WEST HAVEN, VT – Adam Pierson made it look easy at Devil’s Bowl Speedway as he drove to a dominant victory in the Autosaver Ford/Springfield Buick-GMC “Vermont Freedom & Unity 100” on Saturday, November 1. The Bradford, VT driver braved a cold wind to nail down the Sportsman Modified finale for the inaugural “Battle at the Bowl” dirt track series, netting the series championship in the process.
Pierson entered the race trailing Vince Quenneville, Jr. by eight points – the equivalent of four positions on the track – for the title. Pierson wasted little time, moving into the lead by lap 9 and stretching out to as much as a half-lap lead. Quenneville made a steady march into the top five in the middle stages of the race and appeared to have kept Pierson close enough to have sealed the championship, but his car made hard contact with the backstretch barrier at lap 66 that knocked him out of the race.
After fending off a determined Jack Gentile, Pierson sped away to the $2,000 win and the championship, collecting a trophy presented by Vermont Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott. Derek Graham of Woodsville, NH had a solid drive to take the runner-up spot, while Gentile, of Cohoes, NY, wound up third. Leon Gonyo and Johnny Scarborough completed the top five, followed by Kenny Tremont, Jr., Richie Simmons, Trevor Rocke, Allan Hammond, and Tim Hodge.
Chris Donnelly of Piermont, NH put a hurting on the Sprint Cars of New England field in the tour’s first-ever appearance at Devil’s Bowl. “Professor” Donnelly benefitted from a broken driveline under the car of race leader Will Hull in the early laps to inherit the lead, but drove away for an uncontested victory to wrap up his fourth series championship in five years. Clay Dow and Danny Douville had an intense fight for the runner-up position in the second half of the 30-lap race, which eventually went to Dow. Douville, James Hanson, and Lee Ladouceur completed the top five finishers.
The Sportsman Coupe division – which became famous at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT – ran a special 25-lap, $1,000-to-win event that went to Enfield, NH’s Earl Maxham, Jr. Maxham passed Thomas Placey for the lead with six laps left, then held off Michael Danforth. Danforth took the runner-up finish with teammate Gene Pierson, Jr. third. Jason Horniak and Josh Harrington were next in line.
Mark “Rowdy” Burch of Fort Edward, NY celebrated a hard-fought win the 25-lap Renegade division feature, after holding off asphalt specialist Jamy Begor for nearly half of the race. Bill Duprey of Hydeville, VT finished a close third to nip Begor for the “Battle at the Bowl” championship in the class. Chase Aussicker and Darrell Older ran 4-5 in the race.
Steven Bresette of Plattsburgh, NY made a late move to steal the lead from Jake Noble and win the 15-lap Mini Stock race. Dave Durkee and Noble completed the podium finishers in the race, and a scoring recheck following the event showed that Rob Gioia of East Thetford, VT clinched the division’s championship over Bresette by just two points with a fourth-place finish. Matt Monaghan finished fifth.
The Autosaver Ford/Springfield Buick-GMC event put a wrap on the 2014 stock car racing season at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Information regarding the post-season awards banquet and rulebook meetings will be release in the coming weeks and months.