The Sprint Cars of New England have a big weekend coming up.

It’s Triple Crown time with back-to-back events at Canaan Dirt on Friday, Bear Ridge on Saturday and Legion Speedway on Sunday.

Last Friday at Canaan, Matt Robie of Hill came out on top. Clay Dow of Barnstead is the “Winged Warriors” leader, seven points up on defending champion Dan Douville of Bridgewater. Dow was the 2011 Triple Crown winner.

Canaan promoter Dick Therrien was pleased with how his “King of the Hill” two-at-a-time three-lap shootouts for the top 10 Modifieds turned out. “The crowd loved it and we had a couple of photo finishes,” Therrien said. “When Tom Forward beat Randy Howe in the semifinal, the fans went nuts.”

Ryan Avery of Thornton topped Forward for the overall win. It was a root for the underdog thing regarding Howe, who is a multi-time track champion poised to claim another title. He got the last laugh, though, by winning the feature.

The Valenti Modified Series heads to Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night. The 80-lap affair is the first of four events left on their 2012 schedule. They return to Stafford on Sept. 14.

Last weekend, Dwight Jarvis picked up his first win of the season in the Victor Johnson Memorial 100 at Monadnock where, over a 30-year-plus career, he has carried the checkers a gazillion times.

The race was a bruiser, especially over the second half, with multiple yellows and a couple of reds. Jarvis took the lead on lap 80 when Todd Patnode had to pit with a flat tire.

“I think we cut the tire early and had a tiny hole,” Patnode said. “With all the yellows and the red flags, it had time to go bad. The first half of the race went OK, but late in the race nobody’s giving anybody any room.”

Rowan Pennink finished second, having arrived from Bristol Motor Speedway, where he got knocked out early in a multi-car pile-up in a Whelen Modified Tour race. Pennink trails point leader Jon McKennedy by 16 points.

Lee USA’s Lance Davis Memorial 50 for Late Model Sportsmen goes tomorrow on Back to School Night. Attractions include Kids’ Race Car Rides and the Senior Tour Auto Racers, who provide a trip down memory lane with many restored coupes, modifieds, etc.

J.R. Baril is looking like a sure thing as the 2012 Lee USA Late Model Sportsman champ, but the Small Block Supermodified title chase is pretty tight. Tommy Tombarello Jr. of Haverhill, Mass., has a little daylight (38 points), but Wayne Helliwell Jr. of Dover, Peter Stergios of Candia and Michael Netishen of Auburn are within three points of one another. Leslie Keyser of Northfield drove to his first career win last week.

On Saturday night, Star Speedway is headlined by the Automart Big John (Diburro) 59 for the Outlaws. There are still few laps available for sponsorship — all proceeds go the New Hampshire Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Earlier in the day, Star holds its annual Racing Against Cancer Track Walk. The Track Walk’s goal is to raise funds for cancer research and patient care services. Organizers hope to top last year’s inaugural walk, which raised $4,378.

Last Saturday at Star, Emerson Cayer of Contoocook and Billy Osborne of Plaistow finished 1-2 in the Northeast Mini Stock Tour event. Point leader Danny Field from Deep River, Conn., was ninth. The Mini Stock Tour will make up an earlier rainout at Lee on Sept. 7.

Hudson was packed Sunday for the Granite State Pro Stock Series “Hudson Hugger 100,” which Bobby Baillargeon of Kingston won from the pole in the Holloway Automotive Group No. 82. Rich Eaton of Seabrook was a close second. Baillargeon had to survive a late restart with Bobby Cabral alongside to seal the deal.

I mentioned last week that three Strictly Stock racers, Chandler Potter, Shane Sicard and Lucas Wheeler, would start a 50-lap special at White Mountain Motorsports Park in a three-way tie atop the standings. While none of the three won — Cody LeBlanc of Gorham took care of that — Sicard was the best of the rest, finishing second.

The American Canadian Tour, coming off a combination Serie Castrol event at Riverside Speedway near Quebec City — won by Brian Hoar — is set for the 34th Annual Bond Auto Labor Day Classic Sunday at Thunder Road. On Saturday night, with a 5 p.m. start, a previously rained-out Late Model 100 will take the green. Nick Sweet of Barre, Vt., recently clinched the Thunder Road Late Model championship.

Trackside appears Thursdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader.

- - - - - - -

On Track This Week
Stafford Speedway (Conn.): Friday, 6 p.m.
Canaan Dirt: Friday, 7 p.m.
Lee USA: Friday, 7 p.m.
Canaan Asphalt: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Thunder Road (Vt.): Saturday, 5 p.m.
Bear Ridge (Vt.): Saturday, 6 p.m.
Monadnock: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Riverside Speedway: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Star Speedway: Saturday. 6 p.m.
Twin State: Saturday, 6. p.m.
White Mountain: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Thunder Road (Vt.): Sunday, 1 p.m.
Legion Speedway: Sunday, 5 p.m.
Hudson Speedway: Sunday, 6 p.m.