July 9, 2006

Tremont back in victory lane

WEST HAVEN, VT – It seems that racing for double points brings out the best in Ken Tremont Jr.

Tremont, making a strong bid for a second straight track championship at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, raced to his fifth win of the season Sunday night in the 30-lap Mid-Summer Championships.

Tremont picked up double points for the victory, the second time he’s won a feature this season with double points on the line. Despite starting 15th in the 20-car field, Tremont got the lead on lap 12 and slowly stretched out to a three-second margin of victory over Todd Stone.

Chris Vernold started on the pole and set the pace for the first eight laps. An early caution proved to be costly to Gene Munger, who had to go to the rear of the field. C.V. Elms brought out the yellow, but Munger was the victim of circumstance, as he and Don Scarborough came together in the chain reaction.

Vince Quenneville Jr., who had started fifth, took the lead away from Vernold in the third turn of lap seven and when the field went back under yellow the next time around, Tim Laduc had to make a quick stop to change a flat tire.

Tremont made the most of the early restarts, and was running fourth by lap nine. Another restart helped him jump to second and two laps later, he charged past Quenneville to get the lead.

That left Quenneville and Stone to battle for second, and Stone had to be patient, waiting until the final lap to move into the runner-up spot, the second time this season he’s chased Tremont across the finish line.

Quenneville hit the stripe third, followed by Scarborough and Ray Hoard.

Rob Langevin picked up his first win of the season in the extra-distance 50-lapper for the pro-street stocks. Like Tremont, Langevin made good use of two early cautions, coming from his 10th starting spot to slice to the front, and he moved past Walt Brownell Jr. for the lead on lap seven.

Cale Kneer, who had started 12th, followed Langevin to the front, and went into the No. 2 position when Langevin grabbed the lead. But that’s where Kneer would stay, despite some lapped traffic near the end of the race. Langevin hit the finish line 0.574 seconds ahead of Kneer, with Fred Little getting the show position.

Mike Clark recorded his fist win of the season in the 15-lap limited feature, beating Adam Piper in a photo finish, as the two cars were separated by just 0.003 seconds, a race that may have been declared a tie if not for electronic scoring.

Clark went right to the lead from his fourth starting spot, while Piper had to put on a charge after starting seventh. With four laps to go, Piper was still fourth, and his crowd-pleasing attempt to catch Clark fell just inches short. Kevin Elliot finished third.

Another first-time winner had a chance to celebrate after the mini-stock feature, as Tim Anagnos recorded his initial win of the season by a comfortable margin over Brett Osgood.

Devil’s Bowl will be back in action Sunday night, with the Central New York Mini-Sprints joining the regular CVRA divisions. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Todd Stone, Vince Quenneville Jr., Don Scarborough, Ray Hoard, Jim Ryan, Ron Proctor, Chris Vernold, Tim Laduc, Mike Bruno, Denny Young, Dustin Delaney, Gene Munger, Shawn Cassidy, Don Ackner, Frank Hoard Sr., Brian Whittemore, Matt Depew, Rick Davis, C.V. Elms.

PRO-STREET STOCKS (50 LAPS): ROB LANGEVIN, Cale Kneer, Freddie Little, Dan Eastman, Donnie Williams, Jon Bates, Jeff Washburn, Jeremie Younger, Charlie Towslee, Mike Lussier, Rob Wood, Justin Perry, Carl Cram, Will Hull, Walt Brownell Jr., Carl Vladyka.

LIMITEDS: MIKE CLARK, Adam Piper, Kevin Elliot, Bill Duprey, Randy Alger, Jared McMahon, Joey Trudeau, Adam Forbes, D.J. Brundige, Mark Wallett, Shannon Donnelly.

MINI/DUKE STOCKS: TIM ANAGNOS, Brett Osgood, Ron Zagata, Mike Duclos, Jim Anagnos, Bruce Taylor Jr., Cliff White, Jamie Gearwar, Garrett Given, C.J. Vitigliano, Jeff Smith, Bill Parker.