Story By: DEVIL’S BOWL SPEEDWAY – WEST HAVEN, VT – Akwesasne, NY’s Fire Swamp led every lap of Saturday’s season-opening, 32-lap Sunoco Sportsman Modified feature and collected $3200.00, which was presented by Black Diamond Builders and 32B Storage in memory of Matt Bilodeau.
Gary English, Jr., Matt Wade, Quinn Quenneville, Griff Mahoney and Eric Friend also picked up wins on the day.
A more-than-healthy crowd was on hand to witness the beginning of a new racing season, and young Fire Swamp started it off with a bang.
Swamp took advantage of a good pill draw to start on the front row of his heat race and win it, before using his front row starting position to lead every lap of the feature. He was challenged at the end by Orwell, V.t.’s Tim Laduc, but the North County youngster held off Devil’s Bowl’s reigning champion and landed in victory lane. Anthony Warren was 3rd. Justin Comes and Dave Camara rounded out the top five.
In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Feature, Gary English, Jr. returned to victory lane, using his 4th-to-1st heat race run to start on the outside of the front row. When polesitter Kyle Kerr hit an infield tire on lap one, English drove out front on the top side and stayed there, fending off a late challenge from Scott Towslee to grab the win. Cody O’Brien finished 3rd in his return to Devil’s Bowl, Mike Clark was 4th and John Gosselin finished 5th.
In the Hoosier Tire Novie Sportsman, it was Matt Wade and Nick Austin-Neil trading the lead a few times with Wade eventually coming out on top. Autin-Neil went under Wade on the bottom when the top seemed like the place to be, and Wade made the bottom work to slip by again and grab his first career open-wheel victory. Josh Bussino was 3rd, Logan Denis was an impressive 4th and fellow true-rookie Aiden Benoure was 5th.
For Friend Construction Mini Sprint driver Quinn Quenneville, Saturday was a day he will not likely ever forget. His father, Andy, a staple mechanic in the pit area, was best friends with the late Matt Bilodeau, whom Saturday’s race was in memory of. Carrying Bilodeau’s colors, black and fluorescent red, Quenneville finished 3rd in his heat and the random invert put him on the pole for the feature. Quenneville was perfect, holding off Gage Provencher for the win. Chris Lenox was 3rd, stalwart Ray Hanson was 4th and Vern Woodard was 5th.
In full-fendered competition, Griff Mahoney drove from 6th position to win the Fisher Auto Parts Mini Stock Feature. Defending champion Brian Blake charged from 11th to finish 2nd. Sophomore competitor Ryan Patch rounded out the podium, while Craig Kirby and Mark Mahoney completed the top five.
Eric Friend won the 9th State Cannabis Crown Vic feature from the 4th starting position. Friend, known for his all-out approach to spectator racing, enduros and support of the mini sprint division, drove the #4 Friend Construction car to victory lane, besting nine other drivers in the growing class. Brad Cram, Norman Morrill, completed the podium.
