O’Sullivan Shines in 50-lapper Saturday at Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. – Street Stock dynamo Tommy O’Sullivan comes to Monadnock Speedway with only one purpose in mind; victory. The Wilbraham, Mass. star has been laser-focused on that goal this season.
Saturday, O’Sullivan out-dueled his talented nephew, Chris Buffone, in the night’s Teddy Bear Pools Triple Crown 50-lap main event to stay perfect on the summer with his fourth feature win in four 2021 tries at the storied high-banked speedway.
On the same program, NHSTRA Modified hot-shoe Matt Kimball earned his fifth victory lap of the season, Young Gun Teagan Edson made it two in a row, and Mini Stock blaster Gordon Farnum – while not perfect on the summer-like O’Sullivan – was just as impressive, roaring to his track-high ninth victory.
Buffone, hitting the asphalt last in the field of 20 Street Stock time trailers, set fast time at 14.994 seconds, but in Saturday’s nightcap event wasn’t quite quick enough to overhaul Uncle Tom.
Scott Zilinski and Paul Smith led the potent field to the green, with Zilinski jumping all over the lead. Buffone, charging from row five, took second from Smith on lap 20, with the red hot trio holding the top spot until Smith was out of third on lap 32. When penalties had been assessed, Chris Lindquist moved up to third, with O’Sullivan suddenly fourth.
With the caution, Zilinski’s huge lead was gone and, three laps later, Buffone rubbed past him to take the lead. O’Sullivan was quickly up to second, then low-lining to take the top spot on lap 38, holding off his nephew the rest of the way as the two battled furiously the last dozen laps. Zilinski finished his stellar night’s work in third.
Kimball took the lead from Tyler Leary on lap 12 of the Modified 35-lapper and never looked back. With only a brief lap-two caution, the Mod Squad main event was completed in a hurry.
Leary kept Kimball close the rest of the way, finishing just 60 feet shy of his third win of the season. Geoff Rollins darted under Todd Patnode to claim third on lap 28 but Patnode’s fourth place finish kept the Swanzey star 34 points ahead of Kimball in the 2021 points parade.
Bill Chaffee led early in the Mini Stock feature, with top points man Louie Maher taking over on lap six. Farnum was soon at his bumper and the potent duo raced tooth-and-nail until Farnum took control on lap 16.
Kevin Clayton got up for third on lap 19 but on this night nobody was keeping the Fitzwilliam Flyer from his ninth win of the season. Maher’s runner-up finish kept him a scant four points ahead of Farnum in the championship points chase.
Young Gun Teagan Edson put her lap-one troubles behind her to take charge on lap four and rocket off to her second win in a row. Easily outdistancing the field in a way reminiscent of Fast Eddie P’s storied runs of earlier this season, she took the checkers ahead of Zach Zilinski and Eddie Gomarlo.
The top ten 2020 performers in both the Modified and Street Stock divisions were honored trackside during a brief intermission Saturday.
Brian Robie was last season’s Modified champ, followed by Ben Byrne and Todd Patnode. Solomon Brow earned top rookie honors in the NHSTRA Mods.
Chase Curtis was the 2020 King of The Streets, edging his twin brother Jarret for championship honors. Chris Buffone was third on the year, and Tim Wenzel was Rookie of The Year.
Monadnock Speedway will return to action next Saturday, August 28, when the thundering Street Stocks will take center stage atop a six-division card of racing. The top teams in New England will converge on the high banks to compete for an increased purse, as well as valuable points in both NHSTRA Battle for The Belt and Teddy Bear Pools Triple Crown series competition.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY AUGUST 21 TOP TENS:
STREET STOCK, 50-lap Teddy Bear Pools Triple Crown Event: Tommy O’Sullivan, Chris Buffone, Scott Zilinski, Mike Radzuik, Nate Wenzel, Chris Lindquist, Rupert Thompson, Justin Beecher, Jason Kozacka, Hillary Renaud.
NHSTRA MODIFIED: Matt Kimball, Tyler Leary, Geoff Rollins, Todd Patnode, Scott MacMichael, Cory Plummer, Kimmy Rivet, Eric LeClair, Aaron Fellows.
MINI STOCK: Gordon Farnum, Louie Maher, Kevin Clayton, Jeff Asselin, Jake Puchalski, Jeff Heath, Bill Chaffee, Kevin McKnight, Pat Houle, Matt Lambert.
YOUNG GUN: Teagan Edson, Zach Zilinski, Eddie Gomarlo, Dominick Stafford.
Photo Courtesy of Emily Miller: Street Stock Winner – Tom O’Sullivan (Wilbraham, Ma)
Sources: Gary Dutton/Monadnock Speedway PR