WINCHESTER, N.H. – Tim Wenzel rocketed to victory in the points-rich 50-lap Street Stock main event at Monadnock Speedway, earning his second win of the summer on the high-banked speedway Saturday.
By Gary Dutton
Cole Littlewood stayed red hot in the Late Model Sportsmen, winning his sixth of 2022; Hot shoe Gordon Farnum won for the eighth time in the Mini Stocks, NHSTRA Six Shooter kingpin Steve Miller was victorious in the Six Shooters, and Pine Tree State youngster Traver Michaud scored his first career victory in the Young Guns.
With points up for grabs in all directions in Saturday’s Street Stock feature – it was both a Teddy Bear Pools Triple Crown and a NHSTRA Battle For The Belt event, along with being both a points race for both speedway championship and NASCAR regional points – this one was loaded. And, as such, it drew a 22-car field stacked with heavy hitters to Monadnock’s fabled high banks.
Firing from row one, Baldwinville, Mass. veteran George Baldwin jumped all over the opening lead, then holding the point through three cautions and one red flag stoppage, with first Chris Buffone and then Tim Wenzel glued to his bumper.
The red flag was waved on lap one, as five cars piled up along the front chute wall. It ended Teddy Bear favorite Tommy O’Sullivan’s night and took defending Belt champ Justin Beecher out of contention
It did not, however, slow Tim Wenzel. The Holyoke, Mass. hot shoe – firing sixth on the grid – took third from Keith Johnson on lap four, second from Buffone on the ninth go-round, and then low-lined past Baldwin on lap 18, charging off to win with ease.
Buffone, strong and steady all night long, was second, with Johnson a force in third. Mr. Street Stock, Claremont’s Dave Greenslit was never a factor in this one but still came home fourth to stay atop the NHSTRA Belt leaderboard. Geoff Rollins, near the top in both Triple Crown and Belt points tallies, was fifth on the night, while Beecher took the biggest hit, finishing the night in 15th to Greenslit’s fourth.
The Littlewood brothers got it done again Saturday in the Late Model Sportsman 25-lapper, finishing one-two for the second week in a row, as Cole blasted to his division-high sixth win of the summer and Justin – a three-time winner himself – again earned the runner-up hardware.
Cole Littlewood led all the way in the caution-free event, with brother Justin taking second from George Frost Jr. on lap eight. Ryan Currier, a late arrival Saturday, was third on the night, staying very much in the championship points race. With the season nearing its final month, Cole Littlewood leads with 558, brother Justin has 554, and Currier 550.
Gordon Farnum led the last 11 laps of Saturday’s Mini Stock feature to win for the eighth time this summer. Riding patiently in third until Kevin McKnight got bopped out of the lead on lap 13, Farnum quickly took full advantage of the sudden opportunity and then sped away.
Kevin Clayton, strong all night, came home second, with front-row starter Chris Sontag solid in third. Farnum and 2021 champ Louie Maher won the qualifying races, with Maher fifth in the night’s Mini Stock main event.
“This is amazing,” Traver Michaud declared after scoring his first career feature win in the Young Guns division. The Lebanon, Maine youngster was unstoppable Saturday on the high banks, winning both his heat and feature races.
In the first feature event of the night, Michaud started up front and was never threatened in his march to victory. Aaliyah Tacy held youth division kingpin Owen Zilinski in her shadow to earn the runner-up hardware.
The visiting Six Shooters raced caution-free, with Steve Miller leading all but the first two laps to earn the victory. Michael Yeaton got up for second on lap 14 but could advance no further, and Ryan Partridge rubbed his way into third on the final lap.
Monadnock Speedway will return to action on Saturday, August 20, with gusto when the high-banked speedway hosts the 350 SMAC Tour, the Super Modified Atlantic Charter Series, joining the NHSTRA Modified, Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Stock and Young Gun weekly racing series divisions in a full night of racing. Post time is 6 p.m.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY AUGUST 13 TOP PERFORMERS
STREET STOCK MULTI-POINT AWARDS 50: Tim Wenzel, Chris Buffone, Keith Johnson, Dave Greenslit, Geoff Rollins, Scott Zilinski, Kenny Thompson, Adam Gray, Matt Sonnhalter, Joe Arena.
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Cole Littlewood, Justin Littlewood, Ryan Currier, George Frost, Matt Winter, Ryan Bell, Nancy Muni Ruot, Kevin Vaudrien.
MINI STOCK: Gordon Farnum, Kevin Clayton, Chris Sontag, Jeff Asselin, Louie Maher, Cameron Sontag, Kevin McKnight, Jeff Heath, Tim Griffin, Skyler Shippee.
SIX SHOOTER: Steve Miller Sr., Mike Yeaton, Ryan Partridge, Steve Miller Jr., Garrett Barry, John Voorhees.
YOUNG GUN: Traver Michaud, Aaliyah Tacy, Owen Zilinski, Hunter Duquette, Markus O’Neill, Emma Blake.