Sportsman Modified
A Feature 1 (32 Laps): 1. 88-Fire Swamp[1]; 2. 54-Tim LaDuc[7]; 3. 60W-Anthony Warren[5]; 4. 51-Justin Comes[9]; 5. 26-Dave Camara[18]; 6. 77-Walter J Hammond[21]; 7. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[10]; 8. 98-Craig Wholey[3]; 9. T69-Travis Green[8]; 10. 80-Dom Roselli[15]; 11. 8-Kevin Chaffee[6]; 12. 25-Billy Lussier[11]; 13. 26M-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[2]; 14. 13A-Troy Audet[12]; 15. 7-Josh Leclaire[14]; 16. 60-Jim Ryan[16]; 17. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[22]; 18. 60R-Randy Ryan[19]; 19. 13-Frankie Hoard III[29]; 20. 78-Vince Quenneville[4]; 21. 66-Adam Piper[24]; 22. 88H-Walter Hammond Jr[31]; 23. 36-Brian Whittemore[28]; 24. 357-Marty Kelly III[30]; 25. 514-James Hanson[17]; 26. 22J-Bubba McPhee[23]; 27. 11X-Josh Masterson[25]; 28. 5-Tanner Siemons[13]; 29. 2-Brent Warren[26]; 30. 17-Bruce Loomis[27]; 31. (DNS) 1X-Justin Stone
Consi (12 Laps): 1. 1X-Justin Stone[1]; 2. 88H-Walter Hammond Jr[2]; 3. 77-Walter J Hammond[3]; 4. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[6]; 5. 22J-Bubba McPhee[5]; 6. 66-Adam Piper[7]; 7. 11X-Josh Masterson[9]; 8. 2-Brent Warren[10]; 9. 17-Bruce Loomis[4]; 10. 36-Brian Whittemore[14]; 11. 357-Marty Kelly III[11]; 12. 75-AJ Munger[12]; 13. 10S-Ryan Christian[8]; 14. 19-Floyd Billington[15]; 15. 00-Pat Miner[13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98-Craig Wholey[2]; 2. 60W-Anthony Warren[1]; 3. 51-Justin Comes[6]; 4. 13A-Troy Audet[4]; 5. 60-Jim Ryan[7]; 6. 1X-Justin Stone[8]; 7. 22J-Bubba McPhee[3]; 8. 11X-Josh Masterson[5]; 9. 00-Pat Miner[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26M-Derrick Mcgrew Jr[2]; 2. 8-Kevin Chaffee[6]; 3. 13-Frankie Hoard III[3]; 4. 5-Tanner Siemons[5]; 5. 514-James Hanson[1]; 6. 88H-Walter Hammond Jr[8]; 7. 88M-Michael Wagner Fitzgerald[7]; 8. (DNF) 2-Brent Warren[4]; 9. (DNF) 36-Brian Whittemore[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Fire Swamp[2]; 2. 54-Tim LaDuc[6]; 3. 11VT-Joey Scarborough[1]; 4. 7-Josh Leclaire[8]; 5. 26-Dave Camara[3]; 6. 77-Walter J Hammond[4]; 7. 66-Adam Piper[5]; 8. 357-Marty Kelly III[7]; 9. 19-Floyd Billington[9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Vince Quenneville[1]; 2. T69-Travis Green[3]; 3. 25-Billy Lussier[4]; 4. 80-Dom Roselli[6]; 5. 60R-Randy Ryan[7]; 6. 17-Bruce Loomis[2]; 7. 10S-Ryan Christian[5]; 8. (DNF) 75-AJ Munger[8]
Limited Sportsman
