By Gary Dutton
Photos By Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT. N.H. – They came from just down the street, they came from as far away as Pennsylvania. They came in swarms Saturday to Claremont Motorsports Park, as more than 180 entrants jammed the pits to compete in the third-mile speedplant’s first annual Turkey Day Classic. It’s not unusual when top guns like Jimmy Renfrew and Gordon Farnum swoop into Claremont to take away the top prize. And it’s almost commonplace when both Dustin Thibodeau and Drake Nelson hoist the evening’s winner’s trophy. Each of them knows the victory lap waltz quite well. None, though, had danced it only three days shy of December. Saturday morning began at the Thrasher Road oval with two inches of fresh show blanketing the asphalt racing surface. And those that may have then questioned CMP promoter Mike Parks’ wisdom in boldly pitching the holiday weekend season finale left more than five hours later with chilly noses and wide smiles on their faces. Renfrew’s Street Stock victory gave the youthful southern tier rocketman bookend victories on the year. His first 2021 CMP victory was back on opening night, April 25. Saturday, he took the checkers ahead of frequent rival Max Dolliver and Kris Watson. Farnum, an eleven-time 2021 Mini Stock feature winner at Monadnock Speedway, held off 2021 Monadnock champ Louie Maher for the Turkey Day victory. Ryan Keniston earned his first trophy of the year in third. Andrew Harmon topped the Pure Stocks but not the tech line giving the checkers to Travis Sykes, with Nick Houle, Kodi Sabins, and JD Stockwell rounding out the top 4. The Six Shooters? Who else, two-time defending track champ and ultimate dominator Dustin Thibodeau who, like Renfrew, earned his first victory lap of the season way back on April 25. Robert Shaw was second, and Steve Miller third. Justin Harris was victorious in the Classic Lites, no surprise there, with George Helliwell and Tom Harwood joining him in trophy row. Drake Nelson entered Saturday’s Enduro fray a perfect six-for-six this year at CMP. He extended that streak to seven by topping the Six Cylinder Enduro but then ran into a buzz saw in the Four Cylinder go-round. Matt Gauffin, another ace of the Enduro battles, lapped the 67-car field to win Saturday’s four-holer 50-lapper, with Nelson coming home second – not the worst way to end a winning streak – and Kevin Boucher third. Jim Walsh was strong in powering to the Eight Cylinder win, while Katie Buxton was tops in the Lady’s Enduro event. And the last checkered flag lap of the year was taken by Robert Shaw, a beast in both the Friday night Six Shooters and Enduros, who won the speedway’s first-ever Flag Pole Race. Justin Faford was second in negotiating the loopty loops, and Drake Nelson added a third to his earlier first and second-place runs. FIRST ANNUAL TURKEY DAY CLASSIC TOP PERFORMERS: Complete Enduro results still being tabulated at press time. STREET STOCK: Jimmy Renfrew, Max Dolliver, Kris Watson, Brandon Gray, Jim Storace, Corey Fanning, Collin Cornell, Matt Sonnhalter, Kyle Buck, Jon Porter. MINI STOCK: Gordon Farnum, Louie Maher, Ryan Keniston, Roy Hathburn, Tommy Silva, Bob Williams, Pat Houle, Hailey Beal, Jeff Heath, Kevin Vaudrien. PURE STOCK: Travis Sykes, Nick Houle, Kodi Sabins, JD Stockwell, Chris Sumner, Jamie Heath, Cam Curtis, Zach Zilinsky, Colton Martin. SIX SHOOTERS: Dustin Thibodeau, Robert Shaw, Steve Miller, Ryan Nelson, Lucas Bernatchy, Ryan Partridge, Steve Miller Jr, Garrett Barry, Chooch Snide. CLASSIC LITES Justin Harris, George Helliwell, Tom Harwood, Andrew Harman, Dave Helliwell, Jason Hodgdon. T.J. Laroche, Kaycie Kustra. FOUR-CYLINDER ENDURO: Matt Gauffin, Drake Nelson, Kevin Boucher, Leon Keniston, Corey Downs. SIX-CYLINDER ENDURO: Drake Nelson, Josh Hodgdon, Jamie Heath. EIGHT-CYLIDER ENDURO: Jim Walsh, Adam Gray, Billy Davis, Wayne Foster, Buddy Wilkins. LADIES ENDURO: Katie Buxton, Cathy Hubble, Sarah Hodgdon, Nadine Coates, Chrissy Rizzuto. FLAG POLE RACE: Robert Shaw, Justin Fafford, Drake Nelson. *Story was edited to reflect disqualification in Pure Stocks.  by Gary Dutton
Photo by Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT, N.H. – Get your coffee and hot chocolate ready, it may come in handy, as Claremont Motorsports Park opens its doors for ten divisions of racing at the first annual Turkey Day Classic Saturday, November 27, afternoon at the storied Thrasher Road speedplant. And, best yet, grandstand admission is set at an affordable post-Black Friday price of only ten bucks. Looking for a good way to work off some of Thursday’s big holiday feed? How about shedding some of those excess calories by cheering for your favorite drivers. Promoter Mike Parks is opening the gates for one last time this year at the third-mile oval, with a ten-division card of stock car racing beginning at 1:00 Saturday. Four of the regular racing season’s weekly divisions will battle, as the Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Stock, and Six Shooter classes will all be in action, as will the visiting Classic Lites touring series. The Turkey Day Classic will include no fewer than four Enduro events, as the Four Cylinder, Six Cylinder, and Eight Cylinder Enduros will also be joined by a special Ladies Only Enduro. Need more mayhem on the asphalt? Parks will provide that too, as he serves up the speedway’s first-ever Flag Pole Race In conjunction with Saturday’s racing event, CMP is also hosting its third annual Kiwanis of Claremont Gift Collection. Race fans are urged to bring an unwrapped child’s or teen’s holiday gift to support this worthy cause. The first annual Turkey Day Classic begins at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. Adult admission is $10 and kids 6-12 are admitted for $5. Concessions will be open.  Press Release from the Racing Guys
