WINCHESTER, NH – Adam Norton, Eddie Brehio III, Mike Stebbins, Joe Ethier, and Kyle Boniface won the battles Saturday, Sept. 14, at Monadnock Speedway. But of the quintet of feature winner, only Brehio achieved the ultimate conquest of winning his division’s season championship.
While Norton earned his fifth victory of the summer in the blockbuster Sportsman Modified division, Bill Kimball was content to hold his position further back and lock up his third speedway championship. Likewise in the Mini Stock main event, where Mike Stebbins rocketed to his fourth win of the season, with Beth Adams following him under the checkers to earn her first track title.
Ed Lofland copped the 2013 Thunder Stock championship with a risky strategy, but one that paid off. While Joe Ethier earned his first victory of the season, Lofland was content to ride in third, tying Ethier in points, but grabbing the title on a tiebreaker, outnumbering the night’s winner in feature victories by a five-to-one margin.
In the Lightning Stocks, Chris Davis came home second on the night, finishing behind Kyle Boniface but earning his first Lightning Stock title with ease. When the final points were tallied, Davis – a former Monadnock Mini Stock champion – had won by more than 40 points.
Other winners on the Championship Night of Racing card, included Cameron Sontag, who won his division-high fourth Young Guns event of the summer, and NE Race Truck Series ace Duane Noll, who has not lost in the visiting truck series competition at Monadnock in the last two years.
In the Sportsman Modified main, Eric Leclair led the first dozen laps, with Adam Norton then taking charge and pulling away from the field as he desperately tried to earn his way to the championship. By lap 20, Norton had checked out on the field, with Bill Kimball mired in eighth, and Tyler Jarvenpaa riding in ninth.
Neither would make much headway in the closing ten circuits around the high banks, with Kimball coming home seventh to earn the 2013 crown, and Jarvenpaa taking the checkers eighth to finish second on the year. With Norton winning his division-high fifth feature race of the summer, Keith Carzello, Brian Chapin, Joey Kendall, and Dan Stebbins rounded out the top five.
Tyler Lescord was the early leader in the Super Stock main, giving way to John Lavoie on lap nine. Tom Carey III was second, and Eddie Brehio III third when Bill Johnson got dumped on lap 19 to bring out the caution. Refiring alongside Lavoie, Brehio raced him hard for two laps before taking the lead and then darting off to victory, earning his second win of the summer to punctuate his career-first Super Stock championship.
With Brehio scoring the win, Lavoie followed him under the flags to claim the deuce finish, and Chris Curtis – making his first Monadnock run of the season – came home third. Carey and Josh Wood rounded out the top five.
Kevin McKnight led the first three laps of the Mini Stock feature, then giving way to Joe Rogers. Eric Pomasko took charge on lap ten, but a hard-charging Mike Stebbins rocketed into the lead a lap earlier.
Stebbins, desperately needing a strong finish to pass Beth Adams in the championship hunt, quickly checked out on the field, but Adams powered into second five laps later and was content to follow 15 lengths behind Stebbins as the checkers waved on her first Monadnock Mini Stock championship.
With Stebbins and Adams earning the top two spots on the night, Pomasko finished his strong run in third, with Kim Rivet and JT Cloutier rounding out the top five.
Joe Ethier hadn’t won a Thunder Stock feature all summer, but entered the night’s 30-lapper only four points behind Ed Lofland. Saturday, Ethier won the race but lost the title on a tiebreaker.
Ethier took the lead from Henry Martin on lap sixteen, with Lofland moving up to third past Paul Barnard with two laps to go to earn the tiebreaker championship. Martin was strong all night, to come home second, followed by Lofland, Barnard, and Marshall Usher.
Pete Hyrne set a fast pace in the Lighting Stock feature before giving way to Kyle Boniface on lap 13. Boniface then pulled away from the field to earn his second victory of the summer. Chris Davis – firing from row ten – grabbed second on lap 20, and then watched Boniface from a distance, scoring the runner-up finish and, with it, the division championship. Dick Houle was third, and Timmy Leblanc claimed fourth.
Cameron Sontag started scratch on the field in the Young Guns 20-lapper, reeling in Mike McGoldrick on 13, and passing him in heavy lapped traffic as the white flag fluttered in the brisk autumn-like air.
With Sontag winning his fourth race of the season, McGoldrick was strong in second, and Joel Monahan came home third. Chris Lawrence and Justin Faford completed the top five.
Duane Noll led all the way in the NE Race Trucks 20-lapper, with Andy Lindeman glued to his bumper most of the way. Noll took the checkers two lengths ahead of Lindeman, with Chris Correll coming home third.
Monadnock Speedway will be silent this Saturday, Sept. 21, but will roar back into action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, with its fan-favorite season finale Super Saturday event.
Sportsman Modified (Top Ten): Adam Norton, Keith Carzello, Brian Chapin, Joe Kendall, Dan Stebbins, Steve Fified, Bill Kimball, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Brett Gonyaw, Scott MacMichael
Super Stock (Top Ten): Ed Brehio III, John Lavoie, Chris Curtis, Tom Carey III, Robet Hagar, Josh Wood, Craig Smith, Dennis Stange, Dana Shepard, Nancy Muni
Mini Stock (Top Ten): Mike Stebbins, Beth Adams, Eric Pomasko, Kim Rivet, JT Cloutier, Julia Raymond, Kevin McKnight, DJ Lazelle, Bob Chapdelaine, Joe Rogers
Thunder Stocks (Top Ten): Joe Ethier, Henry Martin, Ed Lofland, Paul Barnard, Marshall Usher, Jason Barden, Bill Davis, Andrew Martell, Bryan Town, Barry Schonborg
Lightning Stocks (Top Ten): Kyle Boniface, Chris Davis, Dick Houle, Tim Leblanc, CJ Johnson, Toby Wells, Hillary Renaud, Fred Rogers, Craig Chaffee, Tim Paquette
Young Guns (Top Ten): Cameron Sontag, Mike McGoldrick, Joel Monahan, Chris Lawrence, Justin Faford, Joe Collins, Sonja Carey, Cole Littlewood, Matt Kimball, Dylan Morse