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 53-Gary English[2]; 2. 23T-Scott Towslee[7]; 3. 27X-Cody O’Brien[9]; 4. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[6]; 5. 65-John Gosselin[8]; 6. 77J-Bob Kilburn[4]; 7. 92-Steve Pope[11]; 8. 25-William Lussier Jr[16]; 9. 751-Alex Layn[12]; 10. 44D-William Duprey[5]; 11. 813-Jason Quenneville[10]; 12. 47-Kyle Kerr[1]; 13. 42-Kamden Duffy[3]; 14. 211-Anthony Ryan[14]; 15. 09-Charlotte Morin[17]; 16. 52X-Adam Lafountain[22]; 17. 12-Randy Edson[20]; 18. 78-Don Williams[23]; 19. 4X-Joshua Patterson[25]; 20. 19X-Freddie Little[13]; 21. 77-Eric Shaw[18]; 22. 9-Tyler Travis[21]; 23. 75-Derrick Counter[19]; 24. 74S-Timmy Aldrighetti[15]; 25. 40-Ed Bell[24]; 26. 06-Steve Miller[26]; 27. (DNS) 1VT-Marty Hutchins
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42-Kamden Duffy[2]; 2. 77J-Bob Kilburn[1]; 3. 23T-Scott Towslee[6]; 4. 813-Jason Quenneville[4]; 5. 19X-Freddie Little[3]; 6. 75-Derrick Counter[8]; 7. 74S-Timmy Aldrighetti[7]; 8. 40-Ed Bell[9]; 9. 09-Charlotte Morin[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Gary English[4]; 2. 44D-William Duprey[3]; 3. 65-John Gosselin[2]; 4. 92-Steve Pope[6]; 5. 211-Anthony Ryan[5]; 6. 12-Randy Edson[9]; 7. 52X-Adam Lafountain[8]; 8. 4X-Joshua Patterson[7]; 9. 1VT-Marty Hutchins[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Kyle Kerr[3]; 2. 2X-Michael Clark Jr[5]; 3. 27X-Cody O’Brien[4]; 4. 751-Alex Layn[1]; 5. 77-Eric Shaw[8]; 6. 9-Tyler Travis[9]; 7. 78-Don Williams[7]; 8. 25-William Lussier Jr[6]; 9. (DNS) 06-Steve Miller
Novice Sportsman
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 510-Matthew Wade[2]; 2. 5-Nick Austin Neil[4]; 3. 2X-Josh Bussino[3]; 4. 24-Logan Denis[5]; 5. 12VT-Aiden Benoure[11]; 6. 28X-Bobbi Hults[1]; 7. 77X-Matthew Cram[6]; 8. 8-Jason Kerr[9]; 9. 76-Raelin Dunham[8]; 10. 74S-Keegan Tabor[10]; 11. 99-Russell Farr III[7]; 12. (DNS) 2-Eric Leno
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Nick Austin Neil[2]; 2. 510-Matthew Wade[1]; 3. 24-Logan Denis[6]; 4. 99-Russell Farr III[4]; 5. 8-Jason Kerr[3]; 6. 12VT-Aiden Benoure[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Josh Bussino[1]; 2. 28X-Bobbi Hults[2]; 3. 77X-Matthew Cram[4]; 4. 76-Raelin Dunham[3]; 5. 74S-Keegan Tabor[5]; 6. (DNF) 2-Eric Leno[6]
500cc Mini Sprints
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[1]; 2. 11A-Gage Provencher[3]; 3. 17-Chris Lennox[4]; 4. 68-Raymond Hanson[5]; 5. 73-Vern Woodard[2]; 6. 5-John Carleton[6]; 7. 67-Kevin Smith[7]; 8. 743-Ashleigh Kulzer[9]; 9. 4-Tommy Kasuba[8]; 10. X9-Levi Cram[11]; 11. 13NH-brandon emerson[15]; 12. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool[10]; 13. 81-Alex Reed[13]; 14. (DNS) 25D-Destin St Clair; 15. (DNS) 4J-Tucker Jones
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 5-John Carleton[2]; 2. 17-Chris Lennox[1]; 3. 73-Vern Woodard[8]; 4. 67-Kevin Smith[4]; 5. 743-Ashleigh Kulzer[3]; 6. X9-Levi Cram[6]; 7. (DNF) 81-Alex Reed[7]; 8. (DNF) 13NH-brandon emerson[5]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 68-Raymond Hanson[3]; 2. 11A-Gage Provencher[2]; 3. 9Q-Quinn Quenneville[4]; 4. 4-Tommy Kasuba[7]; 5. 80-Alyssa Vanderpool[1]; 6. 25D-Destin St Clair[6]; 7. 4J-Tucker Jones[5]; 8. (DNS) 727-Jenna Zak
