Bussino steals Super Stock special in final corner
WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Kenny Tremont Jr. did it again. The West Sand Lake, N.Y., driver made it four consecutive victories at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday, July 7, taking the Rutland Regional Medical Center “Hometown Heores” event in a wild 30-lap run. His win topped a card that included visits to Victory Lane by Adam Piper, Josh Bussino, P.J. Bleau, and Samantha Mulready.
Tremont, started in 18th place, needed some luck to win the Pepsi Sportsman Modified feature, and he received it. When Adam Pierson – the only driver to truly keep pace with Tremont so far in 2019 – tangled with Brent Warren, Tremont capitalized. When several front-runners – including Tim LaDuc and the three racing Hammonds – Walt, Walter, and Allan – each encountered their own separate problems, Tremont capitalized.
And when leader Joey Roberts, a rookie, opened the bottom lane with four laps to go, Tremont capitalized. The nine-time champion exited his car in the winner’s circle with a smile that suggested that he couldn’t believe the outcome of the race.
Roberts inherited the lead when Walter Hammond’s throttle stuck wide open on a restart, sending his car flying through a tire barrier in Turn 1. Hammond, who was uninjured, partially cleared the speedway’s northern property line and crossed into the town of Benson. Roberts led 18 laps before succumbing to Tremont and held on for the runner-up finish. Pierson recovered from his early run-in for third, Bobby Hackel was fourth, and Marty Kelly III was solid in fifth. Frank Hoard III was sixth ahead of Alex Bell, James Fadden, Justin Comes, and Jeff Washburn.
Tremont is now one victory shy of matching his personal-best streak of five consecutive wins at Devil’s Bowl, which he achieved in 2007; the all-time Modified track record of 11-straight wins was set in 1968-69 by the late Vince Quenneville Sr.
Leicester, Vt.’s Adam Piper earned his first win of the year in the 25-lap O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman race. Piper blew an engine on Wednesday at the Independence Day special event but rebounded big time for the second win of his career. He and Marty Hutchins had an intense dogfight in heavy lapped traffic in the final stages of the race, only to be stalled by a late caution flag.
Piper broke away at the restart and James Hanson slipped past Hutchins to finish second. Hutchins settled for third with Johnny Bruno fourth, Larry Gallipo fifth, and Anthony Warren sixth. Matt Bilodeau came back from a spin to finish seventh, followed by Dave Snow, Mike Ryan, and Mike Parodi.
The Super Stocks ran a special two-segment race with the overall finish based on low-total segment scoring points. Josh Bussino of Belmont, Vt., found himself in the catbird seat in the first segment when leader Chris Murray tangled with a lapped car and flipped over just short of the finish line. Bussino won that round to collect one scoring point, with Mark Norris taking two points, Kevin Elliott three, Scott FitzGerald four, and Garrett Given five.
The second segment was all Garrett Given, and he appeared to have the overall victory in hand before two late caution flags bunched the field up and gave Bussino his opportunity. With both Given and Scott FitzGerald scoring six total points, Bussino needed to get through traffic in order to score five points; he completed the pass right at the finish line to steal the overall win.
The final overall rundown shows Bussino winning with five points (1st, 4th), Given second with six points (5th, 1st), Scott FitzGerald third with six points (4th, 2nd), Andrew FitzGerald fourth with 11 points (8th, 3rd), and Curtis Condon fifth with 13 points (7th, 6th).
P.J. Bleau of Latham, N.Y., scored his second Mini Stock win of the season during his limited-schedule campaign. Bleau and early leader Jake Barrows had a good battle up front before Bleau was able to get away. Barrows took second, and Craig Kirby was third for the fourth-straight race. Shawn Moquin finished fourth and Tim Simonds erased some hard luck with a fifth-place finish.
