Robie Tops Mods, Buffone Take Street Stock Checkers at Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. – Open-wheel ace Brian Robie (Sunapee, NH) won the NHSTRA Modified main event Saturday, August 1, at Monadnock Speedway, while second-generation star D.J. Shaw topped the Granite State Pro Stock Series 100-lapper.
Chris Buffone (Belchertown, Ma) scored his first Street Stock victory Saturday, and Superman Aaron Fellows (Croydon, NH) stayed undefeated on the year by winning his seventh consecutive Late Model Sportsman feature race. Ed Gilman topped the night’s Classic Lites 30-lapper.
Todd Patnode and Kimmy Rivet led the Mod Squad to the stripe as the night’s 40-lap feature went green. Patnode, the speedway’s reigning Modified champion, was gunning to turn a nightmare 2020 campaign around as the pandemic-shortened season hit its halfway mark.
With Patnode jumping all over the opening lead, Rivet and Cameron Houle, and then Keith Carzello, battled fast and furious for the deuce spot while, charging hard from his row six starting slot, points leader and two-time winner Brian Robie was on the hunt.
Rocketing up to fourth on lap 18, Robie took third from Rivet on lap 22, second from Houle two go-rounds later, and pulled up to Patnode’s bumper on lap 30. Taking the lead on his 32nd trip around the high banks, Robie then sped off to victory a half-dozen lengths ahead of Patnode.
Houle earned his first trophy finish of the summer in third, a whisker ahead of three-time winner Ben Byrne. Matt Kimball took the checkers in fifth. Byrne and Trevor Bleau, second and third in the points race, both lost valuable ground to Robie in the division’s seventh event of the season.
In the GSPSS 100-lapper, second-generation Maine star D.J. Shaw pulled alongside fast-timer Devin O’Connell on lap 14, took sole possession of the top spot two laps later, and then never looked back as he easily scored his first series win of the summer.
Two-time 2020 series winner Angelo Belsito was second, with fellow two-time and current points leader Ray Christian III third. O’Connell finished his hard night’s work in fourth, while number two points man Joey Polewarczyk fell off the pace on lap 98 while running fourth.
In the Late Model Sportsman 25-lapper, it was, who else, Aaron Fellows again, winning for the seventh straight week to stay undefeated this summer with a dozen overall wins against zero losses.
For the second week in a row, Cole Littlewood was the deuce man, watching Fellows inch past him as lap 21 went in the books and then speed away. Number two point man Robert Hagar came home third, just ahead of teen speedster Camdyn Curtis.
Street Stock points leader Jaret Curtis spun in a cloud of tire smoke before lap one of the Streeter’s feature race had been completed, having to refire from 15th as his 25-lap journey began again.
Rookie Tim Wenzel led the first two go-rounds, with Belchertown Bullet Chris Buffone then taking over. While Buffone would lead the rest of the way to score his first Street Stock victory, the racing throughout the pack was action-packed and turbulent most of the way.
Chase Curtis claimed second early and tried high and low to find a way to the point while, riding at Curtis’s bumper and sometimes against it, Buffone’s uncle, Tommy O’Sullivan, completed the nose-to-tail top three.
Jaret Curtis got up for fourth with one to go to stay just ahead of his twin brother in the points parade, while Wenzel’s strong run netted him the five spot. Buffone was the sixth different Street Stock feature winner this summer at the high-banked speedplant.
Ed Gilman wired the 30-lap Classic Lites feature, but while the Sandown, N.H. pilot had a fairly easy ride, the action behind him was fast and furious. Eric Skofield grabbed second on lap 13 and then chased Gilman the rest of the way, while four-time defending series champ Duane Skofield made a late-race charge to earn the third-place hardware.
Next Saturday, August 8, Monadnock Speedway returns to action with five exciting divisions of weekly racing series action, along with the visiting Granite State Legends and Pro-4 Modified series. For more information, please visit www.monadnockspeedway.com.
STREET STOCKS: Chris Buffone, Chase Curtis, Tommy O’Sullivan, Jaret Curtis, Tim Wenzel, Mike Hopkins, Hillary Renaud, Robbie Streeter, Jason Kozacka Kenny Thompson, Bryan Granger, Paul Barnard, Chris Riendeau, Nathan Wenzel, Ed Brehio
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Aaron Fellows, Cole Littlewood, Robert Hagar, Camdyn Curtis, Justin Littlewood, Hayden Scott, Willie Kuhn, Scott Beck, Nancy Muni-Ruot
NHSTRA MODIFIEDS: Brian Robie, Todd Patnode, Cameron Houle, Ben Byrne, Matt Kimball, Keith Carzello, Trevor Bleau, Cory Plummer, Kim Rivet, Kevin Pittsinger, Solomon Brow, Zach Leone, Jerry Gomarlo, Eric Leclair, Russ Hersey, Brian Chapin
Sources: Gary Dutton/Monadnock Speedway PR
Photos by Emily Miller