Photo Credit to Miss Em's Photography Adventures - 2020 Maurice Enterprises 100 Claremont Motorsports Park, The Racing Guys, Maurice Enterprises, Ron Bouchard Auto Stores and friends have joined forces to bring you the Racers Honoring Racers 100 Modified Tour race on Friday May 27, 2022. The race will honor Dick Williams and the late Bob Summers, former owner of Hoosier Tire East along with several other local heroes. “We are working on bringing in a racing legend to help celebrate this event”, stated Wayne Coats of the The Racing Guys. Our goal is an 11K to win payday, $1,100 to start the race and a lucrative B Main or Dash for Cash. “Right now, to my knowledge, this would be the biggest purse paid out at Claremont” said Maurice Hurd, partner and co-promoter of this event. “We are happy to have Ron Bouchard Auto Stores on board again with many of our other sponsors joining in”, said Coats. Also, we would like to announce that Long Island Mod Maniac, James Schaefer, has jumped into help us celebrate D.W.’s retirement from racing. We are still looking for additional sponsors and we will be selling laps for this race so if anyone is interested in getting involved, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your support over the years and may God bless you all! The Racing Guys
JDV PRODUCTIONS TO PROMOTE THIRD EVENT FOR NEW SEASON ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- NASCAR, JDV Productions and Claremont Motorsports Park announced on Tuesday that the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will visit the New Hampshire facility on Friday, July 29, 2022 for a 150-lap race. The event will be promoted by JDV Productions -- led by Josh Vanada and his team of motorsports professionals. It confirms another race on the 16-event schedule for the Whelen Modified Tour, with three of them now officially set to be promoted by JDV Productions. The team will also promote events at Jennerstown Speedway on May 28, 2022 and Monadnock Speedway on June 18, 2022. “We are eager to bring the prestige and the excitement of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back to Claremont, New Hampshire for the first time in over a decade,” Josh Vanada, owner of JDV Productions, said. “The long time between visits will provide an interesting challenge for those who may not have competed at the third-mile oval before. The track’s unique characteristics will put crew chiefs and drivers to the test. Fans will not want to miss this race.” The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has only visited Claremont twice -- once in 1985 -- and another race in 2007. Richie Evans went to Victory Lane in the inaugural race, while James Civali used his southern flavor to steal the show in 2007. The track, nestled deep into the mountains of New Hampshire, runs NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series divisions on Friday nights throughout the summer. “We are really excited to welcome the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour back to Claremont,” Mike Parks, promoter and operator of the track, said. “Having the Whelen Modified Tour is something we have been looking at doing for a while ourselves and it just wasn’t quite right for us. I’ve worked with Josh on and off for about 10 years. We communicated with each other and we felt this was the right time to work together and have JDV Productions promote the race.” NASCAR’s 16-race schedule for the Whelen Modified Tour for the 2022 season begins on Saturday, February 12 at New Smyrna Speedway, and will end on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at Martinsville Speedway. In between, teams will visit over five different states and showcase Modified racing in front of passionate race fans. JDV Productions is excited to continue to work with NASCAR, the teams, and the race fans to put the best product possible on the track. For more information on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, visit nascar.com. For more information on Claremont Motorsports Park, visit ClaremontMotorsportsPark.com. For more information on JDVProductions, visit JDVProductions.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @_JDVProductions.  James Civali was the winner last time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour visited Claremont on July 8, 2007. Photo credit to NASCAR.
