Monadnock Speedway-Justin Littlewood captures overall Late Model Sportsman victory

Patriot Ledger, The (Quincy, MA)

It was another busy Saturday night at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. Winchester, NH " Monadnock Speedway race fans and officials breathed a sigh of relief this weekend as Hurricane Dorian whirled harmlessly out to sea past New England. With only a few race programs remaining every event is critical for drivers hoping for a win or a good finish to improve their position in the point standings. Rain outs are not acceptable. Which why a surprise pop-up thunderstorm nearly washed out Saturday night's entire feature race program. However, after a determined effort by race officials to dry the track, every scheduled main event took the green flag.

The Late Model Sportsman division had a three-segment event woven through a pair of 25-lap features for the Sportsman Modified plus the Young Guns, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks and Pro-4 Modifieds. Fans who waited out the weather were not disappointed.

The Sportsman Modifieds had the fans on their feet in their first 25-lapper. Ben Byrne of Greenfield, MA, was in the lead by lap nine passing Alyssa Rivera of Claremont, NH, with Brian Robie of Sunpee, NH, and Todd Patnode of Swanzey, NH, in pursuit. Caution flew a lap later closing the field up. Byrne was back in front on the restart followed by Robie and Patnode. Patnode moved into second with a few laps left and on the final turn drew alongside Byrne. At the finish it looked to the naked eye like a dead heat. The actual difference " twenty-two thousandth of a second. Byrne over Patnode. Robie third.

The second feature line"up was inverted with Byrne drawing tenth. Keith Caruso of Millbury, MA, started on the pole by virtue of finishing tenth in the first race. His lead was short-lived with Keith Carzello of Somers, CT, going ahead on lap four. On lap five it was Matt Kimball of Bennington, NH, taking the lead and rode the final twenty laps for his first win of the season. Carzello held on for second. Patnode came from ninth at the start to finish third.

The three-legged Late Model Sportsman event was made up of two fifteen laps segments and a final twenty lap run. The overall best finish determining the winner for the night. The winner of each segment drew for the inverted start in the next race. In round one, Justin Littlewood of Orange, MA, jumped off the outside pole to lead the first twelve circuits before his brother Cole got by for the lead and win. Justin second. Solomon Brow of Vernon, VT, third. The redraw put Cole in the seventh starting spot in the second leg. Mark Curtis of Brookfield, MA, led the second round for thirteen laps before being overtaken by Robert Hagar of Hartland, VT. Hagar claimed the win followed by Shawn Stone of Montague, MA, and Curtis. On the redraw, Hagar set the field for the final segment by drawing ninth. This time it was Brow taking the lead on the green and racing to a third segment win. It was not enough for him to claim the overall win and his twelfth of the year. Hagar came from ninth to take second. Justin Littlewood's third place run was enough to earn him the overall victory, his first of the year.

Mini Stock driver, Kevin Clayton of Winchendon, MA, had his best race of the season leading the first eleven laps of the 25-lap feature. A lap twelve caution drew the field together and on the restart, point leader Louie Maher of Baldwinville, MA, moved on top and raced to his fourth win of the year. Clayton was second. Kevin Cormier of Agawam, MA, rounded out the top three. Maher's win secured the season Mini Stock championship with two races remaining.

The Street Stock 25-lap feature became a family affair. Craig Chaffee of Keene, NH, led the first six laps giving way to Belchertown, MA, driver, Ed Lofland. By the half-way point in the race, Lofland was surrounded by the Curtis clan from Rutland, MA. Chase Curtis took the lead, Lofland second, Chris Curtis third, Jarret Curtis fourth. When the checkered flag waved, Chase Curtis had won his third feature of the year followed by his brother, Jarret and his father Chris.

Young Gun Jake Puchalski of Whately, MA, joined only three other drivers to collect ten wins in a season. Last week's winner Matt Lambert of Ashuelot, NH, was second. Alstead, NH's, Matt Winter II took third.

The Pro-4 Modifieds paid their second visit of the year to the high-banks of Monadnock Speedway. Brett Meservey of Chatham, MA, was the early leader in their 25-lap race. On lap 14 something broke on his racer throwing him hard against the turn two wall and out the race. Rob Richardi of Easton, MA, picked up the lead and won for the second time this year. Doug Meservey, JR, of Harwich, MA was second. Swanzey, NH's, Russ Hersey collected third.

A big weekend of racing is on tap for this Saturday, September 14. The Tri-Track Modifieds top off the program with a 100 lap main event. This series offers a six thousand dollars paid out for the winner. As a result, some of the top names in modified racing from across the northeast will be in the pits to qualify. They'll be joined by Monadnock's Whelen All-American Racing series regular divisions for an exciting night of racing. Starting time will be 5 PM. Advance tickets are available on-line at monadnockspeedway.com. Rain date if needed is Sunday, September 15th at PM.

Sportsman Modifieds (Feature 1): Ben Byrne, Todd Patnode, Brian Robie, Kim Rivet, Scott MacMichael, Matt Kimball, Joel Monahan, Keith Carzello, Alyssa Rivera, Keith Caruso, Andy Major, Kevin Pittsinger, Kenny Thompson, Eric Leclair, Cameron Houle

Sportsman Modified Results (Feature #2): Matt Kimball, Keith Carzello, Todd Patnode, Brian Robie, Ben Byrne, Keith Caruso, Kim Rivet, Andy Major, Eric Leclair, Kevin Pittsinger, Kenny Thompson, Joel Monahan, Scott MacMichael, Alyssa Rivera, Cameron Houle

Late Model Sportsman (Segment #1): Cole Littlewood, Justin Littlewood, Solomon Brow, Will Kuhn, Shawn Stone, Marc Curtis, Dennis Stange, Robert Hagar, Eric Pomasko, Ron Laperche, Nancy Muni, Eric Martell

Late Model Sportsman Results (Segment #2): Robert Hagar, Shawn Stone, Marc Curtis, Justin Littlewood, Cole Littlewood, Dennis Stange, Will Kuhn, Solomon Brow, Eric Pomasko, Ron Laperche, Nancy Muni, Eric Martell

Late Model Sportsman (Segment #3): Solomon Brow, Robert Hagar, Justin Littlewood, Cole Littlewood, Shawn Stone, Marc Curtis, Dennis Stange, Will Kuhn, Ron Laperche, Eric Martell, Nancy Muni, Eric Pomasko

Street Stock Results: Chase Curtis, Jaret Curtis, Chris Curtis, Ed Lofland, Hillary Renuad, Chris Buffone, Craig Chaffee, Dave Greenslit, Mike Radzuik, Michelle Leh, Nathaniel Nunez, Josh Carey, Brad Zahensky

Mini Stock Results: Louie Maher, Kevin Clayton, Kevin Cormier, Gordon Farnum, Cory Plummer, Pat Houle, Bill Chaffee, Matt Croteau, Shelby Avery, Jeff Asselin, Kevin McKnight, Tim Wenzel, Nathan Wenzel, Haydon Grenier