June 26, 2005

Tremont notches first win of 2005

WEST HAVEN, VT –  If there’s one thing that Ken Tremont Jr. has learned about Devil’s Bowl Speedway over the years, it’s that patience is a virtue.

Tremont used a couple of restarts to work his way to the front, and then easily pulled away from Gene Munger over the final 10 laps to record his first victory of the season Sunday night in the 358 modified feature at the Vermont track.

Tremont, who is one of the winningest drivers in the history of the speedway, hasn’t been running a full schedule at the Bowl in recent years, but has always managed to come through with his share of victories. Last year, he won three features, and his win on Sunday night was the 36th of his career at the Bowl.

Lance Harting, who worked on Tremont’s cars before beginning a racing career of his own, started on the pole and went right to the front, while Tremont, who had started 10th, was taking no unnecessary chances early in the race.

Ron Proctor brought out the first caution on lap eight, bunching the field and putting Chris Vernold back together on the front row with Harting. But the man the fans were watching was Munger, who had started seventh and had already worked his way to third.

Another caution on lap 14 allowed Munger to move into second, and Tremont was now up to fourth. When the field closed up again on lap 18, Tremont was up to third, and ready to make his charge.

Tremont blasted around Munger on lap 19 and two laps later, rocketed around Harting to get the lead. Munger then moved past Harting into second on lap 25, but there was no catching Tremont, who steadily increased his lead, hitting the finish line over two seconds ahead of Munger, with Harting another two seconds back in third. Harting’s finish was his best since a third-place run on July 19, 2003.

Defending track champion Ray Hoard, who was looking for his third straight win, had to settle for fourth, while veteran Bob Savoie was fifth in the Sampson Motorsports entry. Completing the top 10 were Vince Quenneville Jr., Jimmy Ryan, Mike Perrotte, Denny Young and Brian Whittemore.

Scott Duell continued his domination of the pro-street stock division, picking up his fourth win in five races this season. Duell, who started seventh, took the lead away from Cale Kneer on lap 11 and then had to hold off a late charge from defending track champion Robert Langevin to get the victory. Langevin had been running fourth with four laps left in the 20-lap feature, but used to late restarts to improve his position, and was only 0.503 seconds behind Duell at the finish.

Following Langevin across the finish line were John Harrison, who dropped from the 358 modified division to the pro-street stocks this season, Don Williams and Jeff Martin.

Pat Cram picked up his second win of the season in the caution-plagued Rentway Limited feature, where extended green-flag racing was hard to come by. Cram had started 10th, but because of three early cautions, was third after just three laps. On lap nine, Jamie Buzzell and William Duprey, two of the top drivers in the division, came together while battling for the lead, allowing Cram to move into the top spot, and that’s where he stayed. Curtis Condon made a late run to move into second, but he had no chance to catch Cram.

Kevin Elliott finished third, with Richard Stone fourth and Buzzell battling his way back up to fifth.

The Pro-Built mini-stocks were also in action, with Mike Clark getting his second win of the season.

Devil’s Bowl will return to action on Sunday, July 3, with American Pride Night. All divisions will be in action in the special holiday show, which will also feature an enduro and a spectacular fireworks display, always one of the biggest attractions of the season at the Bowl. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

In the event of rain on Sunday, American Pride Night will be held on Monday, July 4.

MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Gene Munger, Lance Harting, Ray Hoard, Bob Savoie, Vince Quenneville Jr., Jimmy Ryan, Mike Perrotte, Denny Young, Brian Whittemore, Tim Laduc, Gardner Stone, Ron Proctor, Brent LeCoste, Todd Stone, Stan Lemiesz, Frank Hoard Sr., Butch Jelley, C.V. Elms, Matt Depew, Chris Vernold, John Proctor, John Scarborough.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: SCOTT DUELL, Robert Langevin, John Harrison, Don Williams, Jeff Martin, Ed Thompson, Cale Kneer, Billy Lussier, Mike Haines, Jeff Washburn, Jimmy Eaton, Joe Santoro, Walt Brownell Jr.

RENTWAY LIMITIEDS: PAT CRAM, Curtis Condon, Kevin Elliott, Richard Stone, Jamie Buzzell, Mike Labelle, Billy Lussier, Russ Farr, Tony Condon, Tim Whitney, Tim Brunell, Joe Ladd, William Vradenburg, Bill Burlingame, William Duprey, Joey Trudeau, Jared McMahon, Adam Piper, Benny Ladd, Shannon Donnelly, Tim Smith.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS: MIKE CLARK, Randy Manhey, John Baldwin, Carl Whittemore, Jason Bishop, Jamie Gearwar, Art Howe.