By Gary Dutton
WINCHESTER, NH – Tim Leblanc and Scott Thompson each scored their first win Saturday, July 6, at Monadnock Speedway. Super Stock veteran Dana Shepard, winless the last five-plus seasons, thrilled the huge crowd with a memorable victory.
But it was Modified icon Dwight Jarvis who earned the big bucks with a shrewd race strategy that landed him in victory lane after winning the night’s 100-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series main event.
Other winners on the Firecracker 100 card included Adam Norton, victorious in the Sportsman Modified feature, Mini Stock points leader Chris McTaggart, who won his first feature since April, and Young Guns hot shoe Joe Collins, who earned his third victory lap of the summer.
Chris Pasteryak, Rowan Pennink and Rob Goodenough exchanged the lead early in the Valenti Modified Series main event, with Pasteryak having the hot hand more often than not.
Pasteryak, in fact would lead for 50 consecutive laps, holding off Pennink, as the 40-year veteran Jarvis was content to float from fourth to sixth and back again, saving his tires while the young bulls ahead of him went to war.
With Pasteryak comfortably in front on lap 82, Jarvis charged into third. Five laps later, he roared past Pennink to claim second, still 15 lengths behind Pasteryak. But a four-car jingle in turn three brought Jarvis alongside the leader on lap 87.
On the second of two lap-87 restarts, Jarvis powered past Pasteryak from the top of the track, then holding him off to score the big win. With Pasteryak a strong second, Jon McKennedy came home third. Pennink and Richard Savary rounded out the top five.
Dana Shepard hadn’t won a Super Stock feature in more than five years. He hadn’t even trophied in the first half of this season. Saturday, though, he started a new streak, wiring his 25-lap feature to bring the crowd to its feet as he ran his Polish victory lap.
Shepard set a blistering pace, surviving four restarts and the relentless pressure of points leader Eddie Brehio III to score his first win since 2008. Brehio took the checkers glued to Shepard, with Dave Striebel strong in third. Tom Carey III came home fourth, and John Lavoie fought the good fight all night to claim fifth.
They will debate who might have won the Sportsman Modified feature for the rest of the summer. Adam Norton was glued to the leading Keith Carzello’s bumper for 15 laps until Lady Luck brought Carzello’s bid for victory to a crashing halt on lap 17, with Norton then rocketing off to his third win of the season.
Carzello had the Get Smart Fight Back open-wheeler dialed in, grabbing the lead on lap two and then leading Norton around the track at breakneck speed until Bill Kimball got loose on the backchute, with Carzello collected as he exited turn two, leaving the track on the hook after breaking his rear suspension in the tangle.
Once in front, Norton had the field covered, outrunning Tyler Jarvenpaa to the checkers, with Jarvenpaa using his runner-up finish to grab sole possession of the division’s points lead. Brian Chapin was strong all night to come home third, with Joey Kendall and Kimball rounding out the top five.
Julia Raymond led lap one of the Mini Stock feature, but ducked pitside during a first-lap caution brought out when DJ Lazelle spun in turn four. With Raymond suddenly absent, Chris McTaggart wasted no time in seizing the lead and then running out the race from the point to notch his second win of the summer.
Beth Adams ran in McTaggart’s shadow the final 24 laps, but had to settle for second, with she and McTaggart crossing the stripe under a blanket. JT Cloutier, strong all night, came home third, with Kimmy Rivet – dumped twice in the event – storming back through the field to claim fourth, just ahead of Joe Rogers.
It took Young Gun Joe Collins nine laps to grab the lead in the youth division 15 lapper, but once in front, he never looked back. Collins scored the win ten lengths ahead of runner-up Mike McGoldrick to earn his third victory lap of the season.
With McGoldrick scoring his career-high deuce finish, Cole Littlewood came home third. Joel Monahan finished his strong night’s work in fourth, and two-time winner Matt Kimball finished fifth.
Tim Leblanc started on the pole in the Lightning Stock feature and never looked back. Opening a big lead by lap three, Leblanc kept the pedal to the metal to win by 20 lengths over division strong man Tim O’Shea. Chris Davis and Pat Houle – both charging from row nine – came home third and fourth, with Josh Houle completing his long dash through the field in fifth.
In the night’s final event, Jason Hesse – back from a horrific wreck a week earlier – led lap one of the Thunder Stock feature, then giving way to third-row starter Scott Thompson. Once in front, the second-generation driver never looked back, powering the same car his father, Jim Thompson, drove to the division championship last season to victory lane to score his first career feature win.
Joe Ethier, strong all night, earned the runner-up finish two lengths behind Thompson, with points leader Ed Lofland coming home third. Marshall Usher and Paul Barnard rounded out the top five.
Monadnock Speedway will be silent this Saturday, July 13, as the high-banked speedplant takes its annual mid-summer break, but will return to action Saturday, July 20, with an eight-division card of racing celebrating their Christmas In July Event. For more information, visit the track website at www.monadnockspeedway.com.
Mini Stock Top Ten: Chris Mctaggart, Beth Adams, Jt Cloutier, Kim Rivet, Joe Rogers, Darren Jacobs, Kevin Mcknigh Jr, Dj Lazelle, Mike Stebbins, Eric Pomasko
Super Stock Top Ten: Dana Shepard, Ed Brehio Iii, Dave Striebel, Tom Carey Iii, John Lavoie, Kevin Russell, Ed Laquire Jr, Nancy Muni, Craig Smith, Dennis Stange
Sportsman Modifieds Top Ten: Adam Norton, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Brian Chapin, Joe Kendall, Bill Kimball, Dan Stebbins, Eric Leclair, Jeff Beckwith, Alyssa Rivera, Keith Carzello
Lightning Stock Top Ten: Tim Leblanc, Tim O’shea, Chris Davis, Pat Houle, Josh Houle, Gordon Farnum, Tim Paquette, Matt Somerville, Richard Whipple, Ian Stevens
Thunder Stocks: Scott Thompson, Joe Ethier, Ed Lofland, Marshall Ushe,r Paul Barnard, Jason Barden, Jason Hesse, Tyler Janovsky, Doug Guy
Young Guns Top Ten: Joe Collins, Mike Mcgoldrick, Cole Littlewood, Joel Monahan, Matt Kimball, Sonja Carey, Corey Wheeler, Michelle Leh, Chris Lawrence, Dylan Morse