Samantha Mulready scored a popular career-first win in the Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint division. Driving hard on the outside lane, the Cambridge, N.Y., racer used extreme patience as leader Shawn McPhee took up his share of real estate on the track. After multiple attempts at taking the lead, Mulready was able to pull the trigger in the final corner and win a drag race to the checkered flag. McPhee was second by a hair, followed by Evan Roberts, Cody O’Brien, and John McPhee Jr.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is in action on Sunday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m., as Brown’s Quarried Slate and Brown’s Orchard & Farm Stand of Castleton, Vt., present the Sprint Cars of New England tour and Devil’s Bowl’s five weekly divisions. Special event general admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors (62+), and free for kids 12 and under.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, Vt., four miles north of U.S. Route 4, Exit 2, and just 20 minutes from Rutland, Vt. For more information, visit www.DevilsBowlSpeedwayVT.com or call (802) 265-3112. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway, and on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat at @DevilsBowlSpeed; follow the action using the #DevilsBowl hashtag.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – Rutland Regional Medical Center “Hometown Heroes” Night
Devil’s Bowl Speedway – West Haven, Vt.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Pepsi Sportsman Modified Feature (30 laps)
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
# – denotes rookie
1. (18) Kenny Tremont Jr., West Sand Lake, N.Y.
2. (1) # Joey Roberts, Fletcher, Vt.
3. (17) Adam Pierson, East Corinth, Vt.
4. (9) Bobby Hackel, Rensselaer, N.Y.
5. (5) Marty Kelly III, North Bennington, Vt.
6. (22) Frank Hoard III, Manchester Center, Vt.
7. (13) Alex Bell, Cambridge, N.Y.
8. (23) James Fadden, Plainfield, N.H.
9. (27) Justin Comes, Middlebury, Vt.
10. (26) Jeff Washburn, Benson, Vt.
11. (20) Tanner Siemons, Orford, N.H.
12. (14) Billy Lussier, Fair Haven, Vt.
13. (19) Mike Fisher, Castleton, Vt.
14. (15) Hector Stratton, Bennington, Vt.
15. (25) Richie Simmons, Bradford, Vt.
16. (6) Tim LaDuc, Orwell, Vt.
17. (10) Vince Quenneville, Brandon, Vt.
18. (8) Allan Hammond, Orange, N.H.
19. (16) Mike Palmer, Salisbury, Vt.
20. (28) Cody Ochs, East Greenbush, N.Y.
21. (24) Bill August, Schenectady, N.Y.
22. (7) Brian Whittemore, Pittsford, Vt.
23. (3) Walt Hammond Jr., Canaan, N.H.
24. (21) Bruce Loomis, Queensbury, N.Y.
25. (12) Wayne Stearns, Bradford, Vt.
26. (11) # Brent Warren, Salisbury, Vt.
27. (2) Walter J. Hammond, Canaan, N.H.
28. (4) Jimmy Ryan, Shoreham, Vt.
Heat Winners: Tim LaDuc, Jimmy Ryan, Walt Hammond Jr.
Shiley Fabrication Hard Charger Award: Justin Comes (+18 positions)
Shiley Fabrication Hard Luck Award: Walter J. Hammond
NYSSCA Safety Award: Kenny Tremont Jr.
AMSOIL Award: Kenny Tremont Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman Feature (25 laps) – FINISH REVISED 7/09/19
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
1. (6) Adam Piper, Leicester, Vt.
2. (13) James Hanson, Orwell, Vt.
3. (9) Marty Hutchins, Poultney, Vt.
4. (15) Johnny Bruno, Castleton, Vt.
5. (18) Larry Gallipo, West Rutland, Vt.
6. (7) Anthony Warren, Shoreham, Vt.
7. (8) Matt Bilodeau, Brandon, Vt.
8. (10) Dave Snow, Brandon, Vt.
9. (11) Mike Ryan, Chelsea, Vt.
10. (14) Mike Parodi, South Glens Falls, N.Y.
11. (5) Anthony Ryan, Benson, Vt.
12. (1) Austin Chaves, Chester, Vt.
13. (3) Dylan Jones, Fair Haven, Vt.
14. (4) Austin Comes, Middlebury, Vt.
15. (2) Shawn Phelps, Richmond, Vt.
16. (17) Mike McGinn, Elizabethtown, N.Y.
17. (16) Bobby Schmidt, Gansevoort, N.Y.
18. (19) Jason Baker, South Glens Falls, N.Y.
