Ben Byrne is having himself quite the season so far at Monadnock Speedway.
The Deerfield driver picked up his first official victory in the New Hampshire Short Track Racing Association (NHSTRA) Modified division last Sunday at the Winchester, N.H., oval and later finished third in the Tri-Track Open Modified Series’ 100-lap main event.
“The girls did good this weekend, both came home with hardware!” Byrne Racing posted on its Facebook page.
Byrne had a victory stripped due to a rules violation in the NHSTRA season opener on June 20. He finished second the following week and tacked on the victory on Sunday. He has fought his way to sixth place in the points standings, 44 behind leader Brian Robie.
Byrne started the 50-lap feature on the pole in the No. 6 car. He maintained the lead for the whole race for the wire-to-wire victory and a spot in the Tri-Track field, along with runners-up Todd Patnode and Robie.
“We were pretty lucky today and we had a real fast car,” Byrne said in Victory Lane, according to a Monadnock Speedway press release. “That’s just the start for us today as we have another hundred laps to race later on this afternoon.”
Those 100 laps featured a memorable, albeit controversial, finish that saw Craig Lutz take down the victory in his Tri-Track series debut. Lutz used the old “chrome horn” on Les Hinckley going into the final corner, slamming Hinckley in the rear bumper and sending him up the track. Lutz slid by for the win and the $6,000 grand prize.
After the race, Lutz defended his winning pass.
“It’s Modified racing,” said Lutz, according to a Tri-Track series press release. “You have to understand that I’m going for the win, he’s going for the win. He’s hanging on for dear life. I gave him a little tap that he wasn’t expecting and I was able to open up the bottom. We both finished … he still finished second.”
Lutz’ victory capped a worst-to-first day that saw him start in his heat race and miss qualifying for the main event by one spot, sending him to the consolation race. He started that race at the front and drove to the win. Lutz started the 100-lapper in the 22nd position and used the first 99 laps to cut through the field before he was ready to make his move.
And that move did not sit well with Hinckley.
“They weren’t going to catch me without the cautions,” Hinckley said. “(Lutz) tried to drive through me on the restart but drove over the left-rear and bottomed out the car. I would have been a fool if I gave up the bottom, and he had no chance of going around me on the outside. He never tried. If you could pull up record books, I’ve never driven through anyone like that for a win. I never squared a guy up, punted him in the back, moved him up two grooves and felt good about myself. That was his only shot.”
Sitting in third, Byrne had the best seat in the house for the battle for the lead. Byrne led laps in the middle stages and came home with a $300 bonus as the highest finishing car running a crate motor. Byrne nearly pulled off the win in this race last year.
Ron Silk and Chase Dowling finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The series next competes July 25 in the SBM 125 at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H.
AVERY THIRD: Bernardston’s Shelby Avery took the final podium spot in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature last Sunday at Monadnock. Nathan Wenzel, of Granby, took the lead from Louis Maher III and drove to the victory.
Avery is in third place in the points standings, only eight back of Wenzel. She has consistently had a top-five car all season.
Other winners were Jaret Curtis, of Rutland, in Street Stocks and Aaron Fellows, of Croydon, N.H., in Sportsman Late Models. Orange’s Cole and Justin Littlewood were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Sportsman Late Model feature. Justin and Cole are third and fourth, respectively, in the points standings, while Greenfield’s Scott Beck is sixth.
The next race is the annual Firecracker Night on Saturday, featuring the Street Stock Battle for the Belt and a fireworks display by Atlas.
ON BUBBA: President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter earlier this week on the noose controversy surrounding Black driver Bubba Wallace. Trump tweeted that Wallace should apologize for getting everyone worked up about a noose being found in his garage stall when it was later determined it was not a hate crime.
In my opinion, Wallace has nothing to apologize for. You can’t go back in time and get a mulligan. The show of support the other teams and drivers displayed to Wallace was legitimate and does not change despite the fact that the noose had been there since at least last fall. I’m sure they would all do it again if given the chance.
The support Wallace is getting has vaulted him into the lead in the fan vote for a spot in next Wednesday’s All-Star Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Not surprisingly, there is a pocket of people on social media that believe the voting is rigged in Wallace’s favor due to the situation.
Memo to the haters: Bubba Wallace is legitimately popular. He is a very likable guy and he deserves to be in the race if he wins the vote. This isn’t an anti-Trump reaction. This is a show of support for the only Black driver in the Cup Series.
I’m trying not to turn this political. I may lean one way but I know others lean another way, and that’s what America is all about. Differing opinions is what makes this country great.
Corey LaJoie has come under fire for driving a Trump 2020 car. That’s not his decision; it’s that of his team, which at times struggles for sponsorship. NASCAR is the perfect vehicle (no pun intended) for this type of sponsorship. It’s not the Trump campaign supporting the car but rather a Trump-aligned organization.
Jason Remillard is a copy editor and page designer at the Recorder. He can be reached at jremillard@recorder.com and followed on Twitter @racinwithjason.