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By Adam Fenwick
NASCAR.com
(Photo: Armond Feffer/NASCAR)
For the third consecutive season, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers and teams will have the opportunity to race for bonus bucks as part of JDV Productions‘ Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup.
The program, created by JDV Productions founder Josh Vanada, features $20,000 in available bonus money this season. Headlining that is the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup point found, which features $6,000 to be distributed among the top three in points during the three-race miniseries held at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire.
Saturday’s Granite State Derby, the Duel at the Dog 250 on July 20 and the Winchester Fair on Sept. 21 make up the 2024 edition of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. Matt Hirschman won the 2022 edition of the Cup, and Doug Coby captured the 2023 crown.
Mods at Monadnock: Entries | Get Tickets
“This year, we changed the payout structure. We’re pumping more money into the teams,” said Vanada, who became the promoter of Monadnock Speedway prior to the 2024 season. “There are pit passes that are going to be credited to the teams so we can keep the teams coming back. That’s a change that was made. We made a change to the top-three payout, as well. Those are two of the bigger things. We also put some money into the 250-lap race that’s going to happen July 20, the Duel at the Dog 250.”
The program also features several unique bonuses, including a $250 Challenger Bonus that will be paid at each event to the highest finishing driver who competed in fewer than half of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events in 2023. A $1,000 bonus will be available to the driver who has the best average finish across all three events, and there is a $3,000 bonus available to any driver who can sweep all three races as part of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup.
In previous years, the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup was held at multiple tracks, but this year, all three events will be held at Monadnock. Vanada believes that gives him the unique ability to better promote not just the three-race series, but short-track racing as a whole.
“I think it gives us access to actually improve our promotion,” Vanada said. “Now we have access to use track social media channels in ways we haven’t in the past. We can have more time to dress things up around the facility and really increase the profile from top to bottom. It’s not like we’re coming in a day or two before the race. We’re there, and we can make a year-long investment into truly making these marquee stops on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.”
Vanada, in his first season as promoter at Monadnock, has put in the work to make the facility as welcoming as possible for competitors and fans.
For competitors, the speedway has received a fresh layer of asphalt on the racing surface for the first time since 1971. Fans will be greeted by updated bathrooms, as well as a new concession stand menu.
“I think you’re going to be able to see the competitors really go after it,” Vanada said about the new racing surface. “Of course, the beneficiary of that is going to be the fans.
“We encourage everyone to come out and enjoy it and take advantage of all the stuff we’ve done.”
Redraw procedure to shuffle the deck for competitors at Monadnock
Saturday’s Granite State Derby will feature the debut of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s redraw. The procedure will be utilized at select events on the 2024 schedule.
The rules for the redraw procedure are as follows:
During driver introductions, the winner of the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award will spin a wheel that will determine the number of drivers that will redraw for their starting positions. That number could be four, six, eight or 10.
NASCAR officials will have buckets ready to immediately begin the redraw process. Drivers will redraw in the order in which they qualified. For example, the pole winner will redraw first, followed by the second fastest qualifier, third fastest and so forth.
The pole position and/or any bonus point(s), if applicable, will be awarded to the fastest qualifier and will be the pole of record.
If, due to adverse conditions, qualifying is canceled, the field will be set in accordance with the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rule Book. The redraw procedure will still take place regardless of how the field is set.
However, pole awards and/or any bonus point(s), if applicable, will not be paid, if due to adverse conditions, the field is set in accordance with the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Rule Book.
This isn’t the first time the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has utilized a redraw. A similar procedure was last utilized during the 2010 season.
2022 Whelen Modified Tour champion Jon McKennedy returns
For the first time this season, 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Jon McKennedy will be in the field when the green flag waves Saturday evening at Monadnock Speedway.
McKennedy returns to the series for his 99th career start in his own No. 79. It’s the first of five Tour races McKennedy plans to enter this year. He also plans to race at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway (June 1), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (June 22), Monadnock (July 20) and Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (Aug. 14).
From Chelmsford, Massachusetts, McKennedy has two Modified Tour wins to his credit. His first victory came at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2018 while driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing. His second came at Claremont Motorsports Park during his championship season in 2022.
He most recently competed with the Modified Tour at Oswego Speedway last September. Piloting the No. 77 for team owner Mike Curb, McKennedy started sixth and finished seventh.
McKennedy has four previous Modified Tour starts at Monadnock with mixed results. In 2020 he started from the pole and led 61 laps before fading to a sixth-place finish. In his lone start at the track last year, he started 12th and marched through the field to finish second. He also has two finishes of 18th or worse at the quarter-mile track.
NOTES:
- Justin Bonsignore enters Saturday’s Granite State Derby as the winner of three of the last four races at Monadnock. He’s the winningest driver in series history at Monadnock with five wins, and another would tie Ted Christopher for third on the all-time series wins list.
- For the first time this season, Anthony Nocella will be in the field for a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event. The 2022 New Hampshire Motor Speedway winner has four previous starts with the series at Monadnock, including finishes of fourth and sixth.
- After last competing with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2021, Joey Cipriano III will be among those competing Saturday at Monadnock. He has five previous series starts, with four coming at Stafford Motor Speedway and one at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- Brian Robie enters the Granite State Derby with momentum after winning the opening race of the 2024 season at Monadnock Speedway on April 20. In his rookie season with the Whelen Modified Tour, Robie has a best finish of 12th at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. He finished eighth in the Whelen Modified Tour event at Monadnock last fall.
- For the first time this year, Timmy Solomito will take over driving duties of the No. 58 Goodie Motorsports entry. He is sharing driving duties of the No. 58 with his cousin, Eric Goodale, as the team pursues the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owners championship.
