WEST HAVEN — Middlebury’s Justin Comes finished second in the 35-lap Central Vermont Motorcycles Sportsman Modified feature to provide the local highlight on Sunday in dirt-track racing at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Comes looked like a sure winner until lap 31, when two drivers crashed to bring out the caution flag and set up a restart.  Winner Bobby Hackel of New York restarted on Comes’ rear bumper, then the pair raced side-by-side for two laps before Hackel scooted away coming to the white flag and leaving Comes to settle for second.
Other local drivers in the Sportsman Modified race include Brandon’s Vince Quenneville Jr. in sixth, Orwell’s Tim LaDuc in 10th, Brandon’s Joey Scarborough in 12th, and Whiting’s Jimmy Ryan in 18th.
Hackel’s win was his seventh in the series and he has all but clinched the series championship heading into Saturday’s last night of racing.
Chris Donnelly of Piermont, N.H., won the 30-lap main event for the Sprint Cars of New England tour, and he clinched the first-ever Sprint Car division championship awarded at Devil’s Bowl. Orwell’s Lacey Hanson took 10th in that event.
Mike Ryan of Vershire picked up his sixth win of the year in the 20-lap Portland Glass Mini Stock feature. In that race, Monkton’s Jake Barrows was 11th, Cornwall’s Garrett Given was 12th, and New Haven’s Kaleb Shepard was 19th.
Billy Duprey of Hydeville earned his seventh win of the season in the 15-lap Rosen & Berger Auto Recyclers Renegade feature.