Patnode Sweeps Daddy's Pizza Twin Features

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

 Todd Patnode (Swanzey,N.H.) driving the Rusty Ball owned modified raced to both victories of the Claremont double features Friday Sept. 8

   

   Sponsored by Daddy's Pizza, the start of feature number one had Brian Robie (Claremont N.H.) and Brandee Tree (Nottingham,N.H.) sharing the front row.

Robie sped out to the initial lead with Patnode coming from row two to follow in Robie's tire tracks, but a lap 12 restart had Patnode taking over the point and raced on to his first Claremont victory of the year.

   Up and coming young driver Dylan Rock (Enfield, N.H.) made his presents know starting mid pack and charging to third place until his adventure ended stuffed against the front stretch wall severely dam
aging his machine on lap 15.

   After experiencing rear suspension problems in his heat race Russ Hersey (Swanzey, N.H.) started in the last row and by the halfway mark he raced pass Robie putting himself on Patnode's rear bumper. Hersey's bid for victory ended on lap 24 when another suspension part failed and Hersey came to a halt on the back stretch. This handed the runner up spot back to Robie with 3 time winner Dana Smith (Sunapee, N.H.) and Nick Salva (Cheshire, CT.) closing quickly.

   Patnode ran out the last 6 laps in the lead while he watched Robie, Smith and Salva battle for the runner up position in his rear view mirror. At the checkers it was a freight train finish with Patnode leading Robie, Smith and Salva. Fifteen year old Sammy Rameau (Westminster,MA.) rounded out the top 5.

   Six yellow flags kept the competitors tightly packed throughout the event.

   When the second feature event took to the 1/3 mile oval the starting field was inverted from the first 30 lap finish.

   Brandee Tree and Chris Bolton (Weare,N.H.) charged off turn 4 to the green with Bolton leading the first 5 laps but the first of 4 yellow flags changed the complexion of the race as Patnode wasted no time and took command on the restart holding the rest at bay until 15 year old Sammy Rameau overpowered Patnode to become the new race leader on lap 16. A lap 18 spin by Salva slowed the action briefly and on the restart officials deemed Rameau jumped the start and was sent to the rear. Rameau's team disagreed with the officials call and decided to park their car instead of taking up the rear of the field. This handed the lead back to Patnode who ran out the remaining laps at the point with Dana Smith second. Salva recovered from his spin to finish 3rd.

   Chris Bolton turned in an impressive performance to finish 4th and Mark Cole was 5th.

   Patnode's two victories gave him the overall points lead for the event. Finishing 3rd in the first feature and 2nd in the last one gave Dana Smith second place overall. Nick Salva had a 4th and 3rd to pick up the 3rd podium spot.

The Racing Guys invited tour type Modifieds who have raced in the Tri-Track Open Modified Series in 2016/2017 to race at this event.

In addition to the Claremont racing purse, bonus money was awarded to the top 5 Tri Track Open Modified Series driver, who in this case was Dana Smith.

In addition to the bonus money a trophy was presented.

It was also the night to honor Dwight Jarvis. A crash in a previous race kept the champion from driving, but a nice plaque was presented to a humble Dwight.

Heat winners, Dylan Rock, Jeff Murray

Total results for the two features;

1----20-Todd Patnode

2----14-Dana Smith

3----44-Nick Salva

4----16-Mark Cole

5----25-Brian Robie

6----84-Brandee Tree

7----63-Chris Bolton

8----8-Chris Jenson

9----88-Russ Hersey

10--3-Jeff Murray

11--13-Cameron Sontag

12--47-Dylan Rock

13--6-Sammy Rameau  

Story by James Snape

photos by Simply the Best,  Crystal Snape