With a large crop of big names entered, it would have been easy to overlook Sam Rameau heading into last Saturday’s Tri-Track Open Modified Series race at Monadnock Speedway.
Rameau won a Tri-Track race at the Winchester, N.H., quarter-mile last year, but his name isn’t Ryan Preece or Justin Bonsignore or Ron Silk — all former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champions in the Wonder Casino 100 field — the headline event of the first night of the season-opening Spring Dash.
The 18-year-old from Westminster had the last laugh, as he recovered from restarting 17th after a pit stop to pass Silk for the victory in the closing laps, giving him two Tri-Track wins in a row at Monadnock and the $6,000 winner’s check.
“You can’t waste time here. A short bullring like this, you can wait until the last lap to take the lead because they’re just going to (get) right back at you,” Rameau told RaceDayCT.com. “I came out here with the trophy. The trophy and the money, that’s why we come here.”
Silk hung on for second, while “Big Money” Matt Hirschman, who made his name winning open races like this one, finished third. Both men conceded that Rameau had the better car when it mattered.
Rameau led most of the first half of the race until the whole field pitted under caution on lap 56. A disappointing stop left Rameau 17th and facing a daunting task to get back to the front. He carved his way back through the field, making it to fifth by lap 80. On a restart on lap 81, Rameau charged from fifth to third, while Hirschman took second. Rameau got by Hirschman on lap 94 and set his sights on Silk. On lap 98, he made his would-be winning move.
In other opening-night action, Matt Kimball scored the win in NHSTRA Modified action, with Deerfield’s Ben Byrne coming in third. Rounding out the winners were Ray King (Mini Stocks), Ricky Whipple (Pure Stocks), Jake Bosse (Young Guns), Justin Harris (Classic Lites) and Lucas Leone (Pro Trucks).
The Spring Dash continued Sunday afternoon, headlined by the Granite State Pro Stock Series competing in three 20-lap races. Angelo Belsito won the first two segments and cruised to third in the final 20-lapper to win the overall title.
Palmer’s Brian Chapin scored the win in the NHSTRA Modifieds, taking the lead from Byrne around the midway point. Todd Patnode was second both Saturday and Sunday, while former Late Model Sportsman champion Aaron Fellows was third in his first weekend in a new division.
Exit Fellows, enter the Chase twins in the Late Model Sportsman division. Jaret and Chase, of Rutland, finished one-two on Sunday, followed by Orange’s Cole Littlewood. The Curtis brothers were dominant last year in the Street Stock class.
Wilbraham’s Tommy O’Sullivan prevailed in Street Stocks, with Luke Lebrun (NELCAR Legends), Danny Gill (Big Car Enduro) and E.J. Flanagan (Four-Cylinder Enduro) rounded out the day’s winners.
This Saturday, in honor of Monadnock Speedway’s 50th anniversary, general admission tickets will only be $5. The night’s events will be headlined by a special Pure Stock race in honor of John Zellman Sr. Also competing will be Street Stocks, Late Model Sportsman, Mini Stocks, Young Guns and Six Shooters. Racing begins at 6 p.m.
Patrick Emerling won a rain-soaked Spring Sizzler 150 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour action at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway last Friday.
Emerling drove to the lead when the front-runers, Preece and Silk, got together vying for the top spot, collecting two other cars in the process. Emerling was fifth at the time, and he wove his way through the spinning cars to take the lead.
Soon after, the red flag came out for rain, and the race eventually finished under yellow with Emerling out front.
It’s the second Tour win for Emerling in 112 career races. Eric Goodale, who won the season opener in Martinsville, Va., also got through the carnage unscathed and finished second.
Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota unveiled their “Next Gen” Cup Series cars the other day, and I have to say they look sweet. If you haven’t seen them, I recommend you Google it to see the photos.
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.