8/11/2024
Monadnock Speedway
Top Guns Nate Wenzel, Riendeau Win Saturday at Monadnock
WINCHESTER, N.H. – While there were repeat winners aplenty celebrating feature wins with Saturday night victory laps at Monadnock Speedway, there was also a handful of talented drivers – some the same – hoisting career-first trophies when the busy event’s final checkered flag had waved.
Topping the first-ever team concept Mad Dog Masters Challenge event were brothers Nate and Tim Wenzel, Erin Aiken, Chris Chambers, and Michael Yeaton, whose cumulative low score for the night put them atop the five-team competition. Aiken, Yeaton, and Nate Wenzel each aided their team’s cause by topping their Saturday feature events.
Other winners Saturday on the high banks included Super Street king Chris Riendeau, who won for the fifth time this summer, Andrea St. Amour, whose Saturday night victory moved her to the top of the Pure Stock points parade, and Hunter Duquette, the victor of his third 2024 Mad Pup main event.
And, just short of top-of-the-podium honors, Saturday’s racing netted some other fantastic finishes. Both Zach Zilinski and Maya Bell earned trophies with final lap charges, and Mad Dog Modified ace Trevor Bleau impressed with his season-best runner-up performance.
JT Cloutier, who’d earlier set fast time with a 12.172 lap around the high banks, and Kimmy Rivet – both bidding for their first win of the summer – set on row one as the Mad Dog Modified 40-lapper went green. Rivet led lap one from the outside groove, and then Cloutier, at the bottom of the oval, led lap two.
Rivet’s hope for victory met a harsh ending on lap four, as her ride wildly ricocheted into the backstretch wall. Her demise and Nate Wenzel’s charge to the front on the ensuing restart would decide the Mad Dog Masters Challenge competition, as Wenzel’s dash to the checkers carried his Saturday night team to the top.
Trevor Bleau got up for second on lap 28, with 2024 points leader Tyler Leary following him into the top three a lap later. Leary’s strong run kept him comfortably 44 points ahead of Wenzel in the points parade. Cloutier and Brad Zahensky completed Saturday’s top five, while Andy Major turned the fastest in-race lap but could advance no further than seventh.
JD Stockwell led the first seven laps of the Super Street main event Saturday, then giving way to Hillary Renaud, with both Robert Hagar and Chris Riendeau close behind. When Stockwell was spun on lap 11, it was Hagar at the point, but only briefly, as a cut tire sent him quickly pitside and moved Riendeau to the lead.
Defending Super Street champ Tim Wenzel was quickly at Riendeau’s bumper and, on lap 17, almost crashed through it, but Riendeau held strong to move one week closer to his first career championship. Teen hot shoe Zach Zilinski’s last lap blast netted him third, just ahead of Renaud, with Hagar recovering to come home fifth.
Andrea St. Amour and Chris Davis both won their Pure Stock heat race Saturday so it was no surprise to see the potent duo race wheel-to-wheel in the night’s 25-lap feature. Davis, bidding for his second win of the summer, held St. Amour glued to his bumper the first 20 laps but she finally dashed under him and then held strong to win by two lengths.
The win moved her to the top of the points parade, two thin markers ahead of Jimmy Zellman, who charged home third in the feature after finishing second to St. Amour in their qualifier.
Mini Stock rock star Erin Aiken wired Saturday’s feature to win for the sixth time this summer, adding yet again to her huge championship points lead. Bob Williams passed Julia Kendall for second on lap two but, on this night, he was no match for the sizzling Aiken. Number two point man Kevin Clayton was fifth on the night.
Firing from the front row, Hunter Duquette led all the way Saturday to win the Mad Pup 15-lapper. Duquette and Markus O’Neil raced under a blanket most of the way but O’Neil could never find a path to the front. Maya Bell bopped out of third on lap four and stormed back to swipe the bronze medal finish on the last lap.
Six Shooter superstar Michael Yeaton stayed perfect on the summer, winning for the ninth time in as many tries Saturday but ended the night still only one catastrophe away from surrendering the points lead, as Garrett Barry was again second to finish the night just 33 points behind Yeaton.
Monadnock Speedway will roar back into action next Saturday, August 17, when JDV Productions presents the inaugural Super Street Summer Shootout on the high banks, pitting the best full-fendered racers in the region in a 50-lap, $1,000-to-win main event. The Mad Dog Modifieds will also be in action in this exciting six-division night of oval track racing. The post time is 6 p.m.
MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY AUGUST 10 TOP PERFORMERS
MAD DOG MODIFIEDS: Nate Wenzel, Trevor Bleau, Tyler Leary, JT Cloutier, Brad Zahensky, Ty LeClerc, Andy Major, Colton Martin, Kyle Boniface, Kevin Pittzinger.
SUPER STREETS: Chris Riendeau, Tim Wenzel, Zach Zilinski, Hillary Renaud, Robert Hagar, JD Stockwell, Trevor Rocke, Wes Stedt, Erik Smith, Leighton Lutz.
MINI STOCKS: Erin Aiken, Robert Williams, Julia Kendall, Louie Maher, Kevin Clayton, Eric Pomasko, Dylan Quinn.
PURE STOCKS: Andrea St. Amour, Chris Davis, Jimmy Zellman, Billy Graham, Teagan Edson, Chris Chambers, Owen Zilinski, Addison Brooks, Ron Burgess Jr, Carter Chamberlin.
MAD PUPS: Hunter Duquette, Markus O’Neil, Maya Bell, Jordan Gonyea, Sofia Rego, Haley Crestuk, Ella Grabowski, Carter Conroy.
INAUGURAL MAD DOG MASTERS CHALLENGE WINNING TEAM: Nate Wenzel, Tim Wenzel, Erin Aiken, Chris Chambers, Michael Yeaton.
Article Credit: Gary Dutton
