WEST HAVEN — Bristol’s Josh Masterson clinched the Devil’s Bowl Speedway Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Model series championship with a second-place finish on Sunday, and, despite a victory, Brandon’s Vince Quenneville Jr. ended up second in the premier Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified series when a points tiebreaker went to rival New York driver Jason Durgan.
In the Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Model division, American-Canadian Tour regular Bobby Therrien of Hinesburg, invaded Devil’s Bowl to win the 100-lap finale, doing so only after an exciting late battle for the lead with Masterson. Series championship contender Robert Bryant Jr. looked like a potential winner as he led in the first half of the race, but a broken rear axle took him out of the running at lap 41.
With Bryant out Therrien inherited the lead and Masterson challenged. The two traded paint on several occasions, but Therrien finally cleared out to the lead with less than 15 laps left and cruised to the win. Masterson’s finish gave him not only the championship, but also the distinction of becoming the first multi-time Late Model champion in the seven-year history of Devil’s Bowl’s asphalt track.
Veteran drivers Durgan and Quenneville put on the most dramatic show of the year on Sunday. They entered the two-day asphalt finale tied in point standings, but Durgan pulled ahead by two points after a 50-lap race on Saturday. In Sunday’s 50-lapper, defending champion Quenneville did all he could by winning the race — his fourth score of the year — as Durgan’s car struggled in traffic.
But Durgan caught some lucky breaks, including a late-race throttle linkage failure on Saturday race winner Ron Proctor’s car. With nine laps left Durgan moved into second place behind Quenneville and rode there until the end of the race to create a tie in the point standings. Durgan got the tiebreaker based on a 5-4 edge in victories for the season.
Former Thunder Road champion Jason Woodard of Waterbury Center won the 50-lap feature for the Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegade division. Jim McKiernan of New York settled for the runner-up finish, one spot ahead of Scott FitzGerald. That one on-track position was all that McKiernan needed, as he edged FitzGerald by just two points for the championship.
Brad Bertrand of Ferrisburgh won the 25-lap finale for the Portland Glass Mini Stock division to take his third victory of the year, but Eric Messier clinched both the series championship and Rookie of the Year titles with his runner-up finish.  
Sunday’s winners and local finishers were:
•  Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified Feature: 1. Quenneville; 10. Chuck Bradford, Addison; 13. Jimmy Ryan, Whiting.
•  Central Vermont Motorcycles Late Model Feature (100 laps): 1. Therrien; 2. Masterson; 5. Steve Miller, Vergennes; 13. Todd Stone, Middlebury.
•  Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegade Feature (50 laps): 1. Woodard; 6. R.J. Germain, Bristol;
•  Portland Glass Mini Stock Feature (25 laps): 1. Bertrand; 4. Garrett Given, Cornwall; 7. Kaleb Shepard, New Haven; 13. Beanie Masterson, Lincoln.
SATURDAY ACTION
Chuck Bradford of Addison, R.J. Germain and Ray Germain of Bristol, Anthony Warren of Shoreham and Garrett Given of Cornwall all posted wins in Saturday action that also set up Sunday’s duel between Quenneville and Durgan.
In the main event, Proctor won the 50-lap Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified Feature, with Durgan picking up key points over Quenneville by finishing third to Quenneville’s fifth.
In Sportsman Modified preliminary action, Bradford — the 2016 Rookie of the Year — won the Non-Winners’ Shootout, while Warren won the Mechanics Race.
It was a Germain family affair in the Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegades as R.J. Germain won the Shootout and his dad, Ray Germain, won the Mechanics Race.  
The Portland Glass Mini Stocks were also in action, with Given Sr. taking the Shootout.  
Saturday’s winners and local finishers were:
•  Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified Feature (50 laps): 1. Proctor; 5. Quenneville; 8. Bradford; 13. Ryan.
•  Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified Shootout (10 laps): 1. Bradford.
•  Bond Auto Parts Sportsman Modified Mechanics Race (8 laps): 1. Warren.
•  Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegade Shootout (10 laps): 1. R.J. Germain;
•  Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegade Mechanics Race (8 laps). 1. Ray Germain.
•  Portland Glass Mini Stock Shootout (10 laps): 1. Given; 4. Shepard.