By Gary Dutton
CLAREMONT, N.H. – Teen rocket man Gabe Brown earned his second huge payday of the season Sunday, October 17, at Claremont Motorsports Park, dominating the $4,000-to-win Granite State Pro Stock Series 100-lap main event at the storied Thrasher Road oval. Hometrack ace Dave Greenslit capped his own monster season Sunday, cruising to victory far ahead of the 23-car field to earn $1,000 by winning the 75-lap Street Stock feature. Mini Stock hot shoe Matt Sonnhalter provided the best finish of the afternoon, overhauling Gordon Farnum on the last lap to win his second race of the season at CMP, and second-generation speedster Nolan McClay topped the Pure Stocks, scoring the first victory of his rookie campaign to join his father, Mark, on the 2021 winner’s list. Both of Sunday’s scheduled Late Model Sportsman and Six Shooter features were canceled because of rain that started falling at the conclusion of the GSPSS feature. Brown, the 19-year-old star, blistered a lap of 13,993 seconds in Pro Stock time trials, just two one-thousands off the track record, and then had things his way for much of the Key Chevrolet Buick GMC of Newport main event. The victory also clinched the 2021 GSPSS series championship for the Center Conway hot shoe. Victorious here in a $10,000-to-win biggie back on July 31, he took the lead for the final time on lap 35 Sunday and never looked back. Hometown blaster Luke Hinkley was solid in second, with early leader Cody LeBlanc close behind in third. Greenslit and Jimmy Renfrew Jr. started on row one of the R.E. Hinkley Oil Company Street Stock feature, setting up a potential battle royale between the rock stars of New England Street Stockers. Starting out exactly that, the duel ended abruptly when Renfrew cruised pitside on lap eight, almost mirroring his lap-14 departure from the lead the night before. Staying far ahead throughout the seven-caution event, Greenslit – his potent Camaro’s nose sporting a Kenny Thompson 39 memorial decal – cruised to victory, one spot better than his runner-up finish Saturday. Max Dolliver, Saturday night’s winner, was second, with Cody Schoolcraft crossing the stripe in his shadow. Jeremy Zullo’s solid run brought him home in fourth, with Chris Lindquist completing the top five. Monadnock Speedway superman Gordon Farnum, who’d smoked the field in his heat race, appeared to be on his way to doing the same in the Mini Stock feature. Starting up front, he quickly blasted to a huge lead. Matt Sonnhalter, firing from row three, had other plans. Steadily chipping away at Farnum’s big advantage, he pulled to his rear bumper in heavy lapped traffic, taking the lead on the final lap to win a thriller. Greg Millette, victorious on both Friday and Saturday, settled for a strong third Sunday, following Farnum under the checkers. Nolan McClay took the lead from fellow rookie Dylan Zullo on lap nine of Sunday’s 30-lapper and was in command when Zullo, the rookie 2021 Pure Stock champion, pulled up lame on a lap 17 restart, moving former track champ Kyle Templeton up to second, where he took the checkers just ahead of rookie Carlos Grenier, who trophied for the second time this season. Claremont Motorsports Park will conclude its 2021 season when CMP promoter Mike Parks rolls out a special event on Saturday, November 27. Stay tuned for details on this one, and have your stuffing and cranberry sauce ready. CLAREMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK OCTOBER 17 TOP TENS STREET STOCK: Dave Greenslit, Max Dolliver, Cody Schoolcraft, Jeremy Zullo, Chris Lindquist, Milton Duran, Hillary Renaud, Joe Tetreault, Robbie Streeter, Mike Williams. MINI STOCK: Matt Sonnhalter, Gordon Farnum, Greg Millette, Brayden Morrie, Haydon Grenier, Ryan Carman, Earl Maxham, Jake Puchalski, Sean Lantas, Dave Thibodeau. PURE STOCK: Nolan McClay, Kyle Templeton, Carlos Grenier, Travis Sykes, JD Stockwell, Amy Jaycox, Brandon Picknell, Chris Carver, Jim Rhodes, Justin Cousino. LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN and SIX SHOOTER features both canceled due to rain.
