September 6, 2006

The Bandit steals a win at the Bowl

WEST HAVEN, VT – Don Scarborough saved his best for last Sunday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

The Brandon Bandit, who hadn’t had a top-five finish at the Bowl since July 16, gave the Vermont fans something to remember when he held off Todd Stone to win Sunday night’s 30-lap 358 modified feature as Devil’s Bowl put the wraps on the 2006 racing campaign.

Scarborough’s win was his first at the Bowl since Aug. 31, 2003, ending one of the longest winless droughts of his career at the fastest half-mile in Vermont.

Ken Tremont Jr. walked away with his second straight 358-modified point championship, but the crown nearly slipped away. Tremont was involved in a wreck on lap 20 and limped around to finish19th, four laps down to the leaders in the double-points finale. But that was just enough to allow him to hold off Stone for the title.

Veteran Don Ackner had the fastest car early in the race, setting some quick laps as Stone quickly worked his way to the front from his seventh starting position. One of the cars that Stone passed early in the race was Scarborough, who had started fourth.

When the first caution of the night came out on lap 10, Stone and Scarborough were sitting second and third, behind Ackner, but Ackner continued to set the pace, and Scarborough moved past Stone into second on lap 19.

That only left Ackner between The Bandit and clean air, and Scarborough needed just two more laps to take the lead. Stone dropped Ackner down another spot on lap 23 and set sail after Scarborough, but this one belonged to the Bandit, hitting the finish line 0.587 seconds ahead of Stone to notch his 28th career win at the Bowl.

Vince Quenneville made a late charge to finish third, with Ackner fourth and Matt DeLorenzo fifth. Ackner’s fourth-place run marked just the second time this season he’s cracked the top five.

Had it not been for electronic scoring, the 20-lap pro-street stock feature would have probably been declared a draw, but thanks to technology, Fred Little had his first win of the season.

Little and Rob Langevin put on one of the best shows seen at the Bowl this season, with Little coming off the pole and Langevin working his way up from the 16th starting position in a 17-car field.

A yellow on lap 15 gave Langevin the break he needed, as he then moved past Cale Kneer into second and battled Little for the lead. The two ran side-by-side to the finish line, and the hand-held sheets actually had Langevin winning the feature. But the computer said differently, giving the win to Little by the incredible margin of 0.004 seconds. Little’s winless streak at the Bowl was a couple of weeks shorter than Scarborough’s, as Little won the final feature of the 2003 season, on Sept. 14.

Kneer held on for third and earned the first track title of his career, with Carl Cram fourth and Carl Vladyka fifth.

The 15-lap limited feature was no surprise, as Adam Piper picked up his sixth win of the season and secured the track title in the process. Piper took the lead on lap nine and built up enough of a cushion to hold off hard-charging Kevin Elliot. Bill Duprey finished third, with Mike Clark fourth and Jon Sherwood fifth.

Ken Hollenbeck won the mini-stock feature, while Stinky Sargood was first under the checkered flag in the Duke stock feature.

MODIFIEDS: DON SCARBOROUGH, Todd Stone, Vince Quenneville Jr., Don Ackner, Matt DeLorenzo, Mike Bruno, Tim Laduc, Gene Munger, Ray Hoard, Dustin Delaney, Don Mattison, Rick Davis, C.V. Elms, Ron Proctor, Frank Hoard Sr., Whitey Slavin, Jim Ryan, Brian Whittemore, Ken Tremont Jr., John Danyou, Matt Depew, Leon Gonyo Jr., Gus Kamburellis, Mike Perrotte.

PRO-STREET STOCKS: FRED LITTLE, Rob Langevin, Cale Kneer, Carl Cram, Carl Vladyka, Jeff Washburn, Dan Eastman, Will Hull, Pete Broderson, Jeff Martin, Charlie Towslee, Mike Lussier, Jeremie Younger, Walt Brownell Jr., Jon Bates, Justin Perry, Rich Glode.

LIMITEDS: ADAM PIPER, Kevin Ellliot, Bill Duprey, Mike Clarke, Jon Sherwood, D.J. Brundige, Adam Forbes, John Donnelly, Joe Ladd, Bill Decker, Joey Trudeau, Tim Brunelle, Charles Primeau, Mark Wallett, Randy Alger, Jared McMahon, Shannon Donnelly.

MINI-STOCKS: KEN HOLLENBECK (4), Tim Anagnos (6), Cliff White (4), Bruce Taylor (4), Shane Marks (4), Ron Zagata (6).

DUKE STOCKS: STINKY SARGOOD, Bill Parker, Jeff Sargood, Jeremy Hayes, Tim Reed, Tim Brooks, Jeff Smith, Justin Parker.