June 8, 2003

Camara repeats at the Bowl

WEST HAVEN, VT. – The way Dave Camara is driving, you’d think he’s trying to wrap up the Devil’s Bowl point championship before July 4.

Coming out of the nine hole in the 22-car feature Sunday night, Camara left the field in his dust to notch his second straight 358-modified win in the second annual Judith L. Richards Memorial at the fastest dirt track in Vermont.

Camara’s victory capped off a great day of festivities at the track, with proceeds going to the Rutland Area Visiting Nurses Association/Hospice in the memory of Judy Richards, the late wife of Champlain Valley Racing Association founder and president C.J. Richards.

Once the racing got under way, Camara simply destroyed the field. Last season, Camara had to wait until the final night of season to win the track championship, but it looks like he doesn’t want to face that kind of pressure this year.

Don Mattison came off the front row and led the first 10 laps. Ray Hoard, who had started fourth, was also flying at the start and on lap six, turned the quickest lap of the night, stopping the clock at 17.997 seconds, the only driver to break the 18-second barrier all night. But Hoard would drop out of the race with eight laps to go.

Camara rocketed past Mattison for the lead on lap 11 and took advantage of an incredibly smooth racing surface to walk away from the competition.

Ken Tremont Jr., who had skipped the opening race of the season, moved into second from his 14th starting position on lap 15, but by that time, Camara was already long gone, and won by 1.5 seconds.
Vince Quenneville Jr., who lost the point championship to Camara last year, was a distant third, followed by Mattison and Jim Ryan.

Completing the top 10 were Ron Proctor, Frank Hoard Sr., Gene Munger, Tim Laduc and Mike Perrotte. Heat winners were Mattison, Hoard and Frank Hoard Jr.

Following Camara’s lead, Carl Vladyka also picked up his second win of the season in the 20-lap pro-street stock feature. This one was a little more competitive than the modified feature, as Ed Thompson and Mike Haines made Vladyka work for the victory. Thompson was just 0.696 seconds back at the finish while Haines, who finished second in the opener, was breathing down Thompson’s neck at the checkered flag.

Lori Cary crossed the finish line fourth, but was disqualified when she came up light at the scales. That gave fourth to Jay Fitzgerald, with Bob Schmidt getting fifth.

Mike Tholin, one of the New York drivers who made the trek to Vermont to show his support for the Judith L. Richards Memorial, made his trip pay off, as he overpowered the field in the 15-lap hobby stock feature. Pat Cram had an impressive run and finished second, but was over two seconds behind Tholin at the finish. Cram was followed by Billy Lussier, Tim Shaw and Russ Farr.

The cruisers were also in action Sunday night, with Robert Ross dominating the 15-lap event in his four-cylinder car. Ron Zagata was second, and was the first six-cylinder car across the finish line.

MODIFIEDS: DAVE CAMARA, Ken Tremont Jr., Vince Quenneville Jr., Don Mattison, Jim Ryan, Ron Proctor, Frank Hoard Sr., Gene Munger, Tim Laduc, Mike Perrotte, Craig Hanson, Frank Hoard Jr., Lance Harting, Neal Erickson, Brian Whittemore, Stan Lemiesz, Bill Cody, Pete Kimball, Chad Miller, Chris Vemnell, Ray Hoard, Richard Stromberg.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: CARL VLADYKA, Ed Thompson, Mike Haines, Jay Fitzgerald, Bob Schmidt, Walt Brownell, Roy Fifield, Robert Langevin, Don Daniels, Jim Groncki, Cale Kneer, Randy Brownell, Woody Woods, Denny Martin. DQ: Lori Cary.

HOBBY STOCKS: MIKE THOLIN, Pat Cram, Billy Lussier, Tim Shaw, Russ Farr, Joey Trudeau, Nathan Chaves, Curtis Condon, Scott Fowler, Shannon Donnel