WINCHESTER, N.H. — Firecracker Night took over the annual Fourth of July celebration at Monadnock Speedway this weekend.
It saw Todd Patnode win the Firecracker 100, Solomon Brow win the Super Stocks, Matt Kimball the Mini Stocks and Ben Byrne the Sportsman Modified. Gordon Farnum (Lightning Stocks), Taylor Striebel (Young Guns) and Doug McLean (Thunder Stocks) earned their first wins of the season.
The Young Guns 15-lap feature came first. Taylor Striebel took the lead at the drop of the green. Sammy Silva took second on Lap 6. By Lap 9, Silva had caught up to Striebel, but ran out of time to try to pass. Striebel took the win, followed by Silva in second.
Mini Stocks zipped out next for 25 laps. Shelby Avery took the top spot coming out of turn two of Lap 1. Cory Plummer held onto the second spot until Lap 4 when Matt Kimball made the pass. Caution came on Lap 5 with Avery and Kimball led the restart. Kimball wasted no time as he rocketed out in front following the restart. Baldwinville’s Louis Maher passed Avery for second on Lap 7. In Lap 9, Kimball and Maher battled for first with Kimball taking the lead in the second turn. Maher followed Kimball closely, even running side by side at one point. Caution came again on Lap 19 and Kimball led Mahar on the restart. Kimball held onto the lead for the win. Kimball leads the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Youth Achievement Award by one point.
The Super Stocks came next. Nancy Muni-Ruot and Orange’s Justin Littlewood brought the field to the green. Muni-Root took the lead early while Littlewood fell back. On Lap 6, Tyler Leary came out of nowhere to pass Athol’s Dennis Stange, Solomon Brow and Geoff Rollins all in one move for second place. On Lap 9, Leary slipped by Muni-Root to take the lead and Brow moved into second one lap later. Leary cruised, but Brow found a way past him with two laps left in the race. Brow took his second win in a row, Leary settled for second and Rollins finished third.
Lightning stocks rolled out next for 20 laps. Gordon Farnum wasted no time taking the lead. On Lap 5, the caution flew as Randall Phillips, who sat in second, and Zach Lyn came together. Farnum had a new dance partner on the restart in CJ Johnson, but Farnum still took the lead on the restart. Halfway, Farnum maintained a straightway lead for the rest. He went unchallenged the rest of the way for the win.
The Sportsman Modifieds went next for 35 laps. Eric LeClair took the lead at the drop of the green. The caution came on Lap 3 and LeClair resumed the lead on the restart. Ben Byrne took over second. Byrne and Brian Chapin traded off on holding the second spot from Lap 9 until Lap 14. Byrne had second coming out of Lap 14. Caution came on Lap 15 and on the restart, Byrne tried to pass LeClair but failed. LeClair led until Lap 21 when Byrne got underneath LeClair in turn three, coming out front in turn four. On Lap 22, Chapin took over second from LeClair. Byrne led the rest of the way for the win.
Thunder stocks took to the track next for 25 laps. After three restarts in Lap 1, Doug Mclean took first in front of Dan Comeau. Chris Buffone and Chase Curtis battled for the third spot. By halfway, James Nowakowski moved into third. On a caution flag during Lap 14, Buffone received the black flag for dumping water on the track, but fixed it before the restart. Mclean resumed the lead and Nowakowski and Comeau raced side by side for second. On Lap 20, Curtis took control of second and one lap later looked to take the lead. He couldn’t find the pass though and Mclean captured his first Thunder Stock career win.
The Valenti Modified Racing Series rolled out for its 100-lap feature to wrap up the racing action before the Fireworks. Russ Hersey set a blistering pace and started in the lead. Hersey felt the first challenge of the evening during Lap 46 when Woody Pitkat came close to first but was unsuccessful. He dove past Hersey for the lead on Lap 51. At the same time, Todd Patnode made the pass for third. Hersey took the lead back from Pitkat on Lap 56 and six laps later Patnode took the second spot from Pitkat. Lap 63 saw Patnode dive under Hersey for the lead. On Lap 85, Anthony Nocella used a crossover move to take second from Hersey. Patnode held on to take the win with Nocella finishing second and Hersey finishing third.
Monadnock Speedway will race on Saturday with Mudbogs on Sunday before the summer break. On Saturday, the track will hold its annual open track party where fans can step on the track for 45 minutes to meet the drivers. That begins at 5 p.m. Racing will follow featuring the Iron Mike Memorial Event along with all the speedway’s weekly divisions. On Sunday, the track will host the Summit Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Mudbog Mudslinger Event featuring Opens, Outlaws, Pros, Modifieds, 8-Cyliner and 4/6 Cylinder. Racing begins at noon on both days.