Story By: GARY DUTTON / MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY – WINCHESTER, NH – There was no dominant driver in Saturday’s Modified twinbill on the high banks of Monadnock Speedway.
Ben Byrne (Deerfield, Ma) and Todd Patnode (Swanzey, NH) each won a 35-lap NHSTRA feature but, like everyone else in the 22-car field, took a beating in one or the other go-rounds.
Tough nights? They were abundant, Trevor Bleau was bounced around to 16th and 14th place finishes, and Matt Kimball, although second in the nightcap, left the track knowing he could have won both races.
Street Stock ace Tommy O’Sullivan (Wilbraham, Ma) earned his first victory lap of the summer August 22, while Aaron Fellows won his track-high ninth 2020 main event. Timmy Leblanc (Hinsdale, NH) scored his second victory, and Chris Davis (Winchester, NH), who’d blown up three engines the previous four weeks, also won for the second time.
Brian Robie and Matt Kimball started up front in the first Modified 35, with Robie making the big dance after a 60-mile dash back to Sunapee for his second car after grenading his primary ride’s engine during practice.
Kimball took charge on lap three and looked like the man to beat until, with the white flag in the air, mechanical oh-ohs ended the second-generation hot shoe’s race and sent some of the field spinning. In the aftermath, Ben Byrne got the win, his fifth of the summer, with Robie second and Russ Hersey, piloting the second Byrne ride, third.
Kimmy Rivet edged Todd Patnode in the slow motion battle for the pole in race number two and, as such, that pair later brought the field to the green in the nightcap. That green flag run, though, was short lived.
A massive lap-one wreck quickly brought this one to a halt, with no fewer than eight cars leaving the frontchute tangle on the hook. Both Byrne and Robie were caught up, later returning 18 laps in arrears.
Patnode held strong, but Kimball, still smarting from his race one disappointment, bolted into second on lap 21 and took command as lap 29 was completed. Patnode, though, wasn’t done.
Completing a slick bump-and-run, the Swanzey veteran then held Kimball in his shadow to duplicate his victory of two weeks earlier. Kimball was the runner-up, and Brian Chapin edging Rivet for third.
Tommy O’Sullivan, from row four, took the lead from Hillary Renaud on lap 13 of the Street Stock feature, bringing Chase Curtis with him, and then held on for his first win of the summer. Curtis was second, and Renaud third.
The Curtis twins, Chase and Jaret, entered the night tied atop the points parade. When the show was over, Chase went home six points ahead.
Superman Aaron Fellows took charge on lap 16 of the Late Model Sportsman feature and then sped away to his ninth win in ten outings. Baltimore, VT teen Camdyn Curtis posted his career-best LMS runner-up finish, with Cole Littlewood third on the night.
Tim Leblanc took the lead from Shelby Avery on lap five of the Mini Stock 25-lapper and then held off all challengers to earn his second victory lap of 2020. Kevin Cormier, the winner a week earlier, snatched second on the white flag lap, with Nathan Wenzel then coming home third.
Mini Stock points leader Gordon Farnum made the best of a bad situation. After being clobbered on lap one, he methodically worked his way back to fifth, losing only four points in his run toward the championship.
Defending track Pure Stock champ Chris Davis started up front Saturday and made easy work of winning his second feature race of the summer. Matt Lambert held the deuce for 22 laps until points leader Mike Douglas completed his charge from row five to claim runner-up honors.
Next Saturday, August 29, Monadnock Speedway will host its biggest event of the season when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Series makes its first visit to the high banks in half a decade for 200 ground-pounding laps of excitement.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY AUGUST 22 RESULTS:
NHSTRA MODIFIED FEATURE 1:Ben Byrne, Brian Robie, Russ Hersey, Keith Carzello, Stewart McCormack, Steve Dickey, Rob Richardi, Cole Littlewood, Andy Major, Todd Patnode, Kim Rivet, Jason Houle, Alyssa Rivera, Brad Zahensky, Matt Kimball, Trevor Bleau, Kevin Pittsinger, Eric Leclair, Solomon Brow, Brian Chapin, Cory Plummer, Cameron Houle
NHSTRA MODIFIED FEATURE 2: Todd Patnode, Matt Kimball, Brian Chapin, Kim Rivet, Cory Plummer, Rob Richardi, Steve Dickey, Brad Zahensky, Jason Houle, Keith Carzello, Kevin Pittsinger, Cole Littlewood, Solomon Brow, Trevor Bleau, Ben Byrne, Stewart McCormack, Alyssa Rivera, Brian Robie, Russ Hersey, Cameron, Houle, Eric Leclair, Andy Major
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Aaron Fellows, Camdyn Curtis, Cole Littlewood, Robert Hagar, Justin Littlewood, John Meany, James Beck, Matt Winter, Nancy Muni-Ruot, Dan Comeau
STREET STOCK: Tommy O’ Sullivan, Chase Curtis, Hillary Renaud, Chris Buffone, Jaret Curtis, Tim Wenzel, Jason Kozacka, Bryan Granger, Paul Barnard, Kenny Thompson, Mike Radzuik
MINI STOCK: Tim Leblanc, Kevin Cormier, Nathan Wenzel, Bill Chaffee, Gordon Farnum, Jeff Asselin, Shelby Avery, Kevin Russell, Jeff Heath, Jake Puchalski, Kevin Clayton, Bobby Kirker, Joshua Hubbard, Ray King, Joshua Wright, Kevin McKnight, Ethan Marsh
PURE STOCK: Chris Davis, Mike Douglas, Matt Lambert, Jimmy Zellman, JD Stockwell, Doug Nelson, Brandon Lavoie, CJ Johnson, Cory Lofland, Bruce Clark, Jason Leray, Nick Houle, Steve Zebrowski, Ben Sylvester
