Bruno Wins at Devil’s Bowl
July 17, 2011: WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Mike Bruno must have brought a broom to Devil’s Bowl Speedway Sunday night, because he wound up doing a little sweeping. Coming off a Friday night victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Bruno held off Ron Proctor in a one-lap dash to the finish and came away with his
first NASCAR Modified victory of the year at the Bowl.
Starting on the outside of the front row, Bruno took charge quickly. Proctor, who had started sixth, easily worked his way around Frank Hoard III and Bobby Hackel IV in the early going, and after five laps, was challenging Hunter Bates for second. It took Proctor a couple of circuits to get around Bates for second, and he then moved right up on Bruno’s rear bumper.
Even with lapped traffic coming into play, the race stayed green and Bruno kept Proctor at bay. But with one to go, Jessey Mueller smacked the frontstretch wall, bringing out the yellow. Proctor got a good run off the restart, but Bruno held his line and added a NASCAR Modified win to his three pro late model victories at the Bowl.
Bates came across the finish line third, with Hoard fourth and Hackel fifth. Veteran late model and ACT driver Joe LaQuerre made his first appearance of the season in the pro late model division payoff, getting a victory and breaking the stranglehold that Bruno and Chris Wilk have had on the division. LaQuerre’s 14-year-old grandson, Joey, also competes with the pro late models on a weekly basis at the Bowl.
Wilk and Bruno ran second and third in the feature on Sunday night, with Bates fourth and Kevin Elliot fifth. Frank Monroe picked up his second straight win in the Renegade division. He had actually finished second one week earlier, but was awarded the win when Josh Coonradt was disqualified.
The Bomber Warriors were also in action Sunday, and Eddie Bruno recorded his second win in a row. The Red Knights Motorcycle Club completed its ride to benefit the Rutland Regional Medical Center Bone Marrow Donor Registry, accompanied by fire trucks from several neighboring communities.
NASCAR MODIFIEDS: MIKE BRUNO, Ron Proctor, Hunter Bates, Frank Hoard III,
Bobby Hackel, Paul Braymer, Michael Bush, Joey Trudeau, Jessey Mueller, Matt Atwood.
PRO LATE MODELS: JOE LAQUERRE, Chris Wilk, Mike Bruno, Hunter Bates, Kevin Elliot, Joey LaQuerre, Kayla Bryant, Randy Miller.
RENEGADES: FRANK MONROE, Matt Livingston, Jonathan Hayes, Jeremy Jones.
DNS: Bill Dupree, Russ Farr Jr.
BOMBER WARRIORS: EDDIE BRUNO, Ray Germain, Kevin Brown, Jake Noble, Dave Tomczak, Matt Monahan.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway