The Bandit Steals One
WEST HAVEN, VT. – It may be too late for Don Scarborough to make a run at the track championship, but it’s not too late for the Brandon Bandit to make life miserable for the rest of the competitors at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Returning to the form that he showed in late June and early July, Scarborough picked up his second win of the season Sunday night in the 30-lap 358 modified feature at the Bowl. During the middle stages of the season, it looked like Scarborough was indeed going to be a contender for the title. After picking up his first win of the year on June 22, Scarborough recorded two seconds and a third in the next four features to move up with the leaders.
But a couple of unfortunate incidents hurt Scarborough in the points race, so now, he’s racing to win.
He made it look easy Sunday night, beating Gene Munger to the finish line by well over three seconds.
Munger and Ken Tremont Jr., who went into the night with a three-race winning streak, put on a whale of a show after being involved in an incident on the third lap in turn four. But at the rear of the field, Munger and Tremont charged through the field like they were on fire. Munger wound up second, his best finish of the season at the Vermont track for owner Mike Richards, and Tremont came across the line fourth.
That left the No. 3 position to Vince Quenneville Jr., who went into the night with a nine-point lead over Tremont in the battle for the track title. Quenneville has been in this position before, as he went into the final race of the 2002 season with the lead, only to lose the point title to Dave Camara.
The win was worth some extra cash to Scarborough. Paul’s Towing and Auto and Newtown Rideables, the night’s sponsors, kicked in an extra $750 to the purse, allowing Scarborough to walk off with $1,750.
Don Ronca, who came out of retirement earlier this month, cracked the top five for the first time, crossing the finish line fifth. He was followed by Ray Hoard, Don Mattison, C.V. Elms, Chris Vernold, and Joe Budka, a regular in the sportsman division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.
Butchie Irwin completed his CVRA weekend sweep by driving to his first win of the season at the Bowl in the 31-lap pro-street stock feature. Only 11 cars took the green for the extra-distance race, but Irwin, who has a CVRA spec engine under the hood of his car, was untouchable, charging from the rear of the field and beating Mike Haines to the finish line by almost four seconds. Carl Vladyka finished third, with Robert Langevin fourth and Ed Thompson fifth.
Scarborough’s win proved to be a good omen for Billy Lussier, who won his second feature of the season in the hobby stock division. Lussier’s first win came on June 22, the night of Scarborough’s first victory. But Lussier’s win was nowhere as easy as Scarborough’s, as Lussier had his hands full holding off Tim Shaw, who leads the division with four wins. But Shaw had to settle for second, just 0.339 behind Lussier. Pat Cram finished third, with Scott Fowler fourth and Donnie Williams fifth.
Ron Zagata continued his late-season run in the cruiser division, notching his fourth win of the season. Jason Bishop was a distant second, with Brittany Ladd third.
Track champions in all divisions will be crowned Sunday night when the Bowl holds its final points race of the season. Double points will be on the line, and to make things just a little more exciting, the modifieds will be running a 100-lap feature. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: DON SCARBOROUGH, Gene Munger, Vince Quenneville Jr., Ken Tremont Jr., Don Ronca, Ray Hoard, Don Mattison, C.V. Elms, Chris Vernold, Joe Budka, Jim Ryan, Lance Harting, Kale Tremont, Neal Erickson, Stan Lemiesz, Frank Hoard Sr., Mike Perrotte, Craig Hanson, Brent Lacoste, Brian Whittemore, Ron Proctor.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: BUTCHIE IRWIN, Mike Haines, Carl Vladyka, Robert Langevin, Ed Thompson, Jay Fitzgerald, Randy Alger, Cale Kneer, Jimmy Eaton, Lori Cary, Jeff Washburn.
HOBBY STOCKS: BILLY LUSSIER, Tim Shaw, Pat Cram, Scott Fowler, Donny Williams, John Coon, Adam Forbes, Shannon Donnelly, Bob Smith, Tony Condon, Mike Carman, Yogi Lussier, Russ Farr, Robert Ross.
CRUISERS: RON ZAGATA, Jason Bishop, Brittany Ladd, Chris Carrie, Scott Brace, Mike Pope, John Sullivan, Vince Greene, Mike Clark, Robert Cole.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway