0
0
By Jeff Brown, for Granite State Pro Stock Series
WALPOLE, N.H. – The “Dog Days of Summer” are in full swing, and the Granite State Pro Stock Series takes it to heart this Saturday evening at Monadnock Speedway.
For the first time since 2022, the GSPSS will grace the Winchester, N.H. speedway for the Keen Parts 100, the preamble to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s Duel At The Dog 200.
The tough quarter-mile bullring dubbed “Mad Dog” has a rich history with the GSPSS, hosting sixteen bouts on the high banks since 2012. Barry Gray, the 2016 GSPSS champion, leads the series with four wins at Monadnock. Two-time champion Mike O’Sullivan and former national prospect Matt Frahm are tied with three wins apiece. Also owning a Monadnock victory is GSPSS president Mike Parks, who picked up his sole win as a series driver in 2016.
Veteran racer D.J. Shaw, the winner of last week’s McGee Automotive 125 at Claremont Motorsports Park, was the victor in Monadnock’s most recent GSPSS showdown in 2022. But Shaw’s hectic racing schedule will take him elsewhere this weekend. Add that to a repave since the last GSPSS visit, and the door is wide open for a fresh face to celebrate on the frontstretch.
But experience may still factor into the outcome. Adam Gray, Barry’s son and a successful weekly racer in Connecticut, returns to the GSPSS for the first time since 2023, having finished fifth at Monadnock in a 2021 start. Three-time winner Frahm is now the regular spotter for Cory Casagrande, and the Nutmeg State native will surely be picking Frahm’s brain for pointers around Monadnock.
Late Model veteran Tom Carey III plans to make his GSPSS debut this weekend; his father, a veteran of the NASCAR Busch North Series, has plenty of his own laps in weekly competition at Monadnock.
Massachusetts racer Joe Kendall and Vermont’s Cam Curtis, both coming off strong results at Claremont, are planning to put their weekly division experience at Monadnock to the test Saturday evening as well. Westfield, Mass., teammates Jeremy Sorel and Alex Quarterley have one of their shorter road trips of 2025 in store, with Sorel racing a chassis sourced from 2017 Monadnock winner Josh King.
Veteran Eddie MacDonald is back with GSPSS after a podium performance at Hudson Speedway, but the tight confines of Monadnock are a new challenge for “The Outlaw.” Bobby Baillargeon has a pair of GSPSS starts at Monadnock, but his last came in 2012.
For most of the series regulars, though, “Mad Dog” is a brand new experience. Points leader Evan Beaulieu has never been to Monadnock as a fan or driver. Cole Robie, fourteen markers behind Beaulieu in the standings, won a Legends feature last year, but has never seen the track from the cockpit of a stock car. Reigning champion Casey Call is 44 points back of Beaulieu, hoping to recapture the glory of his fifth-place finish there in 2020 after a challenging season so far.
The novelty continues for Riverside Speedway winner Ryan Green, Dan Winter, Maine’s Josh St. Clair and first-year competitor Connor McDougal, all of whom have ample bullring experience but precious little time around Monadnock.
With a wide range of experience around the oval, the stage is set not only for a first-time Monadnock winner, but quite possibly a first-time GSPSS feature winner. And Saturday’s winner shares the stage with NASCAR’s oldest division, one of the East Coast’s most thrilling shows on pavement.
Monadnock Speedway and JDV Productions welcome the Granite State Pro Stock Series as part of this weekend’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour doubleheader at the Winchester, N.H. quarter-mile. Saturday’s program is headlined by the NWMT Duel At The Dog 200, featuring the GSPSS Keen Parts 100 and rounding out the day’s itinerary with a 55-lap Pro Truck Challenge feature. Grandstands open at 2:00pm with a post time of 6:00pm. General admission seats are $40, kids 7-12 are just $10 and children under 6 are free, with family packs and two-day tickets available as well.
For more information on the Granite State Pro Stock Series, visit www.gspss.net or find us on Facebook and Instagram.
