Patnode Romps, Cole Littlewood New Winner at Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. – With the sizzling NEMA Midgets in town for their annual Iron Mike Memorial Race event, Modified rocketman Todd Patnode brought some thunder of his own to the high banks of Monadnock Speedway Saturday night.
Patnode blasted to his third win of the summer in the NHSTRA Modified 40-lapper. On the same card, LMS hot shoe Cole Littlewood won his first 2021 feature race, and Gordon Farnum rocked the Minis.
Street Stocker Tommy O’Sullivan took his third 2021 victory lap Saturday; Nick Houle dominated the Pure Stocks. and it was business as usual for Young Gun Fast Eddie P, who won for the seventh time this year.
Patnode, the veteran Swanzey star, sent a message to the rest of the NHSTRA Modified field Saturday, putting them on notice that he’s the 2021 points leader and he has no intention of giving that up.
Patnode not only won his third event of the summer, and second in a row, he did it by simply blowing the competition away. Taking the lead from Scott MacMichael on lap 15 of the caution-free event, he then left all followers far behind. Trevor Bleau was second in the fast-paced affair, and MacMichael earned the bronze.
Street Stock powerhouse Tommy O’Sullivan doesn’t come to Monadnock every week, maybe a good thing for the rest of the field. Saturday, the Wilbraham, Mass. pilot nudged Kenny Thompson out of the way on lap 22 and rocketed off to his third win of the summer.
Thompson then said enough to similar advances by Chris Buffone and claimed the runner-up hardware. Buffone was strong in third, followed by Hillary Renaud and points leader Nate Wenzel.
Heat race winner Nancy Muni-Ruot led lap one of the LMS feature but the rest of the way it was all Cole Littlewood, as the Orange, Mass. hot shoe ended a long victory lane drought with his first victory on the year. Ryan Currier was rock solid in second, and four-time winner Cam Curtis powered to third to stay atop the points parade.
Mini Stock kingpin Gordon Farnum, back from a nightmare outing two weeks ago, won a stout back-and-forth with Ray King on lap 13 and sped off to his fifth win of the summer. King was strong in second, Kevin Clayton was third, and points leader Louie Maher came home fourth and Jake Puchalski fifth.
Kevin Cormier, third in the Mini Stock points parade, took a wild ride into the turn-two wall on lap 11, putting a big dent in his championship points march.
In the Pure Stocks, Nick Houle earned his fourth 2021 victory lap after passing rookie phenom Jake Bosse on lap 16. Bosse held strong in second, and Kyle Robinson Newell snatched third with the move of the night, eclipsing JD Stockwell out of the last turn.
It was a big weekend for Houle. His Saturday victory followed a Friday nighter at Claremont.
In the NEMA Midget Iron Mike Memorial 30-lapper, Bay State hot shoe John Zich Jr. took the lead from Doug Cleveland on lap 17 and stormed to victory. Avery Stoehr came from row four to finish second, and Alan Chambers was third.
In the NEMA Lites, Paul Scally won a close one over fast-flying teen Jake Trainor. Midget legend Randy Cabral came home third.
Fast Eddie Petruskevicius, way too young to hold a driver’s license but big-time talented at getting around the high banks, earned his seventh Young Guns victory lap. Eddie Gomarlo was second, and Dominick Stafford third. Petruskevicius then quickly strapped back into his racer and finished eighth in the Pure Stock feature.
Monadnock Speedway will return to action on Saturday, August 7. The scheduled July 28 Wacky Wednesday show was canceled because of recent weather events that damaged speedway property.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY JULY 24 TOP TENS:
NHSTRA MODIFIED: Todd Patnode, Trevor Bleau, Scott MacMichael, Matt Kimball, Brian Chapin, Kimmy Rivet, Tyler Leary, Craig Smith, Cory Plummer, Eric LeClair.
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Cole Littlewood, Ryan Currier, Cam Curtis, Austin Brehio, Dan Comeau, Nancy Muni-Ruot, John Meany, Kevin Vaudrien, Rocky Smith, Justin Littlewood.
STREET STOCK: Tommy O’Sullivan, Rupert Thompson, Chris Buffone, Hillary Renaud, Nate Wenzel, Paul Smith, Cody Schoolcraft, Keith Johnson, Mike Radzuik, Nate Nunez.
MINI STOCK: Gordon Farnum, Ray King, Kevin Clayton, Louie Maher, Jake Puchalski, Jeff Asselin, Kevin McKnight, Pat Houle, David Thibodeau, Matt Lambert.
PURE STOCK: Nick Houle, Jake Bosse, Kyle Robinson Newell, JD Stockwell, Chris Davis, Cory Lofland, Jason LeRay, Eddie Petruskevicius, Jimmy Zellman, Brianna Patnode.
YOUNG GUN: Eddie Petruskevicius, Eddie Gomarlo, Dominick Stafford.
Sources: Gary Dutton/Monadnock Speedway PR