Brian Chapin Takes Checkers Saturday At Monadnock

Story By: RYAN LAWLISS / MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY – WINCHESTER, NH – The New England Pro Four Modifieds and the open ACT style late model special joined the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action this past Saturday night in front of a large crowd; after a lot of recent rain Mother Nature greeted race fans and teams with a beautiful day for racing, and the large crowd wasn’t disappointed.

The Young Guns would take to the track to get the racing action started. After taking a week off Cale Skillings found his #95 starting on the pole. Cale would be “glad to be back (racing)” as he would lead every lap on his way to his third victory of the season. But the racing action heated up behind Cale, as there was a hard battle for 2nd place between the 12 of Chris Sontag and the 99 of Isabella Minchella. Sontag would prevail and finish 2nd. Minchella would have to settle for a 3rd place finish.

The Lightning Stocks would roll onto the track next in the hopes of providing some electric racing action, and they wouldn’t disappoint. The 4 of Eric Silvernale and the 61 of Steve Fucile would lead the field to the green. Silvernale would jump out to the lead at the drop of the green but he wouldn’t be there long as the 33x of Zachary Lyn would take over the lead on lap 2. The 07 of Greg Millette followed Lyn past Silvernale. On Lap 4 the race would see its only caution of the 20 lap feature. On the restart Lyn would jump out to the lead but would be followed closely by Millette. Millette would bide his time until on Lap 13, he decided he had waited long enough as he worked his way under Lyn as they entered turn 3, and was able to take the lead as they came out of turn 4. Lyn would try a crossover move but was unable to make the pass. Millette would hold onto the top spot for the 3rd straight Lightning Stock win in a row. Lyn would cross the line in 2nd place for the 2nd straight race. The lightning Stock point’s leader Hillary Renaud would bring her 88 car home in 3rd. Millette’s grandmother was in attendance again; Millette stated “she (his grandmother) is a lucky charm.”

Next on track would be the Mini Stocks for their 25 lap feature event. Devin Guy in the 23 and Kevin McKnight in the 76 would be on the front row. The inside row would get a great jump at the drop of the green but as they came to complete the first lap Guy would get lose in the middle of turns 3 and 4, causing him to drop back a few spots. The 69 of Louis Maher would inherit the lead from Guy and would try to pull away from the rest of the field. Maher was unable to pull away due to a caution on lap 6. As the 90 of Desmond Skillings tried to take it 3 wide in turn 3 and 4, making contact with the 21 of Darren Jacobs; the contact would cause Jacobs to spin out on the front stretch. Jacobs spin would also collect the 33 of Jaret Curtis, 88 of Chase Curtis, 55 of Nick Anderson, and 97 of Ethan Marsh. Chase, Curtis, and Marsh would be able to continue however Anderson and Jaret Curtis wouldn’t return. Desmond would be set to the rear for his involvement in causing the caution. On the restart Maher would resume the lead until the 43 of Alexander Pearl would make the pass for 1st place. Pearl would hold on to collect his first win of the season. Maher would hold on to finish 2nd, while Desmond Skillings was able work his way back thru the field to finish 3rd. I was able to ask Alexander Pearl what changes they made to the car this week to make it even faster. Pearl said the only change this week is that his father (Jeffrey Pearl) was his spotter and that was extremely helpful.

Super Stocks would roll onto the high banks for their 25 lap feature next. Mike McGoldrick in the #1 and Justin Littlewood in the #37 would pass the field to the green. McGoldrick Jr. would take the lead at the drop of the green but wouldn’t be there long. Eric Pomasko would bring his #71 alongside McGoldrick in turn 1 and would come off turn 2 with the lead. Pomasko would have no time to get comfortable as the 03 of Joel Monahan would be all over his (Pomasko) rear bumper. Monahan would pass Pomasko for the lead on Lap 4. Three time Super Stock feature winner Tyler Leary would power his 11x past Pomasko a lap later and set his sights on Monahan. Caution would fly on lap 12 as the 37 of Justin Littlewood would make hard contact with the back stretch wall. Justin Littlewood would be checked by the Speedway Safety crew and appeared to be okay. Would the caution be what Leary needed to get the lead and his 4th straight win or would Monahan be able to break his string of 2nd place finishes? Leary would restart on the outside of Monahan, they would race side by side lap after lap until the handling of the 11x was just not good enough to complete the pass for Leary. Monahan would lead the rest of the way on his way to his first win of the season. Leary would have to settle for 2nd place. Cole Littlewood would find himself crossing the line for a 3rd place finish. Monahan was clearly happy with being able to get his first win of the season and the handling of his Monahan Trucking #03.

