Tremont Makes It Two in a Row at the Bowl
WEST HAVEN, VT. – On what was the fastest track all season and a hot sticky night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Ken Tremont Jr. won the Modified feature for the second consecutive time and he recorded his third win at the bowl this year.
Shooting from the 18th starting position Tremont wasted no time driving his way to the front. It took only 15 laps to find his way there as he drove past the fast Donnie Mattison to take the top spot. “We have been working hard all season long to finally put a few wins together, it’s nice to be here again,” said Tremont from Victory Lane. “This was a very fast track tonight and it came to us nicely.”
The evening was not without incident as on the second lap of the feature event a spectacular crash going into the first turn awed the crowd as they held their breath to see the outcome that collected seven cars. Someone got into the back of Brian Whittemore coming out of turn four at the start of the chain reaction wreck, and this got Frank Hoard Sr. and Ron Proctor sideways, collecting Dave Camara, Jim Ryan, and Bill Cody when they had nowhere to go. Cody never lifted, as apparently, he didn’t see the crash in front of him, and unfortunately, he hit Proctor and Hoard at full throttle. A sigh of relief came over the crowd when the call was made that all drivers were fine with no major injuries. This forced officials to postpone the feature for a bit as teams were given the opportunity to get their cars back in working order. Seventeen of the 22 starting cars returned and racing resumed. The top five in the Modified feature included Mike Perrotte in second, Donnie Mattison third, Tim LaDuc fourth, and Don Scarborough fifth.
In the Hobby Stock division, Tim Shaw earned his third win in a row and fourth overall this season at the Bowl as he climbs the ladder even higher in the points race for the division. If anyone has an opportunity to catch Shaw they will need him to stay home for the next three weeks or so to even get close after Sunday night. “This car is real good right now, there’s nothing special about it, the track was just fast and smooth,” said Shaw following the race. “It’s nice to just get in and drive when it’s this good.” Shaw started from the ninth spot and took over the top spot on the third lap. Russ Farr gave somewhat of a chase early on but quickly faded, and Shaw ran away with it from there. Pat Cram, Billy Lussier, Donnie Williams, and Tim Whitney rounded out the top five.
In the Pro Stock division, the results are unofficial at this point as the top five cars across the line in the feature race were torn down by track officials. Roy Fifield (who drives the Don Martin-owned 85 car) was first across the line in the finishing order but was disqualified for having an illegal motor in the car. The car was impounded by the CVRA Friday in Malta after a top-three teardown (the team wanted to race Sunday at the Bowl), and was then torn down following racing Sunday night.
Mike Haines, Carl Vladyka, Jay Fitzgerald, and Lori Cary were also checked for motors. Unofficially Mike Haines is the feature winner and everyone else will move up a spot in the finish order, pending official results of the tear-down inspections. The points race may present a different picture after Sunday depending on those results and any sanctions applied because of them.
The Cruisers and Duke Stocks put on a good show again as the entry-level divisions always do at the bowl. DJ Brundage won his third race of the season in his Duke Stock car, the newest division at the track. Ron Zagata was the first six-cylinder car across the line in the Cruisers, notching his 4th win of the year, and Mike Pope drove his four-cylinder to victory lane for the first time.
Devils Bowl returns to action next Sunday night. It will be Seniors Night and anyone over the age of 52 will be admitted to the Grandstands free of charge, as a full card of racing will be on tap with an enduro to cap off the night’s racing.
MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Mike Perrotte, Don Mattison, Tim LaDuc, Don Scarborough, Lance Harding, Vince Quenneville Jr., Rich Ronca, Craig Hanson, Jim Ryan, Brian Whtitemore, Chuck Elms, Richard Moses, Stan Lemiesz, Neal Erickson, Kale Tremont, Mike Bushee, Ray Hoard, Gene Munger, Ron Proctor, Dave Camara, Frank Hoard Sr., Chris Donnelly, Bill Cody.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: Finish pending tear-down results.
HOBBY STOCKS: TIM SHAW, Pat Cram, Billy Lussier, Donnie Williams, Tim Whitney, Scott Fowler, Curtis Condon, Michael Carman, Shannon Donnelly, Bob Smith, Jessie Rule, Russell Farr, Tony Condon, Brian Ashline, Al Gregware.
CRUISERS: RON ZAGATA, MIKE POPE, Chris Carrie, Brittany Ladd, Scott Brace, Mike Clark, Dwight Cram, John Sullivan, Ron Stewart, Jason Bishop, Robert Cole.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway