|
McKennedy Wins
Firecracker 100 at Monadnock
Winchester, NH. – Defending Valenti Modified
Racing Series Champion
Jon McKennedy of E. Chelmsford, MA., took
the lead on lap 64 and went on to
win the 8th annual “Firecracker
100” Saturday night, July 2, at Monadnock
Speedway, Winchester, NH. The win was
McKennedy’s first of the season,
his first at Monadnock, and his 12thcareer
victory with the series.
McKennedy also becomes a guaranteed starter
for the prestigious “Ricky’s Race
For Kids,” July 16, at Canaan Fair Speedway,
Canaan, NH. That race carries a
$36,500 purse.
Pole-sitter Lou Mechalides, of Tyngsboro,
MA.,took the early lead yielding the
top spot to three-time series champion Kirk
Alexander, Swanzey, NH., on lap
eight. Alexander, a six-time winner of the
race, set a torrid pace and appeared to be
enroute to his fifth consecutive win.
Starting seventh in a 23-car field,
defending series champion McKennedy
methodically worked his way to the front
moving to fifth by lap five, third
on lap 40, second on lap 52, and the lead on
lap 64.
“I owe a lot to the guys that work on this
car. Three laps into our first practice we
blew the rear end, we had to replace the
whole drive line, the guys did an awesome
job. I knew in the early stages of the race
we had a good car,” told the large holiday
crowd.
McKennedy’s strategy of slowly progressing
to the front worked according to plan.
“At lap 40 he (Alexander) was a few cars
ahead of me and I thought he was just riding
around,” he said. “I did not use a lot of
car to get to second. He looked like he was
tight in the corners, the restart helped me,
my car seemed to get better, its feels good
to beat Kirk, he’s the King of this place.”
Alexander settled for second, Les Hinckley
III, Windsor Locks, CT., made a late
race charge to finish third, with Rowan
Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, PA., and Rob
Goodenough, Swanzey, rounding out the top
five.
Sixth through tenth were, Dwight Jarvis,
Ascutney, VT., Mike Holdridge, Madison, CT.,
Chris Pasteryak, Lisbon, CT., Jim Boniface,
Winchester, and Max Zachem, Preston, CT.
The race, slowed by three caution flags, was
completed in 40 minutes.
23 race teams entered the event, 17 cars
were running at the conclusion,
14 on the lead lap.
Russ Hersey, Swanzey, McKennedy, and
Pasteryak won qualifying races.
Race Summary:
Race #
Monadnock Speedway, Winchester, NH
Distance: 100
laps
Time of Race:
40:19:792
Margin of
Victory: 1.995
Best Lap
Time: 12.669 (Jim Boniface))
Best Speed:
71.040 (Boniface)
Lead Changes:
3
Lap Leaders:
Mechalides; (1-7) Alexander (8 –63)
McKennedy (64-100)
Cautions: Lap
17, 39,61
Order of
Finish: (1) McKennedy (2) Alexander, (3)
Hinckley (4) Pennink (5) Goodenough (6)
Jarvis (7) Holdridge (8) Pasteryak, (9)
Boniface (10) Zachem (11) Patnode (12)
Mechalides (13) Wrenn (14) Perry (15) Dore
(16) McClay (17) Hersey (18) Doucette (19)
Masse (20) Jordan (21) Norton (22) Annarummo
(23) Bateman |
