Bleau wins first Mini Stock “Sweepstakes” race
(From track press release)
WEST HAVEN — Devil’s Bowl Speedway living legends Kenny Tremont Jr. and Tim LaDuc once again added to their impressive résumés on Sunday, August 6. Each scored a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature race win at The Dirt Track at Devil’s Bowl during the annual “Double Feature Night” presented by Liberty Street Discount Beverage & Deli. Six other drivers – Bill Duprey, Chris Murray, P.J. Bleau, Jason Porter, Aaron Mulready, and Austin Chaves – also visited victory lane during the event.
Tremont, of West Sand Lake, N.Y., scored his 77th career Devil’s Bowl win in the opening 25-lap feature for the Central Vermont Motorcycles Sportsman Modified division. He started in 14th position and methodically worked his way toward the front as trouble fell on three different early leaders – Jimmy Ryan and Chad Miller were taken out after contact from Justin Severance, and Billy Lussier later broke a rear axle.
Tremont took the top spot from Vince Quenneville Jr. with seven laps remaining and cruised to the win – his third in a row and fourth of the season. Quenneville scored his fourth runner-up finish of the year on The Dirt Track, followed by Randy Howe, Justin Comes, and Codie Aubin. Mike Fisher finished an impressive sixth in his first-ever start, followed by Severance, James Fadden, LaDuc, and Trevor Rocke.
It was all Orwell, Vt., native LaDuc in the second feature, as he got out front early and sailed to his 49th career Devil’s Bowl win. Howe closed in late but never mounted a serious challenge and finished second. Lussier rebounded from his earlier problems to complete a late pass on Tremont and score his career-best dirt finish in third place. Tremont and Comes were next, ahead of Rocke, Brian Whittemore, Tomas Kimball, Fadden, and Fisher.
Unofficially, LaDuc’s lead in the championship standings shrunk to just five points over Tremont, 518-513, with four weeks left in the point-counting season. Quenneville sits third, 28 points back, at 490.
The Rosen & Berger Super Stock division had an action-filled night in a pair of 15-lap feature races. Bill Duprey of Hydeville, Vt., ended a month of bad luck by winning the opening race – his 47th career win. Mike Bradley finished second in only his second start of the year, after a late, close-quarters battle with Garrett Given. Given, driving a car he usually pilots on Devil’s Bowl’s 1/2-mile Asphalt Track, finished third ahead of Cassidy Wilson and Scott FitzGerald.
Chris Murray of Fair Haven, Vt. posted his fourth win of the year in the nightcap, dominating the caution-free race with a margin of victory of more than half of a lap. The racing was intense behind him, though, and Curtis Condon came out on top of a five-car battle for the runner-up position – his best showing of the year. Matt Mosher took third place, followed by Duprey and Randy Alger.
Murray closed the gap to point leader Josh Bussino – who finished sixth in both races – to just six markers, unofficially, 448-442. Defending champion Duprey is a tight third at 439, only nine points behind Bussino’s lead.
In a photo finish, invader P.J. Bleau of Cohoes, N.Y., locked himself into the September 17 “open competition” season finale with a win in the opening 15-lap Portland Glass Mini Stock feature. Bleau beat Chris Conroy to the finish line by inches to take the win in the first qualifying race of the recently-announced “Sweepstakes” series and will receive an automatic starting spot in the finale as an “at large” entry.
Conroy’s runner-up finish and Chris Charbonneau’s third-place effort also lock them into the finale with two “home track” bids available at the first feature race. Jason Porter finished fourth with rookie Johnny Bruno fifth. Bleau’s win his first at Devil’s Bowl and came in his first start of the season at the track; he has also won at Albany-Saratoga, Lebanon Valley, and Fonda speedways in 2017, as well as Glen Ridge Motorsports Park.
In the second 15-lap race, Freeport, Maine, resident Porter came from deep in the field running three- and four-wide to take his third victory of the season. Charbonneau outlasted a snarling pack behind him for second place, while early leader Andrew FitzGerald took third in his first dirt race of the season. Bruno and Robert Garney completed the top five. Charbonneau opened up a big lead of 60 points, unofficially, over Garney, 551-491.
The Catamount Mini Sprint club also held a pair of 15-lap features, and the first race was a family affair for Mulready team out of Buskirk, N.Y. Brothers Aaron and Erick finished 1-2, giving Aaron his second-straight win and Erick his best finish of the year. Nadine Coates finished third with Robert Griffin and Colby Beinhaur in tow.
