7/21/2024
Monadnock Speedway
Teen Trevor Catalano Tops Whelen Mod 250 at Monadnock
TEEN TREVOR CATALANO TOPS WHELEN MOD 250 AT MONADNOCK
Monadnock Speedway Saturday, July 20, event story
By Gary Dutton
WINCHESTER, N.H. – For the second time this season, fans watched a young NASCAR Whelen Modified Series driver score his first career victory Saturday at Monadnock Speedway.
Saturday, with a huge crowd on hand at the storied high-banked speedplant, 17-year-old Trevor Catalano, the youngest of three Ontario, N.Y. brothers in the starting line-up for the 250-lap third annual Duel at The Dog main event, scored his family’s first-ever series win, a quest they’ve pursued since 2018.
Midget racing sensation Randy Cabral earned a victory lap of his own Saturday, Erin Aiken too. Trent Goodrow rocked the NEMA Lites, and while 21-year-old hometrack Modified whiz Nate Wenzel might have been disappointed with his finish in the Duel, he could hold his head high after topping the night’s Mad Dog Modified 40-lapper.
Mad Pup Hunter Duquette won his second feature event of the season, as did Pro Truck Challenge ace Todd Taylor who stayed perfect on the summer here on the high banks by scoring his second victory in as many tries.
But while there was good news aplenty Saturday night at Monadnock Speedway, the big buzz in the packed grandstands was over the youthful Catalano’s dash to victory, and how his team’s deft pit stop decision with 71 laps to go allowed him to lead the final 55 go-rounds, most of them with veteran Modified star Ron Silk draped all over him.
Austin Beers set fast time in qualifying, blistering the quarter-mile oval in 11.619 seconds, with a top-ten redraw then placing super star Craig Lutz on the pole, with dynamic Matt Hirschman blasting off from right beside him.
The pair would race under a blanket for the first 77 laps, with Lutz inching ahead only to have Hirschman reel him back in. Through three restarts, they were the best of the best. But then Silk turned on the rockets, taking second on lap 77 and then blasting low through turn three to take control on lap 99.
While Silk and potent Patrick Emerling, both major players here back in May when Jake Johnson won the third annual Granite State Derby, may have had the fastest cars, the race would be ultimately decided by Team Catalano’s shrewd pit strategy.
When the caution waved on lap 179 as Tim Connolly’s ride coasted to a stop, all but three cars chose to pit for new rubber. Catalano took the risk, and it paid huge dividends.
Back under green, the 17-year-old hot shoe made short work of dropping Kyle Bonsignore to second and, from there, over the final 55 laps, held the sizzling Silk in his shadow to score the big win. Silk tried every move in his vast arsenal, but the teen was perfect, earning his family’s first Whelen victory as the large crowd cheered on.
With Silk and Emerling finishing second and third. Hirschman and Kyle Bonsignore completed the top five. Former Monadnock regular Matt Kimball, as high as fifth during the 250, came home eighth.
JT Cloutier and Nate Wenzel led the Mad Dog Modifieds to the green to start their night’s 40-lap main event. Colton Martin and Kimmy Rivet were close behind, with upstart Ty LeClerc – like Martin, a phenom at only 15 – firing from back in row five.
Former track kingpin Tyler Leary, the current Mad Dog points leader, got up for second on lap 16, riding in Wenzel’s shadow the rest of the way before settling for second in the high speed blanket finish. LeClerc, unknown to almost everyone in the huge crowd before Saturday, put his name in lights with the night’s third-place finish.
Derrick Robbie led the first 27 laps of the NEMA Midget main event, gunning for his first series victory. But, with the race’s only caution, came Randy Cabral, with the “sorry, not tonight kid” message. Cabral won his second NEMA feature of the season, Avery Stoehr was second, and Robbie settled for third.
In the NEMA Lites 40-lapper, Trent Goodrow took the lead from Brayden Eagan on lap four and never looked back. Points leader Kyle Valeri firing from scratch on the field after a heat race crash, stormed through the pack for second, just ahead of Paul Scally.
Continuing her almost total domination of the 2024 Mini Stock division, Erin Aiken won with ease in both her heat and feature Saturday, winning for the fifth time this summer. Louie Maher and Kevin Clayton rounded out the top three. It was Aiken’s second win of the weekend, coming a day after her Six Shooter victory at another track.
Mad Pup Maya Bell was well on her way to the glory of her first career win Saturday. But when her car shut down on lap ten, Hunter Duquette took command and sped off to his second victory of the summer. Sofia Rego scored a season-best second, and Bell rebounded for third.
With a few of the kids not getting along well, it took two segments to get the Pro Truck Challenge 55-lapper into the books. Undaunted, Todd Taylor led every lap but one en route to his second win of the season at the Winchester speedplant. Close behind, Nicholas Frechette came home second.
Monadnock Speedway returns to action next Saturday, July 27, when JDV Productions presents the second round of its NASCAR Weekly Racing Series 2024 Triple Crown series, featuring the Mad Dog Modifieds, the sizzling Super Streets, and six more exciting divisions of racing. Post time is 6 p.m.
WHELEN MODIFIED SERIES DUEL AT THE DOG TOP TEN: Trevor Catalano, Ron Silk, Patrick Emerling, Matt Hirschman, Kyle Bonsignore, Woody Pitkat, Justin Bonsignore, Matt Kimball, Tommy Catalano, Austin Beers.
JDV MAD DOG MODIFIED: Nate Wenzel, Tyler Leary, Ty LeClerc, Kimmy Rivet, Colton Martin, Kevin Pittsinger, Brad Zahensky, Eric Leclair, Trevor Bleau, Dallas Trombley.
MINI STOCK: Erin Aiken, :Louie Maher, Kevin Clayton, Eric Pomasko, Reagan Buffum.
MAD PUP: Hunter Duquette, Sofia Rego, Maya Bell, Ella Grabowski, Markus O’Neil.
Article Credit: Gary Dutton
Submitted By: Taylor Pelletier
