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Helliwell Nips Hoar in Spring Green Thriller at Devil’s Bowl Speedway

PHOTO: With the crowd on its feet, Wayne Helliwell, Jr. (orange car, outside) beats Brian Hoar (#37) by two feet to win the 101.5 "The Fox" Spring Green 113 at Devil's Bowl Speedway. (MemorEvents photo)

Stone, Turner, LaVair post opening day victories

WEST HAVEN, VT – American-Canadian Tour stock car drivers Wayne Helliwell, Jr. and Brian Hoar brought a full house to its feet for a photo finish in 101.5 “The Fox” Spring Green 113 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday afternoon. Helliwell headlined a list of race winners to open the 2013 season at the West Haven, VT track that also included Todd Stone, Richie Turner, and Chris LaVair.

Dover, NH driver Helliwell, the defending winner of the race and the 2012 ACT Late Model Tour champion, dominated the first 92 laps of the race before giving way to three-time Spring Green winner Hoar after a restart. Hoar, of Williston, VT, led the next 16 circuits and appeared to be pulling away before two restarts with five laps remaining gave Helliwell a chance to regain the lead. The crowd rose to its feet as the pair ran inches apart in the final five laps, with Helliwell eventually nosing ahead for the victory by just .027 seconds – about two feet.

ACT Late Model Tour point leader Jimmy Hebert of Williamstown, VT finished a strong third, and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. of Hudson, NH drove from 17th starting position to finish fourth. Ray Parent of Tiverton, RI drove a hard-fought race to finish fifth. Brent Dragon, Luke Hinkley, and Chip Grenier finished sixth through eighth, followed by rookies Bobby Therrien and Emily Packard.

Several Devil’s Bowl Speedway regulars tackled the ACT field for the first time, with Kevin Elliott of Rutland, VT finishing 13th, Dan Petronis of Mechanicville, NY 15th, Hunter Bates of Middlebury, VT 19th, and rookie Josh Masterson of Bristol, VT 20th. Masterson, the 2012 Devil’s Bowl Speedway Mini Stock champion, was in contention for a top-ten finish in his first-ever Late Model start with five laps remaining before a blown tire caused him to crash. Devil’s Bowl 2012 Late Model champion Craig Bushey of Fairfax, VT was running in third place before a broken rear end component forced him to retire.

Todd Stone of Middlebury, VT ran to a convincing victory in the 35-lap Bond Auto Parts Modified feature to open the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season. Stone came from 10th on the starting field to grab the lead from defending champion Ron Proctor on lap 27, then won the main event going away. The win came in the first NASCAR-sanctioned race of Stone’s long and successful career.

Proctor, of Charlton, NY, survived an early scrape with Vince Quenneville, Jr. to lead much of the event before succumbing to Stone, but held on for the runner-up finish. Brandon, VT driver Quenneville finished third, followed by Joe Williams of Scotia, NY and double-duty racer Hunter Bates. Kenny Tremont, Jr., Jessey Mueller, Leon Gonyo, Jeff Haskins, and Joey Roberts completed the top ten.

Richie Turner of Fairfax, VT led every turn of the 15-lap Renegade feature for his second career Devil’s Bowl victory. Defending champion Robert Gordon of Milton, VT made a late charge to take the runner-up spot, with rookies Brad Bushey of Bolton, VT, Stephen Donahue of Graniteville, VT, and Ray Germain, Jr. of Bristol, VT third through fifth.

Chris LaVair of Gabriels, NY dominated the 15-lap Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock feature for his first-ever Devil’s Bowl victory. LaVair drew the pole position and led every lap, beating his younger brother Bobby LaVair for the win. Jake Noble of Benson, VT made a final-lap pass to finish in third place, with Morrisonville, NY drivers Mike Whalen, Jr. and Tyson Drown fourth and fifth, respectively.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway is back in action on Friday, May 24 at 7:00pm with the People’s United Bank Memorial Day Special presented by Mobil 1. The event will feature twin 25-lap features for the Bond Auto Parts Modified division and holiday fireworks show, along with regular events for the Late Model, Renegade, and Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock divisions.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located on Route 22A in West Haven, VT four miles north of Exit 2 on U.S. Route 4. For more information, call (802) 265-3112 or visit www.devilsbowlspeedwayvt.com. Devil’s Bowl Speedway is on Facebook at facebook.com/DevilsBowlSpeedway and on Twitter at @DevilsBowlSpeed.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS – 101.5 “The Fox” Spring Green
Devil’s Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT
Sunday, May 5, 2013

Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

American-Canadian Tour Late Models (113 laps)

1. (2) Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Dover, NH
2. (4) Brian Hoar, Williston, VT
3. (3) Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, VT
4. (17) Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., Hudson, NH
5. (1) Ray Parent, Tiverton, RI
6. (12) Brent Dragon, Milton, VT
7. (10) Luke Hinkley, Claremont, NH
8. (7) Chip Grenier, Graniteville, VT
9. (6) # Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg, VT
10. (15) # Emily Packard, East Montpelier, VT
11. (5) Todd Davis, Claremont, NH
12. (21) Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, VT
13. (23) Kevin Elliott, Rutland, VT
14. (16) Rowland Robinson, Jr., Steuben, ME
15. (15) Daniel Petronis, II, Mechanicville, NY
16. (11) Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, NY
17. (30) Ben Lynch, Huntersville, NC
18. (25) Jimmy Linardy, Somerville, MA
19. (24) Hunter Bates, Middlebury, VT
20. (20) Josh Masterson, Bristol, VT
21. (13) Travis Fadden, North Haverhill, NH
22. (9) Glen Luce, Turner, ME
23. (29) # Kyle Welch, Newport, NH
24. (19) # Travis Stearns, Auburn, ME
25. (28) Laine Chase, Beverly, MA
26. (27) Matt White, Northfield, VT
27. (8) Craig Bushey, Fairfax, VT
28. (14) Eric Chase, Milton, VT
29. (22) # Joey M. Laquerre, East Montpelier, VT
30. (26) Jerry Dawson, Lynnfield, MA
    Heat Winners: Craig Bushey, Jimmy Hebert, Glen Luce
    Consi Winner: Eric Chase

Bond Auto Parts Modified (35 laps)

1. (10) Todd Stone, Middlebury, VT - Hard Charger Award
2. (6) Ron Proctor, Charlton, NY
3. (4) Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, VT
4. (7) Joe Williams, Scotia, NY
5. (9) Hunter Bates, Middlebury, VT
6. (8) Kenny Tremont, Jr., West Sand Lake, NY
7. (11) Jessey Mueller, Olmstedville, NY
8. (3) Leon Gonyo, Chazy, NY
9. (17) Jeff Haskins, Wells, VT
10. (5) Joey Roberts, Georgia, VT
11. (1) Cody Sargen, Greenfield Center, NY
12. (12) Jamie LaFountain, Plattsburgh, NY
13. (13) Andy Smith, South Glens Falls, NY
14. (15) Dave Snow, Brandon, VT
15. (2) Alex Bell, Cambridge, NY
16. (18) # Bruce Schwab, Whitehall, NY
17. (16) Matt Atwood, Whitehall, NY
18. (19) # Emily Quinn, Schaghticoke, NY
19. (14) Jamie Proctor, Schuylerville, NY
    Heat Winners: Jessey Mueller, Todd Stone, Hunter Bates
    Sunoco Race Fuels Semi-Feature Winner: Hunter Bates

Renegade (15 laps)

1. (1) Richie Turner, Fairfax, VT
2. (4) Robert Gordon, Milton, VT - Bond Auto Parts Hard Charger Award
3. (3) # Brad Bushey, Bolton, VT
4. (5) # Stephen Donahue, Graniteville, VT
5. (2) # Ray Germain, Jr., Bristol, VT
6. (6) Frank Monroe, Granville, NY
   Heat Winner: Richie Turner

Central Vermont Motorcycles Mini Stock (15 laps)

1. (1) Chris LaVair, Gabriels, NY
2. (4) Bobby LaVair, Gabriels, NY
3. (5) Jake Noble, Benson, VT
4. (2) Mike Whalen, Jr., Morrisonville, NY
5. (7) Tyson Drown, Morrisonville, NY
6. (9) Garry Bashaw, Lincoln, VT
7. (12) # Lacey Hanson, Orwell, VT - Bond Auto Parts Hard Charger Award
8. (3) John McCarron, Rensselaer, NY
9. (13) # Chuck Bradford, Addison, VT
10. (8) Dan Collins, Rensselaer, NY
11. (6) Kyle Watrous, Bomoseen, VT
12. (14) # Jason Sabourin, Vergennes, VT
13. (10) Matt Monaghan, Colchester, VT
14. (15) # Kyle Sorensen, Ballston Spa, NY
15. (11) Harold LaVair, Jr., Gabriels, NY
    Heat Winners: Chris LaVair, Lacey Hanson

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