King Pulls Upset at Bowl
WEST HAVEN, VT – A front-row starting position and a caution-free feature helped Robert King pull off a huge upset Sunday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
King, who has just two other top-five finishes to his credit at the Vermont track, rocketed to his first career victory at Devil’s Bowl in the 30-lap 358-modified feature on Father’s Day.
King and Kris Vernold brought the field down to the green flag, with Vernold taking the point for the first seven laps. But King took the lead on lap eight and never made a mistake the rest of the way, masterfully working lapped traffic to make his first visit to victory lane. When he took the checkered flag, there were five lapped cars between him and the second-place car of Ron Proctor.
King’s previous best finish at the Bowl was a second-place effort, behind Matt DeLorenzo, in a 100-lap feature on July 3, 2006. He began the current campaign with a fifth-place run.
Proctor was nearly five seconds behind King when the checkered flag fell. For Proctor, it was his best finish at the Bowl since finishing second to Ken Tremont Jr. on July 15 last year.
Vernold crossed the finish line third, which was also his best finish ever at the Bowl. Jimmy Ryan was fourth, with Tim Laduc fifth.
Cullen Howe also had a memorable night, coming away with his first career victory in the budget sportsman feature. Howe led flag-to-flag, but his win didn’t come as easily as King’s, as Howe had to hold off veteran C.V. Elms for the victory. Frank Hoard III finished third, Frank Hoard Jr. was fourth and Don Miller completed the top five.
Defending track champion Lori Langevin drove to her first win of the season in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. Carl Vladyka, who had won two of the first three features, moved into the No. 2 spot on lap nine and put some serious pressure on Langevin. But Vladyka had to settle for second. He was followed by Ed Thompson, Chuck Towslee, and Josh Joseph.
Joey Trudeau and Bill Duprey put on an incredible show in the limited feature, with Trudeau making a last-lap pass to record his second win of the season. That pass was one of six lead changes between Trudeau and Duprey, who was looking for his second straight win.
Duprey took his final lead on lap 15 and appeared on his way to the checkered flag, but Trudeau stuck right with him and the two hit the checkered flag about a car-length apart, with Trudeau getting the win.
Devil’s Bowl will be back in action on Sunday, June 22, with the Summer of Fun Kickoff. All divisions will be in action, with racing starting at 6:45 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: ROBERT KING, Ron Proctor, Kris Vernold, Jim Ryan, Tim Laduc, Ken Tremont Jr., Todd Stone, Ray Hoard, Dustin Delaney, Vince Quenneville Jr., Rob Langevin, Don Ackner, Gardner Stone, Robert Allen, Stan Lemiesz, Don Mattison, Matt Depew, John Proctor, Frank Hoard Sr.
BUDGET SPORTSMAN: CULLEN HOWE, C.V. Elms, Frank Hoard III, Frank Hoard Jr., Don Miller, D.J. Brundige, Seth Howe, Billy Lussier, Ron Wanamaker, Chris Thorpe, Steve Williams, Jared McMahon, Ken Towne, Jeremy Dygert.
PRO-STREET STOCKS: LORI LANGEVIN, Carl Vladyka, Ed Thompson, Chuck Towslee, Josh Joseph, Mike Paquin, Justin Perry, Fred Little, Ron Zagata, Mike Aldrich, Walt Brownell.
LIMITEDS: JOEY TRUDEAU, Bill Duprey, Kevin Elliott, Bill Vradenburg, Rob Ketchum, Jordyn Jeffalone, Joe Ladd, Bill Decker, Adam Forbes, Bill Burlingame, Jeremy Jones, Russ Farr.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway