WEST HAVEN — Four local drivers were among the 11 winners on Sunday in a busy night of Devil’s Bowl’s dirt-track racing. Double features were held for all five weekly divisions along with a 50-lap Enduro Series race.
Local drivers picking up victories were Salisbury’s Brent Warren, Brandon’s Matt Bilodeau and Kevin Smith, and Middlebury’s Jake Barrows.
Warren scored his career-first Sportsman Modified victory in a 20-lap feature. The Salisbury racer, who graduated from the Limited Sportsman class after taking that division’s 2018 championship, surprised veteran driver Wayne Stearns on the outside on a restart just before the halfway mark. Warren then drove away for a popular win. Stearns took second, while Brandon drivers Vince Quenneville and Joey Scarborough were fourth and fifth, respectively.
In the Sportsman Modified nightcap, New York driver Jack Speshock ran to his second win in as many weeks by riding the outside lane to chase down leader Tim LaDuc of Orwell. Speshock challenged LaDuc for several laps before a restart extended the race to 21 laps. Speshock grabbed the lead coming to the white flag, and LaDuc settled for the runner-up spot.
Brandon’s Bilodeau ran to his second Limited Sportsman win of the year in a rough 15-lap affair. Bilodeau was ahead when a big wreck cleaned out five cars on the fifth lap, and a second wreck at the finish took out two more. When the smoke cleared, Bilodeau was well ahead, with Johnny Bruno second, Leicester’s Adam Piper third, Shoreham’s Anthony Warren fourth, and point leader James Hanson of Orwell fifth.
West Rutland’s Larry Gallipo prevailed in the second Limited Sportsman race. Warren and Hanson were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Fair Haven’s Chris Murray won for the fourth time in the Super Stock division by taking the division’s first 15-lap race. Orwell’s Garrett Given took second but was disqualified for an unapproved distributor.
Point leader Scott FitzGerald of West Rutland earned his fourth win of the season in the second race, barely holding off a hard-charging Murray.
Mini Stock racer David Sartwell-Cornell took the second win of his rookie year in that division’s opening 12-lap race. Middlebury’s Barrows took his third Mini-Stock win of the season in nightcap, fighting off Sartwell-Cornell in the final laps.
The Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint division had a different look to it as the rookie sensation Evan Roberts’s winning come to a grinding halt with a wild three-time flip in the first 12-lap race. Roberts walked away from the wreck, but and out of the running for the night. Brandon’s Kevin Smith was ahead of the wreck and sailed home a first-time winner.
New York driver Samantha Mulready took her second victory of the season in the second Mini Sprint feature after a patient drive up the outside lane.
The Enduro Series 50-lap race ran non-stop, though several cars were involved in crashes. Cory Gray crossed the finish line first just ahead of New Yorker Bill Fountain, but Gray was disqualified for having an unapproved tire on his car. Fountain inherited the win ahead of Ripton’s Chris Sumner in second; Cornwall’s Brian Blake was fourth, two laps behind.
The winners and local finishers from Saturday were:
• Pepsi Sportsman Modified Feature #1 (20 laps): 1. Warren; 4. Quenneville; 5. Scarborough; 10. Jimmy Ryan, Shoreham; 11. Justin Comes, Middlebury; 25. Tim LaDuc, Orwell.
• Pepsi Sportsman Modified Feature #2 (21 laps): 1. Speshock; 2. LaDuc; 13. Ryan; 20. Warren; 22. Comes; 23. Quenneville; 25. Scarborough.
• O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman Feature #1 (15 laps): 1. Bilodeau, Brandon; 3. Piper; 4. Warren; 5. Hanson; 13. Austin Comes, Middlebury; 14. Dave Snow, Brandon; 16. Justin Stone, Middlebury.
• O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman Feature #2 (15 laps): 1. Gallipo; 4. Warren; 5. Hanson; 8. Bilodeau; 9. Piper.
• Super Stock Feature #1 (13 laps): 1. Murray; 9. Kaleb Shepard, Vergennes; 17. Ronnie Alger, Orwell.
• Super Stock Feature #2 (15 laps): 1. Fitzgerald; 7. Shepard; 10. Given; 12. Alger.
• Mini Stock Feature #1 (13 laps) 1. Sartwell-Cornell; 6. Barrows; 9. Reilly Case, New Haven;
• Mini Stock Feature #2 (12 laps): 1. Barrows; 8. Griff Mahoney, Brandon;
• Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint Feature #1 (12 laps): 1. Smith; 9. Alyza McKeighan, Brandon.
• Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint Feature #2 (12 laps): 1. Mulready; 6. Kaidin White, Vergennes; 7. McKeighan; 12. Smith.
• Enduro Series Feature (50 laps): 1. Fountain; 2. Sumner,; 4. Blake; 6. Tim Devino, Brandon; 11. Carl Whittemore, Brandon; 12. Carrie LaRose, Middlebury; 16. Brent Wilbur, Whiting; 17. Tim Whitney, Cornwall; 19. Kenny Torrey, Orwell.