The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway for the third and final time this season for the “Winchester Fair.” The first two races at Monadnock have given us surprise winners in Jake Johnson and Trevor Catalano, so what does this Saturday evening have in store for us? We’ll find out soon enough, but first, let’s break down the entry list.

This is the first time we’ll put him in the headliner spot, but due to his win in July we have to put young Trevor Catalano here. Catalano’s win on the Monadnock high-banks shocked just about everybody in the Modified world and beyond. His surprise win was even the talk of the pit area at Langley Speedway’s Hampton Heat that evening. Catalano didn’t just win, though. He went out there and spanked all the big dogs that nigh. Catalano beat defending champion Ron Silk by .254-second after leading the final 56 laps of that evening’s 250-lap showdown. Catalano’s victory is an all-time upset, but we’re sure it won’t be his last NWMT win either.

Speaking of Silk, the man Catalano out-paced for the victory in July, he’s the next man on our list to spotlight. Silk is fresh off a victory at a different quarter-mile bullring last weekend. Silk outmuscled Justin Bonsignore on Bonsignore’s home turf at Riverhead Raceway to sweep the season at “The ‘Head.” However, the two-time champion is still searching for his first victory at Monadnock. He’s come close, after all he just finished second after leading 51 laps here back in July, but Silk has surprisingly never been able to seal the deal at “The Mad Dog.” In fact, this track almost derailed Silk’s championship season last year when he crashed twice in one race late in the year last season. A victory on Saturday, which would be Silk’s fifth of the year, would go a long way towards him securing his second championship in a row and third of his career.

But to win on Saturday night, Silk will have to fend off a hungry, and presumably angry Justin Bonsignore. Bonsignore and Silk made heavy contact on a late-race restart while fighting for the win last week at Riverhead, and that contact broke Bonsignore’s left-front suspension. He had to limp his No. 51 Ken Massa Motorsports machine to a 15th-place finish. Bonsignore entered Riverhead with a five-point lead. He left Riverhead with a five-point deficit. But fortunately for Bonsignore, Monadnock is another one of those very strong tracks for him. The three-time champion has five victories at Monadnock throughout his career, though he hasn’t won here since June of 2022. But unfortunately for Bonsignore, he hasn’t scored at top five in either of the two races held here this season since the repave. Bonsignore finished sixth in May, and seventh in July. He’ll definitely need a top five finish to gain back some of the points he lost to Silk last weekend.

Along with Bonsignore and Silk, the driver to watch for this week is Northampton, Pennsylvania’s Matt Hirschman. Amazingly, Hirschman is still looking for his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory at Monadnock, even though he’s been a dominator of “Open Modified” competition at just about every track in New Hampshire. Hirschman has finished second and third and never outside the top 10 in all seven prior starts at Monadnock Speedway. Hirschman finished fifth here back in May and was fourth in July.

Hirschman was also the inaugural champion of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup in 2022, which is a “championship within a championship” put on by Monadnock Speedway promoter, Josh Vanada and his JDV Productions company. This year, the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup will be contested entirely at Monadnock Speedway. The champion will be whoever scores the most points across the three Monadnock races.

Speaking of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup, those points standings are currently led by Patrick Emerling by an extremely narrow margin. Emerling leads the aforementioned Hirschman by just three points entering Sunday’s finale thanks to back-to-back third-place finishes at each of the prior races at Monadnock. Emerling has never won at Monadnock, but he’s been riding a wave of momentum thanks to back-to-back wins at Thompson Speedway and Oswego Speedway in August. 

Silk sits third in Granite State Short Track Cup points, four back of Emerling, and Bonsignore is currently eight points back of Emerling. Austin Beers is in contention just six points back, and Craig Lutz is tied with Bonsignore at an eight-point deficit to Emerling. July’s winner, Trevor Catalano, is nine points back of Emerling and could potentially swoop in and steal the bonus money. 

Saturday’s “Winchester Fair” at Monadnock Speedway is scheduled to go green at 6 p.m. ET live exclusively on FloRacing to FloRacing subscribers. Race fans can become a FloRacing subscriber by clicking here.

2024 NWMT "Winchester Fair" At Monadnock Speedway Entry List