Mini Stocks
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10-Griff Mahoney[6]; 2. 27X-Brian Blake[11]; 3. 39-Ryan Patch[7]; 4. 44-Craig Kirby[9]; 5. 83-Mark Mahoney[12]; 6. 3-Jarrod Colburn[5]; 7. 54X-Ron Alger[8]; 8. 47-Jacob Mallory[14]; 9. 1X-Austin McKirryher[3]; 10. 11-TJ Knight[13]; 11. 79-Jeremy Brownell[20]; 12. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[10]; 13. 4C-Chris Charboneau[17]; 14. 6A-Adam Stewart[18]; 15. 22B-Quinton Bishop[21]; 16. 27-Adam Mahoney[2]; 17. 4-Chase Allen[16]; 18. 4D-Donald Olden[19]; 19. 29-Tom Severance[4]; 20. 65-Luke Marcheski[1]; 21. (DNS) 44D-Richard Fleury
B Feature 1 (6 Laps): 1. 19-Chris Sumner[2]; 2. 44X-Logan Martin[8]; 3. 88-Nicholas Melotti[1]; 4. 99-Nick Stark[9]; 5. 57-Carl Lapoint[3]; 6. 15-Tim Robinson[4]; 7. 07-Cory Collins[5]; 8. 66C-Cody Vanguilder[10]; 9. (DNS) 25-Damian Olden; 10. (DNS) 5-Christopher Hewitt; 11. (DNS) 71-Mary Gardner; 12. (DNS) 03-Alton Mccoy
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 83-Mark Mahoney[2]; 2. 44-Craig Kirby[3]; 3. 10-Griff Mahoney[1]; 4. 1X-Austin McKirryher[6]; 5. 11-TJ Knight[7]; 6. 79-Jeremy Brownell[9]; 7. 6A-Adam Stewart[8]; 8. 88-Nicholas Melotti[5]; 9. (DNS) 71-Mary Gardner; 10. (DNS) 03-Alton Mccoy; 11. (DNS) 25-Damian Olden
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 27X-Brian Blake[6]; 2. 54X-Ron Alger[2]; 3. 3-Jarrod Colburn[3]; 4. 27-Adam Mahoney[5]; 5. 47-Jacob Mallory[1]; 6. 4-Chase Allen[9]; 7. 22B-Quinton Bishop[10]; 8. 99-Nick Stark[11]; 9. 57-Carl Lapoint[4]; 10. 15-Tim Robinson[8]; 11. 5-Christopher Hewitt[7]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 54JR-Jakobee Alger[5]; 2. 39-Ryan Patch[7]; 3. 29-Tom Severance[3]; 4. 65-Luke Marcheski[1]; 5. 44D-Richard Fleury[2]; 6. 4C-Chris Charboneau[4]; 7. 4D-Donald Olden[10]; 8. 19-Chris Sumner[8]; 9. 66C-Cody Vanguilder[11]; 10. 07-Cory Collins[6]; 11. 44X-Logan Martin[9]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 19-Chris Sumner, 00:24.549; 2. 44X-Logan Martin, 00:24.534; 3. 88-Nicholas Melotti, 00:24.759; 4. 99-Nick Stark, 00:24.960; 5. 57-Carl Lapoint, 00:25.592; 6. 15-Tim Robinson, 00:25.759; 7. 07-Cory Collins, 00:25.765; 8. 66C-Cody Vanguilder, 00:27.510
Crown Vic
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Friend[4]; 2. 312-Bradford Cram[5]; 3. 91-Norm Morrill[3]; 4. 17T-Ron Tollner[2]; 5. 227-Rob Steele[1]; 6. 22G-Elisabeth Dupont[6]; 7. 722-Hellen Steele[8]; 8. C4-Scott Cram[7]; 9. (DNS) 77-Albert Laplante
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Friend[2]; 2. 17T-Ron Tollner[4]; 3. 227-Rob Steele[3]; 4. 312-Bradford Cram[9]; 5. 91-Norm Morrill[1]; 6. 22G-Elisabeth Dupont[5]; 7. C4-Scott Cram[7]; 8. 722-Hellen Steele[6]; 9. 77-Albert Laplante[8]