MacMichael Wins Sportsman Modified Season Opener At Monadnock
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tt MacMichael kicked off his 2015 season with a win in the 30 lap Sportsman Modified feature event. MacMichael would lead all 30 laps in the event as he and Eric LeClair led the field to the green. The first caution would come out on lap 3 as Scott Nordman got sideways and spun collection Trevor Bleau. Both cars would continue in the event. On the restart on lap 4, Brian Chapin would move into second. Tyler Jarvenpaa would be in third place.
Bill Kimball would pass Brett Gonyaw for fifth on lap 14. Keith Carzello would try to pass Gonyaw but would spin and bring out the caution on lap 15. On the restart, Kimball was looking to get into third place but would get into second place and look for the lead. Eric LeClair would spin to bring out the final caution as he spun on lap 19. Scott MacMichael would lead on the restart as Brian Chapin would get second but spin and lose a lap. Carzello would look to pass Jarvenpaa for third with 3 to go. Kimball would try to get one more chance on the outside on MacMichael in turn 4 but MacMichael would win the 30 lap Sportsman Modified feature.
Nancy Muni and Dennis Stange led the field to the green for the 25 lap Super Stock feature. Stange would get the lead on the start. Dave Stribel would pass Muni for second on lap 2. Joel Monahan would make his into the top 5 on lap 3. At halfway, it was Stange, Stribel, Carey, Muni, and Monahan rounding out the top 5. Carey would try to pass Stribel for second. Dennis Stange would not look back as he would win the 25 lap Super Stock feature.
The New England Pro 4 Modifieds had their 25 lap feature event. Robin Berghman and Phil Lausier led the field to the green. Berghman would get the lead into turn one. The first caution would come out at the start of the race as Tom Royer had front end damage and Dan Meservey, SR was idle on the backstretch. Both cars would not return in the event. On the restart, Berghman would resume the lead. The second caution would come out as Derek Robbie spun and Phil Lausier collected damage. Randy Clark also spun. Lausier would not return in the event. On the restart, Andy Major tried to pass Robin Berghman but Berghman would lead lap 1. Norm Wrenn, III would pass Mike Ledoux for third. Major would try to pass Berghman but Berghman would shut the door.
Major would pass Berghman on the outside on lap 14. Berghman would try to make attempts to get around Major but could not make it work as Andy Major went on to win the 25 lap New England Pro 4 Modified feature.
Eric Pomasko took down the win in the 25 lap Mini Stock feature. Craig Chaffee would win the 25 lap Thunder Stock feature. Jake Cray took down the win in the 20 lap N.E. Classic Lites feature. Tim Leblanc took down the win in the 20 lap Lightning Stocks. Dylan Morse would take down the win in the 15 lap Young Guns feature event.
Notebook
The Valenti Modified Racing Series was on hand on Saturday night for their season opener. Todd Szegedy took down the win in the Bond Auto Parts Spring Dash 100.
Chris Pasteryak is planning to run the full Valenti Modified Racing Series schedule this season. Pasteryak started his season with running the KOMA Modified Series down in North Carolina for two races. ” It was great. I remember as a kid watching the races at Hickory every Easter Sunday or right around Easter. To go down there and race at Hickory. It was really neat and Ace was a fun little track to. It’s fun series a good series. I think they got a race at Myrtle Beach after everything is all done around here. Probably go down there and hit that one.”
Pasteryak has always love running at Monadnock. The one track he is looking forward is the New London-Waterford Speedbowl as the series will return to the Connecticut shoreline oval on Saturday August 8th. Pasteryak is also planning to run the Northeast Race Cars and Parts Tri Track Open Modified Series. His goal for the year is to try to run all the races and let the points take care of themselves and try to be fast every week. Pasteryak would finish in 10th on Saturday night.