By Gary Dutton
Photos by Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT, N.H. – Second-generation open-wheel stars Matt Kimball and Tanner Siemons both won feature races Saturday, October 16, at Claremont Motorsports Park, wrapping up 2021 series championships with their Fall Challenge victorys. Kimball wired the NHSTRA Modified main event, while Siemons took charge mid-race in the Dirt Modified feature to clinch his title with his third victory lap of the summer. Craig Smith is deciding he likes October racing just fine. The Newport LMS hot shoe duplicated his Friday night feature win on Saturday afternoon at the Thrasher Road speedplant. Not to be outdone, Mini Stock ace Greg Millette also won both Friday and Saturday feature events. Max Dolliver won his second Street Stock feature this year at CMP, topping the $1,000-to-win Saturday main event, just ahead of hometrack champ Dave Greenslit. In the Pure Stocks, Kodi Sabins held off recently crowned 2021 champ Dylan Zullo to win for the fourth time this season. Kimball set fast time earlier in the day to start on the pole in Saturday’s 50-lap NHSTRA Modified 50-lapper and led all the way to earn the series championship. Aaron Fellows was strong in second Saturday but no match for Kimball. Previous winner Andrew Martell was third on the day. Like Kimball, Smith started up front and led all the way. Fellow front row starter Ryan Currier kept him in sight but never found his way to the front, while Kevin Vaudrien’s third-place run netted him his second top-three finish in as many days. In the Street Stock main Dolliver, firing from row three, took the lead from Milton Duran on lap 35 and then held off hometrack kingpin Dave Greenslit – the speedway’s reigning two-time champion, as well as NASCAR Division 2 national champion – to score the big win. Duran was good for third, just ahead of Monadnock strongman Tim Wenzel and hometrack hot shoe Cody Schoolcraft. Finding his new ride much to his liking, Greg Millette blew the Mini Stock field away for the second day in a row. Ryan Carman was a distant second, holding off Sean Lantas, who trophied for the second day in a row. In a battle of CMP track champions, Kodi Sabins led all the way to win the Pure Stock 25-lapper but had his work cut out for him in holding off 2021 top gun Dylan Zullo. Nolan McClay was strong in third, with 2021 feature winner JD Stockwell fourth, and Friday night’s victor Andrea St. Amour fifth. Six Shooter Steve Miller, who’d won his first-ever trophy by placing third the night before, outran a thin field to win Saturday’s 15-lap feature. Bucky Thibodeau, a first-time winner the night before, was second, and Robert Shaw came home third. Still perfect on the year, six wins in six events, Drake Nelson won the show-closing 50-lap Enduro. Nelson came from 21st on the grid to take command on lap nine and, while Robert Shaw led for just a second on a lap-44 restart, Nelson quickly drove away again. Second-generation dirt track star Tanner Siemons took the lead from Marty Kelly on lap 18 of the 602 Dirt Modified 30-lap feature and never looked back, winning his third CMP main event of the summer and, with it, the series championship. Tim LaDuc, another second-generation hot shoe, was second, and Kelly third in the16-car field. Dirt Sportsman Coupe whiz Jeff Rollins held Tom Placey in his shadow for 15 laps to win Saturday on the Thrasher Road asphalt. Derrick Stearns crossed the stripe in third. Girard Giordano led most of the way to top the Exit Realty Pro Truck Series 35-lapper. Jimmy Boyle was second under the checkers, and Dave Koenig came home third. CLAREMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK OCTOBER 16 TOP TENS NHSTRA MODIFIED: Matt Kimball, Aaron Fellows, Andrew Martell, Geoff Rollins, Walt Hammond, Justin Beecher, Nate Wenzel, Mike Smith, Cory Plummer, Jesse Jakubajtus. STREET STOCK: Max Dolliver, Dave Greenslit, Milton Duran, Tim Wenzel, Cody Schoolcraft, Robbie Streeter, Nate Wenzel, Jeremy Zullo, Joe Tetreault, Brian Robie. MINI STOCK: Greg Millette, Ryan Carman, Sean Lantas, Chris Judd, Dana Shepard, Rory Carroll, Deion Russell, Nadine Coates, Matt Sonnhalter, Braden Morrie. PURE STOCK: Kodi Sabins, Dylan Zullo, Nolan McClay, JD Stockwell, Andrea St. Amour, Travis Sykes, Bruce Jaycox, Brandon Picknell, Jimmy Zellman. 602 DIRT MODIFIED. Tanner Siemons, Tim LaDuc, Marty Kelly, James Fadden, Brian Whittemore, Walt Hammond, Lenny Pillsbury, Todd Buckwold, Cody O’Brien, Earl Maxham. LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Craig Smith, Ryan Currier, Kevin Vaudrien, Ryan Bell, Cody Schoolcraft, Cam Curtis. SIX SHOOTER: Steve Miller, Bucky Thibodeau, Robert Shaw, Chooch Snide. RED NECK ENDURO: Drake Nelson, Robert Shaw, Brent Wilbur, Eric Leno, Leon Keniston. 
