First Career Modified Win for Londonderry’s Rob Langevin
WEST HAVEN, VT – Rob Langevin picked a perfect time to get his first career 358-modified victory at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
With a huge crowd on hand for the annual Judith L. Richards Memorial and double points on the line, Langevin, in just his second full season in an open-wheel modified, went flag-to-flag Sunday night to come up with a very popular victory at the “Fastest Half Mile” in Vermont.
Langevin went into the night trailing points leader Ken Tremont Jr. by 31 points, but the point standings are going to take a big turn, as Tremont ran just 17 laps, and was close to breaking into the top five, when his night came to a premature end.
Tim Laduc, who started the night second in the points chase, also had a rough outing. A first-lap incident sent him to the pits and although he later came back out, he finished 18th, five laps down.
Langevin had Vince Quenneville Jr. on his tail for most of the feature, but Todd Stone made a late charge and simply ran out of laps, as he was just a car length behind Langevin at the exciting finish. Don Ackner, who started 13th, got up for third, with Quenneville fourth and Robert King fifth.
Langevin became the fourth first-time winner at the Bowl this season, joining Tony Kawalchuk, King, and Don Mattison.
Don Miller was glad the budget sportsman ran an extra-distance race, as he needed the extra laps to come away with his second victory of the season. Because the race was part of the Twin State Series, with Bear Ridge Speedway, the budgets ran 50 laps, and Miller, who started 15th, needed almost all of them
After staying away from a number of caution-inducing incidents, Miller finally got around Chuck Dickinson for the lead on lap 39 and outran Adam Pierson for the win. Pierson was almost a full second behind at the finish, with Dickinson third, D.J. Brundige fourth, and Cullen Howe fifth.
Fred Little parlayed a second-row starting position into his first win of the season in the 20-lap pro-stock feature. Little had the lead by lap five and easily pulled away from Chuck Towslee to get the win. Mike Paquin ran a solid third.
Bill Duprey and Joey Trudeau resumed their weekly duel in the limited feature, with Duprey coming away with his fourth win of the season, holding off Trudeau and Curtis Condon.
Andy Smith got the win in the Duke stock feature, and Justin Comes was first under the checkered flag in the mini-stock feature.
Just two weeks of racing remain in the 2008 campaign at Devil’s Bowl. On Sunday, Aug. 24. the track will hold its annual Salute to Veterans Night, with all divisions in action. Racing begins at 6:45 p.m.
MODIFIEDS: ROB LANGEVIN, Todd Stone, Don Ackner, Vince Quenneville Jr., Robert King, Jimmy Ryan, Ray Hoard, Ron Proctor, Kris Vernold, Marc Johnson, Gene Munger, Dustin Delaney, Don Mattison, Darren Keyser, Gardner Stone, Brian Whittemore, Bill Bokus, Tim Laduc, Frank Hoard Sr., Ken Tremont Jr., Stan Lemiesz.
BUDGET SPORTSMAN: DON MILLER, Adam Pierson, Chuck Dickinson, D.J. Brundige, Cullen Howe, C.V. Elms, Pete Carlotto, Jon Bates, Mike Burdo, Frank Hoard III, Frank Hoard Jr., Chris Allen, Paul Dunham Jr., Jack Swinton, Gary Siemons, Gene Pierson, Ralph Denison, Nick Lussier, Ron Wanamaker, Ken Towne, Tom Lilly, Seth Howe, Jared McMahon, Scott Duell, Bryan Davis, Mike Visconti, Jimmy Eaton, Dennis Pennock.
PRO-STOCKS: FRED LITTLE, Chuck Towslee, Mike Paquin, Lori Langevin, Carl Vladyka, Ed Thompson, Josh Joseph, Jacob Losaw, Pat McLaughlin, Walt Brownell, Roger Siliski, Jeff Washburn, Justin Perry, Mike Bussino.
LIMITEDS: BILL DUPREY, Joey Trudeau, Curtis Condon, Kevin Elliott, Jeremy Jones, Bill Decker, Joe Ladd, Russ Farr, Mark Burch, Bill Vradenburg, Chris Allen, Megan Purstell, Adam Forbes, Rob Ketchum.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway