Johnson Breaks Through at Devil’s Bowl
WEST HAVEN, VT – Marc Johnson picked a perfect time to get his first career modified victory at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Running before a large 4th of July holiday crowd, Johnson worked his way around Tim Laduc with seven laps to go and held off Laduc and Mike Bruno in Sunday night’s 30-lap modified feature.
Laduc and Johnson started on the front row, with Laduc grabbing the lead. But Bruno soon joined the lead pack and provided the crowd with some red-hot racing action.
Johnson followed Laduc for 15 laps, then decided it was time to take action. But each time he swung wide in an attempt to get the lead, Bruno would stick his nose in on the inside, threatening to drop Johnson back to third.
On lap 23, Johnson finally made the pass for the lead at the flagstand, after making a great run on the outside coming off the fourth turn. Laduc stayed low, and Johnson still had Bruno on his rear bumper, putting Laduc and Bruno side by side.
With three to go, Aaron Bartemy slowed and made his way to the pits, but the green stayed out, and Johnson held on to get his first career victory at the Bowl.
Laduc, Bruno, Don Mattison, and Ken Tremont Jr completed the top five.
The 50-lap Pro-Stock/Super Street Challenge was a race that will keep fans buzzing for some time to come.
For a while, the feature looked like a race at Talladega, with three rows of two cars, running door handle to door handle and bumper to bumper. The top six stayed that way until lap 15.
A caution came out on lap 18 when Jeremy Houghtaling spun on the backstretch. Following the restart, Jeff Washburn and Fred Little were still setting the pace, but one lap later, Scott McMichael and Chris Wilk came together, with Wilk getting hung up on the edge of the pavement in the third turn.
On that restart, Little jumped into the lead, with Mike Scorzelli, Jeff Washburn, and Kim Duell doing the chasing.
Scorzelli made a move for the lead on lap 24, but got into the marbles and spun out, bringing out another caution. Little stayed high, where he had been running all night, on the restart, and Duell stuck the nose of his car on the inside, setting up another side-by-side battle.
Duell inched ahead, but Little hung right on his quarter panel, and the two swapped the lead on a number of occasions. With five to go, McMichael got by Little for second and put on a late charge, but Duell hung on for the win, his first of the year at the Bowl.
McMichael was second and Little third in a feature that saw 11 lead changes.
Alex Bell came away with the victory in the 50-lap sportsman feature, giving him two wins in a row at the Bowl. But it didn’t come easy.
Bell was leading early, but had Jack Swinton and Jared McMahon pestering him around every inch of the race track. A caution came out on lap 43, setting up a final shootout, but on the restart, McMahon went after Andy Durie on the backstretch as retaliation for the yellow-flag incident, and both cars were disqualified. That left Swinton with the best chance to overtake Bell, but he held on to get the win, with Swinton second and Fred Proctor third.
Jon Miller picked up his third win of the season in the Renegade feature, outrunning Frank Monroe and Bill Duprey to the checkered flag.
The night also featured the CVRA’s annual spectacular fireworks display, which drew a plethora of oohs and aahs.
MODIFIEDS: MARC JOHNSON, Tim Laduc, Mike Bruno, Don Mattison, Ken Tremont Jr., Leon Gonyo, Derrick McGrew, Aaron Bartemy, Jim Ryan.
PRO-STOCK/SUPER STREET CHALLENGE: KIM DUELL, Scott McMichael, Fred Little, Jeff Washburn, Jeremy Houghtaling, Bruce Jaycox Jr., Kayla Bryant, Mike Scorzelli, Bobby Schmidt, Chris Wilk. DNS: Russ Miller.
SPORTSMAN: ALEX BELL, Jack Swinton, Fred Proctor, Kevin Wright, Paul Braymer, Carl Vladyka, Don Miller, Matt Atwood, Tom Lilly, Paul Dunham Sr., Hunter Bates, Jimmy Inrtone. DQ: Andy Durie, Jared McMahon.
RENEGADES: JON MILLER, Frank Monroe, Bill Duprey, Robert Garden, David Emigh, Chris Murray, Randy Alger, Brian Rogers, Matt Mosher, Jonathan Hayes.
BOMBER WARRIORS: CHAD BROWN, Nathan Woodworth, Brent Warren, Justin Lilly, Kalob Gagnon, Michael Devino, Eddie Bruno, Jonathan Hayes, Matt Monahan, Ken Hulburt. DNS: David Tomezek.
DUKES: GARRET GIVEN, Scott Atwood, Erica Lilly, Whitney Martell, Jason Barrett.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway