Adam Gray Returns To Monadnock’s Victory Lane

Story By: RYAN LAWLISS / MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY – WINCHESTER, NH – With a full card of racing action scheduled on this Memorial Day weekend the racing got started an hour earlier than normal but that didn’t seem to deter the fans from getting their seats early.

Fans were treated to every division of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series plus the Great School Bus Race (2016 edition), spectator races, and the ACT Type Late Model Open race. Leary and Millette returned to victory lane; while Robie, Jacobs, Kozacka, and Morse collected their first wins of the season.

Young Guns rolled onto the track first for their feature event. This week fans were guaranteed to see a new face capture the checkered flag as none of the previous winners in the division were in the field. The 42 car of Zach Morse would pace the field to the green followed by the 99 of Isabella Minchella, 28 of Sammy Silva, and the 21 of Christopher Phelps. Morse would put his foot to the floor and after early pressure from Minchella would walk away from the field on his way to capturing the win. Minchella would take down 2nd place and Silva would find himself 3rd.

The Lightning Stocks would flash onto the track next for their 25 lap feature with the largest field of cars to date this season. The 4 of Eric Silvernale would start on the pole with the 61 of Steve Fucile on the outside. At the drop of the green flag the 4 and 61 would make contact coming out of turn 4 causing Fucile to jump out to the lead. Less than a lap later Silvernale would make light contact with the 07 of Greg Millette that would result in Silvernale losing a number of spots. Millette wouldn’t waste any time as he would pass Fucile on the next lap for the lead, and would pull away from the field on his way to capturing back to back wins. The fans were treated to a great battle late in the race between the 33x of Zachary Lyn and the 88 of Hillary Renaud for the 2nd spot. Lyn would claim the 2nd spot in the end and Renaud would have to settle for 3rd place. Millette’s 2nd win in a row was a little more special than his first win as he got to share it with his entire crew and his Grandmother was there too; which Millette said was “real special to get a win when she is here.”

The next feature to take to the track was the Great School Bus race of Champions. This was a make-up race due to the cancelation of the race last fall. Only 3 buses were able to take to the track due to one having mechanical issues and another on maternity leave (due to a family of birds with new babies living inside). Bill Kimball the 2016 Sportsman Modifieds Champion was the honorary Flagman for the race. Joel Monahan took the field to school as he lead every lap on his way to claiming the win.

Mini Stocks were next on the track for their 25 lap feature event. Chase Curtis in the 88 would lead the field to the green but would end up in the infield before completing a lap and would then find himself at the tail end of the field for the restart. The 76 of Kevin McKnight would assume the top spot for the restart with the 43 of Alexander Pearl on the outside. On Lap 3 the 57x of Pat Houle would experience a mechanical failure going into turn 3 that would result in him dumping fluid on the track and finding a resting spot against the wall in the middle of turns 3 and 4. Due to the fluid on the track the 93 of Tim Paquette and the 88 of Chase Curtis would find themselves needing the assistance of the wrecker after they made contact with the wall in turns 3 and 4. On the ensuing restart the 69 of Louis Maher would make contact with the 33 of Jaret Curtis. The contact would cause Curtis to spin out collecting the 23 car of Devin Guy. Both the 33 car and the 23 car would need to leave the track on the back of the wreckers. The race would be slowed 2 laps later on lap 5 by the 43 of Pearl spinning. McKnight would lead the field to the green flag again but this time he would be chased by the 21 of Darren Jacobs. Jacobs wouldn’t waste any time as he would pressure McKnight for the lead right away and would take the lead on Lap 7. Jacobs would pull away from the field and would settle into a nice rhythm but with 5 laps to go Pearl in the number 43 machine would track him down. Pearl wouldn’t have enough left in the tank to take the top spot. Jacobs would capture his first win while Pearl would finish 2nd and Ethan Marsh in the 97 fresh off a win last week would round out the top 3. Jacob’s was visibly happy with his win but reported he wasn’t happy most of the day with the handling of his 21 machine. When asked what they did, he stated “My brother made a change to the sway bar before the feature and it made it good enough.”

The next feature on track was the Super Stocks for their 25 lap feature. The Littlewood brothers would lead the field to the green flag. Cole Littlewood in the number 12 would start on the pole while younger brother Justin Littlewood in the number 37 would start on the outside of the front row. Cole would put his number 12 machine out front at the drop of the green. Tyler Leary in the number 11x would charge to the front from his 6th place starting spot to apply pressure to the leader. It would take Leary 15 laps to work his way up to 2nd place but Leary would find himself in the lead 3 laps later. Once in the lead Leary wouldn’t look back on his way to winning back to back Super Stock Feature events. Cole Littlewood would hold on for 2nd and Rookie Eric Pomasko would bring his number 71 home in 3rd. Leary was quick to mention that he is “on a mission (this year)” and that it has been a goal of his to win back to back races, but that his dad’s goal is 3 in a row.

The Spectator race would be the next activity on the track. 14 cars would enter but only 13 would take to the track. After an exciting 5 lap showdown between 3 cars, in which one car spun out and was able to do a full 360 spin and keep going. It was Monadnock Speedway’s Sportsman Modified driver Cameron Sontag that won the Spectator race. His victory lap and burnout was definitely well received by the fans.

After the smoke cleared from the burnout, the Thunder Stocks took to the high banks for their 20 lap feature event. The 43 of Jason Kozacka would start on the pole with the 99 of Matt Robinson on the outside. Kozacka would take the lead at the drop of the green and even with a few caution flags to slow down his pace nothing could keep him from taking down his first win of the season. Kozacka would feel pressure early and often throughout the race. Early on Kozacka would be pressured by the 28 of Craig Chaffee and the 9 of James Nowakowski. At the end it was last week’s feature winner Richard Vincent in the number 4 car supplying the pressure. Vincent would finish 2nd and Chaffee would finish 3rd. Kozacka like many other winners tonight wasn’t overly happy with the handling of his race car. When asked specifically how his car was Kozacka simply said “it was awful.”

Sportsman Modifieds would be next for a 30 lap feature. Brian Robie in the 25 would start on the pole after having to settle for last place finishes last week in both of the 25 lap features due to mechanical issues. At the drop of the green Robie would take the lead and set the pace until the caution flag would wave on lap 19, as the 81 of Brett Gonyaw and the 8 Keith Carzello got together coming out of turn 2. The accident collected 3 cars. One of them was last week’s winners Tyler Jarvenpaa, as he would find his 22 machine resting against the backstretch wall. Also caught up in the incident were the 6 of Ben Byrne and the 5c of Cole Littlewood. The 22, 6, and 5c would need to be towed off the racing surface. On the restart Robie would resume his pace, as he would go on to lead every lap and collect his first win of the season. Todd Patnode would bring his number 24 to a 2nd place finish, after working his way through the field. Brian Chapin would bring his number 44 machine across the line for a 3rd place finish. When asked how the win felt, Robie stated “after last week, feels great!”

The final feature of the night was the ACT type late model open race. The race would go 50 laps and would only be slowed by 2 caution periods. Chris Riendeau would wheel his 4vt to the early lead. Joel Monahan would take the lead on lap 11, as he was able to utilize a lapped car to help him complete the pass. Monahan and Riendeau would pull away from the rest of the pack. The 97 driven by Adam Gray would break away from the rest of the pack as he worked on reeling in the top 2 cars of Monahan and Riendeau. It took Gray 10 laps but he was able to reel them in. Gray would be aided by a caution a lap after catching Monahan and Riendeau. On the restart Monahan, Riendeau, and Gray pulled away from the pack and it looked like it was going to be a 3-way battle to the end, but Tom Carey III in the number 5 said “not so fast gentleman” as he decided to make it a 4 car battle. Adam Gray took the lead on lap 40 and left Monahan, Riendeau, and Carey III to battle it out for 2nd place. Carey III would make a bold move passing both Monahan and Riendeau in the same turn to take control on 2nd place. Adam Gray would take down the win in his return to Monadnock Speedway after an extended absence. Tom Carey III would hold on to finish 2nd and Joel Monahan would finish 3rd. I caught up with Tom Carey III about finishing 2nd on his return to Monadnock Speedway. Carey III had this to say “it’s been a rough start to the season, but it’s nice to return to a familiar track and get the monkey off our back.” When asked how he was able to catch up to the top 3 after it appeared early he was out of it, he stated “tire management.” Carey III also added “can’t wait to be back.” Adam Gray had similar sentiment for his return to Monadnock Speedway. Gray stated “feels great to be back and to get a win.”
Next Saturday June 3rd racing starts at 6pm with Pit Gates opening at 2pm. Practice starts at 330pm, with the Main Grandstands opening at 3pm. You will see the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions (Sportsman Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Young Guns, and Thunder Stocks) plus STAR Antique Racers. General Admission is only $9.99 for Adults, Seniors (65+) & College Students $10, Ages 11-18 $5, and Children 10 & under are Free.

LATE MODELS-Adam Gray, Tom Carey, Joel Monahan, Chris Riendeau, Mike Flynn, Marc Curtis, Jason Palmer, Leo Martin, Jackie Lanou, Mark Norris, Chris Curtis

SPORTSMAN MODIFIEDS-Brian Robie, Todd Patnode, Brian Chapin, Geoff Rollins, Kim Rivet, Cameron Sontag, Nathan Johnson, Matt Kimball, Joel Monahan, Keith Carzello, Todd Warren, Brett Gonyaw, Paul Smith, Victoria Bergenty, Eric Leclair, Chris Ignazio, Tyler Jarvenpaa, Ben Byrne, Cole Littlewood

SUPER STOCK-Tyler Leary, Cole Littelwood, Eric Pomasko, Joel Monahan, Dave Striebel, Solomon BrowJustin Littlewood, Nancy Muni, Mike McGoldrick, Scott Beck

MINI STOCKS-, Darren Jacobs, Alexander Pearl, Ethan Marsh, Kevin Mcknight, Louis Maher, Shelby Avery, Evan Bourgeois, Kevin Pittsinger, Jaret Curtis, Devin Guy, Chase Curtis, Tim Paquette, Pat Houle

THUNDER STOCKS-Jason Kozacka, Richard Vincent, Craig Chaffee, James Nowakowski, Bruce Clark, Michelle Leh, Matt Robinson
LIGHTNING STOCKS- Greg Millette, Zachary Lyn, Hillary Renaud, Steve Fucile, Dale Squires, Dave Greenslit, Alex Barden, Kyle Currier, Eric Silvernale, Randall Phillips, Erin Vien

YOUNG GUNS-Zach Morse, Isabella Minchella, Sammy Silva, Christopher Phelps