By Gary Dutton
Photos by Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT, N.H. – Craig Smith won the Late Model Sportsman feature Friday at Claremont Motorsports Park, making a bold last-lap move and then cashing in when an errant lapper snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for race leader Ryan Bell, who was picked off by a backmarker that had no business wallowing along the middle of the track. Smith was one of five first-of-season winners on the Thrasher Road speedplant’s Non-Winner’s Night, the first of three scheduled events on its huge Fall Challenge weekend. Robbie Streeter won his first-career Street Stock victory Friday, ditto for Pure Stocker Andrea St. Amour, while Greg Millette smoked the field in the night’s Mini Stock 25-lapper, and Bucky Thibodeau topped the Six Shooter feature, joining his brother Dustin, the two-time divisional champion, and father John as 2021 feature winners. Bell, from row one, led the first 24 go-rounds in the Route 103 Auto LMS main, holding a comfortable half-dozen length lead for most of the race until Smith reeled him in as the lead trio entered the east end of the oval on the final lap. Smith dove low into turn three, pulling almost alongside Bell, who then encountered a roadblock as they raced side-by-side. With Smith holding strong to score the victory, LMS first-timer Cody Schoolcraft impressed in second, and Kevin Vaudrien, solid and clean all night, came home third. The king of the R.E. Hinkley Oil Company Streeters Friday was the aptly named Robbie Streeter, who led all the way en route to the first victory of his career. But it was second-generation shoe Andrew Brousseau who had the crowd on its feet with a thrilling, last-turn charge to finish third. Rupert Thompson and Briana Akusis were locked in a duel for third when they brought out the second of five cautions on lap 15, with teen charger Clark Brooks then holding the deuce. Caution number four, though, waved for Brooks. That moved Streeter’s team mate Joe Tetreault up to second, where he would finish the race. Greg Millette, sporting a new ride, wired the In City Sugar Shack Mini Stock 25-lapper, firing from row one and then blasting off into a different time zone than the rest of the 17-car field. Monadnock regular Tim LeBlanc was a distant second, with hometracker Chris Judd earning the bronze medal. The LaValley Building Suppy Pure Stock main was a classic. Bruce Jaycox led the first six laps and, while he then gave up the lead, he never gave up the hunt. Seth Melcher was holding Andrea St. Amour in his shadow until his ride gave out on a lap-17 restart and, with St. Amour then at the point, she never looked back. Brandon Pickell was strong in second, with Jaycox rock-solid in third. St. Amour, who’d topped a “B” feature earlier this summer and also had a runner-up finish, led the final eight laps to win the first feature race of her young career. Bucky Thibodeau led all the way in the Avery Insurance Six Shooter 20-lapper Friday. Scott Vien was second, and Thibodeau team mate Steve Miller third, Vien and Miller each making first-time appearances in trophy row, CLAREMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK OCTOBER 15 TOP TENS LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Craig Smith, Cody Schoolcraft, Kevin Vaudrien, Mark Hudson, Steve Bly, Dylan Bodreau, Ryan Bell, Greg Belisle, Dustin Leoutsakos, Rocky Smith. STREET STOCK: Robbie Streeter, Joe Tetreault, Andrew Brousseau, Haydon Grenier, Mike Williams, Phil Hayes, Briana Akusis, Scott Wade, Kayleigh Eastman, Clark Brooks. MINI STOCK: Greg Millette, Tim LeBlanc, Chris Judd, Sean Lantas, Ryan Carman, Dylan Zullo, David Thibodeau, Dana Shepard, Kodi Sabins, Craig Chaffee. PURE STOCK: Andrea St. Amour, Brandon Picknell, Bruce Jaycox, Jacob Fowler, Doug Nelson, Drake Nelson, Mark Reed, Jim Rhodes, Chris Carver, Steve Morris. SIZ SHOOTER: Bucky Thiobdeau, Scott Vien, Steve Miller, Chooch Snide, Eric Prescott, Taelor MacDonald, Andy LeClair.
