PHOTO: Chris Donnelly (#1) races with Mark Cole (#6x) and Dan Douville (#7x) en route to his second-straight sweep of the the SCoNE Sprint Car and DIRTcar Sportsman Modified features at Bear Ridge Speedway. (Alan Ward photo)

Sweeps Sprint Car, Modified victories for second straight week

BRADFORD — Chris Donnelly made stock car history last week at Bear Ridge Speedway. He did it again on Saturday night.

In an unprecedented win streak, the Piermont, N.H., driver swept the Sprint Cars of New England and DIRTcar Sportsman Modified features for the second-straight week on Dennis Preston Builder Night. Before last week, no driver had won in multiple divisions on the same night in the Bradford track’s 44 year history.

“Never in my wildest dreams,” Donnelly said in victory lane after his Modified win. “We’ve been good, but I didn’t know how good that Sprint Car was going to be until we got going this year, and this Modified was super good last year, so I knew what I had here. It’s been phenomenal.”

Donnelly’s first victory of the night came in the SCoNE Sprint Car event, when he drove his No. 1 Winslow Mountain Lawncare entry from the 11th starting position into the lead at lap 10 of the 25-lap race. The win was Donnelly’s third in four SCoNE starts.

Dan Douville of Bridgewater, N.H., recovered from a spin on the opening lap to move into second place at the halfway mark. Donnelly encountered lapped traffic in the closing laps, but Douville ran out of time and finished second. Rookie Jim Lowrey, Jr., of Tilton, N.H., posted a SCoNE career-best third-place finish, followed by Fairlee’s Kevin Chaffee and former champion Shawn Lawler of Mason, New Hampshire.

In the 35-lap Sportsman Modified feature, Donnelly drove a car that Tim Tucker used to win with at Canaan Fair (N.H.) Speedway on Friday from the eighth starting spot into third place by lap 10, then waged a sensational battle with Justin Comes and Adam Pierson for the lead. Donnelly’s No. 91 Tuck’s Repair Bicknell chassis took over on lap 22 and was uncontested until the end. Chaffee capped a strong double-duty effort with a runner-up finish in the Modified race, followed by Pierson, Bryan King, and Dan Eastman.

Gene Pierson, Jr., of East Corinth earned his third Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe victory of the season after a hotly contested 25-lap event. Seven drivers jockeyed for the victory throughout the race, with Pierson coming out on top. Point leader Josh Harrington of Topsham finished second ahead of Shane Race, Jason Horniak, and Kane Pike.

Fourteen year-old rookie Jordan Fornwalt of Bradford earned a popular first career victory in the 20-lap A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model feature. Fornwalt stretched out to an early lead, then recovered from a mid-race bobble to fend off fellow Bradford drivers Richie Simmons and Tyler Stygles for the win. Will Hull and Robert Tucker completed the unofficial top five.

Barre’s Danny Doyle swept both 22-lap segments of the Weglarz Property Service Fast Four “Madness” race to his third overall victory of the season. Kevin Harran of St. Johnsbury strung together a pair of runner-up finishes to take second place overall, and Travis Hull of Graniteville was third overall. Rookie Bobby Bell was fourth with Andy Johnson fifth.

The husband-and-wife team of Mike and Julie Stender of South Strafford picked up a pair of wins in the Hornet class. Mike Stender earned his second win of the season in the KDD NAPA Auto Parts Hornet feature, beating point leader Eric Lang of Groton in a close finish. Don Reynolds of Springfield was third. Julie Stender took her first career win in the Hornet Queen race. Melissa King of Corinth finished second with Misty Bell of St. Johnsbury third.

Bear Ridge Speedway is back in action on Saturday, July 9 at 6:00pm with the double-points Mid-Season Championships for all five weekly divisions, plus the Hornet Stinger youth division.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Dennis Preston Builder Night
Bear Ridge Speedway — Bradford, Vt.
Saturday, July 9, 2011

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

WYKR Sprint Cars of New England (25 laps)
1. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
2. Dan Douville, Bridgewater, N.H.
3. # Jim Lowrey, Jr., Tilton, N.H.
4. Kevin Chaffee, Fairlee
5. Shawn Lawler, Mason, N.H.
6. Tunk Berry, Center Ossipee, N.H.
7. Mark Cole, Lebanon, N.H.
8. Bob Giuliani, Middletown, N.H.
9. # Jake Williams, Center Tuftonboro, N.H.
10. # Will Hull, East Montplier

Bond Auto DIRTcar Sportsman Modified (35 laps)
1. Chris Donnelly, Piermont, N.H.
2. Kevin Chaffee, Orange
3. Adam Pierson, Fairlee
4. Bryan King, Corinth
5. Dan Eastman, Thetford Center
6. Mike Dunn, North Haverhill, N.H.
7. # Josh Sunn, White River Junction
8. Wayne Stearns, Bradford
9. Justin Comes, Middlebury
10. Jack Cook, Moultonboro, N.H.

Wells River Chevrolet Sportsman Coupe (25 laps)
1. Gene Pierson, Jr., East Corinth
2. Josh Harrington, Topsham
3. Shane Race, South Strafford
4. Jason Horniak, Bradford
5. Kane Pike, Bradford
6. Bob Shepard, West Topsham
7. Terry Williams, Waits River
8. Jeremy Beckley, Woodsville, N.H.
9. Jeremy Stygles, Bradford
10. Steve Ellsworth, Corinth

A Notch Above Automotive Limited Late Model (20 laps)
1. # Jordan Fornwalt, Bradford
2. Richie Simmons, Bradford
3. Tyler Stygles, Bradford
4. Will Hull, East Montpelier
5. Robert Tucker, East Corinth
6. Ray Johnson, Campton, N.H.
7. # J.P. Vaillancourt, Campton, N.H.
8. Jeremy Hodge, Newbury
9. Troy Comeau, Rumney, N.H.
10. Anthony Perkins, Groton

Weglarz Property Service Fast Four (2×22 laps)
1. Danny Doyle, Barre (2 pts.)
2. Kevin Harran, St. Johnsbury (4 pts.)
3. Travis Hull, Graniteville (6 pts.)
4. # Bobby Bell, St. Johnsbury (8 pts.)
5. Andy Johnson, Wilder (10 pts.)

KDD NAPA of Bradford Hornet (20 laps)
1. Mike Stender, South Strafford
2. Eric Lang, Groton
3. Don Reynolds, Springfield
4. Andy Mooney, Danville
5. Steve Sheldon, St. Johnsbury

Hornet Queen (10 laps)
1. Julie Stender, South Strafford
2. Melissa King, Corinth
3. Misty Bell, St. Johnsbury