RPW Column By: BRITTANY NUTILE / RPW – STAFFORD, CT – Over the past month, racing is finally back in most states that are beginning to open back up. This weekend in New England is filled with action pack racing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday night Stafford Motor Speedway will have its 2nd race of the season. Saturday is the NWMT race at White Mountain Motorsports Park in New Hampshire. Sunday is the Tri-Track Modified race at Monadnock Speedway in New Hampshire. The Tri-Track Modified race at Monadnock Speedway on Sunday will have a decent car count that could be anywhere between 35-40 cars.
“When you have a bigger car count, especially in the Tri-Track series, it makes the racing that much better knowing that every time you go on the track you have to race hard. Every heat and consi race is hard fought for the driver and very entertaining for the fans.” Matt Hirschman talking about how it is to race with a big car count knowing not every driver will make it.
The Tri-Track series is always a competitive division and most of the drivers are from different modified divisions so, it makes the racing very fun to watch. With most drivers not knowing what they are racing this year, a lot of the drivers are eager to drive whenever they can. So, as soon as the Tri-Track series announced that they were going to compete at Monadnock, there was a lot of interest from everyone who drives Modifieds.
A lot of the drivers that will be competing Sunday will also be competing in the tour race at White Mountain Motorsports Park, and a select few will be doing triple double including driving at Stafford Speedway on Friday.
One of the drivers that will be doing triple duty this weekend is Chase Dowling. He will be competing at Stafford on Friday, White Mountain on Saturday, and Monadnock on Sunday. “It’s a lot of driving around, not a lot of sleep. Hopefully to keep having run like we have had in the past few years. Obviously, the competition is good in any modified series and the car count is good at every year track you go to. The busy weekend also affects me going to work Monday morning.
Ronnie Williams will be doing double duty but, unlike everyone else it will be Stafford on Friday and Monadnock on Sunday. He won’t be competing Saturday on the tour race. He talks about what his goals are for Monadnock and how he feels about the huge car counts. “Anytime I show up in the Gary Casella prepared 25, the goal is to win. Doesn’t matter how may cars or what track. We go to win races, and we aren’t satisfied any other way.
Calvin Carroll is very excited to be running both White Mountain and Monadnock in the same weekend. “I think Tri-Track did a great job moving Monadnock to Sunday. I would be happy to keep the car in one piece at Monadnock and get a top 10 finish. I think with the bigger car count it will be important to get a good starting position in the heat race.”
Jeff Gallup is another driver that will be doing the tour and tri-track race this weekend. “I feel good about finally getting to do some racing and racing at two ¼ mile bullrings. My goals are to first get in the show then put myself in position at the end to win. I don’t think it will have much effect on the same people who are always fast, you just hope to be one of them.”
Craig Lutz is excited to be competing two times this weekend. “I think its awesome to be able to race 2 races in a weekend. My goals are to have a shot at the end of the race to win. I’ve raced at Monadnock once back in my rookie year on the tour. Was a fun track to race so, I’m excited to head back there.”
Woody Pitkat is excited to be racing this weekend in the tour and the Tri-Track series. “It’s going to be a long weekend but, I’m glad they where able to split the races up between the 2 days so I could race both events and keep both my race teams happy. Obviously my goal is to win every time I hit the racetrack but there’s going to be stiff competition Sunday so just want to make the show and run top 5 and hopefully be in contention for the win at the end. Biggest thing with Tri-Track is the luck of the draw for starting spot in your heat race. With the bigger car counts they will take less cars out of each heat so its always important to try to be in the top 3-4 starting spots in the heat.”
“I feel great about running both races, the more we race the better. My goals for Monadnock are to win and the competition should be great! The car count should make racing in a lot more fun and have to be super aggressive, I’ve raced at Monadnock several times. I would say it’s my best track.”
Jacob Perry is only racing the Monadnock race this weekend but, is eager to get a win. “My goal for Monadnock is to qualify well and be able to make the show in the heat. I also want to be able to run as well as we did last year at Monadnock in the Tri-Track race. Last year in this race it was a stout field with guys like Silk, Dowling but, no Hirschman and others. We ran really well and hope to improve on that this year.”
The Tri-Track series at Monadnock will be an exciting race and it will be exciting to see how many car will show up and how good the competition will be when they are racing in the heats and consi and then finally the feature event.