By Gary Dutton
Photos by Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT, N.H. – Second generation star Matt Kimball topped the Modified Racing Series main event Saturday at Claremont Motorsports Park, leading early and late to score his first career MRS feature win. But, while the kid from bucolic Bennington, N.H. was dominant in victory, it was the slightly older youngster from the Vermont village just a few miles from the track who thrilled the crowd with his third-place performance. New England racing legend Dwight Jarvis, 67 years young, returned in a one-and-done performance after several years away from racing to charge all the way from row nine and earn the bronze medal finish in Saturday’s 75-lap MRS Presented by Key Chevrolet Buick GMC of Newport main event at the storied speedplant. CMP track champion Dave Greenslit roared to victory in the 73-lap Richard Tetreault Memorial Street Stock 73-lapper, while both Aaron Fellows and Kodi Sabins showed up late for practice but fully on top of their game to top the Late Model Sportsman and Pure Stock features respectively. Dirt tracker Will Hull may be rethinking his game plan for next season. In his first-ever race on asphalt, he won the day’s Mini Stock feature. And, in the Six Shooter 25-lapper, track champ Dustin Thibodeau did what has become expected of him, scoring his 18th win of the year. Kimball, a two-time NHSTRA Modified feature winner earlier this summer at the Thrasher Road oval, and Jacob Perry brought the 18-car field to the green, with Kimball immediately taking charge. Perry took the lead on lap seven, but Kimball wasn’t done. The race’s only caution waved on lap 29 when things went wrong for the leader, and with Perry suddenly gone, Dylan Izzo took over, with Kimball nestled in his shadow. Jarvis was closing in on the top five.. Kimball would rocket back to the front on lap 57 and never look back. Jarvis, meanwhile, got up for fifth on lap 41, fourth on lap 50, and made a late-race pass in lapped traffic of teammate-for-a-day Brian Robie to take the checkers third to a thunderous applause. The 75-lapper was completed in just 19 minutes, 48 seconds. Robert Hagar led the first 28 laps of the Tetreault Memorial Street Stock feature but was then picked off by a turn-four lapper. Back under green, it was two-time track champ Dave Greenslit taking charge and never looking back en route to his seventh CMP victory of the summer. In a 33-lap battle of the titans, Greenslit, the Claremont champion, outgunned Nate Wenzel, the recently crowned Monadnock Speedway champion, for the win. Joe Tetreault, the race namesake’s son, was strong in third. Aaron Fellows had been nearly unbeatable in recent summers at the Thrasher Road speedplant. In fact, he’d put together an unbeaten campaign two seasons ago. On Saturday, the Croydon, N.H. was a surprise entrant in the evening’s 50-lapper. Showing up too late for practice, Fellows started 14th on the grid, quickly making his way forward to take charge on lap 17 and then breeze to victory. Teen star Cam Curtis, his car specially numbered 39 for the day to honor recently deceased Ken Thompson, was solid in second, taking the checkers ahead of steady Jack McClay. Track Mini Stock champ Haydon Grenier was leading Saturday until getting clipped in a turn-two brush-up. Will Hull, meanwhile, thought asphalt was only used for getting to the races, not for competition. He’s probably rethinking that one now. The dirt track racer won Saturday’s 25-lapper, taking the checkers ahead of late-season wonder child Braden Morrie and Ryan Carman. Like Fellows, Windsor, VT four-holer king Kodi Sabins showed up late Saturday. No problem, Sabins took charge on lap four and never looked back, holding Friday night winner Nick Houle in his shadow to earn his third 2021 victory lap, that while running only a limited schedule. Nolan McClay’s hard day’s worked netted him the third-place finish. And guess who wired the Six Shooter 25-lapper to score his 18th victory of the season? Dustin Thibodeau, crowned champion for the second season in a row a night earlier, made easy work of winning Saturday. Two-time winner Robert Shaw was second, and John Thibodeau came home third. After taking the next three weeks off, Claremont Motorsports Park will