Pretty soon, Monadnock Speedway promoters may have to offer a bonus to anyone who can beat Tyler Leary.
The Hatfield driver prevailed for the third week in a row last Saturday in the NHSTRA Modified division at the Winchester, N.H., bullring. And for the third week in a row, Leary didn’t just win, he was dominant.
Despite only having six cars in the field, Leary was stout in beating Deerfield’s Ben Byrne to the finish line of the 30-lap feature. Granby’s Nathan Wenzel was third, completing an all-Western Mass. podium. Leary leads the points standings by 10 over Byrne and 14 over Wenzel.
For the second week in a row, Orange’s Cole Littlewood was the class of the field in the Late Model Sportsman class. He took the lead on lap four of the 25-lapper and held off the hard-charging Curtis brothers from Rutland — Chase and Jaret — to secure his second checkered flag of the season. His brother Justin Littlewood was fifth. Cole Littlewood also won the previous Sunday at Hudson (N.H.) Speedway. Cole is second in points, 10 behind leader Ryan Currier, with Justin four points behind him.
Of the four drivers in the Young Guns field, three were from Franklin County — led by Zach Zilinski of Gill. He led the whole way in the 15-lap event, earning his second win of the season ahead of Dominick Stafford of Millers Falls. Zilinski’s brother Owen was fourth.
The biggest turnout of the night belonged to the Pure Stocks, which saw 16 of the 18 entries take the green flag for the feature. Kyle Robinson Newell led all 25 laps to take his third straight victory, with J.D. Stockwell of Turners Falls giving chase. Stockwell settled for another podium finish. Zach Zilinski and Stafford did double duty, finishing seventh and 11th, respectively. Greenfield’s Jimmy Zellmann was 10th, and Northfield’s Mike Douglas was 14th.
In the Street Stock division, Kenny Thompson started on the front row in the feature and stayed there all 25 laps to hold off Holyoke’s Tim Wenzel for his first career victory. Thompson’s previous best was second last July 24. Keith Johnson of Winchendon was third.
The low-cost Six Shooters division made its season debut at Monadnock with Joe Fraser leading the whole way in the 25-lap event.
Last Sunday’s scheduled ACT/PASS event was canceled due to inclement weather. Track and series officials are working on a possible makeup date.
Doug Coby again filled in for Jimmy Blewett in the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7NY in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Granite State Derby last Saturday at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway. And just like the previous week at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, Coby emerged victorious. The six-time Tour champion held off Jon McKennedy on an overtime restart to secure his 33rd career victory.
Coby returns to action tonight, but not on the Tour. He will strap into his No. 10 Mayhew Tools-sponsored Modified for an open race at Claremont (N.H.) Motorsports Park. The Racing Guys 100 will pay $15,000 to win. And since there’s that much money on the line, Matt Hirschman — the king of open Modified racing — is on the entry list, seeking another large payday.
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.