Matt Frahm Dominates Carmody Ford Slate Valley 100 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
WEST HAVEN, VT — Matt Frahm of N. Salem, NH powered his way to a convincing win over a stellar field as the Granite State Pro Stock Series traveled to the impressive Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Track owners Mike and Alayne Bruno welcomed the tour with open arms and could not be happier with the outcome. A full field of Pro Stocks ran qualifying heats and the top 6 cars redrew starting positions for the 100 lap grind.
The redraw had Frahm on the pole and Dave Pembroke of Middlesex, VT outside. At the drop of the green Frahm held the point with Pembroke in tow. In the early laps the field strung out in a single line, knowing there was a long ways to go. While Frahm stretched out his lead to 5 car lengths, Barry Gray of Belchertown, MA, who started mid pack, worked his #29 under Larry Gelinas of Buxton, ME and the two leaned on each other for a whole lap before Gray slid by, putting himself into 7th place. A lap 14 caution appeared when Fran “Jr.” Colson of Baldwinville, MA bounced off from the front stretch wall and was collected by Mike Parks of Walpole, NH. The tightened field took the green and Frahm used the clean air to resume his lead, but Mike O’Sullivan of Springfield, MA had other ideas and raced past 2nd place Pembroke.
The 2nd yellow flag of the night put O’Sullivan on the outside of Frahm, but Matt had the preferred groove and drove away again. While Frahm was making it look easy, it was anything but behind him as Pembroke regained 2nd place, but on the next lap Pembroke pulled out and pitted. Over the next 5 laps, George Bessette of Danbury, CT came to life and rocketed his way by Jay Sands of Hampton, NH for 3rd spot, then passed O’Sullivan for 2nd, but had nothing for the leader. By lap 40, Frahm built a sizable lead but the racing behind him was excellent as the leaders started to run into lapped traffic. O’Sullivan regained 2nd from Bessette, with Sands and Zig Geno of Canterbury, NH also getting past Bessette.
Frahm lost all of that lead when the yellow flew on lap 44. On the restart, O’Sullivan tried on the outside but just did not have enough to get the job done. From 2nd place back, positions changed each lap, but Frahm just kept pulling away. On lap 80, O’Sullivan caught the edge of the back straightaway and slid far off from turn 3. A few moments later, O’Sullivan car emerged from the swampy grasses, spinning a full 360 to shake the dirt off, and resumed racing without a pit stop. The race was caution free for the next 20 laps and Frahm took the checkers in front of Bessette and 3rd place Geno. Barry Gray and Jeremy Davis rounded out the top 5.
Next stop for the GSPSS is July 7th at Hudson Speedway for the Gate City Classic.
Race Summary
Track: Devils Bowl Speedway, W. Haven VT
Distance: 100 laps
Time: 1 hr 8min 24sec
Margin of victory: 0.706 seconds
Best lap time: 16.597 #14 Matt Frahm
Fastest Speed: 108.453 MPH #14 Matt Frahm
Lead Changes: 1
Leaders: 1-100 Matt Frahm
Cautions: 7; laps 14, 16, 19, 44, 54, 60, 80
Order of Finish
1. #14M Matt Frahm
2. #15 George Bessette
3. #57z Zig Geno
4. #29 Barry Gray
5. #09 Jeremy Davis
6. #21 Josh King
7. #08 Mike O’Sullivan
8. #66 Mike Parks
9. #46 Jake Vanada
10. #21 Glenn Tyler
11. #48 Larry Gelinas
12. #36 Jay Sands
13. #15x Chris Wilk
14. #44 Austin Brehio
15. #59 Mike Rivard
16. #82ct John Michael Shenette
17. #44x Dave Pembroke
18. #37 Fran Jr. Colson
19. #87 Eric Sands
Sources: Jim Snape/YankeeRacer.com