The New England Pro Four Modifieds would take the track for their feature next. The New England Pro Four Modifieds have a unique setup. They have 2 divisions, the unlimited and the limited divisions, that race their features at the same time. The New England Pro Four Modifieds field would be lead to the green by Brett Meservey in the 7NY and the 0 of Rob Richardi Jr. for their 25 lap feature. Meservey would take off at the drop of green with Richardi Jr. in tow. Richardi Jr. would try to get the lead on lap 2 but was unable to complete the pass. Meservey would set a fast past but Richardi Jr. would be right on his bumper looking for any way around him (Meservey). Richardi Jr. would find that way on lap 9 as Meservey would get lose. Richardi Jr. would take the lead and wouldn’t look back as he would lead the rest of the way on his way to his first win of the season. Meservey would finish 2nd and Norm Wrenn III would bring his 1m home in 3rd place. Jacob Perry in the 21L would win the limited New England Pro Four Modified feature. Richardi Jr. stated that this was “like” his 10th win at Monadnock and that he really enjoys running here. Perry celebrated his first win of the season with sprinkles, because “sprinkles are for winners.”

Sportsman Modifieds were on track next for their 30 lap feature. The 45 of Rookie Paul Smith and the 74 of Victoria Bergenty would start on the front row. At the drop of the green Smith would take the lead as Bergenty started going the wrong direction and the 24 of Todd Patnode would fall victim. Bergenty would bring out the first caution on lap 4 but would be able to keep going. The point’s leader heading into this event Geoff Rollins would take his #02 to the pits and wouldn’t return until the next caution. On the restart Smith would have a new dancing partner in the 44 of Brain Chapin. Chapin would take the lead on the restart. Smith would hold on to 2nd for a few laps until the 6 of Ben Byrne and the 22 of Tyler Jarvenpaa would sneak by. Lap 11 would bring a caution as Smith would spin collecting the 13x of Cameron Sontag, ending his night, and the 50 of Matt Kimball. Smith and Kimball would be able to continue. On the restart Chapin and Byrne would be on the front row. Chapin would take the lead followed closely by Byrne and Jarvenpaa. Jarvenpaa wouldn’t be happy with 3rd and would look to pass Byrne, but as he (Jarvenpaa) worked past Byrne something would let go on the 22 of Jarvenpaa forcing Jarvenpaa to the pits. The field would shuffle after the 22 slowed on the track. Keith Carzello in the 8 would take advantage of this opportunity and grab the 2nd spot. The race would be slowed by one more caution on lap 19 as the 99 of Kim Rivet would spin on the front stretch. Chapin and Carzello would lead the field to the green on the restart. Chapin would hold off Carzello to capture his first victory of the season. Carzello would finish 2nd and Byrne would finish 3rd. Chapin was extremely emotional after capturing his first win in 5 years. Chapin dedicated this win to Ed Pickering in memory of his wife (Mary).

The open ACT style Late Model 50 lap feature would the final feature of the night. Marc Curtis in the 27ma would start on the pole and he would be joined by Tom Carey III in the 5ma on the front row. Curtis would take the lead and set the pace early, but he wouldn’t be alone. Carey III and Adam Gray in the 97 would be right there too. Carey III would spend the first 10 laps of the race working the outside groove and it would pay off for him as on lap 10 he was able to wrestle the lead away from Curtis. A lap later Gray would find his way around Curtis for the 2nd spot and then on lap 16 Gray would dive inside Carey III for the lead. The race would be slowed by a few cautions but the cautions would not stop Adam Gray from capturing the win and his 2nd open ACT style Late Model special win. Tom Carey III would bring his 5ma across the line in 2nd. Mike Mitchell would bring his #44 car across the line in 3rd. In victory lane it was clear for all to see that the 2nd win for Adam Gray was just as sweet as the first.

Next Race Event is Saturday – June 17, 2017 at 6pm featuring Sportsman Modified Twin 25s, Mini Stock Challenge, Super Stocks, Thunder Stocks & Young Guns.

Sportsman Modifieds: Brian Chapin, Keith Carzello, Ben Byrne, Nathan Johnson, Todd Patnode, Todd Warren, Brian Robie, Kim Rivet, Paul Smith, Joel Monahan, Cole Littlewood, Matt Kimball, Eric Leclair, Victoria Bergenty, Chris Ignazio, Nick Riso, Tyler Jarvenppa, Geoff Rollins, Cameron Sontag
Jason Barden

Super Stocks: Joel Monahan, Tyler Leary, Cole Littlewood, Mike McGoldrick, Eric Pomasko, Scott Beck
Nancy Muni, Justin Littlewood

Mini Stocks: Alexander Pearl, Louis Maher, Desmond Skillings, Tim Paquette, Devin Guy, Ethan Marsh
Pat Houle, Kevin Mcknight, Chase Curtis, Evan Bourgeois, Shelby Avery, Kevin Pittsinger, Bill Chaffe, Darren Jacobs, Jaret Curtis, Nick Anderson

Lightning Stocks: Greg Millette, Zachary Lyn, Hillary Renaud, Steve Fucile, Alex Barden, Dylan Stebbins, Eric Silvernale, Kaylee Symonds, Mike Radzuik

Young Guns: Cale Skillings, Chris Sontag, Isabella Minchella, Chloe Wright

Act Type Late Models:, Adam Gray, Tom Carey, Mike Mitchell, Marc Curtis, Leo Martin, Joel Monahan
Mike Flynn, Jackie Lanou, Matt Frey, Jason Palmer, Chris Reindeau, Robert Hagar