MONADNOCK SPEEDWAY hosts the Granite State Pro Stock Series John Hoyt Memorial 100 Saturday in remembrance of the former Valenti Modified Series official who, along with Series president Mike Parks, was the driving force behind the latest effort to keep Pro Stock racing going in the region.

Monadnock has a weekly Mini Stock division currently headed up by three young women. We're not talking powder puff. Kim Rivet of Chicopee, Mass., Beth Adams of North Swanzey and Julia Raymond of Bernardston, Mass., are 1-2-3 in the championship points chase and have seven feature wins between them.

Rivet started out racing go-karts at Whip City, the now-defunct dirt track where Erin Crocker's (Mrs. Ray Evernham) career began. She raced Enduros at Monadnock and is now in her fifth full season as a Mini Stock (Mustangs, Merkurs, VW's). She pilots the Meadows Motor Car No.99, the division's lone Toyota. Rivet credits her dad Ron and Gary Moore with keeping the car up to speed week in and week out.

“After three wins, you start behind all the other qualified cars, but that's okay,” Rivet said. “I've never had the fastest lap time, but Beth and I both like the higher line and we do pretty well.”

Adams, 25, cut her teeth in Enduros as a Murdock High School junior. She drives the Waxy O'Connor's Restaurant No. 87. “I wanted my dad's old number, 28, but it was taken, so I went with the year I was born.”

Monadnock is known for having two distinct sets of turns. Adams has opted to focus on turns 3 and 4. “It's more complicated,” she said. “I don't worry about 1 and 2, they have more banking.”

“The guys don't treat us any differently,” Adams added. “We're all just out there racing.”

Julia Raymond's grandfather, Roger Raymond, raced anything with four wheels, fenders or no fenders, especially if it was orange with the No. 62 and sponsored by Ford dealer John C. Stewart. The 21-year-old Franklin Pierce student is a previous Monadnock Enduro champion.

“I won from the pole on opening day — they couldn't get by me,” Raymond said. “Now I'm chasing Kim and Beth. We've never been 1-2-3 yet. That would be fun.” Raymond's ride is the No. 62, of course, sponsored by Raymond's Repair, Summit Ice and Bond Auto Parts.

Presently, Rivet leads Adams 520-496. Raymond sits third at 456.

Mike Parks, who competes in the Granite State Pro Stock Series is hoping for 24-26 cars Saturday. “These cars are pretty close to Pro All-Star Series (PASS) cars, 10” slicks, 500 HP, 2 barrel carb etc.,” he said. “I was very happy with our race at Hudson and Bob Webber was too. They had one of their biggest crowds in years.”

“Putting this series together was John's dream,” Parks said. “We decided to do a memorial race as our little tribute for him.”

Fifteen year-old Derek Griffith of Hudson and Alvirne High School is one of the entries. Griffith came out of the Thunder Lite ranks at Hudson Speedway. He drives the No. 12 for Louie Mechalides' LCM Racing. “Derek finished second in his first race (Monadnock in May),” his father and crew chief John said. “He started 6th, got spun out twice and came back through.”

Mike O'Sullivan won the David's 106 opener at Monadnock. Point leader Bobby Cabral of East Kingston came out on top at Hudson. Other likely contenders this weekend include Barry Gray, owner of the aforementioned Meadows Motor Cars dealership, Fran Colson, Parks and Geoff Rollins of Groton, Mass.

Lee USA took a rainout last week that has juggled their schedule as noted on their web site. Next week, the seacoast oval brings in the ISMA Supermodifieds for the Ollie Silva Classic. Part of the crowd that night will be comprised of that special breed of race fans who attend karaoke night at Bentley's Saloon in Arundel, Maine, Thursday and still manage to resurface at Lee the next day.

On Track This Week
-Thunder Road (Vt.): Thurs. 6:30 p.m.
- Canaan Dirt: Fri. 7 p.m.
- Lee USA: Fri. 7:15 p.m.
- Stafford (Conn): Fri. 6 p.m.
- Bear Ridge (Vt.): Sat. 6 p.m.
- Canaan Asphalt: Sat. 6 p.m.
- Monadnock: Sat. 6 p.m.
- Riverside Speedway: Sat. 6 p.m.
- Star Speedway: Sat. 6 p.m.
- Twin St. Monster Trucks: Sat. 2 & 6 p.m.
- White Mountain: Sat 6 p.m.
- Legion Speedway: Sun 5 p.m.
- Hudson Speedway: Sun 6 p.m.

Tom Herzig's “Trackside'' column appearas weekly in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email him at tomherzig@hormail.com