August 1, 2004

Munger tops at Devil’s Bowl

WEST HAVEN, VT –  Once Gene Munger builds up a little momentum, it’s tough to stop him.

Coming off a top-five finish in the last weekend of July, Munger started off the month of August with a bang, holding off Ken Tremont Jr. to win Sunday night’s 358 modified feature at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

The win was the second of the season for Munger and the Mike Richards team, marking the first time since the 2001 campaign that Munger has won more than one feature at his home track.

When Munger won his first race of the year on June 20, it was his third straight top-five finish. He then went three weeks without cracking the top five again, but during the last two weeks, everything has been humming again. Munger started seventh in the field Sunday night and took advantage of a couple of early cautions to quickly get to the front. He then rocketed around Ron Proctor on a restart on lap eight to get the lead.

Tremont, who had started 14th, had worked his way up to third by the time Munger got the lead, but getting past Proctor for the No. 2 position wasn’t easy. Working every inch of the track, Tremont finally saw the opening he needed on lap 20, and moved into the runner-up spot.

But that was as far as he was going to progress, as Munger was running a perfect line. Tremont moved to within a car length on a couple of occasions late in the feature, but Munger got to the finish line first, with a 0.323 second margin of victory.

Tremont grabbed the No. 2 spot, with Mike Perrotte, who had won his first CVRA race of the season Friday night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, making a late charge to get third. Don Scarborough, who turned the quickest lap of the feature on lap eight, was fourth, and Tim Laduc came home fifth. Ray Hoard, who went into the night as the points leader, dropped out midway through the feature and finished 18th, which will give the points lead back to Scarborough.

Ed Thompson drove to his first victory of the season in the 20-lap Amsoil pro-street stock main. Thompson started on the pole and led all 20 laps, but this one was never easy, as Carl Vladyka haunted Thompson for the entire 20 laps, only to come up 0.260 seconds short at the finish. Cale Kneer completed a solid weekend with a third-place finish, followed by Jeff Washburn and Don Piper.

Scott Fowler made his way to victory lane for the third time this season in the15-lap Rentway Limited feature. Fowler started seventh and only needed six laps to get to the front. William Duprey turned in his best performance and chased Fowler across the finish line, with Arnie Trudeau third.

Elmer Montville Jr. kept his winning streak alive in the Pro-Built Mini-Stock class, recording his fifth straight victory, and sixth overall win of the year at the Bowl. Amanda Clemens, the last driver other than Montville to win a feature at the Bowl, hung tough for as long as she could, but had to settle for second, with Bobbi Jo Bean third. Chris Cary Jr., who was fourth, had the first four-cylinder across the finish line.

The Duke Stocks were also in action Sunday night, with Adam Piper coming away with the win.

Another exciting night of racing is on tap at the Bowl this Sunday, with all divisions in action on Mountain Man weekend. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: GENE MUNGER, Ken Tremont Jr., Mike Perrotte, Don Scarborough, Tim Laduc, Ron Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Chad Miller, Lance Harting, Denny Young, Neal Erickson, Don Ackner, Brian Whittemore, Ken Anatriello, Stan Lemiesz, Todd Stone, C.V. Elms, Ray Hoard, Chris Garrity, Jim Ryan, Frank Hoard Sr.

AMSOIL PRO-STREET STOCKS: ED THOMPSON, Carl Vladyka, Cale Kneer, Jeff Washburn, Don Piper, Chris Lussier, Robert Langevin, Jeff Martin, Lori Cary, Dave Wood, Vince Santoro.

RENTWAY LIMITEDS: SCOTT FOWLER, William Duprey, Arnie Trudeau, Jared McMahon, Billy Lussier, Pat Cram, Joey Trudeau, Mark Burch, Shannon Donnelly, Bill Burlingame, William Vradenburg, Ben Ladd, Adam Forbes, Tony Condon, John Sullivan. DQ: Jamie Buzzell.

PRO-BUILT MINI-STOCKS: ELMER MONTVILLE JR., Amanda Clemens, Bobbi Jo Bean, Chris Cary Jr., Brittany Ladd, John Baldwin, Mike Clark Jr., Jason Bishop, Charles Burns, Heather Combs, Shea Montgomery, Matt Depew, Ben Durie, Dwight Cram.