Ten Super Stocks: Tom Carey III, John Lavoie, Ed Brehio III, Robert Hagar, Craig Smith, Dave Striebel, Jeff Morse, Nancy Muni, Tyler Lescord, Ian MacDonald
Top Ten Thunder Stocks: Marshall Usher, Joe Ethier, Tyler Janovsky, Paul Barnard, Henry Martin, Jon Goddard, Scott Bourn, Scott Thompson, Rich Blomberg, Jason Barden
Top Ten Young Guns: Joel Monahan, Cole Littlewood, Mike McGoldrick Jr., Cameron Sontag, Sonja Carey, Michelle Leh, Chris Lawrence, Justin Faford, Dylan Morse, Corey Wheeler