Vince Quenneville Jr. Takes Checkers at Devil s Bowl

W. HAVEN VT 6/14/97-- A beautiful weather day at Devil s Bowl meant a great crowd on hand to see Vince Quenneville Jr. hold off fellow Brandon racer Don Scarborough for a hard-earned visit to victory lane. After starting in third place Quenneville took the lead from Jim Ryan on a restart after lap nine with a great move on the high side of the race track. Dogged by Jeff Trombley, who looked ferocious on the track, Quenneville had his hands full until Trombley lost his transmission with 10 laps to go, handing the second place spot to Scarborough. Vince wasn t able to relax though, as Scarborough came on hard and tried everything to get by him, to no avail. In sportsman racing action, Jim Davis was able to take his second checkers in a row in the 25-lap feature. A very determined Ron Johnson tried a last-gasp pass attempt at the flagstand, but Davis took the win by a bumper in another squeaker at the Bowl. Modified heat race winners were Dan Douville, Mike Benson and Quenneville. David Towns won the consolation race. A full 26-car field started the race, with Jim Ryan taking the early lead from the pole position. A lap 9 caution was thrown for Lee Nutting, and another caution on the ensuing restart saw Gardner Stone and David Towns mix it up, with both leaving on the hook. Quenneville used the restart to pull a quick move on Ryan for the lead. Jeff Trombley was a man on a mission as he moved into third from his seventh place start. He looked like the early favorite as he got by Ryan for second one lap later and began to work on Quenneville s lead. At the halfway point Quenneville and Trombley were side by side in a fierce battle for the top spot. Ken Tremont had begun to work his magic on the field, moving into the top 10. With 10 laps to go, Trombley pulled into the infield with a bad transmission, and Quenneville had a moment of breathing room as he began to lap the end of the field. But it didn t last for long, as Scarborough inherited the second place spot from Trombley and began to dog Quenneville from all sides. The two worked their way through the traffic, with Quenneville holding a good lead over Scarborough, but once clear of traffic, Scarborough came on strong. With four to go, Ryan was still holding onto third, with Todd Stone in fourth and Hector Stratton in fifth. Tremont got by Dan Douville and Stratton with only two to go and a caution was thrown when the #88 of Ron Dwyer and the #90 of Mike Bruno got together. With one lap left, Tremont was by Ryan briefly for third place, but Ryan held him off the last lap. At the finish, Scarborough made a hard run on Quenneville, but couldn t get by him for the win. It was Quenneville in first, Scarborough, Ryan, Tremont and Todd Stone for the top five slots, with Hector Stratton, Dan Douville, Mike Ricci, Mike Ronca and Ron Proctor rounding out the top ten. In sportsman action, Jim Davis sat in victory lane for the second week in a row. He took the lead from Joe Budka after he pitted, and held off Sput Shaw, Tim Hartman and Ron Johnson for the first 10 laps. Mike Ballestero moved into third place and began a see-saw battle with Johnson for that spot, with Johnson finally prevailing. He made quick work of Shaw and came after Davis with a vengeance. But Johnson s nemesis seemed to be turn one, as he couldn t hold his line lap after lap and was forced to fall in behind Davis through turns one and two. Each time they came out of four, Johnson made a run on Davis but couldn t hold on through the tough turn one. This went on for 15 laps as Davis continued to hold off Johnson time after time. At the checkers Johnson made a tremendous surge for the lead but lost to Davis by less than half a car-length for a hold-your-breath-finish. Shaw held on for third with Tim LaDuc in fourth and Mike Ballestero fifth. The street stocks also had a repeat winner with Pete Kimball holding off all comers for his second win in a row. Chad Miller was third and Mike Bradley fourth. Point leader Bill Bryden worked his way back up to 10th after mechanical problems forced him to pit. In hobby stock racing Ryan Odasz was disqualified as the winner after post-race engine inspections. Mike Bennefield was put on the books as the winner with Ted Bapp second and Ken Swinton third.

MODIFIEDS: VINCE QUENNEVILLE JR., Don Scarborough, Jim Ryan, Ken Tremont, Todd Stone, Hector Stratton, Dan Douville, Mike Ricci, Mike Ronca, Ron Proctor, John Harrison, Bob Savoie, Don Ackner, Mike Benson, Brian Berger, Chuck Elms, Jack Cottrell, Bernie Kentile, Frank Keene, Mike Bruno, Mike Perrotte, Ron Dwyer, Jeff Trombley, Gardner Stone, David Towns, Lee Nutting.

SPORTSMEN: JIM DAVIS, Ron Johnson, Sput Shaw, Tim LaDuc, Mike Ballestero, Todd Morey, Frank Hoard Jr., Tony Ballestero, Jeff Betit, Don Miller, Chad Merrill, Chuck Higley, Brian Whittemore, Bart Coburn, Mitchell Beede, Ray Nutting, Denny Young Jr., Don Mattison, Joe Budka, Alan Larter, Stan Prespare.