Proctor’s Bonus Money to Exceed $10,000
WEST HAVEN, VT – Christmas is going to come early for Ron Proctor.
According to statistics just released by NASCAR, Proctor will receive almost $11,000 in bonus money when the sanctioning body sends out its season-ending checks next month.
In the first season that Albany-Saratoga and Devil’s Bowl speedways ran under a NASCAR sanction, Proctor won the track championships at both facilities, a bonus of $3,000 for each track. Because the 2011 season was the first year that Proctor held a NASCAR license, he was also eligible for Rookie of the Year awards in both Vermont and New York, which put another $2,000 in his pocket.
In addition, he earned $2,000 for winning the Vermont State Championship, and will receive a total of $995.47 from the individual point funds at the two tracks.
The bottom line is that Proctor will receive a check for $10,995.47.
Proctor has been competing with the Champlain Valley Racing Association for over 25 years, and recorded his first modified victory at Albany-Saratoga in 1985, but the 2011 campaign was obviously the best of his career.
While Joe Williams came out of the box with four wins in the first five weeks of the season at Albany-Saratoga, Proctor was getting his car dialed in, and once he found the right setup, he was virtually untouchable. He got his first win of the season on June 10, which allowed him to become just the second driver in the history of the historic Malta track to win a feature in four consecutive decades, joining Jack Johnson on that elite list.
Proctor finished the season with four wins, and when the final results were tallied, he finished with a four-point advantage over Williams, with Vermont teenager Hunter Bates third in the point standings. Cody Sargen had the best season of his young career and although he didn’t win a feature, he finished fourth in the NASCAR modified point standings, with John Proctor fifth.
Dan Petronis won the pro late model championship at Albany-Saratoga, finishing the season with a three-race winning streak to take home his first title ever. Frank Monroe won the track title in the Renegade division, while Mark Lindblade was crowned champion in the Bomber Warriors division.
Monroe visited Victory Lane five times during the 2011 campaign, and Lindblade had three wins under his belt.
The INEX Legends also ran a full campaign at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, with teenager Matt Pappa dominating the division, winning nine features.
While Proctor had a very good season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, he had a great one at the rain-plagued Devil’s Bowl. Proctor also won two features at the Bowl, and never finished out of the top five. In addition to two wins, he had four seconds, a third, a fourth, and one fifth to easily outdistance Jessy Mueller for the NASCAR Modified point title at the Bowl, which lost its final four races of the season to rain.
Following Proctor and Mueller in the final standings were Bates, Mike Bruno, and Mike Bush.
Bates, who did double duty in both a modified and a pro late model at the Bowl, picked up the first pro late model title of his career, and did it without getting a victory. In the nine events that were run, Chris Wilk, who finished second in the points chase, had three victories and Bruno (who also raced in both divisions) had five.
Kayla Bryant also had a solid campaign in the pro late model division, and finished third in the points standings.
Bill Duprey earned the track title in the Renegade division, finishing six points ahead of Monroe, and Eddie Bruno easily won the Bomber Warriors title.
Complete points standings and finishes from Albany-Saratoga are available at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com, and from Devil’s Bowl are available at devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com.
Sources: Devil’s Bowl Speedway