PHOTO: Recent Northern Modified Challenge Series winner Kenny Tremont, Jr. (#115) and current point leader Jessey Mueller (#19) will run in twin 50-lap events at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, September 15. (MemorEvents photo)
Top three drivers only 10 points apart
WEST HAVEN, VT – The Northern Modified Challenge Series will be busy during the Vermont 200 Weekend at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on September 14-15. The first-year championship tour for open-wheel Modified stock cars is expected to draw its largest field yet as drivers race in twin 50-lap features.
Only 10 championship points separate the top three title contenders entering the two-day event at the series’ home track at Devil’s Bowl. Eighteen year-old Jessey Mueller of Olmstedville, NY holds the lead through the first three races of the season, with a victory in the opener at Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl in May, a runner-up finish in the Carrara Masonry C.J. Richards Memorial at Devil’s Bowl in August, and a sixth-place showing at Canaan Fair Speedway in August.
Veteran Leon Gonyo of Chazy, NY is a tight four points behind Mueller and is the only driver to post a top-five finish in all three NMCS events. Vince Quenneville, Jr., of Brandon, VT moved into third place after a runner-up finish at Canaan. The standings remain tight through the pack as Hunter Bates, C.J. Richards Memorial winner Todd Stone, Joe Williams, and Ron Proctor are only eight points apart in positions 4-7, and all within 31 points of Mueller’s lead. Even Canaan winner Kenny Tremont, Jr., who missed the previous Devil’s Bowl event, is within 46 points of the top spot.
First-round qualifying heats for the Northern Modified Challenge Series help open the Vermont 200 Weekend at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1:30pm. Second-round qualifying and twin 50-lap features are among headline events on Sunday, Sept. 15, with racing action beginning at 1:30pm. The Vermont 200 Weekend also includes events for the Vermont State Late Model Championship Series and will crown champions in the track’s four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly divisions. Adult general admission is $10 on Saturday, $20 on Sunday, or $25 for a discount two-day pass. Children age 12 and under will be admitted free both days.
The Northern Modified Challenge Series is a five-event championship for dirt-style, center-seat, open-wheel Modified stock cars, with races at four tracks on both asphalt and dirt surfaces. The NMCS schedule wraps up on Saturday, October 19 at the quarter-mile Canaan Dirt Speedway at the annual OctoberFAST event.
For more information on the Northern Modified Challenge Series or the Vermont 200 Weekend, call (802) 265-3112 or visit www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com. Follow the Northern Modified Challenge Series on Twitter at @NorthernModCS.
OFFICIAL POINT STANDINGS – Northern Modified Challenge Series
Pos.-(Car No.)-Driver-Hometown-Points
1. (19) Jessey Mueller, Olmstedville, NY – 151 points (1 win)
2. (4) Leon Gonyo, Chazy, NY – 147 points
3. (78) Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, VT – 141 points
4. (69) Hunter Bates, Middlebury, VT – 128 points
5. (1X) Todd Stone, Middlebury, VT – 125 points (1 win)
6. (55L) Joe Williams, Scotia, NY – 123 points
7. (27) Ron Proctor, Charlton, NY – 120 points
8. (115) Kenny Tremont, Jr., West Sand Lake, NY – 105 points (1 win)
9. (55) Cody Sargen, Greenfield Center, NY – 98 points
10. (5VT) Dave Snow, Brandon, VT – 92 points
REMAINING SCHEDULE OF EVENTS – Northern Modified Challenge Series
• Sat.-Sun., September 14-15 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway – West Haven, VT
• Sat., October 19 – Canaan Dirt Speedway – Canaan, NH