As the laps clicked down in Saturday’s New England Supermodified Series finale, there was no voice in Jon McKennedy’s ear warning him of the smoke trickling from his exhaust. Supermodifieds, after all, don’t have spotters.
But what McKennedy didn’t know didn’t hurt him.
The open-wheel specialist returned to familiar form in NESS competition, conquering Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for his third NESS win of 2025 and his first Sunoco World Series Supermodified victory since 2020.
And while the Chelmsford, Mass. ace celebrated his first winged victory since June, fellow Bay Stater Jeffrey Battle capped off a dominant season with his first big-block Supermodified crown.
NESS was the opening act of Saturday’s massive ten-feature-race program, with the final two days of Thompson’s 63rd Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing condensed into a one-day card with the threat of Sunday rain.
McKennedy, fresh off a win in Friday night’s Outlaw Open Modified Series feature, wasted little time getting to the lead, building a massive advantage as Battle worked his way forward. Keeping title rival Dan Bowes in mind, Battle worked over P.J. Stergios for several laps, ultimately clearing Stergios for second.
Battle began reeling in McKennedy with the laps winding down, a pursuit that became more poignant as McKennedy’s car began smoking with two laps to go. Battle, in fact, was nursing his own powertrain issues with the checkered flag in sight.
With both cars out front ailing, McKennedy held on for a 4.685-second victory over Battle to take his third win of the year and his eighth career NESS victory since the series’ inception.
Stergios crossed the line behind Battle, but a post-race disqualification handed third to Anthony Nocella. Bowes, the 2023 NESS champ, was fourth in the revised rundown with a visiting Dave Danzer picking up fifth in his first NESS start.
McKennedy opened his NESS schedule with back-to-back wins in the year’s first two races before grenading an engine in practice at Oxford Plains Speedway in July. While waiting for parts to arrive, the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion leaned in on the Tour-type Modified portion of his schedule, finally reviving the big-block entry in time for September’s Star Classic at Star Speedway.
Saturday was McKennedy’s first Thompson win under the NESS banner, but the veteran earned back-to-back checkered flags at Thompson in 2019 and 2020 under the sanctioning of the International Supermodified Association. McKennedy’s three Thompson wins, all with the same car, have come for different owners: Lee and Pam Vinal owned the car in 2019, and Tim Lepine took ownership in 2020.
Chris Ferreira is now the owner of record for a chassis that has netted McKennedy six NESS wins in eleven starts over the last two years, and has been one of New England’s most dominant Supermodifieds in its career.
Battle came up short of his seventh win of the year, but second place was good enough to clinch the series championship in his first full NESS season. The Dunstable, Mass. wunderkind, New England’s dominant force in 350 Supermodifieds for half a decade, made spot starts in ISMA and NESS competition before taking the plunge last year in a car prepared by uncle Rich Witkum. In eight NESS starts, Battle picked up his first feature win and finished in the top ten in all but one race.
The 24-year-old finished sixth in this year’s NESS season opener at Star Speedway, his home track. From there, he never looked back, finishing in the top two in ten of the remaining eleven races, and third in the other. Battle won six of NESS’ dozen races, including four straight in August and September. Most notably, he won September’s Bob Webber, Sr. Memorial Star Classic, one of New England’s longest-tenured big-block Supermodified shows.
Battle continued his run of success in Star’s 350 Supermodifieds, narrowly losing the points race to reigning NESS champion and fellow Star regular Bobby Timmons III. Battle also entered a number of Tour-type Modified events, with Star owner Bobby Webber, Jr. fielding entries in a variety of series.
NESS has crowned four champions in its four-season run thus far, with Battle joining Rob Summers, Bowes, and Timmons as the first titlist from the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Despite challenges endemic to the Supermodified platform, the Pro All Stars Series-backed touring group has maintained a clique of regular competitors and car owners to muster ten or twelve entries at each event.
Sixteen entries attempted to make Saturday’s season finale, but only a baker’s dozen answered the call for the green flag. A second Vic Miller-owned car for Rob Summers was scratched after a practice crash, while drivetrain issues sidelined Eric Emhoff and Mike Mayberry before heat racing began.
Battle and younger brother Ryan are two of the freshest faces in a mature discipline of racing that trades heavily on heritage and history. The Battles are scions of the Witkum racing family, the family that spearheaded the development of the 350 Supermodified in New England as a weekly alternative to the costly-to-operate big-block cars.
After winning September’s Star Classic, Jeffrey admitted that he felt he was carrying the legacy of uncle Randy Witkum, who tragically lost his life in a crash at Jennerstown Speedway in 1999. “I almost feel like I’m doing what he would have done,” Battle said of his uncle’s potential and his own role in carrying the Witkum torch.
With his championship, Battle now carries a piece of Supermodified history that he can proudly call his own.
Unofficial Results
New England Supermodified Series | Sunoco World Series 40
Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, Conn.
1. (79) Jon McKennedy
2. (14) Jeffrey Battle
3. (11) Anthony Nocella
4. (25) Dan Bowes
5. (52) Dave Danzer
6. (51) Vern Romanoski
7. (47) Jim Storace
8. (29) Russ Wood
9. (22) Mark “Sparky” MacIver
10. (53) Ryan Battle
11. (97) Matt Swanson
12. (54) Dave Duggan
DQ (5) P.J. Stergios
DNS (71) Rob Summers
DNS (45) Mike Mayberry
DNS (2) Eric Emhoff
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