Racin’ With Jason: Winning night for Franklin County duo at Monadnock

It was a good Saturday night at the track for a pair of Franklin County drivers last weekend at Monadnock Speedway.

Deerfield’s Ben Byrne started up front and drove to victory in the NHSTRA Modified division, while Orange’s Cole Littlewood took the win in the Late Model Sportsman event. A third local driver, Jimmy Zellmann of Greenfield, crossed the finish line first in the Pure Stock division but was disqualified after his car failed the postrace inspection.

Byrne held off a challenge from Palmer’s Brian Chapin to earn his third checkered flag of the season in the 30-lap feature. Hatfield’s Tyler Leary was third, which allowed him to hang on to his points lead by six over Byrne.

Littlewood took the lead on lap five of the 25-lap event and fended off a challenge from Ricky Bly. That pair drove to the checkers followed by Littlewood’s brother Justin. The Littlewoods’ finish, coupled with a fifth-place finish by previous points leader Ryan Currier, created a three-way tie atop the standings between the Littlewoods and Currier.

Zellmann appeared to have locked up the Pure Stock victory after taking the lead from Zach Phillips on lap nine of 25. However, a technical issue was found with his car after the race, and runner-up Eddie Petrukevicius was elevated to the top spot. Zach Zilinski of Gill was third, Mike Douglas of Northfield was sixth, Millers Falls’ Dominick Stafford 10th and Turners Falls’ J.D. Stockwell 11th.

Kenny Thompson cruised to victory in the 25-lap Street Stock feature, securing his fourth win of the year. Holyoke’s Tim Wenzel was second, followed by Hillary Renaud, who is driving with a cast on her right arm.

Gordon Farnum continued his dominance in the Mini Stock division, taking the lead on lap six and driving away for his sixth victory of the season.

Winchendon’s Addison Brooks prevailed in the Young Guns race for her second win of the season.

Three other divisions visited the Winchester, N.H., bullring. Veteran hotshoe Randy Cabral won both the NEMA Lites and NEMA Midget features, while Devin Deshaies captured his second win at Monadnock this year in NELCAR Legends action.

There is no racing at Monadnock this Saturday, as the track hosts the Gear Jammers Truck Show. Cars will be back on the quarter-mile on Aug. 6.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads back to the Granite State tonight at Claremont (N.H.) Motorsports Park. The Clash at Claremont 150, presented by JDV Productions, will wrap up the three-race Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. A $5,000 bonus goes to the owner of the team that leads the standings after the three races. Entering Claremont, Tommy Baldwin and Roy Hall are tied for the lead. Baldwin turns to six-time Tour champion Doug Coby to bring him another win, while Hall’s driver, Matt Hirschman, turns on the jets when the big money is at stake. Current Tour points leader Ron Silk’s car owners, Tyler Haydt and Joe Yannon, are three points back, with Ken Massa, owner of Justin Bonsignore’s ride, five points back.

The race is slated to go green at 8:45 p.m. at the third-mile oval. It will be streamed live on FloRacing.com.

Jason Remillard is a copy editor and page designer at the Recorder. He can be reached at jremillard@recorder.com and followed on Twitter @racinwithjason.