June 11, 2006

Tremont wins two in a row at the Bowl

WEST HAVEN, VT –  The second week in June is a little too early to be deciding a track championship, but Ken Tremont Jr. is doing his best to turn the point race at Devil’s Bowl Speedway into a runaway.

Coming out of the 14th starting position, Tremont ran down leader Don Scarborough with six laps to go and walked off with his second straight victory in Sunday night’s 30-lap 358 modified feature at the Bowl.

Last year, Tremont won the track championship at the Bowl, but didn’t pick up his second win of the season until July 31. This year, he’s 2-for-2 and has pushed his career win total at Devil’s Bowl to 42, and because of a rainout on June 4, Tremont also picked up double points for his win Sunday.

Other winners at the Judith L Richards Memorial, a benefit for the Rutland Area Visiting Nurses Association/Hospice, were Walt Brownell Jr. (pro-street stocks) and Adam Piper (limiteds).

Chris Vernold came off the pole and set the pace early in the 358 modified feature. Scarborough, who finished fifth in the season-opening CJ 101, started fourth and jumped right into the No. 2 hole, putting constant pressure on the leader. An incident involving Chris Donnelly and Tim Laduc brought out the caution on lap seven, allowing Scarborough to pull even with Vernold, and Scarborough had the lead three laps later.

With the field ticking off some very fast green-flag laps, Tremont began to make his move and had worked his way up to fourth by lap 19. He then got the break he needed on lap 22, when Jimmy Ryan and Brian Whittemore brought out the second caution of the night.

That bunched the field and put Tremont right where he wanted to be. On the restart, he wheeled around Ray Hoard for second and then rocketed past Scarborough on lap 25 to get the lead for good.

Tremont was still building up a head of steam when he hit the finish line 1.686 seconds ahead of Scarborough. Hoard came across the line third, followed by Todd Stone and Ron Proctor.

Completing the top 10 were Vince Quenneville Jr., Laduc, Gene Munger, Gardner Stone and Dan Douville.

Walt Brownell Jr. started on the pole and led all 20 laps to record his first career victory at the Bowl in the pro-street stock feature. Three caution flags helped Cale Kneer get in a position to challenge for the victory, but he had to settle for second, as he also had to battle Kim Duell for the runner-up position. Duell had started 10th, but he moved into the top three on lap 16 and gave the two leaders all they could handle in the closing laps.

At the finish, Brownell was 0.417 seconds ahead of Kneer, with Duell a half-a-car length back in third. Jeff Washburn was fourth, with Ed Thompson fifth.

Adam Piper picked up his second straight win in the 15-lap limited feature. Piper started seventh, but, with the help of two early cautions, had the lead on lap six and was never seriously challenged. Kevin Elliot finished second, followed by Rich Holmes, Jared McMahon and Bill Duprey.

Devil’s Bowl also held its first enduro of the season Sunday, with Eli Capen taking the checkered flag.

Devil’s Bowl will return to action Sunday with all divisions for the annual Father’s Day festivities. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.

MODIFIEDS: KEN TREMONT JR., Don Scarborough, Ray Hoard, Todd Stone, Ron Proctor, Vince Quenneville Jr., Tim Laduc, Gene Munger, Gardner Stone, Dan Douville, C.V. Elms, Chris Vernold, Brent LaCoste, Chris Donnelly, Scott Duell, Mike Bruno, Adam Pierson, Ben Elder, Jim Ryan, Denny Young, Rick Davis, Matt Depew, Brian Whittemore, Frank Hoard Sr., Mike Perrotte, Doug Sheely, George Morse.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: WALT BROWNELL JR., Cale Kneer, Kim Duell, Jeff Washburn, Ed Thompson, John Scarborough, Donnie Williams, Fred Little, John Turco, Will Hull, Dave Wood, Dan Bernard, Jeremie Younger, Carl Cram, Jeff Martin, Mike Lussier, Dan Eastman, Lori Cary, Charles Towslee, Carl Vladyka, Justin Perry.

LIMITEDS: ADAM PIPER, Kevin Elliot, Rich Holmes, Jared McMahon, Bill Duprey, Mike Clarke, D.J. Brundige, Tim Brunell, Tim Shaw, Steve Holcomb, Jeff Donnelly, Joey Trudeau, Ben Ladd, Steve Burch, Shannon Donnelly, Anthony Marro, Joe Ladd, Adam Forbes, Mark Wallett.