Ben Byrne won the one he needed to at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, Saturday.
The Deerfield driver won his fourth NHSTRA Modified feature in week nine of the 2020 season at the high-banked oval.
Byrne is in third place with 362 points in the Modified championship points standings. He trails Brian Robie (426) and Trevor Bleau (378).
Byrne also led the first 58 go-rounds of the Tri-Track Open Modified Series big dance before giving way to Les Hinkley. He was one of six Monadnock weekly racing series drivers competing in both Modified events.
Other winners Saturday included Aaron Fellows for the eighth time this summer, Pure Stocker Damon Roy and Kevin Cormier, who earned his first Mini Stock victory lap. The Street Stocks had the night off.
Brian Chapin led the first nine laps of the NHSTRA Mod Squad 40-lapper, then gave way to Bleau. Kimmy Rivet moved up to second on lap 13, with Byrne charging hard from row four close behind.
Byrne rocketed into second on lap 16 and, for the next 15 laps, the crowd was awed by a two-car battle. Bleau and Byrne went wheel-to-wheel, lap after lap, first one shooting low to lead by a wheel and then the other returning the favor.
Byrne took the checkered flag, while Bleau earned the runner-up hardware. Points leader Robie took third from Todd Patnode on lap 37 to stay atop the standings.
In the Late Model Sportsman 25-lapper, Fellows took control on lap nine and then easily social distanced himself from the pack to score the win. Cole Littlewood was second and Camdyn Curtis came home third to earn his first trophy of the season.
Tim Leblanc set fast time over the first 11 laps of the Mini Stock main event, then watched Cormier storm past him and dart off to easily win his first feature race. Leblanc held strong for second with Kevin Clayton finishing third.
There were three different winners in the Pure Stock feature.
Rookie Jason Leray, the leader of laps one through six, earned his first trophy in third. Pure Stock points leader Mike Douglas, who led circuits 7-19, helped his pursuit of the championship by coming home second, and Roy, who won for the second week in row.
In the nightcap main event, Byrne, who was second in his earlier heat race, led the thundering 27-car field to the green to begin the Tri-Track 100.
He wasted little time taking the lead with Kirk Alexander behind him. Hinkley took the lead from Byrne after 58 laps, but a mistimed pit stop and then a cut tire kept him from victory lane.
Sam Rameau, 18, took the lead from Ron Silk on lap 72, and never looked back en route to the $6,000 payday.
Rameau, already a five-year veteran of Modified racing, survived two late-race restarts and a last-turn hit from Ronnie Williams to score the win.
Williams’ hit didn’t slow Rameau but it did reshape the final finish. Robie moved up through the tangle to finish second, while Silk was booted from third to eighth. Matt Hirschman was third, while Hinkley finished 11th.
Monadnock Speedway returns to action Saturday with an NHSTRA Modified Battle for The Cup main event atop a full card of racing.
Saturday’s results
Pure Stocks: Damon Roy, Mike Douglas, Jason Leray, Brandon Lavoie, Randall Phillips, Jimmy Zelllman, Doug Nelson, Cory Lofland, Nick Houle, Jakeb Bosse, JD Stockwell, Tucker Houle, Chris Davis, Reagan Buffum, Ryan Lawliss, Matt Lambert, Bruce Clark (DNS)
Mini Stocks: Kevin Cormier, Tim Leblanc, Kevin Clayton, Gordon Farnum, Ethan Marsh, Nathan Wenzel, Ray King, Kevin McKnight, Bill Chaffee, Jeff Asselin, Shelby Avery, Kevin Russell, Joshua Wright, Jake Puchalski
Late Model Sportsman: Aaron Fellows, Cole Littlewood, Camdyn Curtis, Robert Hagar, Justin Littlewood, Will Kuhn, Nancy Muni-Ruot
NHSTRA Modifieds: Ben Byrne, Trevor Bleau, Brian Robie, Todd Patnode, Matt Kimball, Keith Carzello, Kim Rivet, Brian Chapin, Solomon Brow, Stewart McCormack, Cameron Houle, Andy Major, Kevin Pittsinger, Eric Leclair, Cory Plummer, Brad Zahensky, Jason Houle (DNS)