Bookmark and Share

 

ALEXANDER, PATNODE TAKE MODIFIED TWIN 25s ON A VERY SPECIAL NIGHT

(6/18/2011)

 Victor Johnson must have been grinning from ear to ear Saturday as he looked down on Monadnock Speedway. On the night the high banked speedplant paid tribute to the late Modified ace, it was the two kids down the road, the two hot shoes he'd spent his on-track career racing against, Kirk Alexander and Todd Patnode, who earned the big hardware in the night's twin 25-lap Modified mains.

Alexander took the opening event, with Patnode grabbing top honors in the nightcap. Other winners on June 18th at New England's fastest quarter-mile included Brian Chapin, winning his first race of the summer in the Super Stock feature, Beth Adams, whose last-corner pass netted her a second Mini Stock win in as many weeks, and JT Cloutier, who also scored his second win in a row in the Young Gunsfeature.

Matt Gauffin topped the Lightning Stocks for his first victory lap of the season, while Seth Petalas did the same in the Thunder Stocks. In the Pro-4 Mods, Bob Richardi carried the checkers, and Pete Portante topped the Allison Legacy feature.

In the first 25-lap Modified event, Rusty Ball grabbed the opening lead from his first row starting slot, holding the point for ten laps before giving way to Alexander, from row five, on the tenth circuit.

Russ Hersey chased Alexander for the rest of the race before settling for a strong second, with Jim Boniface recovering from an early race spin to grab the first of two third-place finishes on the night. Dale Szegedy was fourth, with Patnode coming home fifth.

Polesitter Nick Boivin powered to the early lead in the nightcap, with Rob Goodenough making his way quickly through traffic to grab the deuce spot five laps later. Matt Mead broke to bring out the caution on lap four, with Hersey also ducking into the pits. Patnode was gobbling up cars as he made his way through the pack, with Alexander and Boniface both hot on the fly too. Boivin's bid for victory would evaporate with a lap-nine spin, and Patnode would never look back. Alexander was battling for the lead when his chance for win number two soured with a cut left front on lap 13. Szegedy looked high and low, but could only settle for the runner-up hardware behind the sizzling Patnode, with Boniface coming from 15th to earn his second top-three finish. Richie Pallai came home fourth, with Goodenough claiming the five spot.

Nancy Muni and Ken Springer went wheel-to-wheel for the top spot early in the Super Stock main, with Brian Chapin close behind, and four-time winner John Lavoie charging through the field in his bid to stay perfect on the year. Lavoie's winning streak ended on lap five when he rattled the backchute wall, and with Muni still in control, Chapin grabbed second on lap 12, bringing Bill Johnston closer to the front with him.

Chapin and Muni hit the stripe in a dead heat on lap 12, with Chapin taking charge the next lap and then pulling away. Muni, strong all night, claimed the deuce spot, with steady Bill Johnston getting up for third.

Rob Thompson had the hot car early in the Mini Stock main, but Kim Rivet had her eyes squarely on the prize as she blistered the field to take control on lap nine. Eric Dejackome, Chris Davis, and Beth Adams were all in hot pursuit, and when DeJackome was shuffled from second to seventh in a lap-21 jingle, it was Davis second, and Adams red hot in third. Adams would fly past a spinning Rivet who raced with a broken sway bar the last five laps to claim the win in the last turn of the race, with quiet but potent Joe Rogers strong in second. Davis came home third, with rookie Julia Raymond posting a season-best fourth.

Hillary Renaud was second to Cloutier in the 15-lap Young Guns main. Ian MacDonald, strong all night, came home third. In the Allison Legacy event, James Logan and Troy MacNeil chased Portante under the flags. Tyler Anderson claimed the deuce spot in the Pro-4s, with Frankie Perry coming home third.

This article posted by Monadnock Speedway. Click here for more track information.