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LES HINCKLEY WINS THE "VICTOR JOHNSON 100"
VMRS RACE AT MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY
And So The Story
Goes!
by
Denise DuPont |
 The
‘Victor Johnson Memorial 100’ race was one of the
best story lines that anyone could have wished for.
Les Hinckley missed most of the 2015 race season due
to medical issues. He decided to return to racing at
his home track, Monadnock Speedway, where he knows
what has to be done to get to Victory Lane. . He
fought off the challenges of point leader Woody
Pitkat and then runner up in the points, Todd
Patnode to go forward and take the victory at the
“Dog”.
There were only two brief cautions around mid-race.
So with little down time, drivers were driven by
their passion to compete hard for the victory. With
the modified’s thunder echoing off the mountains,
tension on the track’s close quarters continued to
build bringing up the night’s excitement up a notch.
The final laps click off quickly and fans were
brought to their feet as the chase to the front
unfolded. It looked as though the race could have
been anyone’s but Hinckley held on to be the victor.
 With the luck of the draw Les Hinckley of Windsor
Locks, Ct., started the ‘Victor John Memorial 100’
Valenti Modified Racing Series (VMRS) feature race
on the pole. “We normally do not draw good and
tonight we ended up on the pole. It just worked out
well for us. Woody got by me early on. Then it
looked like he was getting loose so I put the
pressure on him and as I did our car came back to us
and never went away,” stated Hinckley.
“I knew that Todd (Patnode) had a good car and that
he has as much if not more experience here than I
do. We have done a lot of battles in the past here,
so I knew that I was not going to be able to just
drive away from him,” stated Hinckley.” I also knew
that he had a good car and I had to move. I was not
nervous about it and just drove the best that I
could with him running right behind me in second, I
would much rather have had a straight away lead on
him and I didn’t. So now the story book is better!
“This has been a tough couple of years for us. We
lost my car owner, Chuck (Montville) and this is his
program and it will always be his program. There is
nothing we have changed to his car. The numbers are
the same, the color is the same…. So this one is for
Chuckie and also for my family. I just cannot say
enough for all the guys that help me, my family, my
wife, my dad, and all the crew guys. It is just
unreal”.
 Todd Patnode from Richmond, NH, came on strong at
the end of the race ready to challenge for the top
position. He started the race fifth and maintained a
position in the top five throughout the race just
waiting for the right time to make his move for the
lead. With ten to go, he passed Woody Pitkat for
second and turned up the heat on the leader. In the
end he completed his night in the runner up spot,
second.
The car was good tonight,” Patnode stated. “We got a
little free around lap 46 so we had to kind of
conserve a little bit and hope that we had something
in the end. This is the best that we have had the
car all year. We are really happy with our finish,
“confessed Patnode. “The guys did a great job
preparing it. We tried to save it but we need just a
whisker more.”
Finishing in the runner up spot, Patnode closed the
gap a bit between himself and point leader Pitkat as
their chase for the VMRS championship continues into
the end of the race season.
Russ Hersey of Swanzey, NH, began the race in
fifteenth and had to make his way through the field
to catch the leaders. With a lot of laps on the
track, he used his experience to pass cars one at a
time until he broke into the top five with
twenty-five circuits to go. Once there, he made his
presence known and with less than eight to go was in
the top three. He kept the heat on the front two
driver’s to the end finishing in the podium spot.
‘We have been sneaking a little bit up on then each
week and I have started to get a little better
handle on the car,” said Russ Hersey. “We had back
luck on the draw and had to start deep in the field
and we had to use up a lot of the right rear tire
getting up to the front. Lapped traffic was pretty
heavy but it was a good race. “
“Todd (Patnode) and I always run well together and
things were pretty reminiscent with Les, Todd and I
down here. It brought back memories.” Hersey said at
the end of the race.” I would like to say that the
whole night is for the Johnson family and Victor
Johnson. He is always in our minds when we strap
into our cars here.”
With their final visit to the Monadnock Speedway now
in the books, the VMRS teams will move to Maine and
the bullring at Oxford Plains Speedway as the VMRS
modifieds join the 42nd annual ‘Oxford 250’ race
weekend schedule next weekend.
Notes from
Monadnock Speedway:
Monadnock Speedway is one of the smallest tracks
that the VMRS modified drivers’ race on. It has some
of the closest, tightest, fastest racing that you
are going to see anywhere. And before you know it
the leaders are lapping traffic. One has to wonder
how smooth the maneuvering in through the field will
be. The leaders on Saturday night did not appear to
have any issues getting the job done.
Les Hinckley
“Lapped traffic gets a lot of blame all the time for
the stuff that happens on the race track but I have
to give them credit. There was not a moment tonight
where they did not show there respect to the leader.
Every time that I got to them, even when they were
racing side by side, they made a hole and let the
guy on the outside get in. and you cannot ask for
anything more than that. When it is not your night
that is what you do. I have been in that situation
before and you are not supposed to mess with the
leaders.”
Hinckley has not been
able to race this year due to medical issues and
surgery that he needed to get done. With all that
behind him now he was able to return racing this
week at his home track in the familiar yellow #06.
Les Hinckley
“The doctors cleared me to race a month ago and
there were a couple of races between then and now
but I just did not want to come back until the race
was here.” Les Hinckley stated about returning to
racing at his home track. “I cannot race all the
time because I am not in the best financial position
to run all the time. So I did not want to jeopardize
things and I waited to come back here to race.
Chuckie (Chuck Montville) loved this place. This was
his favorite race track. I have won a ton of races
here and a championship in a pro Stock. So I just
wanted to come back here.”
Victor Johnson drove the #5 modified in the VMRS
series. In 2011, Victor Johnson lost his life in a
house fire. In honor of Johnson’s heroic act, Lisa
Patnode, wife of Todd Patnode, pulled together an
effort to add additional race payoff monies to the
race through lap sponsorship. Her work paid off with
$7,000 collected. “This is a very special race to
me,” explained Patnode. “Victor Johnson was a very
special person. I wanted more for this race this
year. Knowing I had to fill 100 spots was a cool
challenge but I also wanted to incorporate something
else. I came up with the idea of the ‘Johnson Laps’.
So on every fifth lap, I chose a position in the
field that will also receive $25.”
“The efforts that the Patnodes put in with the
Victor Johnson Memorial lap money it just all made
sense to come here. It just all worked out well. I
am sure Chuckie was looking down after us. This is
also the first time that my boys were both went to
victory lane. I am happy that they both were part of
it. And I am sure that it is something they will
remember the rest of their life.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont /
TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
August 22, 2015 |
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