conclude its 2021 campaign with the season-ending three-day Fall Challenge 2021 event on October 15, 16, and 17. CLAREMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 TOP TENS MODIFIED RACING SERIES 75 LAPS: Matt Kimball, Dylan Izzo, Dwight Jarvis, Brian Robie, Donnie Lashua, Carl Medeiros Jr., Trevor Bleau, Ryan Doucette, Anthony Bello, Mike Willis. STREET STOCK 73-LAP RICHARD TETREAULT MEMORIAL: Dave Greenslit, Nate Wenzel, Joe Tetreault, Justin Beecher, Hillary Renaud, Chris Lindquist, Tim Wenzel, Robbie Streeter, Jeremy Zullo, Clark Brooks. LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Aaron Fellows, Cam Curtis, Jack McClay, Craig Smith, Cole Littlewood, Mark Hudson, Matt Winter, Dustin Leoutskoas, Ben Lambert, Steve Bly. PURE STOCK: Kodi Sabins, Nick Houle, Nolan McClay, Dylan Zullo, Travis Sykes, JD Stockwell, Andrea St. Amour, Mark McClay, Bruce Jaycox, Jimmy Zullo. MINI STOCK: Will Hull, Braden Morrie, Ryan Carman, Richard Stockwell, Tim Sheppard, Sean Lantas, Haydon Grenier. SIX SHOOTER: Dustin Thibodeau, Robert Shaw, John Thibodeau, Chooch Snide, Lucas Bernatchy. 
By Gary Dutton
Photos by Miss Em's Photography Adventures CLAREMONT, N.H. – Claremont Motorsports Park concluded its Championship Night event Friday with an enormous aerial fireworks display. But, not to be outdone, Ben Poland put on a world class smoke show to celebrate his first-ever Late Model Sportsman championship at the Thrasher Road speedplant. The 29-year-old star was one of five drivers officially crowned as the best of their division Friday. Rookie sensation Dylan Zullo topped the 2021 Pure Stocks, Haydon Grenier put an exclamation point on his Mini Stock crown by rocketing to his 12th victory lap of the summer, while both Street Stock blaster Dave Greenslit and 16-time Six Shooter dominator Dustin Thibodeau celebrated back-to-back championship seasons. Jeremy Zullo led lap one of the Route 103 Auto LMS 50-lapper but Ryan Bell, chasing the $1,000 winner’s purse that awaited the winner of the night’s main event, took charge on lap six and set sight on the checkers. Three laps later, Poland – gunning for his tenth win of the season – rocketed into second. But if Poland made a single miscalculation in his shining championship season, it was the one the Charlestown ace made in allowing former track champ Ricky Bly to move up to second on a lap-17 cone race restart. Letting the Sunapee speedster ahead of you, never works out well. Back in second – he’d been there briefly on lap eight – Bly raced in Bell’s shadow until surging into the lead on lap 46 and then darted off to his fifth 2021 victory. And, in a show of class, he concluded his night’s victory lap by pulling along side the new champion and handing off the checkered flag to the man he’d so often gone wheel-to-wheel with this summer. The R.E. Hinkley Oil Co. Street Stocks raced 39 laps Friday in honor of Ken Thompson, beloved long-time racer, father, and all-around great guy who had died a day earlier in a tragic highway crash. Pole sitter Trevor Rocke led the first four go-rounds, then giving way to Cody Schoolcraft, who dominated the rest of the way to earn his fourth 2021 victory lap. With the white flag in the air on lap 38, the entire field pitted, leaving the checkers waving over an empty racetrack in Thompson’s memory. Some of the best racing of the night was staged in the battle for second between Dave Greenslit and Robert Hagar, with Greenslit prevailing Schoolcraft’s win Friday was his second in as many events, while Greenslit’s six 2021 victories earned him his second consecutive championship at the storied third-mile oval. Starting Haydon Grenier on the pole is never quite fair to the rest of the field but, due to a few late-season mechanical headaches, that’s exactly where the hometown hot shoe started in Friday’s In City Sugar Shack Mini Stock feature. And he then flew off into a different time zone to score the Championship Night victory. Brayden Morrie, himself a two-time 2021 Mini Stock winner, would have needed both a late-race caution and a rocket launcher to knock off Grenier on Friday, and he got neither, finishing second on the night, just ahead of Ryan Carman. Doug Nelson, aboard his Shaggin’ Wagon ride, led the first two laps of the LaValley Building Supply