Nick Salva made his Valenti Modified Racing Series debut this weekend driving for Paul Michaud. Michaud traveled 7 hours from Quebec to make the trip to the Monadnock Speedway. Salva did not qualify for the event on Saturday night. Salva thought the Valenti Modified Racing Series has a lot more power but feels they are a lot of fun to drive. The deal came together when his sponsor Jean and Brigitte Poulin owners of J.G. Poulin Drywall met car owner Paul Michaud down in Florida. Michaud was looking for a driver and J.G. and Brigitte mentioned about Nick and after a little bit of talking they decided to give it a shot. Salvia is planning on running 5-6 races. The different between driving a Valenti Modified compared to a SK Light is more driving with the throttle. ” With the SK Light we don’t have the power to get ourselves in trouble. With these is all about driven with the throttle. That’s the transition I have to learn to make is more driving the car with the throttle rather than having the car with handling.” Salvia Said
Salvia will also tell you that Monadnock is a drivers track. ” I have asked Ryan Preece, Keith Rocco, Ed Flemke, my uncle (Bo Gunning). I have asked dozens of people how to drive this place and everyone says one thing watch turn 3.” Salvia Said
Salvia also ran at Stafford Motor Speedway in a D.J. Burnham back up car. On Spring Sizzler weekend, Salvia’s car got wrecked pretty badly as the car will not be ready for about 2-3 weeks but Salvia would still like to contend for a championship in the SK Light division. For the Valenti Modified Racing series, he would like to get as much seat time as he can and get finishes in the top 10 or top 15, he would be very happy with.
Jonny Kay made the trip to Monadnock for Deerfield Beach, FL. He had never raced at the quarter mile oval before. Kay ran in the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. ” We did some NASCAR stuff and we liked what we did but we found that it was the structure of it and some things that the way NASCAR handled things wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for. It got expensive in some ways and we also found that MRS seemed to have a pretty good cost effective deal going on so we were excited about that.” Kay Said
Kay is not planning to run the full season. He is unsure of what Valenti Modified races he will do but is planning to fit in what Valenti Modified Racing Series event as he is also planning to run the Northeast Race Cars and Parts Tri Track Open Modified Series. Kay would finish in Saturday’s race in the 22nd position.
Dennis Perry ran in his first Monadnock race this past weekend. The first time he saw Monadnock was when he came for the open practice session back on April 25th. He did win a qualifying heat race on Saturday. For Perry, the plan is to run the full season as long as he stays out of trouble. Perry would finish in Saturday night’s race in 20th position.
Tom Carey, III will not run the full schedule at Monadnock this season. He will run part time and will also race at Lee USA Speedway, Star Speedway and possibly some races at Claremont Speedway. Carey is leaving his options open for down the road. For his super stock, Carey is running Rich Vasseur’s old pro stock from Riverside Park Speedway. Tom’s father Tom Carey, JR ran it and then Rich Vasseur drove the car and sat idle since the park closed back in 1999 until the Carey’s got it a couple years ago. Carey just wants to race against drivers he has never raced against before and build experience to prepare him for a touring series in the future. The goal for Carey this is to win a lot of races.
Derek Robbie was thrilled to be back in the race car as he ran the New England Pro 4 Modified race on Saturday. He made a lot of changes to the car over the winter. Robbie is hoping to run the full season in the division. Robbie is looking forward to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. He has never been to Lee or Star. ” I grew up watching around watch the original open modified series so that is going to be fun to watch and race there again.” Robbie Said
Robbie’s goals for the year are to get 3 or 4 wins.
Casey Ouellette made her Sportsman Modified debut this past weekend. She ran in the New England Pro 4 Modifieds at Monadnock. ” For the first race in this. I think it’s going pretty well.” Ouellette Said
For Ouellette moving up from a Pro 4 Modified to a Sportsman Modified was a significant step. ” I think were getting used to it. Just getting used to the differences in the car. How it turns different. It’s a little bit bigger. A little faster. But overall I think it’s going well.”
Ouellette feels that there is a lot of experienced drivers in the Sportsman Modified division. ” A lot of strong competitors. Good cars so I think for today (this past Saturday) and the whole first part of the season its just really about getting the feel of the car. Getting used to it all and just trying to finish every race strong and get better every week.”
Ouellette is planning to run the full season. Her goals are to finish and improve from every race and by the end of the season to be competitive. Casey’s sister Nikki will also be racing this season as she race in the Dirt Sportsman Modified division at Lebanon Valley Speedway and also race in the Sunoco Modified division at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Joel Monahan ran double duty this weekend as he ran in the Mini Stock and Super Stock features. Monahan came up for the practice day back on April 25th to shake down the super stock. Monahan has not decided what the main focus will be. He would like to run both divisions for the full season. The super stock was purchased from Marc Palminsano. Monahan would finish 6th in the Mini Stock and 5th in the Super Stock
Monadnock Speedway will have their next event this upcoming Saturday May 9th beginning at 6 P.M. with the NASCAR Whelen All American Series divisions and an appearance by the N.E. Antique Racers. The next event for the New England Pro 4 Modifieds is at Monadnock Speedway on Saturday May 16th.
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz/Yankeeracer.com Photo By: Chip Cormie