19. (12) David Boisclair, Watervliet, N.Y.
Heat Winners: None
Shiley Fabrication Hard Charger Award: Larry Gallipo (+13 positions)
Shiley Fabrication Hard Luck Award: David Boisclair
NYSSCA Safety Award: Adam Piper
Super Stock Feature (15 laps x 2)
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown-Segment Score
# – denotes rookie
1. (9) Josh Bussino, Belmont, Vt. (1, 4 – 5 pts.)
2. (11) Garrett Given, Orwell, Vt. (5, 1 – 6 pts.)
3. (13) Scott FitzGerald, West Rutland, Vt. (4, 2 – 6 pts.)
4. (12) Andrew FitzGerald, West Rutland, Vt. (8, 3 – 11 pts.)
5. (5) Curtis Condon, Queensbury, N.Y. (7, 6 – 13 pts.)
6. (1) # Mark Norris, Benson, Vt. (2, 11 – 13 pts.)
7. (15) Joey Trudeau, Hague, N.Y. (9, 5 – 14 pts.)
8. (2) # Kaleb Shepard, Vergennes, Vt. (6, 9 – 15 pts.)
9. (10) Kevin Elliott, Rutland, Vt. (3, 13 – 16 pts.)
10. (3) Chris Murray, Fair Haven, Vt. (14, 7 – 21 pts.)
11. (4) Ronnie Alger, Orwell, Vt. (13, 8 – 21 pts.)
12. (8) # Cam Gadue, Highgate, Vt. (11, 10 – 21 pts.)
13. (14) Russ Farr, Middle Granville, N.Y. (12, 12 – 24 pts.)
14. (7) Matt Mosher, Queensbury, N.Y. (10, 14 – 24 pts.)
15. (6) # Roo Forrest, West Rutland, Vt. (15, DNS – 31 pts.)
Heat Winners: None
Segment Winners: Josh Bussino, Garrett Given
NYSSCA Safety Award: Josh Bussino
Mini Stock Feature (15 laps)
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
# – denotes rookie
1. (9) P.J. Bleau, Latham, N.Y.
2. (8) Jake Barrows, Middlebury, Vt.
3. (7) Craig Kirby, Winooski, Vt.
4. (13) Shawn Moquin, Milton, Vt.
5. (1) Tim Simonds, Clarendon, Vt.
6. (6) # Katrina Bean, Benson, Vt.
7. (10) Adam Stickle, Schuyler Falls, N.Y.
8. (12) Cordelle Younger, Queensbury, N.Y.
9. (5) Willie Rice, Poultney, Vt.
10. (11) Allana Jordan, Athol, N.Y.
11. (14) # Mary Gardner, Granville, N.Y.
12. (2) # David Sartwell-Cornell, Highgate Springs, Vt.
13. (3) Scott Cowdrey, Leicester, Vt.
14. (5) Dakota Desabrais (substitute for Kendra Walden)
Heat Winners: Tim Simonds, Jake Barrows
NYSSCA Safety Award: P.J. Bleau
Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint Feature (15 laps)
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
# – denotes rookie
1. (7) Samantha Mulready, Cambridge, N.Y.
2. (5) Shawn McPhee, Rutland, Vt.
3. (10) # Evan Roberts, Fletcher, Vt.
4. (4) Cody O’Brien, Springfield, Vt.
5. (3) John McPhee Jr., Rutland, Vt.
6. (6) Dakota Green, Cambridge, N.Y.
7. (8) Joel Belanger, Washington, N.H.
8. (2) # Jack Koponen, Mount Holly, Vt.
9. (11) # Alyza McKeighan, Brandon, Vt.
10. (9) Gordon Sheehan, West Rutland, Vt.
11. (13) # Mia Koponen, Ludlow, Vt.
12. (12) # Eric Wade, Rutland, Vt.
13. (1) # Kamden Duffy, Richmond, N.H.
Did Not Start: Kevin Smith, Brandon, Vt.
Heat Winner: Shawn McPhee
NYSSCA Safety Award: Cody O’Brien
(Photos by Jeremy McGaffin/Showstopper Designs & Photography)