Fifteen year-old Mini Sprint rookie Austin Chaves of Chester, Vt., was strong in the second race to take his second win of the season and protect his lead in the point standings. Beinhaur and Aaron Mulready completed the podium finishers, while 12 year-old Cody O’Brien was a career-best fourth and Coates was fifth. Sean Beinhaur walked away from a hard flip on the frontstretch in the second race.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is back in action on Wednesday, August 9, at 7:30 p.m. with the Wednesday Night Drag Racing Series. The 1/2-mile oval Asphalt Track races on Saturday, August 12, at 7:00 p.m. with the annual Heritage Family Credit Union “Member Night” program, and the 3/10-mile Dirt Track welcomes the Sprint Cars of New England on Sunday, August 13, and 6:00 p.m.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, Vt., four miles north of U.S. Route 4, Exit 2. For more information, visit www.DevilsBowlSpeedwayVT.com or call (802) 265-3112. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at @DevilsBowlSpeedway and on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat at @DevilsBowlSpeed; follow the action using the hashtag #DevilsBowl.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Liberty Street Discount & Deli Night
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
Devil’s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, Vt.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# — denotes rookie)
Central Vermont Motorcycles Sportsman Modifieds #1 (25 laps)
1. Kenny Tremont Jr., West Sand Lake, N.Y.
2. Vince Quenneville Jr., Brandon
3. Randy Howe, Lebanon, N.H.
4. Justin Comes, Middlebury
5. Codie Aubin, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
6. # Mike Fisher, Castleston
7. Justin Severance, Pittsford
8. # James Fadden, Plainfield, N.H.
9. Tim LaDuc, Orwell
10. Trevor Rocke, Canaan, N.H.
Central Vermont Motorcycles Sportsman Modifieds #2 (25 laps)
1. Tim LaDuc, Orwell
2. Randy Howe, Lebanon, N.H.
3. Billy Lussier, Fair Haven
4. Kenny Tremont Jr., West Sand Lake, N.Y.
5. Justin Comes, Middlebury
6. Trevor Rocke, Canaan, N.H.
7. Brian Whittemore, Pittsford
8. # Tomas Kimball, White River Junction
9. # James Fadden, Plainfield, N.H.
10. # Mike Fisher, Castleton
Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Super Stocks #1 (15 laps)
1. Bill Duprey, Hydeville
2. Mike Bradley, Hoosick Falls, N.Y.
3. # Garrett Given, Cornwall
4. Cassidy Wilson, West Rupert
5. Scott FitzGerald, West Rutland
6. Josh Bussino, Mouth Holly
7. Chris Murray, Fair Haven
8. Matt Mosher, Queensbury, N.Y.
9. Curtis Condon, Queensbury, N.Y.
10. Ronnie Alger, Orwell
Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Super Stocks #2 (15 laps)
1. Chris Murray, Fair Haven
2. Curtis Condon, Queensbury, N.Y.
3. Matt Mosher, Queensbury, N.Y.
4. Bill Duprey, Hydeville
5. Randy Alger, Fair Haven
6. Josh Bussino, Mouth Holly
7. Scott FitzGerald, West Rutland
8. Lou Gancarz, North Adams, Mass.
9. Mike Bradley, Hoosick Falls, N.Y.
10. Ronnie Alger, Orwell
Portland Glass Mini Stocks #1 (15 laps)
1. P.J. Bleau, Cohoes, N.Y.
2. Chris Conroy, Newport, N.H.
3. Chris Charbonneau, Rutland
4. Jason Porter, Freeport, Maine
5. # Johnny Bruno, Castleton
6. Sean Perron, Sharon
7. Robert Garney, Fort Edward, N.Y.
8. Cameron Kennedy, Rochester
9. # Willie Rice, Poultney
10. Brian Bishop Jr., West Rutland
Portland Glass Mini Stocks #2 (15 laps)
1. Jason Porter, Freeport, Maine
2. Chris Charbonneau, Rutland
3. Andrew FitzGerald, West Rutland
4. # Johnny Bruno, Castleton
5. Robert Garney, Fort Edward, N.Y.
6. # Jake Barrows, Monkton
7. Brian Bishop Jr., West Rutland
8. # Willie Rice, Poultney
9. Cameron Kennedy, Rochester
10. Tim St. John, Claremont, N.H.
Catamount Mini Sprints #1 (15 laps)
1. Aaron Mulready, Buskirk, N.Y.
2. Erick Mulready, Buskirk, N.Y.
3. Nadine Coates, Newport, N.H.
4. Robert Griffin, Sunapee, N.H.
5. Colby Beinhaur, Shoreham, Vt.
Catamount Mini Sprints #2 (15 laps)
1. Austin Chaves, Chester
2. Colby Beinhaur, Shoreham
3. Aaron Mulready, Buskirk, N.Y.
4. Cody O’Brien, Springfield
5. Nadine Coates, Newport, N.H.
PHOTO: Kenny Tremont Jr. (115) and Tim LaDuc (54), seen earlier this season at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, split the Sportsman Modified wins during their double features on Sunday night. (Alan Ward photo)
