WINCHESTER, NH - Kimmy Rivet captures the win at Monadnock Speedway, leading both early and late en route to victory in the annual Firecracker 100 Modified main event at the high banked quarter-mile.
Her victory in the decades-old top jewel of the summer 604 Modified division was worth $3,000. It was Rivet’s first win of the 2026 racing season.
Other winners on the high banks Saturday night included Massachusetts Missile JD Stockwell, who struck late to score his fifth win of the summer in the Limited Late Models, Pure Stock blaster Michael Yeaton, who stormed to his fourth win in a row, and Pro 4 Modified ace Rob Richardi Jr., who boosted his championship points lead with his second win of the season.
Young Gun Dylan Stati won his track-high seventh 2026 feature race Saturday. Only Sofia Rego, who has since moved up to weekly Pure Stock competition, has also won in this season’s youth division.
With a huge crowd on hand, and a colossal fireworks display awaiting them at race’s end, the decades-old mid-summer Firecracker 100 was again a race that will be talked about well past the current season. Rivet and rookie Kyle Kenny sat up front as the 100-lap Minkler Paving and Painting sponsored main event went green.
With a potent field of All States Material Group 604 Modifieds exploding into action behind her, Rivet quickly took charge. Ty Leclerc and reigning speedway Modified champ Tyler Leary were quickly at her bumper.
Leary rocketed up to second on lap 12, with his mirror soon filled by last week’s winner Eddie Gomarlo. Leclerc, stuck at the top groove in fourth, had no idea of giving up and, behind him, fast timer Brian Robie and previous winner Andrew Brousseau, from scratch on the starting grid, were zooming to the front.
Gomarlo stormed into second on lap 19 in his Robie Motorsports car, bringing Robie with him, as this time it was Leary stuck in the top groove. He, like Leclerc before him, wasn’t giving up the chase. At the halfway point - lap 50 - it was Rivet, Robie, and Leary sailing around the high banks nose-to-tail.
Robie’s all-out efforts in the low line finally paid off on lap 52, as the Sunapee speedster took the lead and set sail to repeat his Open Mod victory of two weeks earlier. A strategic mistake on a lap-62 restart, though, would prove to be his undoing.
Opting to re-fire from the top groove, he had to then watch Rivet charge back to the lead and hold the top spot until the checkers waved 38 laps later over her first-ever Firecracker 100 victory. With Robie a single length back in second, Leclerc charged back up for third, Brousseau’s strong night’s work netted him fourth in the 100-lap main event, and Gomarlo in fifth.
Wesley Stedt may long remember Saturday’s Twin State Truck Service Limited Late Model feature as the one that got away. Gunning for his first career feature win in the fast full-fendered division, Stedt, who’d earlier topped his heat race, led for 23 laps in the main event before giving way with three to go.
Top points man JD Stockwell, again aboard the fastest car on the track, then took over and sped off to a five-length victory. Stedt stayed strong to score a career-best runner-up finish, and Robert Hagar, coming off a big night Friday at Claremont, was third.
Previous winner Hillary Renaud sailed under the checkers in fourth, with rookie Owen Zilinski, the early leader, fifth.
Micheal Yeaton may or may not go perfect on the summer in the Brattleboro Towing and Recovery Pure Stocks, but he’s certainly giving it his best effort. Saturday, the Amherst, NH hot shoe won for the fourth race in a row.
Top points man Jimmy Zellman took the early lead, giving way to Dylan Zullo, aboard the CJ Johnson ride, on lap six. Yeaton, blasting forward from tenth, was up to third a lap later and the next go-round was at Zullo’s bumper.
Yeaton took the top spot on lap 16, then holding off the furious challenge of Kyle Begos to stay perfect at four-for-four in his new-found favorite division. With Begos finishing at his bumper in second, Zellman stayed atop the points parade with his third-place finish.
Rookie sensation Josh Brigham, who had to duck into the pits early for repairs, kept himself very much in the points chase with his fourth-place finish, and Zullo was fifth. Begos and Linsey Wenzel won the heats.
There was only one car capable of keeping Rob Richardi Jr. from taking another bow in victory lane Saturday in the LaValley Building Supply Pro 4 Modifieds, and that was the Ryan McPartland entry.
The Green Mountain State pilot stayed glued to Richardi’s bumper until abruptly exiting the track on lap 14. With McPartland suddenly done for the night, the leader then blasted off into another time zone, only to see his huge advantage evaporate with a lap-23 caution.
Still very much up to the task, Richardi again flat-footed away to score a two-length victory over steady Josh Badach. Fast Eddie, victorious a week earlier, was third in Saturday’s 25-lapper.McPartland and Fast Eddie topped the heats.
Dylan Stati dominated the Doug’s Auto Body Young Guns again Saturday, leading all the way in the night’s caution-free 15-lapper to win his seventh in a row. Maeve Barry, faster every week, was second, and 12-year-old Mason Bezio, in his first race ever, came home third.
Monadnock Speedway will return to action next Saturday, July 4, when the $7,600-to-win Open Modified Northeast Summer Shootout 100-lap main event tops a full card of NASCAR Local Racing Series events at New England’s fastest quarter-mile oval. Post time is 6 p.m. each Saturday at Monadnock Speedway.