Starting Position Helps Perrotte
WEST HAVEN, VT – Coming out of the second row, Mike Perrotte got to the front quickly and then overcame a rash of restarts to post his first victory of the season Sunday night in the 358 modified feature at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Perrotte was one of the hottest drivers at the track during late June and early July, posting three straight second-place finishes. But a dry spell late in July, coupled with a 17th-place finish on Aug. 8, put Perrotte into the third starting spot Sunday night.
The tone for the night was set when Kris Vernold spun in the second turn on the first lap of the feature, bringing out the first caution of the night. Two laps later, Erik Mack hit the wall in the second, as many of the drivers had a hard time tackling the heavy track. Track crews worked overtime to get the racing surface ready, and although the track was in awesome shape, it was tough to handle.
Lance Harting’s night ended on lap 11, when something on the front end of his car broke, bringing out the third yellow, and on lap 25, Chad Miller suffered a flat tire.
Throughout all the cautions, Perrotte maintained his lead over Frank Hoard Sr., who had started on the outside pole, and Jimmy Ryan, who had started seventh and was looking for his second straight victory.
The final yellow of the night came out on lap 27, when the right front tire came off the car of Stan Lemiesz, who then collected Adam Pierson. Perrotte wasn’t going to give up the lead on the final restart, however, and beat Ryan to the finish line by 1.015 seconds for his sixth career victory at the Bowl. Hoard finished third, with Tim Laduc fourth and Gene Munger fifth.
The two drivers locked in the battle for the point championship, Ray Hoard and Don Scarborough, crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh, respectively, keeping that battle as tight as ever.
Bernie Companion drove to his first career victory in the 20-lap Amsoil pro-street stock feature. Companion, a regular at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, usually makes his rare trips to the Bowl pay off. The last time he made the trek across the border, he finished fourth on July 11, and on Sunday night, he held off Robert Langevin to get the victory. Ed Thompson was third, followed by Lori Cary and Jeff Washburn.
Scott Fowler continued his run toward the track championship in the Rentway Limited division, recording his fourth victory of the season. Since July 11, Fowler has won three of the last five features in the Limited class, keeping his hopes for the track title alive.
The Limited feature will go down as the closest race in the history of Devil’s Bowl Speedway, as Fowler and Jamie Buzzell finished side-by-side, and had it not been for the electronic scoring unit, the race would have been declared a dead heat. But the computer showed Fowler with the smallest winning margin possible, 0.001 seconds!
Billy Lussier finished third, with Arnie Trudeau fourth and Mark Burch fifth.
Elmer Montville did it again in the Pro-Built Mini-Stock feature, running his winning streak to seven races. Amanda Clemens put up a good fight for a while, but Montville just had too much race car and pulled away to a 2.932-second margin of victory as he picked up his eighth win at the Bowl this season.
Adam Piper continued to dominate the Duke Stock class, hitting the checkered flag ahead of the field.
Double points will be on the line in all divisions on Sunday night, when Devil’s Bowl returns to action. The Amsoil pro-street stocks are scheduled to run a 30-lap feature. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: MIKE PERROTTE, Jim Ryan, Frank Hoard Sr., Tim Laduc, Gene Munger, Ray Hoard, Don Scarborough, Ron Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Bob Savoie, C.V. Elms, Brian Whittemore, Kris Vernold, Neal Erickson, Pete Kimball, Ken Anatriello, Adam Pierson, Stan Lemiesz, Chad Miller, Lance Harting, Denny Young, Erik Mack.
AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: BERNIE COMPANION, Robert Langevin, Ed Thompson, Lori Cary, Jeff Washburn, Jeff Martin, Cale Kneer, Chris Lussier, Dave Wood, Henry Tanner, Mike Bussino, Carl Vladyka, Don Piper.
RENTWAY LIMITEDS: SCOTT FOWLER, Jamie Buzzell, Billy Lussier, Arnie Trudeau, Mark Busch, Mike Scorzelli, Tim Brunell, Russ Farr, Bill Burlingame, Shannon Donnelly, Tom Conroy, John Sullivan, Jared McMahon, Tony Condon, Pat Cram, William Duprey, Ben Ladd, Steve Holcomb, Adam Forbes, Joey Trudeau.
PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS: ELMER MONTVILLE, Amanda Clemens, Art Howe, Matt Depew, Jamie McCarthy, Jason Bishop, Gene Unser Jr., Charles Burns, Bobbi Jo Bean, Joe Baker, Ben Durie, John Baldwin, Brittany Ladd, Mike Pope, Chris Cary Jr
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway