WEST HAVEN — Local drivers Adam Piper and Kaleb Shepard picked up wins this past Sunday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Leicester’s Piper wound up celebrating the first O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman win of his career. Piper led 15 of the race’s 20 laps before New York’s Travis Billington slipped by with three laps to go, but Piper was named the winner when Billington’s car failed its technical inspection. Fletcher’s Joey Roberts inherited second.
Salisbury’s Brent Warren took fourth, Bristol’s R.J. Germain finished fifth, and Middlebury’s Sean Broe was ninth. Warren retained the series’ point lead, 659-657, over New York driver Paolo Pascarella, who was third.
KALEB SHEPARD, RIGHT, of Vergennes won his fifth Portland Glass Mini Stock race of the year at Devil’s Bowl Speedway Sunday. Photo by Alan Ward
Vergennes driver Shepard won for the fifth time in the Portland Glass Mini Stock division. Shepard and Panton driver Mike Preston battled for the lead for much of the 15-lap race before Preston dropped out with mechanical trouble. Milton’s Shawn Moquin gave Shepard a run, but settled for second place.
Shepard stretched his series point lead over New Hampshire driver Chris Conroy — who finished seventh — to 24 points, 618-594. Cornwall’s Jake Barrows finished fifth.
New York driver Kenny Tremont Jr., an eight-time track champion who leads the Devil’s Bowl point standings, took the victory in the evening’s main event, the Charlie LaDuc Memorial “Ol’ Reliable” 54-lap race in the Central Vermont Motorcycles Sportsman Modified division.
Brandon’s Joey Scarborough and Shoreham’s Jimmy Ryan finished second and third, respectively, while Brandon’s Vince Quenneville Jr. took fifth, and Middlebury’s Justin Comes was seventh. Orwell’s Tim LaDuc, hoping for victory in a race dedicated to his father, was in contention until he was part of a big pileup on the front stretch with three laps remaining. Tremont’s victory gave him a 29-point lead in the championship standings over Scarborough, 535-506.
ADAM PIPER OF Leicester was a first-time winner at Devil’s Bowl Speedway Sunday in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman division. Photo by Alan Ward
Rutland’s Kevin Elliott won a 20-lap Super Stock race that saw several intense battles for the lead. Point leader Chris Murray finished 14th, but maintains a 67-point cushion (673-606) on both Josh Bussino and Curtis Condon, who are tied for second place. Cornwall’s Garrett Given drove to fifth place in the race.
Shawn McPhee of Rutland, 13, scored a career-first win in the 15-lap feature race in the Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint division. The rookie led every lap and left the field behind. Rookie Kevin Smith of Brandon was fourth, and Shoreham’s Colby Beinhaur was fifth. Point leader Cody O’Brien dropped out with engine trouble, and he now leads defending champion Austin Chaves by just 11 points, 447-436.
Evan Roberts of Fletcher, 12, scored his third win in as many tries in the Bandit Youth Mini Stock division. Tommy Given of Cornwall, 10, finished second, with Eric Paige of Orwell, 10, third.
Devil’s Bowl Speedway is back in action on Sunday at 6 p.m.