It’s time to drop the green flag on the 2022 racing season with this weekend’s two-day Spring Dash at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H.
On Saturday, three of the track’s regular divisions (Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks) will compete, along with NELCAR, Pro Trucks and the headlining Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series (formerly Tri-Track Open Modified Series). The Tri-Trackers will compete in a 100-lap feature with $10,000 at stake for the winner.
Sunday will see Monadnock’s NHSTRA Modifieds compete in the Whitcomb 125, along with races featuring New England Dwarf Cars, Young Guns and Late Model Sportsmen.
One of the favorites for Saturday’s Tri-Track event comes to Monadnock riding a tremendous wave of momentum. Matt Hirschman won the 50th Spring Sizzler last weekend at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, banking around $24,000 in the process. The Pennsylvania hotshoe engaged in a tremendous battle with former NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Preece over the closing laps to emerge victorious. They call Hirschman “Big Money Matt” for a reason, as his resume includes numerous wins in these types of open Modified events with large purses.
Chase Dowling won the last Tri-Track event at Monadnock last August and will be looking for his sixth career Tri-Track win — second behind Hirschman’s 14. However, several Monadnock regulars — like Deerfield’s Ben Byrne — will aim to defend their home turf against the touring specialists.
The Tri-Trackers will go green at approximately 8:15 p.m. Saturday. The official show begins at 5 with heat races for the various divisions.
Sunday’s Whitcomb 125 features many of the weekly regulars of the NHSTRA Modified division — a series that encompasses several New Hampshire short tracks. This is the second big race in as many weeks for the series, as Matt Kimball prevailed in last week’s 100-lapper at Claremont Motorsports Park. The Whitcomb 125 is set to go green around 4:45 p.m. Sunday, with the full show starting at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available at monadnockspeedway.com.
Turners Falls teen J.D. Stockwell started his season in the best way possible, winning his heat and then taking the checkered flag in the Pure Stock division at Claremont. Stockwell, who turned 15 Wednesday, picked up his second career win at the track in the neon green No. 45 machine. He is looking to break through to Victory Lane at Monadnock come Saturday. Last season, Stockwell finished third in the points in the Pure Stocks at Monadnock.
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