Pure Stock 25, then giving way to Carlos Grenier, who looked perhaps on his way to victory. Grenier’s good fortune, though, went completely sour, when his leading ride was ricocheted into the backstretch wall on lap 17. Grenier’s demise set up an epic three-car battle for victory, between Travis Sykes, Zach Richardson, and Nick Houle, with Houle pulling out a thrilling last-lap blast to nip Sykes for the win. Nineteen-year-old rookie Dylan Zullo took the checkers in fifth, earning the 2021 Pure Stock championship with four feature wins and a boatload of top threes. Friday’s Avery Insurance Six Shooter feature was billed as an epic bounty race, but that element went quickly out the window when repeat-champ Dustin Thibodeau was roughed up in a lap-one wiggle wobble in turn three. Robert Shaw led all the way in this one, scoring his second win of the summer a country mile ahead of the pack. Bucky Thibodeau completed his late-season surge in second, and one-time 2021 winner John Thibodeau came home third. CLAREMONT MOTORSPORTS PARK CHAMPIONSHIP NIGHT TOP TENS LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN: Ricky Bly, Ryan Bell, Ben Poland, Dallas Trombley, Jack McClay, Tyler Lescord, Matt Winter, Craig Smith, Steve Bly, Dustin Leoutskoas. STREET STOCK 39-lap KEN THOMPSON MEMORIAL: Cody Schoolcraft, Dave Greenslit, Robert Hagar, Briana Akusis, Trevor Rocke, Jimmy Zullo, Andrew Brousseau, Clark Brooks, Kayleigh Eastman, Dennis Greenwood. MINI STOCK: Haydon Grenier, Brayden Morrie, Ryan Carman, Pat Houle, Chris Judd, Richard Stockwell, Wayne Kendall, Mason Prouty, Sean Lantas, Dan Young. PURE STOCK: Nick Houle, Travis Sykes, Zach Richardson, JD Stockwell, Dylan Zullo, Kyle Templeton, Nolan McClay, Drake Nelson, Andrea St. Amour, Amy Jaycox. SIX SHOOTER: Robert Shaw, Bucky Thibodeau, John Thibodeau, Chooch Snide, Steve Miller, Lucas Bernatchy, Andy LaClair, Dustin Thibodeau, Marc Laroche. 2021 NASCAR ADVANCE AUTO PARTS TRACK CHAMPIONS: Ben Poland, Late Model Sportsman; Dave Greenslit, Street Stock; Haydon Grenier, Mini Stock; Dylan Zullo, Pure Stock; Dustin Thibodeau, Six Shooter.  CLAREMONT, N.H. – Fall is upon us this weekend in the Twin State Valley region and, while leaf peeping may still be a few weeks away, excitement is in the air as Claremont Motorsports Park hosts two huge events at the storied asphalt oval.
Wrapping up its successful 2021 championship points season, the CMP third-mile will be action-packed again Friday as it presents its annual Fireworks Championship Night event, with a full-five division card of NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series action. And then, on Saturday, with a special 4:00 p.m. starting time, the Modified Racing Series rolls into town to contest a 75-lap main event, which will be supported by the Richard Tetreault Memorial 73-lapper and much more. Friday, going to the post at 7:00 p.m., the Route 103 Auto Late Model Sportsmen will battle in a $1,000-to-win main event, with Street Stock, Mini Stock, Pure Stock and Six Shooter divisions also in action Ben Poland, Ricky Bly, and Ryan Bell will ignite their season-long rivalry one more time in the LMS feature, but with the added purse, and with Monadnock Speedway already done for year; expect a deep field in this one. And, with the final points of the season up for grabs in all five divisions, and the off-season bragging rights that are also on the line, Friday’s show should be a dandy, made all the more special by the giant show-closing fireworks display. Saturday, speedway legend Dwight Jarvis will return to action, racing in the 75-lap MRS main event. A huge field of Modified racing stars including Brian Robie, Todd Patnode, Mike Willis, Joey Jarvis, Matt Kimball and more’ll oppose him. As with Friday night’s anticipated line-up, Monadnock’s concluded season will help swell the field by boatloads. More than 25 teams were onboard for this event when it was postponed by rain two weeks ago, so Saturday’s big dance presented by Key Chevrolet Buick GMC of Newport will be loaded. Don’t miss these two huge events Friday and Saturday at Claremont Motorsports Park, where a Friday night admission ticket will earn you a $5 discount for entrance to Saturday’s show. |
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