July 9, 2026 — Thompson, CT — Dunstable, Massachusetts’ Jeffrey Battle put two more giant checkmarks on his New England Supermodified Series (NESS) resume by winning the Twisted Tea Winged Wednesday 40 at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, July 8. Battle snatched the lead from Dan Bowes on the 21st circuit and drove away to get his second straight victory and third of the 2026 season.
In the process, Battle also passed Bowes on the all-time NESS winner’s list, getting his 10th career triumph. All of them have come in a span of just over 22 months. It was also the first big-block supermodified win for Battle at North America’s oldest asphalt short track.
Starting from the fourth position after winning the first heat race, Battle followed Bowes around the outside of polesitter Mike Mayberry at the drop of the green flag. An exhilarating struggle followed, as Battle constantly got inside of Bowes on the straightaways, only for Bowes to hold him back using the corner momentum on the outside groove.
However, Bowes’ car was getting looser as the race went on, causing the right rear tire to burn up. In a repeat of Oxford Plains Speedway two weekends before, Battle made his move at the halfway mark. He ducked underneath Bowes in turns 3 and 4, led lap 21 by a whisker, then cleared the 2023 champion in the next set of corners.
From there, Battle turned on the afterburners, putting a straightaway over the rest of the competition. P.J. Stergios also chased down Bowes for second with 10 laps to go and was running similar lap times to Battle in the closing stages. However, Battle was already long gone and cruised to the victory.
Stergios earned his second straight runner-up finish while Bowes settled for third. Rob Summers, in a one-off sub role for Anthony Nocella, passed Ben Seitz on the final lap for fourth.
Multiple notable contenders were felled by trouble on a wild Wednesday night. Dave Duggan suffered a hard crash in the first practice after a mechanical failure in the rear end of his supermodified. Simultaneously, Matt Swanson experienced front brake lock-up in his Howie Lane-owned car, which the team couldn’t resolve by feature time. Jon McKennedy won the second qualifier, but his engine went sour just three laps into the main event.
The New England Supermodified Series is right back in action this Sunday, July 12 at White Mountain Motorsports Park. The PASS Midseason Invasion includes the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models, Modified Racing Series, and Kennebec Equipment Rental PASS Modifieds.
Post time is 2:00pm for the four-division assault. Visit www.proallstarsseries.com for the full event schedule, pricing, entry lists, and other information. The event will be live streamed on the North East Short Track Network.
Photo by Jim DuPont/RaceDayCT
